hoshi freak's manga / #unrequited love(4)

~ heesu and seungwon are the cutest couple ever! this was such a wholesome, light-hearted bl that made me smile throughout the plot. there wasn't any unnecessary conflicts that put stress on their relationship, and if there was a problem, they made sure to talk it out. a healthy relationship that surpassed all hardships. it's such a nice break to read a shounen ai after all the dark yaoi i've been reading. the more i read fluffy stories, the more i feel myself leaning towards this type of genre instead of yaoi. very unexpected since i usually wouldn't have read anything without smut before. however, i realized that i got to see heesu develop his feelings slowly and move on from chanyoung which would never take as long in a yaoi. the turning point was somewhere around the 30th chapter, but i never felt like it was dragging and boring. i loved LOVED the pacing of this manga so much, both of them taking their time to see how they feel about each other and building a relationship out of love n trust was so heartwarming to see. i like how the setup for the plot is very simple, a basic coming of age school bl, but the characters are really what make this an enjoyable read. seungwon is such a soft seme, and cares about heesu unconditionally. it was nice to see a seme who wasn't overally masculine, and a uke that wasn't overally feminine. they had their own personalities not tied to their "roles" which made the story not only feel more realistic, but made the characters seem like humans. many yaoi mangas fail to achieve this, which makes me appreciate this shounen ai even more! i loved everything about this, at times it was even healing how heesu was moving on from his decade long crush. chanyoung wasn't annoying like i thought he would be and helped the main couple get together. watching heesu and seungwon navigate their first relationship with each other was so cute, and we got sooo many fluffy scenes. i started crying when it showed they were already married, how cute can this be ?? i had more interest in the side couple (dahm and sunwoo) and i wish we got to see what happened next, but i'm satisfied enough knowing they met again after 8 YEARS jesus christ. i would give this more stars if i could, i wish i read this a lot earlier. so many things i missed out on! this manga is definitely top 3 of my favorite BLs i've read so far.

~ an extremely slow-burn shounen ai (literally confessed 2nd to last chapter) , but i enjoyed seeing the story progress. i noticed there was less focus on character development, and more so gaining the courage to confess to the ones they love. i really like slow-paced BLs, but i especially appreciate friends/enemies to lovers. seeing the characters start to like another person when they originally have no feelings, and watching all the moments unfold in front of me is so fulfilling. however, this manga never went into HOW or WHY the mc's like each other (which is my fave part of BLs). i don't expect a deep explanation into these things with yaoi, since almost all relationships start as a physical one, but with shounen ais u would expect this to be the focal point. that's the only reason i took a star off :) it wasn't bc of frustration since i knew this would be an unrequited love story. the watercolor-esque artwork is v pretty, and the character designs are adorable <3

~ omg what a rollercoaster. this was filled with so much dramatic and emotional scenes, i sometimes didn't even know if they were gonna end up together in the end. it was sometimes frustrating how they kept avoiding the feelings and trying to stay away from each other, but this is how it is. it's realistic, and I appreciate that this bl shows the trials of being gay and the stigma that others perceive it with. really loved the pacing, and the switching of povs for both of the main characters. the dialogue added depth to the career and romantic parts of the story, and the backstories were placed so well throughout. art was so pleasing to look at as well!

~ I loved and hated this. a shit ton of guilt tripping and sexual abuse but nonetheless, it was interesting...