Two.
Two posts in 2015 (before this one). Two. Sheesh. Maybe I can improve on that in the next couple of weeks. Before I get into reviews, some housekeeping:
1. I know I owe gnine some fanfic recs; should I post them here? (This is like that "anyone who's not here, raise your hand" joke...) If there's somewhere else that you would see it sooner (email or whatever), I can do that, too.
2. I have a tumblr (or here if you don't care about about tags, which is just crazy talk). It's...90% Haikyuu and cats, but if you are interested in those things (or don't mind scrolling past them), feel free to follow.
On to reviews:
Okottenai nara Kotchi Muite - Kasai Chiaki (heh...)
Rokumiya Daiki is a member of the school's badminton club, and has been adopted by the puppy-like Iijima Yuu (art club). Yuu is totally in love with Daiki and Daiki...honestly kind of likes it, even if he knows the relationship is weird.
On the one hand, Yuu and Daiki are totally adorable. I was kind of expecting Daiki to be more mean and put Yuu off more, but it's pretty obvious early on that he's crazy about Yuu (just in a more tsundere way, compared to Yuu's puppy-like enthusiasm). Though...this being a Qpa title, it's pretty porny, and I am SO uncomfortable when so much of the sex happens in public places. (Find a room and lock the door, PLEASE.) On the other hand, I hate (HATE) Yuu's gross brother. I hate him in Yuu and Daiki's story (go away and leave them alone and WTF is going on between him and their stepfather, GROSS), and I don't really like him any better in his own weird triangle story. So...this is kind of a mixed bag for me. (note to mangaroo - Daiki is a stand-in for Iwaizumi or Kasamatsu, yes/no?)
Tonari no Wakazou - Sawa Machiko (sweh...)
LOVE the title story, an opposites attract story about two neighbors (and their cat). Also, huge bonus points for the kitty POV extra. I don't think I have anything to say about it; it's exactly what the cover looks like. The one-shot after it (about two high school boys getting to know each other when one accidentally breaks the other's glasses and has to help him all day) is super cute, but the guys don't really get together, so...?
between the sheets | Blue Moon, Blue- Hashimoto Aoi (sweh | heh)
I had seen this book (and then its sequel) floating around as being really popular, but for some reason I thought it was part of another series? And also the cover of the first one is kind of a turn-off for me? So I avoided this for a while. (Turns out the insides are pretty, actually. Soooo pretty. Also, fact: tsundere characters are cats)
Anyway: Aoba Takafumi is a (pretty) bartender who is super-popular with his customers but makes it a point to turn down any offers they make. Ichise is some sort of super-rich hotel executive (complete with hot secretary who really needs his own story, Fukuhara) who is determined to pursue Takafumi until he gives in. Eventually Takafumi agrees to go to dinner (to a really fancy restaurant, because he apparently has really fancy tastes) and then to sleep with Ichisei...but he doesn't want a relationship. This, of course, only makes Ichise even MORE determined to pursue Takafumi. I love the "sex friends fall in love" trope anyway, but this is just a super cute version. Ichise is so doting and it's adorable to see Takafumi get so flustered by it. So, naturally, I was really excited for the sequel, and...meh. I love the characters like crazy, but I didn't love anything about the plot (so over the third wheel thing). Oh, except Takafumi bartending for the hotel party, which was all kinds of adorable (also, Fukuhara is hilarious).
Ohayou to Oyasumi to Sono Ato ni | 2 - Hamada Kamome (sweh! | heh...)
I...kind of do not love the premise of this (Tachibana Kaito, an aspiring chef, sees a beautiful "girl" [fate! love at first sight!], who turns out to be Kataoka Isuke ["my, that's a...manly name you have...." *Kaito dies*], a college student who ends up getting a job at the cafe where Kaito works. I also do not love the contrived way they end up living together, but...once we get to that point, this story is so ridiculously adorable. (The hand-holding! Kitty hands! Seeing otters! ["The otters are cute!" "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S CUTE"] The cleaning! The...okay, basically everything they do is adorable.)
I randomly bought this as an e-book (late night e-manga browsing: sooo dangerous to my budget), and when I got to the end, it advertised a second volume, which made me SUPER happy. I'm not thrilled with the plot (random guy temporarily living with Kaito and Isuke, Kaito going to Italy for a year), but the characters are cute enough to carry it, except I really, really did not need a chapter about the cafe owner's tragic love story. Apparently the story is still running, so hopefully we'll just forgot that ever happened and concentrate on Kaito and Isuke for the next volume.
non-BL:
Hiso Hiso -silent voice- (1-3) - Fujitani Youko (sweh!)
When BL authors do non-BL stories, I generally either avoid them on principle or approach them with caution. This, however, is completely adorable and wonderful, and I now think I was silly to avoid it for so long. It's a story about Daichi, a 7-year-old boy who has the power to hear the thoughts of objects, animals, and humans when he touches them, and Kouji, a high school boy who had the same power when he was a kid (and, spoiler that everybody could see coming: he gets the power back after meeting Daichi). Kouji was traumatized by how his parents treated him because of his power, but Daichi's parents are 1000% awesome are supportive of what he can do. There's a really great cast of characters (I really appreciate that Kouji, Tamaki, and Yuusuke all seem like regular high school boys without being overly obnoxious or annoying--I stopped reading flat because I couldn't stand Heisuke anymore), and the voices of the inanimate objects is the icing of the cake. Kouji's cell phone might be one of my favorite characters, and I love little touches like the refrigerator yelling "Ahhh, hurry up and close me!" or Kouji explaining that sleeping on a hotel pillow is uncomfortable because the pillow is nervous.
1. I know I owe gnine some fanfic recs; should I post them here? (This is like that "anyone who's not here, raise your hand" joke...) If there's somewhere else that you would see it sooner (email or whatever), I can do that, too.
2. I have a tumblr (or here if you don't care about about tags, which is just crazy talk). It's...90% Haikyuu and cats, but if you are interested in those things (or don't mind scrolling past them), feel free to follow.
On to reviews:
Okottenai nara Kotchi Muite - Kasai Chiaki (heh...)
Rokumiya Daiki is a member of the school's badminton club, and has been adopted by the puppy-like Iijima Yuu (art club). Yuu is totally in love with Daiki and Daiki...honestly kind of likes it, even if he knows the relationship is weird.
On the one hand, Yuu and Daiki are totally adorable. I was kind of expecting Daiki to be more mean and put Yuu off more, but it's pretty obvious early on that he's crazy about Yuu (just in a more tsundere way, compared to Yuu's puppy-like enthusiasm). Though...this being a Qpa title, it's pretty porny, and I am SO uncomfortable when so much of the sex happens in public places. (Find a room and lock the door, PLEASE.) On the other hand, I hate (HATE) Yuu's gross brother. I hate him in Yuu and Daiki's story (go away and leave them alone and WTF is going on between him and their stepfather, GROSS), and I don't really like him any better in his own weird triangle story. So...this is kind of a mixed bag for me. (note to mangaroo - Daiki is a stand-in for Iwaizumi or Kasamatsu, yes/no?)
Tonari no Wakazou - Sawa Machiko (sweh...)
LOVE the title story, an opposites attract story about two neighbors (and their cat). Also, huge bonus points for the kitty POV extra. I don't think I have anything to say about it; it's exactly what the cover looks like. The one-shot after it (about two high school boys getting to know each other when one accidentally breaks the other's glasses and has to help him all day) is super cute, but the guys don't really get together, so...?
between the sheets | Blue Moon, Blue- Hashimoto Aoi (sweh | heh)
I had seen this book (and then its sequel) floating around as being really popular, but for some reason I thought it was part of another series? And also the cover of the first one is kind of a turn-off for me? So I avoided this for a while. (Turns out the insides are pretty, actually. Soooo pretty. Also, fact: tsundere characters are cats)
Anyway: Aoba Takafumi is a (pretty) bartender who is super-popular with his customers but makes it a point to turn down any offers they make. Ichise is some sort of super-rich hotel executive (complete with hot secretary who really needs his own story, Fukuhara) who is determined to pursue Takafumi until he gives in. Eventually Takafumi agrees to go to dinner (to a really fancy restaurant, because he apparently has really fancy tastes) and then to sleep with Ichisei...but he doesn't want a relationship. This, of course, only makes Ichise even MORE determined to pursue Takafumi. I love the "sex friends fall in love" trope anyway, but this is just a super cute version. Ichise is so doting and it's adorable to see Takafumi get so flustered by it. So, naturally, I was really excited for the sequel, and...meh. I love the characters like crazy, but I didn't love anything about the plot (so over the third wheel thing). Oh, except Takafumi bartending for the hotel party, which was all kinds of adorable (also, Fukuhara is hilarious).
Ohayou to Oyasumi to Sono Ato ni | 2 - Hamada Kamome (sweh! | heh...)
I...kind of do not love the premise of this (Tachibana Kaito, an aspiring chef, sees a beautiful "girl" [fate! love at first sight!], who turns out to be Kataoka Isuke ["my, that's a...manly name you have...." *Kaito dies*], a college student who ends up getting a job at the cafe where Kaito works. I also do not love the contrived way they end up living together, but...once we get to that point, this story is so ridiculously adorable. (The hand-holding! Kitty hands! Seeing otters! ["The otters are cute!" "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S CUTE"] The cleaning! The...okay, basically everything they do is adorable.)
I randomly bought this as an e-book (late night e-manga browsing: sooo dangerous to my budget), and when I got to the end, it advertised a second volume, which made me SUPER happy. I'm not thrilled with the plot (random guy temporarily living with Kaito and Isuke, Kaito going to Italy for a year), but the characters are cute enough to carry it, except I really, really did not need a chapter about the cafe owner's tragic love story. Apparently the story is still running, so hopefully we'll just forgot that ever happened and concentrate on Kaito and Isuke for the next volume.
non-BL:
Hiso Hiso -silent voice- (1-3) - Fujitani Youko (sweh!)
When BL authors do non-BL stories, I generally either avoid them on principle or approach them with caution. This, however, is completely adorable and wonderful, and I now think I was silly to avoid it for so long. It's a story about Daichi, a 7-year-old boy who has the power to hear the thoughts of objects, animals, and humans when he touches them, and Kouji, a high school boy who had the same power when he was a kid (and, spoiler that everybody could see coming: he gets the power back after meeting Daichi). Kouji was traumatized by how his parents treated him because of his power, but Daichi's parents are 1000% awesome are supportive of what he can do. There's a really great cast of characters (I really appreciate that Kouji, Tamaki, and Yuusuke all seem like regular high school boys without being overly obnoxious or annoying--I stopped reading flat because I couldn't stand Heisuke anymore), and the voices of the inanimate objects is the icing of the cake. Kouji's cell phone might be one of my favorite characters, and I love little touches like the refrigerator yelling "Ahhh, hurry up and close me!" or Kouji explaining that sleeping on a hotel pillow is uncomfortable because the pillow is nervous.