Mimi

Note: These were my thought back in 2019. I plan to reread and update this at some point.

-

I need to read more BL like this. I love how adorable and likable the characters are and the story focused more on the characters being in school and friends instead of trying to push things along and try to get to anything about sex. I've seen too many school au's where the people are a good 16-18 and there's sex involved. I get it that people do end up doing it around those ages but being in my 20's I don't really want to read that and it almost seems like that's all there is. Having just a pure love story of this dorky high school kid having a crush on his friend and the story grows around them being friends is refreshing and makes me cry. Thank God for this and thank God it got officially licensed because I was about to buy it in Japanese... I think I'll still buy it in Japanese, to be honest.

I'm very excited for Motto Ganbare! Nakamura-kun!!, I read the first chapter and it seems it's being slowly released through a magazine and I'm not sure how far they are over there... So just waiting on that is keeping me really hyped.

Update: .... I just realized something. Kiyoshi is just Romano from Hetalia. Like, his whole ass character is 100% Romano and idk how I feel about this.

-

Honestly, though, I didn't think I would like this by the end. The start didn't hook me, I didn't care much for Santa and Rintarou, and I couldn't help but feel a bit bored at first. I don't know what happened but, like... I love them. I love them together, I love Rintarou's family, I love the normality of life thay this story gives compared to most bl manga, the dialogue felt like things people actually would say and wasn't filled with all those repeated phrases I keep seeing and grown tired of, and I love Touya. Santa and Touya are definitely my favorites in both stories, I feel for them having to deal with Rintarou and Kiyoshi but I also love how much they love them because... Even though I said I like Rintarou, it's more of a 50/50 thing and Kiyoshi is worst but I still kinda like him. Just less than Rintarou.

I am sad that ymz didn't give us the wedding or a little more revolving around Santa's family. I was very interested in his relationship with his family but we didn't get much on that. Only enough to know the basics but I was really hoping that they would add more to that. At least a wedding photo at the end would've made me cry.

Update: Uggggh I'm coming back to this... I saw it got an extra story and it's one of my dropped books that have been on my mind so, yeah I might pick this back up.

-

I'm both sad and let down. I was gonna update this with more but, really, nothing about this made me want to keep reading and I hate both the main characters.

Update: So this is an older review before I got around to reading volume 2... It's been 2 years since I've thought about this manga so I don't remember my thoughts on vol 2. I guess I'll add this to my rereads.

-

When the misunderstandings are so prominent that manga updates the lack of communication tag… I don't normally comment until I'm completely done with the series or book, but I gotta talk about things in this 1st vol. I'll update this once I'm done with this series.

I think the story is really cute and it touched on one of my biggest problems with BL and that's communication. So many problems can be solved if they just talked and not making them talk just to amp up the conflict really pisses me off. They did this a little bit. It would be misunderstanding followed by making up followed by misunderstanding followed by making up... That might actually be more annoying with how many times this happens. I also feel like this story didn't need as many sex scenes as it had and I hope the later vol 2 tones that down (but after reading ch 2 of vol 2 eeehhhhh). As for translation, which is its biggest downfall for me, it felt poor. There were a lot of words that didn't need to be there, a lot of weirdly said sentences. Often times I felt like other words could have been said when translating this that would be a better fit for the flow of the story. I'm glad that I do get to read this in English but I do hope this gets officially picked up for mainly this reason.

Update: Old review that might not read well or make since. I will be updating my thoughts on a reread but the star rating stays the same.

-

I really hope this gets an official translation (update: it got an official english translation) because this was such a cute story to read, I'm definitely buying the physical Japanese soon.

I did have a problem with how the apology went down with one of them (don't remember who, this is an old review) trying to force the other to do something sexual that the other person wasn't fully comfortable with. I mean, I'm glad they showed how pissed off the other was about being forced, but the way the apology was written felt so dead as if the author wanted to get straight to a sex scene. They could have spent more time making that apology much more emotional and believable especially when he got what he wanted in the end. That sort of bothered me.

Update: Looking back, I still don't know if I actually want to drop this series. I finished this vol but thought about dropping the series because I didn't like it... but apparently it's still on my mind and I'm thinking about reading vol 2 so idk.

-

Another book that took me WAY too long to finish. Started reading this in August and didn't finish it til right now (December). It was so boring, there were these weird jump cuts(?) that had me thinking I might have skipped a page or something so it felt confusing at times, and to top that off with some less than stellar translation. I do feel like, if the translation was better, this would be a 3.5 for me. Yeah this was boring, but there were times I would've found this "boring but sweet" here and there. Besides the typos, the way they spoke felt so robotic. Not in a stiff robot way but in a "real people don't talk like this" robotic kind of way and that had a hand in why it took me forever to finish this. I'm not actually sure if I want to continue to the 2nd vol because of that main reason.

And then there's chapter 7 which had a character who was defiantly 18 and the other person defiantly over 20 and I was defiantly not here for that so I skipped it.

Update: Dropping the series as a whole but I did read all of this 2 vol combo. I also don't know the date I read this other than it being 2016 but I wrote as little of what I could remember down for it in 2023. So this is old but I don't really want to update it because I don't want to reread this shit book.

-

Maybe it's because I'm 20, maybe it's because I'm not 15 years old anymore, maybe I'm not much more aware of how horrible everything in this book is, but the way how this relationship started bothered me to hell and back. The fact that Nemu just took the harassment (then rape) that Maya was forcing on him just angered me so much. Only the last 7 was actually something good. But throughout the book I was very disgusted by the "rape and blackmail is ok because they love you" narrative this game me.

I need to stop getting excited about things.

Ch 1-2, 5.1: Didn't like this story that much. It had an off-putting start and weird visual jumps that felt like I was skipping pages. I know this book has 2 stories in it but keeping pace with the writing got confusing sometimes. This couple I ended up not giving a shit about by the time ch. 2 ended. Would've loved to have seen more of them getting to know each other so that the end of ch.2 could hit harder. I also didn't like that they did nothing with the main mc's philophobia be a topic of discussion. I thought maybe their extra chapter might go into more but, no, they just decided that the conversation at the end of ch.2 just didn't happen. Like, HADA WHAT DO YOU MEAN??? HE STRAIGHT UP TOLD YOU WHAT HAPPENED WHEN HE WAS A KID AND YOU'RE JUST GONNA FORGET THAT?!

Ch 3-4, 5.2: A a better story but not by much. I liked the characters a little more, they were more interesting to read about. It still had the weird visual jumps and too fast a pacing for me to completely keep track of what's going on, but I actually felt another emotion that wasn't "anger with a side of what?" and that made reading this story a better experience... Slightly. Seeing how this was the story on the cover, I kind of wish this would've been the 1st story we read so I wouldn't've felt like dropping the book 10 times before chapter 2.

I'm actually kinda mad they did that to me at the end. It's such a mid 3/5 stars type of manga, straight up took me from june to august to force myself to finish it. I didn't think this was bad or anything it just didn't get me to care that much about the two main characters but I also didn't want to dnf or put on hold yet another manga so I just sat on it...

There were 2 moments in the last chapter along with the final 2 pages that fucking did me in, I couldn't stop cry laughing.

Update: Uggggh I'm coming back to this... I saw it got an extra story and it's one of my dropped books that have been on my mind so, yeah I might pick this back up.

I'm both sad and let down. I was gonna update this with more but, really, nothing about this made me want to keep reading and I hate both the main characters.

I hyped myself up too high with this one, lads. I don't regret reading this, I just went into this wanting more... tragedy. More angst, more hurt to balance the comfort. And the comfort wasn't that strong either but was more present than the hurt. I think the main characters are fine, them as a couple are cute, I love re-encounters, and the story was interesting to me. However, doing the timeskip thing where the first 3 chapters are their senior year and the last 3 (+ extra, so 4) is them meeting up again after a couple of years I felt made both halves feel rushed. There's also the weird way they do scene cutting that didn't feel smooth, so it was really weird to follow like an odd video editing cut back and fourth.

I really wanted to see more communication between Koru and Shiraki during those 3 days. I wanted more slow, quiet moments that would've made the sex scene in chapter 3 worth it. Before, you only really saw Shiraki grow a fondness for Kuro, who was in a "he's my friend, I want to protect him" kind of mode. When the first kiss happened, I was hoping for them to talk after that, but instead, it did a cut away. I felt the same way in the second half when Shiraki confessed because now we know that Kuro still had feelings but was scared to pursue that. And when we do get a perfect "pause and talk" moment, they cut away again to a flashback. We eventually got to sit the fuck down and talk through some stuff but even that I felt like it could've been delved deeper, but I was happy we got it.

I did leave this liking this couple. I left this liking this book. I felt myself about to cry during chapters 6 and the extra. But I think I went into this hoping for something like CUT and then being let down because it was close to being as emotional as CUT was.

Can't even go 20 pages without the "we're guys" or "if I were a girl" dialogue tropes. I can't catch a break, huh...

I finished this a good while ago and forgot to update this so I kinda don't remember a lot other than being let down by how wholesome and fluffy I thought this would be. It has its moments, I like the art, but I feel like it only met my expectations about people living together and slowly growing as friends and a couple halfway.

I'm so 50/50 leaning on "let down" with this one. I want to come back and update this with a few more thoughts, though. I do remember that there was this one couple with a pretty big age gap that I did not like.

No, but, like... Why was I bored but at the same time came out of this book wanting an official physical English translation? The story was just ok and the characters were just ok, but it like there were a lot of "just for the plot" moments that didn't feel natural to me. Mainly just the reasoning for them meeting again. It felt forced when he told him he's a photographer and invited him to his exhibition. That could've been done better, something along the lines of them meeting again after he left the hospital and then he invited him. I also didn't feel any cemetery between them and everything revolving around them being together gave off this "because it's a romance story" kind of feel. Like, it felt like I was reading cardboard.

And yet... I want to own this book. I like the way chapters 6 and 7 went. I thought it was really cute so hopefully we'll see an English translation so I can buy it twice.

This was alright but I'm disappointed it was sad enough for me. By the end I kept thinking there should've been more to them as a couple or we've could've gone into their family situations a little bit more. That would've made this a better of a read for me. I also think that last chapter should've been about his mother visiting instead. This whole story has been about rekindling relationships and, by the end, him and his mother have made some progress on talking to each other again.

I don't know, I didn't hate it but there was a lot of repetition in the conflict and they had very little time for rest at the end.

Akiyo and Jessica 😳❤️😳

Ok, ANYWAY! Another book I finished, forgot about, and yet I still very much loved this. Basically, while a lot of how I felt in Hige to Suzu to Shabondama kinda carries over, I ended up liking this a lot more than the previous book. I think it's because, while I didn't like Kiyoshi himself and was able to stomach Rintarou more, Rintarou was much more annoying than Kiyoshi but in a different annoying way. I rank him under Rintarou but I respect him more than Rintarou. But rest assured, I hate them both.

Most importantly though, his and Touya's relationship just hit me different than prev's and that might be because Santa's and Rintarou's story wasn't realized as hard as theirs was. It's hard to put into words but I think what I'm trying to say is: Touya's and Kiyoshi's story as a couple felt more fleshed out but I was left wanting more of them as individuals whereas Santa's and Rintarou's story left me wanting more of them as a couple and individuals.

Update: .... I just realized something. Kiyoshi is just Romano from Hetalia. Like, his whole ass character is 100% Romano and idk how I feel about this.

Honestly, though, I didn't think I would like this by the end. The start didn't hook me, I didn't care much for Santa and Rintarou, and I couldn't help but feel a bit bored at first. I don't know what happened but, like... I love them. I love them together, I love Rintarou's family, I love the normality of life thay this story gives compared to most bl manga, the dialogue felt like things people actually would say and wasn't filled with all those repeated phrases I keep seeing and grown tired of, and I love Touya. Santa and Touya are definitely my favorites in both stories, I feel for them having to deal with Rintarou and Kiyoshi but I also love how much they love them because... Even though I said I like Rintarou, it's more of a 50/50 thing and Kiyoshi is worst but I still kinda like him. Just less than Rintarou.

I am sad that ymz didn't give us the wedding or a little more revolving around Santa's family. I was very interested in his relationship with his family but we didn't get much on that. Only enough to know the basics but I was really hoping that they would add more to that. At least a wedding photo at the end would've made me cry.

I didn't hate it but I got board with this one and had to force myself to finish reading it. Didn't really like any of the characters, not in a way where they pissed me off but in a way where they're all forgettable.

Ok, maybe Kippei got on my nerve a bit with the way he acted sometimes. Kinda forceful when the guy straight up didn't want to get into a relationship but who cares I guess. He was just pushy but the pushy got a bit disrespectful sometimes.

What in the God damn did I just read? I had a feeling that S&N would be at the bottom of my list but I didn't know that it would piss me off this much. I trusted you, Nagisa.

Nagisa??? Are we ok, Nagisa??? Did you loose the fucking plot and finally remembered what you were writing by the end of chapter 4, Nagisa??????

This was probably my 3nd least favorite Nagisa original so far (I'm reading s&n right now and....), but it's fine. I think it had some cute moments and though the slow burn felt really slow it didn't bother me too much. By the end I was feeling a bit mid on this one but I will be rereading it when it finally come out in English. That being said, I got problems:

1). The story and characters felt a bit Junjo Romantica-y to me and I have mixed feelings about that because I've grown to have mix to negative feeling about Junjo Romantica <3.

2). I know I didn't mind the slower burn in this one, but it was mainly the run-around Sora and Kengo were giving each other that just felt pointless to me.

3). The topic of color blindness felt really half-assed. I feel like we only got 1 hint about it when they were talking about space in chapter 2 (I think) and then Nagisa just completely forgot that it was a topic of discussion until chapter 6 where it felt like it was so forced and rushed because she just remembered that was the point. So that bit actually pissed me off... a lot.

Update: This is just for the 1st vol, not my complete thoughts for the whole series. I plan on rereading it once I give a damn about reading vol 3 because I am Nagisa'd-out.

Honestly, I really did expect a bit more from this one. I've been on a Nagisa Furuya binge right now and I've noticed they really like slow burn high school romance love confessions (help! we get it! ohmygod!). I also feel like the story in this vol felt empty? Maybe because I kept see this get hyped to hell and back about an emotional slow burn romance that I thought I would get... emotional. Although, because we have 3 vols, having love confession be quick and out of the way so we can get more time with slowly grouping together I'm much more in favor of.

Most of Nagisa's other stuff ended right when they started dating so we don't often get enough time to see them be together. I like that we're getting more time with these two as a couple with this one. I'm interested in continuing this.