ArtemisFowl's manga / #philosophical(18)

I wish it had been a little longer and fleshed out their relationship more, rather than just putting an epilogue at the end. About the manga: it was so good! Both characters grew because of their interactions with each other. I especially loved how philosophical and self-aware the main character (the one hiding under a mask of happiness) was. He understood the flaws in his own personality and was receptive to the growth that he experienced due to his interaction with the love interest. Also, the love interest was a very kind person, and his bluntness was pretty great. Fujino and Mad-dog Tsukada seem like total opposites. One is a clean-cut smol bean, and the other is a large, scary fighter whose rumors are second to none with regards to his looks. One day, Fujino, who is fake towards other people because he is scared of being hurt again (by people in general), goes up to the rooftop only to find Tsukada, who says his smile is "shady." And it is shady -- he is fake because he doesn't want to offend people, but is shocked at getting called out by Tsukada. He ends up revealing more of himself to this person, who is unexpectedly kind, gentle, and polite despite all the rumors surrounding him. Then he started to blush after Tsukada said something to him, but freaks out after he guesses what it means. This is the story about a smol bean who wants love and kindness, but is too scared to get it through vulnerability, and a misunderstood and gentle 'delinquent.'

It explored the nuance and pain of a situation like that, although the ending (not the fact that they end up together or that there was relatively little drama, but rather the fact that parts of the dialogue at the end were cutesy) wasn’t keeping in tone with the nuance of the situation.

Big master and little master live together, two vampires whose relations are a mystery. A student (potential student) named Hansoo lives there and works for the family. Big master couldn't care less about human life, while small master only cares about finding a way to become human. An excellent exploration on what it means to be human in the setting of a blood bank business run by two vampires. ~Chapter 27

Second couple for the win! ~ Chapter 73 *ch.ep12

I'm just floored by how good this was. The trauma, the relationships they had to their past were dealt with skillfully, and even the love interest's reaction towards the main character based on the love interest's past actions (where he said something extremely rude but hated himself for saying it) was spot on. The one thing was the romance -- it did feel a little rushed at first, considering the love interest kind of suddenly made a move on the mc -- but the pace of the development was fantastic afterwards. How the mc was managing the loss of his loved ones and the sudden removal of a position with the responsibilities of a different one; the little nephew's feelings towards that loss as well as his sense of abandonment; and the love-interest's interest in the pair because of how he saw the nephew as a version of his past self; all of those elements were done with so much depth. I'm really glad I read this manga. Summary: Mc lost his mom, dad, and sister in a car accident. His sister had a son; he took him in and they moved to a different town. In that town they met a cook at a restaurant, whose story had some mirrors to the story of the nephew. The cook inserts himself into their lives, wanting to almost heal and protect a part of his past. The cook makes a move on the mc, and he and the mc fall in love. There are many beautiful metaphors and deep philosophical points conveyed within the manga.

I agree with the last two comments about this manga. The level of clarity the uke has about how psycho the seme is is fantastic (because the character has clarity, not because he’s the uke), and his way of getting under the seme’s skin was perfect because of his perfect analysis. I really thought the seme was going to lock the uke inside his house. Unfortunately, can’t say that’s never happened in a yaoi manga. ~Chapter 5

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