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wednesday_10_00) wrote2023-08-27 04:33 pm
wednesday_10_00) wrote2023-08-27 04:33 pm
Entry tags:
suddenly, manga
After not reading more than a volume or two of manga for...honestly, several years, I was looking back at some LJ entries (a thing I do more often than I'd like to admit), and suddenly found myself rereading Soredemo Yasashi Koi wo Suru…and staying up until midnight to do so. And then the next day I was at ebook Japan putting $100 of manga in my cart. (I did trim that down because my budget has forgotten what monthly manga orders are like.)
(I just checked an my last manga review was in 2015. So...welcome to my first manga review in 8 years????)
Eigyou Nika! 2 - Kanai Kei (heh…)
This is 30% collected shorts from doujinshi and special booklets, 30% new story published in a magazine, 10% a spin-off I don't care about, and 30% stories from Kyouju to Shitsuji no Shizuka na Seikatsu. I already had most of the doujinshi/booklet stories, and didn't care about most of the other stuff (the Kyouju story was fine, just not what I wanted in this volume). The actual new-to-me story was so generic I kept asking myself if I'd read it before. (But there's no way because it was published in Drap in 2020 and as we've established, I wasn't reading manga then.) But I would recommend this if you like the original story and don't obsessively collect doujinshi/booklets the way I do. Did. Whatever.
blanc 0, 1, 2, home - Nakamura Asumiko (heh!)
Wayyyyyy back in 2018, I randomly bought an issue of Opera because I saw there was a new Doukyuusei story and I was really excited. And then they freaking break up in that chapter, and I was angry and horrified, and didn't read the rest of that story and pretended it didn't exist (lol). But in my quest to find new manga, I saw that Home was described as “married life” so...yeah, I bought all of this.
First off, blanc 0 is a collection of stories relating to the rings Hikaru and Rihito bought for each other from various special booklets (which I apparently all own because I recognized all of them, because of course I did). So I recommend this no matter what (even if you have the booklets, it’s nice to have all the stories together). On to the main story...oh boy. Yes, they break up. And one of the reasons I hated this chapter so much back in the day was that they were both so apathetic about everything (including each other), and it just seemed so wrong. This does make sense based on later events, though obviously this story is pretty sad/depressing in places (like REAlly sad). But there's also lots of really, really adorable moments. Do the highs make up for the lows? I’m honestly not sure. But it is very true to the original story and characters.
adorable:
- Hikaru crying. Just...every time. Why is this so cute??
- Rihito wearing the ring Hikaru gave back to him so he has three rings (lol forever)
- they way they both get so nervous about talking to each other
- Hikaru bonding with Rihito's mom (🥲)
- WEDDING
But on the other hand, the stuff with Rihito's parents is too much. So sad! I don't need this in BL, I really don't. Also, the ending was...what? Why there??? (The epilogue kinda fixes this but it must've been so weird when this was in the magazine.) I dunno. Very mixed feelings. But I figured it would all be worth it for Home. Only...it...wasn't....????
First off…I don’t remember if the “married life” thing I read was in a review or the description or what, and I don’t remember the context. But I assumed, based on that and the title that this was Hikaru and Rihito moving in together and living their lives together. But no…they pick out an apartment in the first chapter, a bunch of stuff happens, and they move in together in the last chapter. And along the way we get a Sora/Hara chapter (meh), a chapter where Rihito’s friend confesses to him (NO), and in general they’re still long-distance for most of the volume. There are plenty of cute moments, just not as many as you’d want. In general, this has the same problems as Blanc; cute moments but you have to wade through some trash to get to them. (Or just skim, maybe??? IDK, I’m not the boss of you, read your manga how you want.)
Nomi x Shiba 4 - Tagura Tohru (heh)
I’ve never talked about this series, so let me give a brief summary of Nomi x Shiba: Nomiya and Mikoshiba are roommates at an all boys high school, and dorm roommates. They’re both in love with each other, but also EXTREMELY oblivious about the other’s feelings. (Everyone else in the dorm knows, though.) Mikoshiba is really cute and has been chased/almost assaulted in the past (and Nomiya has rescued him multiple times), so Nomiya is convinced Mikoshiba is scared of boys and wouldn’t be interested in one. Because of this, Nomiya is always running away from Mikoshiba (lol), often while yelling “I’m not a homo~~~~~” (LOL)…which of course means Mikoshiba is convinced that Nomiya doesn’t like gay guys. Anyway, shenanigans ensue (fake dating, secret dating, cross dressing, attending a lecture on gay sex, etc, etc). There’s a really fun cast of background characters, and the story has a cute slice-of-life feel that I could read forever. The first three volumes were definitely sweh!.
This volume, though, was mainly centered on the side character Miyai. I was really excited to read about his past at first, and I did really like this story, but ALSO I know it’s BL and all, but Miyai’s love interest is in college…and they met while Miyai was in middle school. And it was really hard to suspend disbelief enough to think so many characters would encourage a 20 year old to date someone in middle school. Including said middle schooler’s MOM. Just…no. I do like the characters, though, so I’m interested in seeing where this goes.
Will I keep up manga reviews? I dunno, but this was fun, so we’ll see.
(I just checked an my last manga review was in 2015. So...welcome to my first manga review in 8 years????)
Eigyou Nika! 2 - Kanai Kei (heh…)
This is 30% collected shorts from doujinshi and special booklets, 30% new story published in a magazine, 10% a spin-off I don't care about, and 30% stories from Kyouju to Shitsuji no Shizuka na Seikatsu. I already had most of the doujinshi/booklet stories, and didn't care about most of the other stuff (the Kyouju story was fine, just not what I wanted in this volume). The actual new-to-me story was so generic I kept asking myself if I'd read it before. (But there's no way because it was published in Drap in 2020 and as we've established, I wasn't reading manga then.) But I would recommend this if you like the original story and don't obsessively collect doujinshi/booklets the way I do. Did. Whatever.
blanc 0, 1, 2, home - Nakamura Asumiko (heh!)
Wayyyyyy back in 2018, I randomly bought an issue of Opera because I saw there was a new Doukyuusei story and I was really excited. And then they freaking break up in that chapter, and I was angry and horrified, and didn't read the rest of that story and pretended it didn't exist (lol). But in my quest to find new manga, I saw that Home was described as “married life” so...yeah, I bought all of this.
First off, blanc 0 is a collection of stories relating to the rings Hikaru and Rihito bought for each other from various special booklets (which I apparently all own because I recognized all of them, because of course I did). So I recommend this no matter what (even if you have the booklets, it’s nice to have all the stories together). On to the main story...oh boy. Yes, they break up. And one of the reasons I hated this chapter so much back in the day was that they were both so apathetic about everything (including each other), and it just seemed so wrong. This does make sense based on later events, though obviously this story is pretty sad/depressing in places (like REAlly sad). But there's also lots of really, really adorable moments. Do the highs make up for the lows? I’m honestly not sure. But it is very true to the original story and characters.
adorable:
- Hikaru crying. Just...every time. Why is this so cute??
- Rihito wearing the ring Hikaru gave back to him so he has three rings (lol forever)
- they way they both get so nervous about talking to each other
- Hikaru bonding with Rihito's mom (🥲)
- WEDDING
But on the other hand, the stuff with Rihito's parents is too much. So sad! I don't need this in BL, I really don't. Also, the ending was...what? Why there??? (The epilogue kinda fixes this but it must've been so weird when this was in the magazine.) I dunno. Very mixed feelings. But I figured it would all be worth it for Home. Only...it...wasn't....????
First off…I don’t remember if the “married life” thing I read was in a review or the description or what, and I don’t remember the context. But I assumed, based on that and the title that this was Hikaru and Rihito moving in together and living their lives together. But no…they pick out an apartment in the first chapter, a bunch of stuff happens, and they move in together in the last chapter. And along the way we get a Sora/Hara chapter (meh), a chapter where Rihito’s friend confesses to him (NO), and in general they’re still long-distance for most of the volume. There are plenty of cute moments, just not as many as you’d want. In general, this has the same problems as Blanc; cute moments but you have to wade through some trash to get to them. (Or just skim, maybe??? IDK, I’m not the boss of you, read your manga how you want.)
Nomi x Shiba 4 - Tagura Tohru (heh)
I’ve never talked about this series, so let me give a brief summary of Nomi x Shiba: Nomiya and Mikoshiba are roommates at an all boys high school, and dorm roommates. They’re both in love with each other, but also EXTREMELY oblivious about the other’s feelings. (Everyone else in the dorm knows, though.) Mikoshiba is really cute and has been chased/almost assaulted in the past (and Nomiya has rescued him multiple times), so Nomiya is convinced Mikoshiba is scared of boys and wouldn’t be interested in one. Because of this, Nomiya is always running away from Mikoshiba (lol), often while yelling “I’m not a homo~~~~~” (LOL)…which of course means Mikoshiba is convinced that Nomiya doesn’t like gay guys. Anyway, shenanigans ensue (fake dating, secret dating, cross dressing, attending a lecture on gay sex, etc, etc). There’s a really fun cast of background characters, and the story has a cute slice-of-life feel that I could read forever. The first three volumes were definitely sweh!.
This volume, though, was mainly centered on the side character Miyai. I was really excited to read about his past at first, and I did really like this story, but ALSO I know it’s BL and all, but Miyai’s love interest is in college…and they met while Miyai was in middle school. And it was really hard to suspend disbelief enough to think so many characters would encourage a 20 year old to date someone in middle school. Including said middle schooler’s MOM. Just…no. I do like the characters, though, so I’m interested in seeing where this goes.
Will I keep up manga reviews? I dunno, but this was fun, so we’ll see.
no subject
It's getting harder and harder to put together a full order based on authors that I recognize. I have to rely on Amazon recommendations a lot.
no subject
no subject
Going through all my old volumes of things, I am reminded how much I am keeping purely for the nostalgia of the time when I purchased it. (I mean, I'm never reading Ayashi no Ceres again, why do I still have it? Just because it was the origin of the Spacealien Vampire joke?) I need to get seriously ruthless.
no subject
All that to say....good luck??