ArtemisFowl's manga / #age gap(23)

A boy and his high school teacher get into shenanigans because of past and present ties to the teacher's yakuza history -- that history being that the teacher is heir to her yakuza syndicate's throne. Because of this interesting upbringing, the teacher is well suited to this school of delinquents, whether the students initially know it or not. Boy, are they in for a surprise... ~Chapter 'Gokusen Halloween Special'

Actually, one of the more interesting manga of this tone (by which I mean, comedic and lighter than what’s currently in vogue (read: killing stalking, warehouse, etc.)). There are certain elements that read as somewhat stereotypical, but this manga has the huge saving grace of an author who avoided certain things yaoi pitfalls that tend to happen with yaois of this particular vibe. The comic dynamic between this couple allows the uke (who generally loses in the power dynamic when there is a discrepancy of power in the relationship) in this story to have opinions and not be defined by the romance or romantic lead. This also allows for a silly aspect to be present in the seme’s personality when there probably wouldn’t be one in a stereotypical manga that fits this genre. Another thing that I really liked was that the drama that occurred in the third chapter didn’t spiral out of control, as is usual in this type of manga. I kind of imagined what would happen if the author wanted to prolong the melodrama simply for the sake of it, and my guess would be that the debt collectors would see the uke after he ran out, try to force him into an AV, then the seme would save the uke at the last seconds, finally declaring his love and sweeping away all misunderstandings. All of which I would have hated. Instead, the seme communicated with the uke five seconds after the misunderstanding had occurred (yay!).

It was cute, but there were certain misunderstandings that should have just easily been resolved by talking. But I did like the relationship between the seme and the uke to some degree. Convience store manager with a part-time worker, third party trying to get in the middle.

19-year-old feels lost after the death of his parents to a car accident. Officer Sumeragi, 28 years-old, soon moves into town and into the 19 year-old's house, where he acts as the night watch to ward off unwanted men and women from sleeping with the kid. After nurturing his young housemate with steadiness and warmth, he gradually sees and falls for him as a love interest, where the kid does the same. They end up in a stable relationship. I'm still a bit iffy on the age difference in their relationship (he's freaking twenty-eight, and I'm not a fan), but it was a well done story that turned out to be more cutesy after they got into the relationship. It's like the author forgot all the trauma that had been done to this kid (who sought sex after his parents died; not that sex itself is wrong, but sex as a means of masking things from oneself is not a good way to cope...) and just decided to keep the story light.

Combini store guy and an older salary man...a hot night in the shower after a rainy day leads to a post-sex date that reveals their ages -- which freaks the older guy out. They decide to go out -- on trial. ~Chapter 6

A forty-year-old man and a thirty-year-old policeman are getting it on, after a long time of unrequited love from the younger man to his senior, who he has always admired (which, at some point has turned into love). ~Chapter 11

A middle-aged man, recently divorced, stumbles upon a tea/tobacco/curio shop, only to fall in love unexpectedly with the owner. Full of the slow, warm feeling of burgeoning love.