Smells Like Green Spirit
UGH. GOD, MY HEART. My face hurts from crying. I wanted so badly for them to be best friends forever. Regardless of what Kirino chose. The fact that they never saw each other again kills me. So heartbreaking. But their friendship was so beautiful and important. I'm glad they had it at all. Man, this manga was brilliant and tragic. You never see yaoi that really tackles the challenges of being gay in Japan, or just in general. It comes with so much baggage, navigating the good and bad, deciding whether or not to live a lie. This story really explores all of the outcomes based on different decisions and circumstances. My heart hurt so much by the end, knowing that not all of them would have the happy endings they deserved, but this was so well done, and so unusual. Typically, realistic seems to mean everyone dies or something, which honestly isn't realistic at all. It isn't all misery and despair. There are moments of hope, and moments of sadness. It may not have been perfect, but there's always more living to do. And it's never too late, really. Let's hope Kirino eventually finds the life that's right for him. Another thing I loved was the emphasis on friendship. It's so rare to have two gay male characters (though Kirino may have been transgender) without the two of them having romantic or sexual feelings for one another in yaoi. I really appreciated that they just loved each other platonically. They were best friends, which is very important, and romance didn't enter into that. It feels like we're so often told that romantic love is the most important, but I don't think that was the case here at all. Familial love, the love that comes with friendship, even self love. They're all so critical to happiness. "I'm sure there'll be a lot of people there... like us." That line broke my heart knowing that Kirino chooses to deny himself. It also hurts just knowing how isolated and scary it is for them, being gay, in such a small and homophobic community. The fact that they loved one another so much and were best friends like that... it just breaks my heart. The choices they made meant they couldn't be together, and that wasn't fair. That they'd even have to make those choices, to live the truth or to live a lie. They helped one another survive, and they never got to see each other again. Despite how much this manga killed me, I'm glad I read it. It really was beautiful, despite being so sad. I wish there'd been a more hopeful ending, but I enjoyed the good times when they were there. I'd love to read more just like this, only with them all being happy together in the end.
Rumspringa no Joukei
The ending was really sad for me. I know it's supposed to be a happy ending, or a bittersweet ending, but I hate the finality of it. I can't stand that "we know we'll never see each other again" stuff. It killed me in Smells Like Green Spirit, too. Platonic love is just as important as romantic love, and it hurts so much to see it broken that way. At any rate, the main character is so freaking pretty, and I liked him a lot. The amish guy was cute. I kept feeling like there was something they could have done more, like the story didn't quite reach its full potential. But overall, I liked it.
My Childhood Friend Was a God
Definitely heartbreaking but not hopeless. He's always with him, and one day he'll die too, and maybe they'll be together. There must be a special ending for a person made exclusively for that god, so I imagine they'll be with each other after death. It definitely made me cry, though. Loving someone who you know will be gone soon is a painful thing. The comments made it sound like the story was way more dark and depressing than it was, though. It was sad and hurt, but I think eventually he'll go on to have a normal life and know that his best friend and first love is watching out for him.
Zanuff the Butcher