Manga Review | Bad Boys, Happy Home by SHOOWA

Title: Bad Boys, Happy Home



Akamatsu is a bit of a wild child. Chocking it all up to puberty, he finds himself pent-up with rage and frustrations over life. One day, he passes by the park and sees another young delinquent hanging out there. The guy looks tough, and Akamatsu, brimming with energy, feels compelled to fight the stranger. So, he calls the guy out and starts a brawl, which leads to Akamatsu being knocked out. Satisfied with this new outlet, Akamatsu returns day after day to fight this mysterious man, and he is only happy to oblige.

Akamatsu is pretty happy with this setup until the day his sparring partner is forced to leave the park because his sleeping place, some large pipes, has been taken away. Faced with the reality that he won’t be able to let out all of his pent-up energy on the man anymore, Akamatsu does the only thing he knows to do: offer the man to stay with him. The man ends up agreeing, and finally, after all this time, he introduces himself as Seven. So begins Seven and Akamatsu’s awkward life together. As Seven and Akamatsu grow closer, their pasts start to haunt them, but even so, it only seems to bring them closer and closer together. Can these young men overcome their complicated pasts and forge a new future together?

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Manga Review | Learning to Love at Your Feet by Atono Matsuri

Title: Learning to Love at Your Feet



In this world, there are secondary genders and sex characteristics known as dynamics. As part of dynamics, there are doms, subs, switches, and normals. Doms are those who wish to control, praise, and punish. Subs are those who want to be controlled, earn praise, and be punished. There are exceedingly rare switches, and they can take the role of either a dom or sub during play. Then, there are normals, those who aren’t inclined or in need of any dom/sub play. Kippei is a sub but would like nothing more than to be anything else.

Kippei has lived his life trying everything he can to avoid the fact that he is a sub. He’s relied on medications to keep his needs at bay, but unfortunately, the time has come. He’s developed a resistance to the meds, so now he needs to find a partner. He’s not too keen on hunting for one organically, so he signs up for a government-run matchmaking service. What are the odds that the person he is matched with is his coworker Sota? With his secondary sex exposed, Kippei agrees to establish a partnership with Sota in exchange for his discretion.

Over time, Kippei begins to learn the joys of being a sub, but as he grows closer to Sota, he wonders if Sota sees him only as a sub or as something more.

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Manga Review | My Frilly Secret by Tamuko Kuwata

Title: My Frilly Secret



Aoi is known as the gloomy kid with no friends, and he agrees. However, it’s not for lack of trying. He would like to have friends, but his insecurities regarding his hobbies make it hard for him to reach out. His hobby in question? He enjoys the art of . Since he was a small child, Aoi has always been drawn to cute and feminine things, which he expresses in his bedroom decor and his collection of dresses, wigs, and accessories. Unfortunately, due to his insecurity, Aoi is forced to hide his hobby at home, unable to express himself publically.

One day, Aoi sees a dress he is drawn to. Unfortunately, the dress is $300, which is way out of his price range. Disheartened, he is forced to leave the dress behind… until his sister and classmates mention a method of earning money through “sugar daddies,” aka compensated dating. Interested in the opportunity, Aoi signs up for a profile and mentions his hobby in the listing, which draws the attention of a rather enthusiastic customer. While on the date, the customer pushes Aoi into going with him to a hotel to take photos of him while cross-dressing, which has Aoi on red alert and panicking.

Things aren’t looking so good until Yuto, one of Aoi’s silent and stoic classmates, comes in and rescues him. On the way out of the rescue, though, Aoi ends up exposing his cross-dressing hobby to Yuto. Thankfully, Yuto doesn’t seem bothered by it. Instead, he almost seems interested. In exchange for Yuto’s heroic rescue, Yuto asks for one thing in return: date him while cross-dressing so he can become comfortable with women. Grateful for all Yuto has done for him, Aoi agrees. Over time, though, Aoi begins to question why Yuto is so affectionate and kind, even though their is fake. Meanwhile, the enthusiastic “sugar daddy” continues to lurk around.

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Manga Review | Please Don’t Bite Me So Much! by Sangou Mitsuru

Title: Please Don't Bite Me So Much!



Yanagi wants to be cool. So he’s bleached his hair and changed his image to achieve just that. But even with that change, Yanagi still isn’t putting out the image he desperately craves as a self-proclaimed “plain face.” Of course, it doesn’t help that he is put face-to-face every day at work with a guy who embodies all of the attitude and aesthetic he craves for himself: Igarashi. Igarashi is the talk of the town. He’s good-looking, a bit of a playboy, and he’s got an aesthetic that Yanagi would die for.

Needless to say, Yanagi isn’t Igarashi’s biggest fan. Even so, much like everyone else, Yanagi can’t help but be drawn to the tall, dark, and handsome coworker. But what draws Yanagi to Igarashi isn’t the same thing that draws anyone else in. Igarashi has a unique characteristic: a set of pronounced fanged canines. For whatever reason, Yanagi desperately wants to touch them. Instead, he wouldn’t mind if Igarashi bit him with those sharp teeth. But when would that chance ever come about?

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Manga Review | The Beautiful Greenness by Miecohouse Matsumoto

Title: The Beautiful Greenness



Taro is an author, or at least he is supposed to be, but he has been experiencing writer’s block that has been impossible for him to overcome. In the meantime, he has been freelancing and writing articles for a couple of publications to make ends meet. Otherwise, he spends his days lounging about his apartment, depressed and alone. Life doesn’t seem like it will change anytime soon until he runs into a greengrocer hawking his wares. Taro doesn’t intend to buy anything, but the greengrocer targets Taro and offers him a deal he can’t possibly refuse: 100 yen for a carrot and spinach.

Despite Taro not knowing how to cook, he accepts the deal and spends the rest of the day complaining about the persistence of the greengrocer. That night, he discovers his bath is out of order, and the following day, he is forced to go out to a public bath, where he runs into the same greengrocer. The two get into an argument due to Taro’s poor attitude and homophobic comments, which prompts Haruki, the greengrocer, to buy back the produce. However, while heading back to Taro’s house, Haruki discovers that Taro might be hiding something tender and sad inside him. When they finally arrive, Haruki takes the chance to see if he can peel back Taro’s layers to find what secrets he has hidden within.

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Manga Review | Ten Count by Rihito Takarai

Title: Ten Count



Shirotani suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder. He spends every day in fear of being contaminated. The only way he can make it through his day-to-day life is by covering himself completely and avoiding as much human contact as possible. As a result, Shirotani is always in long sleeves and long pants along with a set of gloves to protect his hands. Even with all of the protection, though, the moment he enters his home, he must strip completely and put the contaminated clothes away, then he has to wash his hands as many times as possible until they are chapped and bleeding. This is Shirotani’s routine.

At least it was, until the day his boss narrowly avoided being hit by a car. While parked on the side of the road, the company president received a phone call, which he took just outside the car. While on the phone, he failed to notice a car heading his way. Shirotani, seeing the oncoming vehicle, calls out to the president and reaches out to him, but at the very last second, his aversion to human touch stops him. Thankfully, though, a passerby on a bicycle saves the president. As it turns out, this savior is Kurose, a counselor at a psychiatric clinic, and the moment he sees Shirotani’s gloves, he identifies that Shirotani has germophobia.

Ashamed by his inability to save the president and from Kurose’s urging, Shirotani begins seeking help from Kurose. First, Kurose has Shirotani write down ten things he can’t do due to his obsessive-compulsive disorder – 1 being the easiest to achieve, 10 being near impossible. Then, together, Kurose and Shirotani go through each one and try to overcome them with exposure therapy. However, the line between counselor and patient begins to blur, and soon Shirotani is doing things with Kurose that disgust him, yet he craves it. Does Kurose truly see Shirotani as a patient needing treatment, or is there something more? And if there is more, can Shirotani overcome enough of his aversions to let Kurose in?

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Manga Review | Dekoboko Sugar Days, Dekoboko Bittersweet Days, and Dekoboko Sugar Days – Extra: Boys, Enjoy Your Youth! by Atsuko Yusen

Title: Dekoboko Sugar Days | Dekoboko Bittersweet Days | Dekoboko Sugar Days - Extra: Boys, Enjoy Your Youth!



Yuujirou Matsukaze and Rui Hanamine’s lifelong friendship began when they were small children. Rui fell into a drain, and Yuujirou was there to rescue him. From that day on, Yuujirou was always there to help defend and protect his soft-hearted friend Rui. However, protecting him has become a lot more complicated since Rui now towers over Yuujirou, and he’s no longer that cute little bundle of joy always trailing behind Yuujirou. Regardless, Yuujirou still hangs out with Rui every chance he gets…

Until Yuujirou realizes that he still thinks Rui is cute – way cuter than any girl or any guy he has ever seen. Does Yuujirou actually like Rui? Faced with this realization, Yuujirou is no longer sure how strong the foundation of their friendship is. Could it withstand him confessing to Rui? Could Rui even like him back? While Yuujirou is grappling with his own feelings, his friendship with Rui grows tenuous. Can Yuujirou come to terms with himself before losing Rui’s friendship altogether?

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Manga Review | Sweat and Soap by Kintetsu Yamada

Title: Sweat and Soap



Asako works at a toiletry manufacturing company in the finance department, which is convenient since she struggles with something that makes life pretty tricky: sweat. Asako sweats much more than average, so she has to be extra hygienic to avoid smelling out in public. Even with her above-average hygiene habits, though, Asako still finds herself stressing over her smell. As a child, she was relentlessly bullied for sweating, and that trauma has carried over into her adulthood. So, her days are spent in constant anxiety and fear over getting too close to those around her and becoming the laughingstock of her peers due to her hygiene.

Her fears come to a head when the lead product developer Kotaro Natori at work approaches her in the lobby because of her smell. He has an unnaturally strong sense of smell because he develops the soaps their company produces, and Asako’s scent is particularly strong to him. However, he doesn’t dislike her smell at all. Instead, he is inspired by it, and he desperately needs Asako’s odor to inspire him for the upcoming Winter line of soaps he is preparing to present. Though Asako wants to do anything but let Kotaro smell her all day, for the company’s sake, she agrees to let Kotaro smell her at the daily. It’s not long, though, before Kotaro is drawn to Asako for more than just her smell, and even Asako is beginning to enjoy these sniff sessions a bit more than she expected.

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Manga Review | Pink Heart Jam by Shikke

Title: Pink Heart Jam



Haiga is experiencing many firsts. It is his first time in , it is his first time living in the city away from his rural home, and it is his first time faced with his sexuality. While touring his campus for the first time, Haiga sees Kanae, a beautiful man and Haiga’s upperclassman. Haiga is immediately attracted to him, but he isn’t sure if he simply admires Kanae or if he really is attracted to him as a man. Without any real reason to find out, Haiga is left on his own to wonder.

That is until his peers give him money to visit a box spa after a night of drinking. However, this particular box spa is located in the gay district, which Haiga uses to his advantage to help answer the question: does he like men or not? Of course, Haiga doesn’t expect that the person servicing him is none other than Kanae. So, this is a chance for Haiga to discover his sexuality and determine if his feelings for Kanae are more than simple admiration for his upperclassman. While he is figuring that out, another question lingers in the back of Haiga’s mind: how does Kanae feel about him?

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Manga Review | Yagi the Bookshop Goat by Fumi Furukawa

Title: Yagi the Bookshop Goat



In this world, herbivores and carnivores live amicably, though this is primarily because they live in separate zones – one catering to herbivores, the other to carnivores. However, even if you are an herbivore, it doesn’t mean you’ll be treated fairly in the section for herbivores. This is the unfortunate case for Yagi, a goat who wants nothing more than to work at a bookshop. However, like most goats, Yagi has the habit of eating paper, which doesn’t work out too well for his employers.

Unable to get a job at any herbivore bookshop, Yagi goes where he shouldn’t: a carnivore bookshop managed by a wolf named Ookami. Ookami gives Yagi a job, and while Yagi does eat a book on occasion, Ookami scolds him but lets him work there all the same. Yagi thinks it is simply because Ookami is kind, but there is something more behind the wolf’s good deeds. Not only does he have a complicated past, but he might see Yagi as more than just an employee.

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