otakulys's manga / #friendship(50)

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.

Too short, but a sweet little snapshot. Had it been a full manga, I think it might have been pretty great, even though it had that "it's okay if it's you" air about it, which is the trope I hate most next to "rape to love." I'd like to see more things focusing on depression and mental health, guys getting through it together as friends or more. But since it was so short and didn't dive into it much, I had to give it three stars.

Ugh, so sad! At least there was the little text that said they'd meet again someday, but man, what a downer. I would have rated it higher if it were longer and more fleshed out, but for what it was, I did like it. I wish we could get a sequel to this where they do get to rekindle their friendship again. And they both end up with good people who treat them well.

Lol, the reaction to her reveal was cute enough for me to bump this up to three stars. It was a harmless little oneshot, though it annoyed me a bit with the whole "boring" crap. Especially when her worth is all summed up by whether or not a guy likes her. (I don't give a crap how he ACTUALLY felt. It's dumb to base your life choices on that.) Just a manga, of course, not real life, but that mentality is real. x_x

This should be called "Straight Boys and Unrequited Love." That was the theme throughout, but the endings were either happy or open with a sad-ish feel. Nothing was solidly stated. They all end at a crossroads, where a relationship may or may not develop. I love this artist, so I read it, even though I hate straight-gay pairings. The stories were all right, mostly a bit sad, but not nearly as soul-crushing as I was expecting. The comments had me afraid to even read it. But as of chapter 7, things are still relatively light. The longest story had more sad elements, of course, but there could still be more for the guys someday. I know the wish is for the guy who's in love to end up with his straight friend, but I wish more of these stories would end with the friendship continuing in a healthy way, and the guy falling head over heels for someone else who actually loves them back from the start. Why does it always have to be that the straight guy falls for him anyway, or no one gets what they want and everything is sad, the end? There are other options, is all I'm saying. x_x

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.

WTF. This is so screwed up. ...But I like it. I'm just glad that one part was a fake out, or I would have had to rage quit. That's like the worst kind of violation of the bros before hoes code. Like, seriously? No piece of ass is worth letting someone eat your best friend. XD Anyway, this is obviously a kinkfest for the mangaka, as it squeezes in so many fetishes that aren't particularly common in yaoi. Not that I'm complaining, as a few of them are kinks of my own that I so rarely see. This story is definitely odd, and the cruelty of it is kind of getting to me, but I'm intrigued.

Aww, very sweet. Two things I really liked about this: you never see blackmail with sweet or innocent intentions in yaoi, so it was so nice to see it not result in an excuse for rape; and the seme sorts never seem to really apologize like this, a genuine realization that they pushed too much. There are some typical yaoi things about it, the pushy stuff in general, but it's a sweet little story. Things are gonna be tough sometimes, but at least he doesn't have to hide himself so aggressively. I would like to see more of these guys. Very cute little story.

A little too short for what it deserved, I think, so the pacing was a bit quick, but I enjoyed it. This is a sweet story about trauma and healing, and I appreciated that it was treated that way. So often yaoi glosses over things like assault as if it's nothing more than a bad day. The seme in this story was very gentle and patient. This is everything I want in this type of story. Why aren't there more rape scenarios in yaoi that end in hurt/comfort? Rape is such a horrible thing, yet it's so rarely portrayed as that in yaoi. Anyway, very sweet little story. I'm glad I stumbled upon it. Also, I loved his friends. I wish I could have seen way more of them. They're adorable. The fact that they jumped to protect the poor, mistreated uke without even really knowing him warmed my heart. It was such a nice juxtaposition between the coldness of the other group of peers.