Bike's manga / #drama(61)

I quite liked the Yakuza ML. Sweet ending.

I'm just going to...leave this rant here. It had an interesting premise that could’ve been explored, however the path they chose was disappointing. Despite being the antagonist, I ended up liking the sister the most. She was a psychopath, obsessive, but she had a genuinely interesting premise. She was abandoned by her parents in some way, meaning she had to raise Zinan by herself. This, in turn, made her obsessive. She essentially sacrificed her livelihood for him, and it created a sort of 'worshippy' aspect with her brother? Her dilemma was more interesting than the couple, if I were to be honest, however, she was a fool to date the ML if she wanted to have the MC to herself. The ML, the other main player to this confusing mess, is... kind of bland? For some reason, he could look through MC's crossdressing getup for 'plot reasons', and then pine after stealing his first time. And the whole question of, "Why did he pine for the brother for 3 years?" isn't satisfactorily answered. 'He's hard to get!' Is that it? Really. The MC, probably the weakest aspect, could've been more of a character if they simply gave him more time in the spotlight. Unless you pay attention to the flashbacks and make your own inferences, you can easily let him go as the "uwu I won't let you go, b-baka", which is what I got from my first read. While they explored Zi Nan's backstory, they never explored *his*, and that gave me the impression that he was the side character of his own story. After the first few chapters, it was all about his sister, with occasional flashes back to their relationship. It felt it was never about him; it was always his sister. I wanted to see the answers to some of these questions by the end of it: What was it being suffocated by his sister? Was he attached to the ML so strongly because of her? But it wasn't clearly answered, unfortunately. Other aspects that I want to touch on is how the things outside of the three characters were really weak. The plot, for instance, was essentially: MC sees sister dating ML, he gets jealous. Then, ML confesses that he still loves him and then he puts his moves on him, in the bathroom and in the school. Then, ML gets drunk, and then MC takes him to a hotel, where they confess and they have an affair. After that, they have a 'variety show arc??' where it's clear that it's just for plot convenience. 'Woo! MC, ML, and ML's ~past lover~ (and his LI) are all in one house, spicy~' and then the sister barges in. ML eventually confesses how he's gay to the public, and then the sister does whatever, idk. There's also stuff that's just neglected, like how there was essentially a best friend character for MC, except they didn't really talk except during the school part and at the end, as well as a weird portion where MC is moping by himself, and the bartender who normally serves him and his sister, who also never appears outside this one appearance, gives him advice. Then, it's implied that his godson, who looks like a bad Levi with glasses, is 'in love' with his godfather, and MC just leaves. Nothing happens to them? Other notable things I couldn't ignore: ML put *liquid soap* in MC for lubricant... I think that was it. This series was a mess, but it was a mess that ended up in my head rent-free, unfortunately. Season two was better, however I couldn’t help but laugh at the beginning when ML went the Twilight route by going to the MC’s window and supposedly sucking at his neck? Besides that, it was kind of a mediocre BL story. Second ML was just really bad, with no motivations besides MC. Plus, there was this one guy who was only added for drama, and it wasn’t even a good attempt. He was supposedly changing himself to compete against MC, but then gets upset when the ML still prefers the MC. The ending was sweet, but I couldn’t let go of my suspension of disbelief. I’m just disappointed overall in its execution. There was more I could’ve mentioned, like its sudden shift in pacing and how... unnecessary the second season was, but I’ll leave it at that. I don’t have a personal grudge against this series, don’t get me wrong! I was just really let down. If you’re interested, I won’t stop you! This is just my personal thoughts. Feel free to argue about it. — Interesting premise that could’ve been explored, however the path they chose was disappointing. Acceptance is a good theme, just meshed weirdly with sister plot. Despite being the antagonist, I ended up liking the sister the most. She was a psychopath, obsessive, but she was an interesting premise. She sacrificed her livelihood for him, and it created a 'parasitic-like’ aspect with her brother? Wrote more @ ‘Completed’, if interested 29 05,2021

on CH 38, putting on pause to read later

Very cute, thank you author

Honestly? It was pretty nice, but god, the beginning was especially ridiculous, but in a good way. ...I probably should've looked up the tags online before reading. I read this for comedy, and I certainly got it, but it was explicit, lmao. Fun and surprisingly lovely read. It's formatted in dual POV, with the MC for the first five chapters, and then the ML for the rest. It honestly strengthened the experience, because when I started asking *why* the ML was quite adversed(?), repulsed(?) (I do not know the right words for this), I got my answer. My only comments for concern was the quick turnabout in the end, but I can let that slide. After reading this, I read Akihabara Fall in Love, and I will say this: Kudos to the Mangaka for expanding on a /weird/ side character. The weird activity I saw in the original story was fleshed out in a deeper way, and it added complexity to his character in a neat way. Essentially, it ties in the conclusion of the story, the main couple getting together, and brings it to this one as internal conflict for the ML, and I would say it was integrated well, considering that in this story he was pretty creepy, ngl. I think that the benefit of reading this story before the other one made me respect the mangaka more, because if they were able to expand on this dude, then kudos to them. — Modern-era BL artist and editor, neat concept, neat characters.

Other work by this author! Honestly, pretty fun as well! I think these two had a fun dynamics. A pairing with two teachers is always fun. (It’s been a while since I’ve read it, but I recommend it despite my complaints) The plot twist was kinda like… okay? But there was built up, and I managed to get the pieces at the end, so it was executed pretty well. Also has a problem of a rushed ending (seems to be a common trend with this author), but I didn’t have too much a problem with it

Ah, one of the first BLs I read, thanks to the TL team. (This is from memory) The concept was neat, I liked it! Ending was pretty rushed, though. Everything just happened all at once, but the ending note was sweet. I wouldn’t bout it at a high four star, but I remember liking it enough.

Brief notes: inner monologue, school and homophobia, finding confidants in each other, slow burn Finished Volume 1 I liked it. It expresses the POV of both a gay man as well as a ‘heterosexual’ person (or at least a person unfamiliar with homosexual struggles) seeing homosexuality for the first time. The dialogue itself gets confusing at times, but I don’t particularly mind, as it addresses what it means for a person to be gay. It is a bit difficult, at times, to get into the mind space of a person unfamiliar with LGBTQ+ issues, as for me, I have seen it on the internet for a long time, during a time where it’s become more accepted. But I know there are other countries, where even in Japan, it’s still not being taken so seriously, and it heavily relies on the social space around you to feel comfortable. I feel that it expresses internalized homophobia well, especially in the context of a more conservative country. I feel as it’s gotten me, personally, to feel more comfortable about my ideas, as well as embrace other ones. I enjoyed the volume 1 for exploring sexuality, and discussing what it means to live in your adolescence. It is not afraid to embrace prejudice within the school setting, and is able to define what an ‘outsider looking in’ may feel like without pushing the discussion away from issues regarding homosexuality. I appreciate to see an MC who tries to understand, at least, rather than make the narrative about himself. * manga written in 2000

Wants to die for the world x Cold boss who really cares What a pleasant surprise. Didn’t expect to take two days of my time to binge read, and yet here I am. It was great. The dynamics were great. I even got to enjoy a few of the characters, although I think their roles could’ve been distributed a bit more through the story. Some plot threads wrapped themselves around rather quick, but I like how they were reoccurring elements of the story, even if they only showed up once (Looking at you, CEO guy). I think the ending especially went especially quick, especially compared to the beginning, but it delivered on the impact. I do think it would’ve been interesting to see the antagonist one last time, at least before he died, but woo, happy ending! Leads had good chemistry, and all the romance ‘opponents’ were nice. Kudos on the plot; it kept my interest. I liked how everything connected together. I resonated a lot with the main protagonist—he’s a good dude, and I wish him the best.

VERY SOLID. Love both the MC and ML, and even the supporting cast! It’s essentially the trope where someone switches places with an alternate version of themself and has to deal with their new surroundings. In the first world, the ML is besotted with him; in the second, he never really knew him. It’s all tied to this one key scene, and how the author utilized it was really well done. It felt like things were slightly rushed, and I emphasize highly on the “slightly”, but it was good. If there was a thing I didn’t like, it would be the choice guy for alternate!ML. We only met him for a relatively short time and didn’t get the feeling of much chemistry. Besides that, it was great.