Trope: Mental Illness / Mental Health Condition
These works feature a main character or multiple leads with mental health conditions. It may not be identified within the story and is simply a vague set of mental health symptoms that the characters must deal with throughout the story.
Manga Review | A Stomachful of Secret Delights by Tsutako Tsurusawa
Cat Man is So Stressed About His Relationship, He Pees Blood
Novel Review | Until I Meet My Husband by Ryousuke Nanasaki
How a Child Becomes an Advocate for Other Children Like Him
Manhwa Review | Escape into Oblivion by Gawee
Title: Escape into Oblivion
Woojin is willing to do anything to escape. Escape from what? His family, school, his lovers, and life in general. He’ll do whatever it takes to escape, whether through sex, alcohol, moving away, hiding from school, or anything else. It’s almost like a game to Woojin, and it’s one that he wins often. That is until he meets Hwon.
Hwon does anything Woojin asks, even when Woojin does everything he can to either run from Hwon or hurt him. This intensity of love is new to Woojin, and it scares him. What scares him even more, though, is who Hwon might be. Part of why Woojin feels the need to escape is that when he was a child, his friend was beaten by a homeless boy they would occasionally pick on and whom Woojin would confide in. Rather than save his friend, Woojin ran away, never to see the friend again.
Could Hwon be that friend seeking revenge? Or could he be the homeless boy, finally back to take what belongs to him, Woojin? Woojin’s not sure which he would prefer, but he knows one thing for sure. No matter who Hwon ends up being, Woojin has fallen hopelessly in love with him, which is something he can’t escape.
Manhwa Review | Dine With a Vampire by PANGIN
Title: Dine With a Vampire
Sooin spends every day living in utter hell. He lives in a world stuck between guilt and rage, love and vengeance, and complacency and revenge. The best he can do on a day-to-day basis is to try not to anger his roommate, Sungha. Why Sungha? Because Sungha spends every day torturing and beating Sooin because Sooin fell in love with him. Sooin could leave, but his guilt won’t allow him to, as he feels his love for Sungha has turned him into a monster. So he endures Sungha’s cruelty, but not without hoping that someday he can escape.
Then, while at work, Sooin meets another kind of monster. He runs into the owner of the restaurant he works at, Chi-hwan, because of a cut on Sooin’s finger. It turns out that Chi-hwan is a vampire, but not just any vampire. Instead, he is a vampire that can’t drink human blood and must subsist off the hearts of his fellow vampire brethren. But for some reason, he is drawn to Sooin’s blood, and when he gets a taste of it, he finds it perfectly palatable when human blood hasn’t been for so long.
Desperate to ensure Sooin stays alive and well so he can partake in his blood, Chi-hwan makes him an offer Sooin can’t refuse. Chi-hwan will kill for Sooin, including Sungha. All Sooin has to do is give him blood.
Manhwa Review | May Belongs to Me by eol
Title: May Belongs to Me
May has terrible taste in men. His latest boyfriend tended to hit him whenever he was upset, then blamed May for “liking it.” May is pretty quick to leave when things go sour, but due to his homeless status, he’s quick to get with the next man for a place to stay. He’s already got Youngjin, a kind bar owner, in his sights when his abusive boyfriend comes back one evening since he’s also an employee at the bar. The ex-boyfriend attacks May, choking him, but just before May passes out, a mysterious man appears and takes care of the ex before stealing away May in the middle of the night.
When May wakes, he finds him naked, in bed, in an unfamiliar, stark white bedroom. While that is strange enough on its own, he also finds a collar locked around his neck, connected to a chain. May has been in some shitty situations before, but this takes the cake. While trying to determine if this is an ex or just a psychopath, May meets his captor: Jooin. While Jooin doesn’t seem like some fanatical psychopath, he also doesn’t seem like one of May’s exes, but Jooin acts like they know each other.
Jooin is kind and sweet (besides being a kidnapper, of course), but he has the odd inclination to treat May as if he were a cat. He feeds him cat treats, buys him cat toys… and he wants to neuter May? What is going on? Who is this guy?
Manga Review | Until I Meet My Husband by Ryousuke Nanasaki
Title: Until I Meet My Husband
Based on a novel of the same name by Ryousuke Nanasaki.
This is the story of Ryousuke Nanasaki. From the time he was small, he always knew he was different. Whether it was the way he spoke, the way he walked, or the things he enjoyed, he never could mesh with what the world expected him to be as a little boy. This only became all the more apparent when he began going to school and was incessantly bullied for being a “girly-boy.” Whether it was by adults or his peers, he was always treated as an “other” until he met Tsukasa. Of course, Tsukasa was Ryousuke’s best friend, but more than that, he was his unrequited first love.
This starts a journey of self-acceptance, self-love, and the journey for true love for Ryousuke Nanasaki. Ryousuke has never been what the world perceived as normal, but that would never stop him. He wants true happiness with the one he loves and wants that for everyone, no matter who you choose to love.