Itsuki Shu's manga / #shounen ai(15)

I never rate until I've completed a series but I LOVE these characters way too much to not give them a 5 * rating. I will probably never do this again, please do not have a bad ending!!! Edit, it did not have a bad ending (doesn't deserve the 10/10 BUT IT'S STAYING GODDAMN IT)

6/10 I haven't got much to say about this one. The main couple is cute, I liked the characters enough, and the art was nice. The ending was a bit abrupt and the romance was a slow burn which could turn some people off. It was pretty average in my opinion.

7.5/10 I liked this story a lot! Nice art, good chemistry between the MC's, and season 2 was super good! Pretty average/bad season 1, some pretty icky moments with Eunsung in S1, and the rival was bad. *SPOILER WARNING* This was a fun read! I certainly had some issues with the story but it was nothing that totally put me off. Season 1 was... not great. Nothing totally, unforgivably awful. Just not that good. The core concept was interesting until Jeahyun was basically blackmailed into a relationship. It felt veeerrrry icky to read. Sure, they end up liking each other and being happy. But I just can't enjoy blackmail to romance. Plus I actually found Eunsung to be pretty unstable and, at times, unlikeable. It's difficult because when he's good, he's great, but in S1 he got pretty clingy and jealous in a controlling way. His violence towards Jaehyun was super off-putting. Furthermore, the love rival was pretty shitty. Yeah, I know that was the point but I was not enjoying myself at all when he was in the picture. I was just waiting for that shitty arc was over so we could see the cute couple together again. I never felt any tension about the couple getting back together, just frustration at Jaehyun for being a big dumb idiot and Eunsung for not telling his boyfriend what was going on. Like, Jesus, all he needed to do was send a covert text about the blackmail with the screenshots and it would have all worked out. Just work together you fools. I was just happy for season 1 to be over when I finally got past it. Season 2 is when the story really gets better in my opinion. The couple really gets time to make your heart melt with sweet moments and Jaehyun really comes into his own as a working man. I liked the conflict around Jaehyun's work and his future vs staying with Eunsung a lot more than love triangle bullshit. Although, they do sorta bait a love triangle that, thankfully, doesn't happen. I did enjoy jealous Eunsung that respected his partners' boundaries though. He was always thinking of Jaehyun and I really appreciated it, even if he made mistakes. Despite the positives, I did feel that there were some pacing issues throughout the second season that weren't there during season 1. That's likely due to the authors coming up with the idea more quickly and not having as much time to flesh out the story, although that is just conjecture. The art was pretty nice but there were certainly moments where proportions were off or characters looked janky. Altogether, the story was enjoyable and the couple had enough cute moments for me to give this story a 7.5 out of 10. A stronger season 1 would have bumped its grade up to an 8 but the final product we have was still a fun ride. It's difficult to recommend a story that is similar to this one. For a straight ship, I would possibly recommend 1/2 Prince, although there are some significant issues with that story plot comprehension-wise. For a Yaoi I'd consider Lack of Love for a romance between people with different economic backgrounds (also the seme looks kinda like Eunsung). For shounen ai I'd lightly recommend The Best Smell. Rather than games, it revolves around an otaku and the guy he likes with a supernatural twist. The story is good but it doesn't have much in common with this one besides the nerd appeal.

8/10 Short and sweet, very cute.

9/10 How the fuck did I enjoy a BakuDeku doujin this much. It's not even my ship (sorry TodoDeku/ShinMono/ Kacchaco) but this was so adorable, give me more of this cute shit.

9.5/10 God damn that was fucking cute. I was literally in tears. Please, I don't want to be converted to this ship.

8.5/10 Cute! Art is a little jank sometimes but I don't mind, the story was short, sweet, and worth another go later.

8/10 Cute

7/10 Cute but just ok.

7/10 I liked this but I wasn't entirely sold on the drama. The story could've used a little bit more breathing room to help us understand the characters feelings. I also didn't really like the tropey dumb protagonist being easily understood because he's so nice and dumb. Just not really my thing. I rated 3* because this is way closer to a 6 than an 8. REREAD - Upon re-read I have realised this is probably better than my first opinion! I think my negative feelings were coloured by how tired I was on naive MCs when they’re supposed to be adults. I do think the MC can be annoying but his naivety is part of his character and intentional in a way that makes him understandable. The newer plots giving him more layers to his personality really leads you to understand why he is the way he is. I do, however, think his boyfriend is kind of annoying now, lol. I hope he matures in the coming volumes.