Gives
One of my favourite yakuza stories. bittersweet and oh so beautiful. i like how they ended in a more realistic note instead of the usual fairytale happy ending. It got all my favourite elements in it. Action, evil plans, decrepit yakuza guys and guns and most of all, manly way of loving. 〚 SPOILERS / SUMMARY BEHIND THE CUT 〛 Story-telling a bit disjointed but I guess the mangaka styled it so to make the readers aware of the confusion the uke feels. wakagashira x subordinate. gay seme x straight, baby-faced older uke. SUMMARY: A man woke up without memory, not even his name. Somehow, he felt this is all too familiar and even without any knowledge, he felt the yakuza vibe from his self and his saviors. HE'S NO DELICATE FLOWER so even if he can't remember anything, he took the life he had now as it is w/o drama. At least he's alive. As the days gone by, he is starting to somewhat confirm some feelings that he doesn't want to voice out (dude, you're sweetly inlove since chap 3) to this guy who loves lying to him. But like any other honeymoon, it will soon be over. @ chap. 5, there was already an unrest from the Kawaguchi-gumi but it turned out that there is another party involved at the last scuffle that happened. And now they took him to some warehouse. Seeing the watch here at the location where he and his group were buried made him remember. Then it proceeded to the backstory of the time Harada had a contact with the sandaime/3rd's heir apparent. (the current 4th) -=SO WHAT REALLY HAPPENED IN THE PAST=- Yanase group is one of the many sub-groups that composes the bigger Kawaguchi group. The Kawaguchi Kumicho stated the Yanase boss (Tanaka-dad) and Kumicho's own son, Ebina-san to be the heir apparent. The problem started when the kumicho formally declared that it's the Tanaka-dad who will inherit the seat. OFC, biological son got angry since he expected he'd get the position. (BTW This is a normal problem in a yakuza group whose leadership succession does not base on blood. That's why other grps prefer a fixed succession of father>son to lessen power struggles like this) So he contacted this newbie from the Yanase group that he has been eyeing for a while & promised him money and position if he got successful. Judging from chapter one, a considerable time has passed before the plan was put into action since Harada already has a considerable position (and better-looking state) when the assassination happened. Also, it seems like all those few years he has been feeding Ebina-san information about the group's activities. You can't just obtain deeper information as a newb. So finally, the time has come for the plan to be executed. Ebina-san lured Tanaka Sr. and his group to the warehouse & right then and there, he killed his dad, the aging Kumicho together w/ Tanaka Sr. They then spread false information that the Yanase clan turn against the Kawaguchi group and used it to justify the murder of the whole Yanase. Early on, Harada requested for Tanaka Jr, which is Hajime to be left alive. Old Ebina approved but the problem is the deputy. (the block-faced guy). He is not too keen on keeping Hajime alive, even kicked his head for good measure w/c most likely caused some head trauma that temporarily made him amnesiac. Deputy returned to the Kawaguchi estate and reported that they have all buried the Yanase six feet below and reasoned out that "the dude fought back so we have no choice but to off him" bullshit. Shocked, Harada rushed over the crime scene and that's where the first scene started. Harada (seme) is a very complicated man. he is an ambitious, materialistic and very unfeeling man. Yet at the same time, he is sweet when it comes to Hajime and spoils the latter like crazy. He realized that he can't part with this man, and deeply regretted that he did not take action of his feelings before this all happened and swore to himself that tragedy will never happen again and he will be true to his heart. When Hajime "died", it literally shooked him to the core. That is where that "I can now be kind to him" statement all around the manga came from. He's like a pot that has tipped over, and just like it, his emotions and passion gushed out unbridled probably at the sight of the one he loves in the brink of death. -=.=- So we go back to the recent time. Pleading for life in a yakuza group is really hard and risky. Harada is the perfect yakuza and that's why the leader scouted him early on, seeing his potential. The only inconsistency he had is his strong desire of saving the one and only yanase group wakagashira, hajime. Thankfully, after testing him, the yondaime lost interest and let them be, expecting that Harada would get revenged on by Tanaka (hajime) someday. What the whole group don't know is that it's not money or ambition that is the driving force behind this weird action of Harada's. But Sukai is privy to their development so he was (cutely) upset on what is happening. Fully aware that Hajime will most likely kill now that the "magic is gone" (memory recovered), Harada marched back to their house. But Hajime alone know it best... Harada's sincere kindness to him. He went back to their house and thought all the things that have happened till now, the Harada of the past, the Harada of today, and those glimpses of emotion from Harada that only he can see and feel, he have thought about it too. I love how in the epilogue Harada talked about forgiveness to the kids. In a way, it has to do with his and Hajime-san's life but as adults, they have their own complications. So even if Hajime did half-forgiven him by letting him live, it's not that easy to reconcile like these innocent kids do. It's not easy to get over your parent and your group's death, especially if the main cause is the one you unfortunately fell for because even love cannot just easily solve this chasm between them. It's as realistic as it gets. And so Harada continues to atone for his sins and turned into some puppy seme spoiling his uke. I do wish that we get an omake where they finally can talk to each other face to face. Uke's age: BAKENEKO SCANS SAID THAT IT'S TYPO MISTAKE. Hajime is actually older. I suspect it since Harada is using keigo/respectful language to Hajime So since Harada is 28, that makes Hajime more or less 30? At the last chapter he was called "ojisan" and japanese kids had the habit of calling someone around 30-39 ojisan already. Alright, here's the link https://bakeneko-scans.livejournal.com/8572.html As a bonus, Sukai is of college age around 19 most likely if Hajime can call him a kid.
When a Man Loves a Man
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Perfect World
sequel of yashashii kankei, what happened to the sempai that got rejected by the previous couple. Story of seme that inherited his family's motor company and uke who is a former classmate that owns a plants shop. main couple: handsome seme x #angsty uke #gloomy uke #megane uke #had a daughter. 2nd couple: 1st seme's delinquent mechanic x 1st uke's assistant. #girly uke
Boys Next Door
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Illumination
a collection of stories, almost all are bisexual and/or more about friendship and open endings.all have manly couples. praise this mangaka's drawing style ch.1-3: illumination. #childhood friends, #friendship #bittersweet #love triangle, #salaryman ch.4: #friendship. brokenhearted gay guy talking it out with his straight friend ch. 5: love rivals. guy vs girl, both had crush on one guy. #school life ch. 6: love relationships for a dead guy's tribute. very nice time skip general story oneshot. ch. 7: two friends in a vague relationship, both are in a currently problem-laden yakuza group. very cute story too. extra: all additional scenes for all the stories.
Katsubou no Manazashi
p. 1-122: #drama #age gap. #adult x minor seme is the ex of uke's mom. #height difference #awkward #manly seme x girly-looking uke #naive uke. got deceived by classmate. p. 129-end: sempai-kohai #comedy #handsome seme x airhead uke. uke is so adorable sempai just want to do whatever he wants. dilemma: uke is such an airhead and just kept on feeding him and now he's grown soft in the middle.
Uminari
p.1-80: sad story of a gay guy that came to a port town to teach. a student fell inlove at first sight with him. p.86-128: older salaryman -sex friends - college student > falling inlove with a friend. p.131-162: miscommunication bet. lovers. makeup sex ensues. p.172-236 : #childhood friends #bittersweet story of two very close men who had their own families p.244-256: uminari omake
Darenimo Aisarenai
College classmates got in a fight bec. of a girl. The bigger one can't forget about how the other looked when he punched him. Years later and back to the present, he's feeling all sorts of discomfort working together with the guy he had a tiff with. Sales rep from a publishing company x 2nd hand bookstore owner/czech translator
Sweet Bitter Candy