Manga Review | Metro by Chika Hongo

Title: Metro



Mizuki spends his days under the watchful and paranoid eyes of his mother. It was of no fault of his own that he is monitored so carefully, but it is instead due to his father's infidelity. Because his father ended up having a scandalous affair and left both Mizuki and his mother behind, Mizuki's mother now views everything sexual as evil. To prevent her son from following the same path as his father, she makes him write out every hour of his day, monitors the media he consumes, and controls every aspect of his life that she can so he never encounters anything she deems as immoral.

This causes Mizuki's life to become rather hollow, especially since, due to an illness, he could not graduate high school and is forced to attend his final year again as somewhat of a social pariah among the strangers in his class. The only spark in his life is the few times he rides the metro. There, on the train, a faceless man assaults him. For someone else, this would be traumatic and horrific, and though it does scare Mizuki, he finds it thrilling and the only intimate connection he's ever had with another person.

This happens nearly every day like clockwork, with the man touching Mizuki for a while only to disappear without a word, until one day, while touching Mizuki, the man tells Mizuki that if he gets off the train with him, he'll give Mizuki more. Having been isolated and sheltered for so long, Mizuki finds himself unable to refuse this offer. But is what he finds on the other side worth risking his simple and routine life for?

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Manhwa Review | The Black Mirror by Muhwa

Title: The Black Mirror



Tae-jun spends every day trying his best not to rock the boat. He does his best to make everyone like him, to make the best grades possible, and to make his caregiver proud, all at the expense of any of his wants or needs. Tae-jun is whoever he needs to be to survive; that is all he can hope for. This all started because Tae-jun lost all of his memories after a traumatic accident during his childhood. The accident also had a lasting effect of strange hallucinations, which, as a child, made it hard for Tae-jun to fit in. So, to protect himself and fit in with a world that couldn't understand him, Tae-jun changed himself to fit in.

All of his careful crafting of this perfect personality begins to crack when he encounters Yeon-woo. Yeon-woo recognizes Tae-jun immediately, but Tae-jun doesn't remember Yeon-woo, much to Tae-jun's despair. Nevertheless, Tae-jun is drawn to Yeon-woo, desperate to understand their history and see if Yeon-woo knows anything about the accident that caused him to forget his childhood memories. Yeon-woo is more than eager to let Tae-jun into his life and to help explore their past, but as they get deeper and deeper into their shared history, the hallucinations that have haunted the edges of Tae-jun's life grow ever closer. The safe life Tae-jun has built for himself is about to fall apart, but he can't seem to shake himself away from the cause: Yeon-woo.

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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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Manhwa Review | If You Hate Me So by Fargo

Title: If You Hate Me So



Minjae is doing his best to get through school as quietly as possible. Unfortunately, that goes all out the window when he walks in on Hyung-jo doing something… inappropriate while the T.A., Jinhan, is asleep. Hyung-jo is obsessively in love with the T.A., and when he realizes Minjae has caught him, Hyung-jo is willing to go to any length to protect his secret crush from ridicule, even if it means hurting Minjae. Hyung-jo clarifies that he doesn't care what anyone says about him, but he won't tolerate anyone bad-mouthing Jinhan.

If that isn't bad enough, Minjae also develops a crush on Jinhan, but Minjae refuses to back down. Only to make matters worse, Jinhan constantly brings Minjae and Hyung-jo together, forcing the two to interact even when they would both instead do anything but be in the same room with each other. Somehow, while they are fighting each other over Jinhan, Jinhan slowly stops being their focus. Instead, the only people in their view are each other. But, from enemies to lovers, is that even possible?

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