Manga Review | My Beloved North Star by Ayu Sakumoto

Title: My Beloved North Star



Yuri Mizutani is just trying to live a good life as your average student. Every day is no different from the next until he encounters a foreigner who seemingly can't speak Japanese. The guy seems to need help getting to Yuri's high school. Despite his better judgment, he helps the foreigner find his way. The guy is so happy that he kisses Yuri on the cheek as thanks before disappearing onto campus. Yuri is shocked but brushes it off as a strange encounter and moves along with his day.

To his surprise, in class, the strange foreigner is back and is introduced as Kei Satono, a transfer student from the United States. As it turns out, he can speak perfect Japanese and, later admits, only put on an act in hopes of ingratiating himself with the women who have a thing for foreigners. Unfortunately, Kei thought Yuri was a woman, which plays on deeply rooted insecurities Yuri has about his looks, which are more feminine than most. Yuri does his best not to get upset, especially since he assumes Kei will leave him alone once he reveals his gender, but upon telling Kei he's a man, Kei just seems all the more encouraged to pursue him.

Is there a way to get Kei to focus his attention somewhere else? Or is Yuri doomed to be the object of Kei's affection forever?

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Manga Review | Hand in Hand by Ayu Sakumoto

Title: Hand in Hand



Yuasa is beautiful, which has become more of a curse than anything. Yuasa can't make real connections with most people as they only see him for his good looks and nothing else. So, he's cultivated a close group of three friends and doesn't go beyond that unless he has to for school or work. While in the library, he ends up brushing hands with a freshman named Satoru, a jewelry craftsman. There's nothing remarkable about the situation, and Yuasa fully expects that any interest Satoru has in him is rooted solely in Yuasa's looks.

To his surprise, though, Satoru couldn't care less about Yuasa's face. Instead, Satoru only cares about Yuasa's hands, which he dubs his ideal, dream hands. As it turns out, Satoru has an intense hand fetish, manifesting in an obsession with touching, taking pictures of, sketching, and making jewelry for Yuasa's hands. While Yuasa is disturbed by this weird turn of events, he can't help but find it refreshing to meet someone who likes him for something other than his face. So begins Satoru and Yuasa's push-and-pull relationship of Yuasa keeping Satoru at arm's length while Satoru does everything he can to get close to those hands.

However, the more time they spend together, the more Satoru's love for Yuasa's hands begins to encompass all of Yuasa. Will Yuasa be able to accept Satoru's evolving feelings? Or will he run away in fear of another superficial relationship?

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