ArtemisFowl's manga / #high school(47)

Kid who has a lot of talent, a high school student "leveling up" through life, suddenly wakes up to the sound of his fellow classmate's art. He's always known that he's going to get a good government job, study hard and play it safe the way his mom wants him to, but that was before his eyes were turned to art. It made him feel alive for the first time, and although he had tried to suppress the feeling based on practicalities, he decides through the middle of high school to aim for an art school. This is his story. Lots of drawings, great character development, art galore, and practical techniques, this manga is almost a life-lesson and an art class wrapped in one. Chapter 25 -- Entrance exam results for Gedai ~ Chapter 54

Mc is pretending to be hawwwt...only to be a pure boy phony with a lot of secrets. Namely, that he loves shoujo manga and is not 'cold' at all. There's a new transfer student who's super hot, and he discovers that it's his only friend from middle school, back when he was called gay because of his love for shoujo manga (except for his friend). Now his friend has come to "haunt" him and bring up his past (although the friend doesn't want to 'out' him), and he keeps tripping up, only to find that his only best friend keeps catching him (and putting him in swoonworthy positions, in accordance to his shoujo manga preferences). Will he end up keeping his secrets from the school? Or will he fall for his friend and embrace his true shoujo self? Fetishizing people as items on a checklist...run, run, run, man. Edit: Well played, Hiroko, well played (even though you cray). ~Chapter 2

Harukawa is a kid that moved to a different high school from his prefecture, to get away from a trauma he had in middle school. He was exposed as being gay and further isolated by his peers because he kissed his crush in an empty classroom and was seen. His crush, Koga, who was in the center of that trauma follows Harukawa after graduating from middle school himself, and is dismayed to see how much Harukawa is afraid of his sexuality. Harukawa constantly hides himself, and his friend, Matsuri, often makes disparaging remarks about gay people, trying to box Harukawa into picking 'straight' as "right." With the advent of his old-new crush here, how can Harukawa deal with the tugging of his own heartstrings, the urge to fight for what is right for him, and his friend's potential perception of his sexuality? ~Chapter 5.5

A boy with social anxiety falls for the boy who knows him as 'god.' Two very different people with a prior connection end up having a bond and confessing to each other. One is a good-looking and smart kid, while the other doesn't have many friends for fear of 'messing up.' The socially anxious kid lives on a farm and his grandfather owns a mountain, a place he sees as a refuge from his anxiety. He warms up to this touchy-feely outgoing kid, and love blooms. A coming-to-terms romance story dealing with the anxieties of growing up. ~ Chapter 5

Two film nerds in the same high school club fall for each other after fighting for a year. Funny, realistic, full of good humor, this manga is exactly the pick-me-up you need when you want to fall into something that doesn't tout itself as "true romance" or sap. The story of two boys figuring themselves out and figuring each other out before falling in love. ~ Chapter 7

YES!!!! This is the story I have been LOOKING FOR!!!!! :D *ahhhh!* Beauty and depth, humor and warmth, GOOD COMMUNICATION interlocked with bad (I have a feeling I'll need to tag this as good AND bad communication, ironically). Years of misunderstanding solved in a few instances, and the minute that something comes up (*like the person I'm assuming is the seme refusing to eat with the friends of the person I'm assuming is the uke), it is resolved (thank goodness). Edit: Reread 2022. Not the greatest but not the worst. ~Chapter 5.5