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Manga Review | Bad Boys, Happy Home by SHOOWA

Title: Bad Boys, Happy Home

Author(s): SHOOWA

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?

Title: Learning to Love at Your Feet

Author(s): Atono Matsuri

Artist(s): Atono Matsuri

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.

Title: My Frilly Secret

Author(s): Tamuko Kuwata

Artist(s): Tamuko Kuwata

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 cross-dressing. 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 romance is fake. Meanwhile, the enthusiastic “sugar daddy” continues to lurk around.

Title: Please Don't Bite Me So Much!

Author(s): Sangou Mitsuru

Artist(s): Sangou Mitsuru

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?

Title: The Beautiful Greenness

Author(s): Miecohouse Matsumoto

Artist(s): Miecohouse Matsumoto

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.

Title: Perfect World

Author(s): Rie Aruga

Artist(s): Rie Aruga

Tsugumi has been in love with Itsuki since high school. They were never in the same class, but they would often share moments in the library or the hallways, and in these innocent times between friends, Tsugumi’s love for Itsuki blossomed. Itsuki was an active and popular kid, ready to take on the world. He dreamed of becoming an architect, and Tsugumi was prepared to support him. However, just as Tsugumi was working up the courage to confess to Itsuki, he gets a confession from someone else and begins dating her. Heartbroken, Tsugumi fades into the background of Itsuki’s life, and the two naturally grow apart.

Now, Tsugumi is a grown woman working at a job she loves as an interior designer. Deep down, though, she can’t shake the torch that still burns for Itsuki even after all these years. One evening, she is invited to a small reunion with her classmates, and Itsuki happens to be there. They hit it off immediately, which only fans the flames of Tsugumi’s dormant crush. Feeling like this might be destiny, she begins working up the courage to pursue him again, but as everyone begins to leave, Itsuki asks for his chair. He has a spinal cord injury from a car accident and is now wheelchair-bound.

This shocks Tsugumi, and she’s unsure if she can handle dating someone in a wheelchair, but as time goes on and she finds herself actively seeking out Itsuki, the fact that Itsuki is in a wheelchair begins to matter less and less. However, Tsugumi’s acceptance of the new Itsuki isn’t the only problem. Since his accident, Itsuki has sworn off love. Can Tsugumi break down the walls Itsuki has put up around himself? Or are they destined to forever orbit around each other?

Title: Ten Count

Author(s): Rihito Takarai

Artist(s): Rihito Takarai

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?

Title: Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku

Author(s): Fujita

Artist(s): Fujita

Narumi and Hirotaka have been friends since childhood when they bonded over their love of nerdy hobbies. For Narumi, she loved manga and anime. For Hirotaka, his love of video games dominated everything else in his life. However, as their carefree childhood days flew by, Hirotaka soon realized that he cared for Narumi almost as much as his video games. Unfortunately, though, those idyllic days of childhood bliss faded away, and so did Narumi and Hirotaka’s friendship.

As adults, Hirotaka and Narumi end up working at the same office. While they don’t immediately kick off as friends again in adulthood, they find solace in each other’s company once they reveal that their previous obsessions have only intensified. Able to be 100% herself with Hirotaka, Narumi spends a lot of her time complaining and confiding in him, whether it be about her fujoshi-related hobbies, work concerns, or even her failing love life. Hirotaka, still infatuated with Narumi, faithfully stands by as her shoulder to cry on. One day, though, listening to another tale of woe from Narumi due to her various love interests leaving her because of her otaku hobby, Hirotaka takes the plunge. He asks Narumi:

Why doesn’t she just date him instead?

And so begins the struggle of love between a closeted fujoshi and a game-obsessed, antisocial otaku. What could go wrong?

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

Author(s): Atsuko Yusen

Artist(s): Atsuko Yusen

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?

Title: Aishiteruze Baby

Author(s): Yoko Maki

Artist(s): Yoko Maki

Kippei Katakura is a player. As one of the most attractive guys in his high school, he has no shortage of partners to play with every day. However, Kippei’s days of playing bachelor are coming to an end when a major family event rocks the foundation of the Katakura family. Kippei’s aunt Miyako lost her husband. Unable to handle the pressures of single motherhood, Miyako leaves her five-year-old daughter Yuzuyu in the care of Kippei’s family until she can get on her feet.

As the only family member old enough to care for her and with enough free time to do it, Kippei is designated as Yuzuyu’s primary guardian. Yuzuyu quickly takes to Kippei and begins relying on him heavily. Similarly, Kippei finds himself increasingly attached to Yuzuyu, and soon, those irresponsible player days feel like a distant memory. It isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, though. Kippei and Yuzuyu constantly face prejudice, trauma, and the many struggles their unique relationship creates. As their bond grows stronger and stronger, the looming threat that one day they will have to part only grows along with it.

Manga Reviews

Manga Review | Bad Boys, Happy Home by SHOOWA

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

Manga Review | My Frilly Secret by Tamuko Kuwata

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

Manga Review | The Beautiful Greenness by Miecohouse Matsumoto

Manga Review | Perfect World by Rie Aruga

Manga Review | Ten Count by Rihito Takarai

Manga Review | Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku by Fujita

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

Manga Review | Aishiteruze Baby by Yoko Maki

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