(slight spoilers ahead!) takimoto finds out that the usually perfect manager sakuma is achluophobic, or afraid of the dark and being alone, after sakuma seeks refuge in takimoto and cries during a blackout. this makes sakuma feel safe, so he asks takimoto to sleep with him... literally. takimoto becomes sakuma's body pillow to help him sleep due to his phobia.
characters: 7/10
i thought they were interesting. takimoto is honestly a little bland, but his character develops as he realizes his feelings for sakuma. however, he's not unlikable or anything though. despite how he acts outwardly and seemingly close-minded he is at times, he wanted to help sakuma and was always concerned for him from the very beginning. now, sakuma is more interesting, as we receive a background for him where his phobia is a result of childhood trauma. he acts a bit childish at times, but that's expected considering his situation and everything he has gone through. despite his supposedly "perfect' persona in the workplace, he is quite adorable in reality. however, it was kind of hard to feel that gap between those two parts of him due to the lack of exposition that would have established sakuma as that perfect person in the first place (which was eventually emphasized by his backstory, but i think it would have been even more effective if there was more exposition about his perfect side in the beginning). now, IWASE. iwase was really complex, in my opinion. honestly, i got some bad vibes from him in the beginning, and then he turned into this overly protective character that really rubbed me the wrong way. after the explanation of their childhood to takimoto, his actions were a lot more understood and i really commended him for taking the action that would have benefited sakuma the most, further showing his love for sakuma as an older brother. overall, pretty good cast of characters.
story: 8/10
there are many people saying that this has great potential to become a yaoi, but i personally believe that this being a shounen ai really allowed the plot to focus on takimoto and sakuma's emotional relationship rather than physical and how they deal with sakuma's phobia. they even dive into the physical during the kiss/confession scene at the office, where we gain perspective on sakuma's views of physical touch. so, while it would be great to have some smut as an extra touch, it's totally not necessary to the overall story and didn't take away from it at all. now, the main plot was a good balance between the romance between the main couple and the main issue of sakuma's phobia, which was handled really well, i think. they were intertwined, allowing for the plot to progress naturally. like i said before, i wish they gave more scenes where sakuma's "perfect" side could be shown so it doesn't seem like his phobia defines him as much as it did, but that's the whole point of the story so it wasn't bothersome or anything like that. one last gripe i have is with the confession scene at the office. it seems that their jealousy was quite tame and sakuma wasn't taking it seriously at all, which just personally bothered me, but it makes sense with sakuma's past so i can't complain much. overall, a really beautiful story about a man finally finding what he's been looking for. (BONUS: that extra scene gave so much more depth as to why the father treated sakuma as he did. i'm not saying it's justified, but it gives a reason and shows his true intentions really well, honestly. he just wanted to protect sakuma, but it didn't turn out that way... it's sad.)
art: 10/10
gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous. the character designs are very stylized and the art style is unique, which i really loved. it had a sketchy, more raw feeling to it that really suited the tone of the manga. now, the smut isn't part of the main story, and it still wasn't fully smut, but i think the intimate scenes were drawn very beautifully! their facial expressions were really nice as well
overall: 8.3/10
i think this manga handled the phobia and how romance can play into that really well, and it's a very enjoyable and heartwarming story.
Makkurayami De Kimi To