pidgeonreads's manga / #massive schlong(9)

Overall, a unique story idea with gorgeous art and an amusing premise. Unfortunately I found it impossible to follow the story line as the plot itself has little to no smooth transitioning. The main couple are extremely amusing but the hatred was amped up too much for the sake of comedy, to the point where I felt absolutely no actual tension between them.

I nearly didn’t read it after the initial synopsis of their relationship and though I’m glad I decided to stick it out (as it was a funny little read) this wasn’t a story that particularly stuck out to me or interested me. I do love that they were able to communicate and properly understand one another in their second life, but I mostly just found the characters to be bland and annoying.

I know, you know it - we all know it: Jin is hands down one of the hottest BL characters to ever exist. He’s gorgeous and complicated and self sacrificing, but also dangerous and sexy and mysterious. Oh and Matthew’s there. Just jokes. In actuality, this is my probably my favorite yakuza-type BL and a BL that sits safely in my top ten. The relationship between these two is written very well and the art is stunning. There’s something about the dark air of the story combined with the minimally expressive faces the artist has mastered that amps the story up so well. Jin supremacy. I was only half joking earlier. Let that man have whatever tf he wants

Kieran deserved better

This story made me actually sob. The entire scene with Peanut tugged at every heart string I have. The pacing is a bit wonky and the entire premise is so strange, but the author did a great job at giving physical form to emotions. The pain of losing those you love, the fear and scary emotions that love often brings. It all touched my heart. Normally I wouldn’t give 5 stars to a story with such an all over the place plot, but honestly that didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the story in the slightest. On the opposite side of the coin, it was quite a funny story. Full of goofy art and wacky subplots, the chuckles saved me from crying too much.

Okay okay I know I’m usually the first to be like ‘dude!! He said no!!’ but y’all are going to have to hear me out on this one. Reading this story was a delight. It was full of humor and never took itself too seriously. In a story where a strong heterosexual man get constantly beaten up and dubconned by a man who hates him but also sits perched right on the borderline of being a yandere you’d expect it to leave you feeling a little icky. But instead you get Mason, mercenary extraordinary who’s lifelong curses was being a bit too much of a himbo and yet always finding himself in the most unfortunate situations, waking up in the body of coked out holiday child star turned party twink. Genital piercing and all. And every moment of it is hilarious. From his genuine awe at the range of sex toys previously collected by Reese to the internal ‘was I always gay or am I gay because this body is gay??’. This story reads in the same energy as my much beloved SVSSS (the first novel written by MXTX) with many of the same tropes but even better jokes. The art itself is a joy. Hayley’s constant wide eyed and confused stare always left me cackling as it truly perfectly combined the body with the personality. Even the side characters were written as perfect little joys. The director’s shirt changing constantly, sometimes even between panels in the same scene, and the manager thanking amnesia over and over again. Truly a joy. I can safely say that I’ve also joined the Hayley hype train just as ever other character in the story has xD I will say that for me the sexy scenes are lacking. As with many people in the comments, they make me uncomfortable. The pair have a large age difference and it’s made clear time and time again that Mason still sees the young boy he saved in the current man. The sex also always feels like something that he’s just agreeing to rather than something that he actually desires and wants. It’s made clear that he agrees for two reasons: one, his body wants it (which still isn’t his choice) and two, blondie is desperate for it and will just keep begging. And since Mason still sees the boy he wants to save in him he just wants to make him happy. Even the man himself has a moment where he contemplates why he’s suddenly developed a strong sexual desire toward Mason. At the same time, I don’t believe the author has done a poor job of tackling it and if they change the way they have sex some in the future I can fully get behind it. Make Blondie actually listen to Mason and be more loving. Because as of now he’s basically having sex with Reese not Mason, since he’s doing what the body responds to and not what makes the person inside happy.