vignette00's manga / #Crossdressing(6)

Haru is the heir to his father's Japanese dance studio, but when Russian-transfer student Yuri finds him dancing Giselle's ballet solo, Haru is pressed into being the Giselle to Yuri's Albrecht for the end of the year performance. Highly unrealistic vis a vis whether an amateur could become ballet-ready in three months, and even more unrealistic at the end with Yuri inviting Haru to spend the rest of his ballet career with him as his dance partner (how are they going to hide the fact that Haru is clearly a dude?!) but still good-natured, sweet, entertaining, and bl-lite.

The official summary and first chapter of this story hides the lede and makes it sound like the pet dog aspect between Kaede and Noro (the childhood friend) will play a bigger part than it actually does. The reality is that this story is very much about Kaede trying to understand and move on from his brother's death, especially his belief that he caused his brother to commit suicide. Noro's own unhappy childhood is hinted at, but Amagakure resists the temptation to make the whole story about people's deeply unsettling family tragedies and instead gives most of the Noro screentime to his fascinatingly complex feelings towards Kaede. Chapter 2 is a standout, with Noro musing over Kaede's selfishness and his own desire to both monopolize and be monopolized, and it neatly sets up Kaede's own fear that he causes pain to the people around him by being demanding and nosy. The intrusion of a friend of Kaede's brother in the last two chapters is a little too convenient, but on par with the themes of self-discovery, acceptance, and regret. Tonally, the art is sparse and kinetic, with a lot of white space, which may be surprising for readers of Amagakure's other works, like "Amaama to Inazuma."