This was an early title in my collection and I read like part of it or something and remember liking it ok. Reading it again I’m not sure it’s so good that I have to hold onto it still but it’s a cute one-shot compilation for 2008. I guess nowdays we’re just spoiled with such super good BL that this older ‘ok’ BL just pales in comparison.
The first story is about an author named Abe and his young past assistant Nakahara, who up and left without a trace two years ago and then suddenly shows up on his doorstep, having finished college and not having a place to go, and wants to move in with him – and also ride his dick. The two hooked up in the past but Abe was a bit salty about Nakahara taking off on him; however he always cared for him so begrudgingly lets him stay. Abe starts to get insecure about getting in a relationship with someone who might leave again, especially when Nakahara’s ex enters the picture, and works on resolving that. Mainly with his cock. This is a magic problem solver in BL world, of course.
The second story is a cute high school shounen-ai slice of life, a high school pairing between two guys – Nirehara and Yoshizaki – who were childhood friends and used to run on the track team together, but Nirehara injured his leg and quit and then took up photography and through taking pics of the team regains his friendship (and more) with Yoshizaki. Short and sweet.
The third story was the dumbest but it had my favorite sex scene – two friends, Masashi and Kei, had been friends for three years after one asked the other out and then got too scared and pretended it was a joke. But three years later he asks again, and this time it wasn’t a joke, and turns out (surprise) the other felt the same. Like first of all…3 years this situation went on? Bruh, no one stays friends with a dude who ‘jokingly’ grabs his hand and asks him out unless he’s interested in you.
The next one was pretty short but the premise was unique, basically one guy takes the other out near the shore to break up with him. They got together after his bf broke up with a woman, and now he’s insecure and doesnt think his bf could ever be truly happy with a man. It was sweet and emotional and they don’t end up breaking up of course. Cue the serious drama!
The next one was another high school pairing, about a guy who thinks he’s incapabale of falling in love walking in on a younger classmate fucking a girl in an empty classroom and after the younger guy toys with the older one a bit afterwards they both realize they fell in love at first sight. This story was just begging for a second empty classroom hookup with the guys, but it ended too fast. Hey! How come the guy fucks a chick but not a dude? I feel cheated…
I liked the one after this, it was two guys who worked at an advertising company, Uno and Kurokawa. The author mentions in the back that this was a result of wanting to write a story about two “no-good boys” but I didn’t get that vibe at all, like they’re both employed at a 9-5 and no one ass-rapes anyone, so how bad can they both really be honestly. Anyway K is always having to help Uno with his work and Uno desperately tries to improve to impress K, who he has a crush on. After K kisses him after a night of drinking with coworkers, he becomes distant and the frustrated Uno confronts him, which leads to – an afterhours office blowjob, which was another hot sex scene.
The nice thing about one-comps is that they’re hard to get bored with since every like 20-30 pages there’s a totally new story and pairing. I liked most of the stories, she’s pretty good at doing these little one-shots and, and she writes good characters and makes them all look different too. We get a big dose of each narrator’s inner thoughts which helps you care and understand them more.
Her art has a bit of a ‘sketchy’ and wispy feeling and the shading is notably high-contrast, maybe too much so…her style sort of grew on my by the end but I don’t like how she tended to draw noses, they’re a little too short and upturned in some panels.
I believe this is the only title by this mangaka we have in English and was surprised to see that she’s still active today with a decent amount of titles under her belt. She doesn’t have much that’s been scanlated but I took a peek at some previews from her newer works and her art style is pretty similar but a little cleaner. Would be a longshot but pretty cool if we got one of her newer works, I feel like they’d be a good fit for Tokyopop.
TL;DR Cute one-shot compilation of mostly younger characters; the pairings are pretty wholesome and Miike is a decent writer. Her style has a sketchy/wispy feel that’s appealing despite looking dated. Easy read with a good blend of romance, drama, sex, and slice of life. Wished some of the stories were longer.