ArtemisFowl's manga / #atypical reactions(43)

The story is realistic in some ways. For instance, the fact that the black haired kid knows what his boyfriend is doing and understands the nature of the relationship is actually more realistic than a lot of other manga I’ve read. The fact that he knows and still turns a blind eye while wishing things were different is realistic. He doesn’t blame the girl in the situation. He places the blame, rightly, on his boyfriend; yet, he cannot help but want him. What is unrealistic about the story is the whole set up between the black haired main character and his new love interest, the guy he’s going to end up with. It is so typical for one character (especially the seme) to single-mindedly pursue a connection with the other character. In reality, this type of excessive behavior would be characterized as weird at best and stalkerish at worst. Most people don’t act like this in real life.

Two blog writers for video games/anime end up meeting each other, only for one to realize that the other (who writes about cute, sweet things) is a gentle giant (male). The giant falls for the other gamer/writer, who ends up in a relationship with him despite being straight and perpetually single. Very cute and sweet. ~Chapter 5.5

A guy takes pity on another guy and ends up in a relationship with him. ~Chapter 5.1

Oushirou is a man who is in love with his childhood friend. He gets a call telling him that his friend will move there (where he lives) only to be chatted up at the bar by a friendly (and somewhat suspicious) patron. They end up going to his apartment after the patron finds Oushirou's keys, and the patron tries to make a move on him. Oushirou ends up relying on this person -- Satoru -- as emotional support, but doesn't give anything back (although his feelings keep deepening for this person in many ways). Oushirou has an emotional breakthrough about his friend and Satoru, and Satoru shares a secret of his own with Oushirou. This was a fantastic (and very sad, in the sense that things end -- though things also begin) manga. ~Chapter 7

Both leads are ambitious and seem to like each other equally. I think what’s particularly interesting about this one is that the male lead is clearly interested her early on in the story, and expresses those feelings in a cute manner (clearly blushing as opposed to slightly red ears or adamant denials). It is also interesting that both characters acknowledge feelings for the other person early on, the female lead explicitly stating her feelings (as the manga is from her perspective). What’s nice is that she also doesn’t turn into a sap because of this acknowledgment — she still thinks he’s petty sometimes and teases him. That is true of the male lead as well, though we haven’t really seen him talking about his feelings to someone, since the manga is not from his perspective.