otakulys's manga / #childhood friends(71)

Aww. That was quite sweet. It's more of a 4.2 than a 5, but I bumped it up to five because the seme never raped the uke out of love. When he asked if he could put it in, and Tomoya said no, I thought, "Welp, this is it. And later it'll be treated as romantic because he secretly wanted it." But then he didn't, and things still got creepy, but for yaoi, it was pretty relieving that it didn't go the usual way. The oneshot didn't really do anything for me. It was cute and stuff, but I get the feeling that it may have been one of her first attempts at yaoi. Or manga in general. The art was off, the story was weak. But I did love the ending, haha. Not so much of a secret after all.

Uuuuuuggggghhhhh. Okay, the first half of this manga, I thought I had found my dream couple or something. It was so perfect. Then... a bunch of the usual cliches came dancing in and ruined the perfect high. I'll break this into pros and cons, I guess. PROS: * BEAUTIFUL art. Ugh. * Super hot boys. * Genuine love for one another. * True friendship that matters dearly, even if they'd stayed platonic. * Mutual affection from the start. * Some side characters that I really liked. * Funny, cute moments throughout. * Super hot moments, particularly the one that gets this whole thing started. CONS: * MISUNDERSTANDINGS. I hate this trope SO much, and it's in everything. A little bit is one thing, but when it just goes on and on to the point of everyone involved seeming mentally challenged, it becomes more annoying than anything. Using misunderstandings that could easily be cleared up with a little communication is lazy writing. It's a weak plot device, and I can't stand it. Sadly, it's often in yaoi--and things with romance in general--so it's tough to avoid. * "It's okay if it's you." This trope is another one that I can't stand. It was set up in a way to indicate interest in girls had been either passing or just forced, but since bisexuality can never exist in yaoiland, they just HAD to shove in that pointless exchange with him telling the dude he's only into chicks. Why does it always have to be an exception? The cons were fewer in that sense, but they're right below "rape to love" in my list of yaoi tropes that I hate, so it hit me pretty hard. I wouldn't have cared as much if I hadn't liked it so much from the beginning. You may have noticed that it still has five stars, however. If I just ignore those other things, this really is a very sweet story with an adorable couple at the center. I want to read more about these two. I want to read more about senpai and his boyfriend, especially! XD And the art is just so damn lovely. Hopefully some of the mangaka's other work will inspire me in the same ways without irritating me in the others.

I was excited when I discovered that there was a spin-off with these two, but I ended up a bit disappointed. The story seemed kind of random, disjointed, and confusing. Nothing really happened, but it dragged everything out anyway. I like the two of them, though, and I'm glad they end up happy together. I wish it had been written in a more satisfying way, but I'll settle for this weird, stalkerish, irrational "love from a distance" thing.

Whaaaaaaa, I love this so far!!! I hope it updates soon. Amazing art, great storytelling. I already like the characters. And I have a thing for characters witnessing something bad happening to someone they care about. I can't wait to see how this unfolds.

Read this in Yami BL. Very sad and twisted, but kind of sweet in a messed up way. At least they finally got to touch, sort of.

Haha, very cute! I wish it were longer. This author is OBSESSED with gender benders. Not a single one of her works on here is without it. But it's definitely adorable.

The way people were acting, I thought this was going to have a sad ending, but it was perfect! THIS is what I want. This is the hurt/comfort that I crave! Why can't there be more yaoi like this? Where the seme loves and protects his uke, and the harm comes from some other piece of crap? There's no force or rape to love or any of that garbage. Just real emotion. Plus, for me it's the psychology of trauma and the character working through it that draws me to violence and rape in manga, so it makes me sad that so often rape is romanticized or treated like a firm handshake. This was exactly what I was looking for. The beginning was a bit clumsy and rushed, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was very happy with where it went. I imagine people are freaking out because the rape was so graphic and the character actually had a realistic reaction to being assaulted, but the tags *did* say there was rape, and every chapter had a warning for violence, etc. So why are 90% of the comments people bitching about it? If you're a delicate person, skip stories that say that they contain violence and rape. At any rate, I really enjoyed this one, and it's the embodiment of my list, "Rape that Doesn't End in Love."

I actually really liked this for the most part. Not sure why people hated the uke so much. From the start it was clear that most of what he was doing was a defense mechanism. It broke my heart that he was so in love with Tsugitsugu like that, but it pisses me off a bit that they never addressed the fact that the rape and mark from the alpha was partly Tsugitsugu's fault. I know he thought he was doing what was best by leaving Kei, but why would he choose such an awful time? I couldn't get past that, and I feel like most people were hating on Kei and Ekihito more than anything. At any rate, I wish I could see the spin off of their kid growing up and falling in love with his friend. That was a cute little extra. I also wish someone would translate those first two pages. :( I should also add that there's a super messed up sex scene near the end. I mean, I guess that's a true sign of love if you can keep it up when the one you're banging is... doing that. Pretty crazy. I feel like it would catch a lot of people off guard. Not a pleasant surprise, haha.

I actually kind of like the sinister nature of this, though even the lukewarm rape scene is indicative of the typical yaoi ending. Knowing that it'll mostly be easily forgiven torture and mistreatment, and the seme will face no real consequences for his actions, I can't justify spending money on this. Not when it'll just piss me off. So it's a shame that it's licensed. Oh well.

I understand why so many people are saying they felt unsatisfied with this manga. There's definitely something annoying about it. I feel like it would have been better if Kichou hadn't been so annoying and wishy washy all the time. At first, it made sense that he was doing things to protect Kagerou, but then he would lure him in and lead him on, then act like a dick, and all of it was supposedly because he loved him, but that didn't really add up overall. I hate how cocky and smug he was all the time. And of course the mildly rapey sex, all with that creepy smirk. So yeah, I'm annoyed, too. I wanted to really see Kichou suffer at some point and truly regret the way he handled things. I feel like I would have preferred an ending with Iwasaki getting what he wanted. But ultiimately, I am glad they have a happy ending. If I take out all the parts that annoy me, I really do like the concept of the story. Two boys, raised in a brothel, and their forbidden love--it was a recipe for a really good manga, and it could have been so much better. But it wasn't awful, and the translation was good. The art had weird moments but it was mostly rather beautiful. So 3.5 or so stars.