moune's manga / #Inoffensive(4)

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).

⊗ Major spoilers Don't you love it when you make a suicide attempt but Slender Man comes to your rescue, goes on a cute date with you, and shows you a montage of your relationship to give you closure, only to find out that Slender Man was your dead boyfriend all along? Angst for the sake of angst does not a good story make. Felt nothing other than mild amusement: 2/5. (2025).

A guy starts a part time job at a haunted house, meets a ghost, and attempts to help him pass. It's okay. I've read stories with a similar concept before that had better execution. It introduces too many side characters to the detriment of the main couple's development in my opinion. I feel lukewarm about it: 2.5/5. (2018-19).