axelmania's manga / #bl(354)

gentle capturing of the summer. the love interest falls for the protagonist because the protagonist accepts him, when most of the people he meets are approaching him with themselves in mind. its not that the protagonist is immune to his looks so much as the fact that he considers him as a person first. he "loves" him because he is already being loved by him. it feels so important to the characters to drink in the simple pleasures of each moment for as long as they can, which makes sense given the tragic decision made before the beginning of the manga. if you liked this, you have to read the second part-- it explores more thoroughly my idea of love in action, and the decision to be in a relationship has already been made, so i dont have to think about how conveniently the protagonist came to have a desire for more from his friend.

two people were repeatedly pushed away by others as children. one hardens himself and keeps his distance, the other fights back physically and by continuing on socially as if nothing is abnormal. neither of them feel like anybody else understands them. through a series of right choices, they reach out to each other sincerely, and begin to care deeply about each other. family isnt just blood but the friends you gather around you. its a story heavy on the homophobia, but its not a romanticized sob story, and in fact the outcomes are ultimately so happy that theyre difficult to believe. if youre looking for a romance narrative with unique art that gives each figure their own face and slow character driven progression, this is for you. but beware the usual 3d generated backgrounds, sudden side character romances, and in a rarer and in my opinion amusing case, repeated author self-inserts. and as beautifully as the affection is drawn, even many of the kisses are censored...

still waiting for another bl to top this one for me. the depiction of mental illness is top notch.. stay tuned for a more romantic review lol

the story is actually really engaging but.. lmao the premise that the solution to tyranny in monarchy is just to find a better king and it literally coming from a childrens book within the storys universe. weird pacing and not enough narration to follow when events are happening. and the side pairing goes in a dubcon direction after doing well at not fetishizing sexual exploitation during the first volume of manhua. but the authors do well at spacing out development of the main pairing so im on edge to see what happens with them, lol. yes im on the edge of my seat waiting for tappytoon to send my phone notifications, clown emoji

the constant force used by the love interest and total disregard for the protags consent in even the smallest things being framed as just romantic soulmate stuff was a huge turn-off. and the typical way of the only solution to bullying being presented as becoming a super fighting master, and how the love interest loved the protag for saving him but didnt at all carry those principles on to helping others. sorry lol

pretty unrealistic, but features hinata entering a relationship to be nice and then trying to force himself to have feelings, and then either producing feelings or not properly identifying how he felt... so very of interest to me, but the ending was pretty silly and unsatisfying

i hate to be harsh but i couldnt get past the computer generated backgrounds even if i could ignore the occasionally bizarre anatomy, and thats not getting into how nonsensical the story was. i couldnt ride this out for long before i dropped it.

im not sure how i feel about this. its a realistic story about selfishness and clashing needs in a relationship. the "straight" guy cant handle the pressure of his friendship changing and hurts the guy he likes on purpose, the openly gay guy uses people unapologetically to soothe himself. the latter gets sick of it and matures, the former doesnt, and ultimately i want to see the cool female character this was originally about develop instead. its not a bad story, it just didnt really excite me. i like more melodrama i suppose!

the pace was so slow, i just couldnt do it. less information being revealed about the older brother from the start may have helped, as it is each development was only softening the love interest and i just couldnt bring myself to care.