“Life is kind of a pain,” thinks Chiaki Sakaguchi at the outset of this exceptional one-shot. Chiaki is bored with school; it seems so trivial compared to the painful secret guilt he carries over his father’s death. In an attempt to dull that pain, Chiaki seeks out new pain, getting involved in an abusive incestuous relationship with his stepfather and resorting to cutting … [Read more...] about CUT by Toko Kawai: A
Boys' Love
ZE 1-2 by Yuki Shimizu: B-
When Raizou’s beloved grandmother dies, he leaves the country home where they had lived and moves to the city, where he enrolls in culinary school and takes a job as a live-in housekeeper at a mansion. There, he meets the members of the Mitou family, who wield the word-based power of kotodama, and their kami-sama, human-like creations made from paper who heal the wounds caused … [Read more...] about ZE 1-2 by Yuki Shimizu: B-
Silver Diamond 4 by Shiho Sugiura: A-
When some mysterious visitors from another world suddenly appeared in his garden, Rakan learned that he possesses the valuable skills of a sanome—someone with the ability to make plants grow—and that he originally came from the other world himself. After spending several volumes getting to know his houseguests, Rakan has decided to return with them to their blighted and … [Read more...] about Silver Diamond 4 by Shiho Sugiura: A-
You Will Drown in Love by Hinako Takanaga: B+
Part companion volume to You Will Fall in Love and part sequel, You Will Drown in Love gives Reiichiro’s perspective of events as he reconnects with his long-lost best friend, Haru, and learns of Haru’s relationship with his younger brother, Tsukasa. After Haru rejects his confession of love, Reiichiro talks it over with his employee, Jinnai, who’s been giving him advice on a … [Read more...] about You Will Drown in Love by Hinako Takanaga: B+
U Don’t Know Me by Rakun: A-
Seyun and Yoojin grew up together because their fathers were close friends, and even after Seyun and his family move some distance away their friendship endures. Now in high school, Seyun is doing his best to get Yoojin to notice him in a romantic way, but Yoojin seems oblivious until the day one of his friends tells him, in a case of mistaken identity, that Seyun is “a … [Read more...] about U Don’t Know Me by Rakun: A-