moune's manga / #High School(7)

A watered down take on the Hanahaki disease trope; instead of the lungs filling up with flowers, only the afflicted's breath turns into petals, or flowers in severe cases. Side effects are limited to stress and potential malnutrition. In this story it is a symptom of experiencing love for the first time as a teenager. Our protagonist does his best to hide the symptoms from his childhood friend in order to preserve the friendship, but how successful will he be? It's a short and light read about high school love, but there's nothing particularly gripping for me: 2.5/5. (2020).

Haruki has had a crush on Ryusuke for a long time, but when a girl starts getting closer to Ryusuke, Haruki confesses for fear of losing his chance. School life story that focuses on the boring parts of school: classes, lab experiments... Girls are only there to create conflict or to fawn over the MCs. Very typical story: high school confession, date at the movies, hand holding and sneaky kisses in an empty alleyway, sex in the bedroom, conflict, resolution. I dislike Haruki. I don't care if he's gay or has struggled with his feelings. When your boyfriend tells someone that he can't be with them because he loves you, you don't proceed to lecture him on being "normal" or being "like that" then smack him with your bag. "YoU wEreN't GaY tO bEgIn WiTh" dude stfu. Ryusuke is likable enough at least. Good if you're looking for a short, familiar light read but not for me: 2/5. (2019).

A feel-good story about childhood friends in their senior year of high school who love and support each other. Their feelings deepen as Issa drops out to pursue his passion as a fisherman and Nagisa graduates. A simple premise with impeccable execution. They're so sweet to each other, their communication is lovely, they're both passionate, the art is gorgeous, the translation is done well. It's also one of the few mangas that get the meaning of "punk" right. So good: 5 ★ (2023-24).

Takeo comes out as bi to his friends which prompts his childhood friend Wako to confess to him in one of the more bizarre confessions in BL before running away. Takeo should've had at least one chapter from his POV. Missed opportunity. The character design is too good for them to just be high schoolers. 3/5. (2022). Spin-off of Cupid ni Rakurai.

Ryuunosuke is naturally intimidating, even more so when he puts on his death glare, a look that seems to intensify whenever he looks at Shima. Shima doesn't understand the cause of that stare, but soon finds out none of his guesses had even come close. Yukue Moegi is a good writer. Her portrayal of relationships and the affection, anxiety, and longing that come with them is natural and convincing, but she seems to have a strange penchant for slapping you with problematic relationships as if they were normal out of the blue. I love Ryuunosuke. He's the embodiment of what a loving marriage and a close-knit family can produce and nurture. He's affectionate (in his own way), mindful, kind, strong, fearless, and the list goes on, a charming young (involuntary) thug for sure. The story was enjoyable overall, although I found myself impatient with how much Shima unknowingly pressures Ryuunosuke (to stop fighting and to smile) at times. He's a bit bland and lacks backbone for my taste. If you don't want to spoil your enjoyment of this story skip vol.1, ch.6 (unrelated characters, rape, pedophilia). Decent, enjoyable: 3/5. (2015-23).

A student gets rejected after confessing and runs into a senpai on the school roof who harbours regrets for failing to confess while still alive. A surprisingly good story, but that random BJ scene almost ruined it for me: 3/5. (2014).

This is one of the few mangas I read where I feel like the couple won't last. They have no chemistry. Such a shame since the main story was really good. It has a random assault scene (not between MC and ML) that never gets addressed or unpacked after. Very unecessary and adds nothing to the plot. Spin-off of You're My Princess. Not good: 2/5.