I have a tag on this blog for books that are “good for beginners,” and this is one of those that’s ideal for the innocent BL virgins among us looking to dip their toes into the genre. Although it’s an older title, the stories are cute and the art doesn’t feel too dated; I think even a Catholic priest would have a hard time being offended by a shounen-ai this wholesome. They may even ask to borrow it and leave it around for the altar boys to find…you know, to get a second opinion.
The book features three stories all with high-school aged characters, possibly all students from the same school, and the main story is definitely the highlight with a simple but winning premise: bubbly and talkative high schooler Mamoru dies and becomes a ghost because he had a unfulfilled regret, which was that he never confessed to or kissed his secret crush, the much more quiet and reserved Mizuno. He thus becomes a friendly ghost in Mizuno’s house, where their opposite personalities clash as Mamoru tries to get in death what he wanted in life. It was a great idea, but had some missed potential because it was a little too short. To her credit, she confirmed in the afterward she planned it too short and then ran out of pages, but given those circumstances she did a good job with it.
I was confused about what Mamoru could and couldn’t do as a ghost, although this didn’t matter much for the story. He seemed to be able to walk through walls and touch objects but it was not super clear if Mamoru could feel Mizuno’s touch or vice versa, and how. I guess only Mizuno can see him since Mamoru showed up at his own funeral so I assume other people would have been like ‘wait, you’re supposed to be dead..?’ if he was visible to anyone else. But really, I think I probably just got more wrapped up in these details than was warranted – they specifics didn’t really matter that much and plus it was a three-chapter story after all, and so perhaps it was better that it mainly focused on the relationship development.
I did kinda want a scene though where Mizuno’s dad came home while Mamoru was cooking or something and he starts freaking out because objects are floating around the kitchen and Mizuno would have been like ‘don’t worry dad, it’s a friendly ghost, he makes good okonomiyaki’ or something. The mangaka also notably avoided a whoops-I-walked-through-the-wall-into-your-room-while-you-were-naked scene, which seemed like low-hanging fruit in terms of possibilities. There was a bit of humor here and there but comedy wasn’t the primary mood of the story – the premise certainly had plenty of untapped comedic potential but she mostly chose to keep it a more serious tone.
The other two stories were also cute and innocent, but not as memorable. The next one was “Cool Lips,” and it follows two friends and the internal struggle of one (Hashiba, left) when the other (Otsuki, right) kisses him out of the blue. Otsuki is hospitalized for anemia and Hashiba is forced to confront him and reckon with his conflicting feelings over this. There’s actually TWO kisses in this one, guys! Talk about naughty…
The last story, “Recipe,” is a fluffy baking-themed story. It doesn’t really have any shounen-ai in it, but the subtext was there I guess. I initially thought it had the same characters from the first story but they’re indeed different (the blonde one is named Minoru and I had to flip back and check that that wasn’t the name of the blonde kid in the first story – there’s a lot of characters here with similar-sounding M names).
Maeda has a cute art style that is appealing to look at. You can tell it’s from a while back yet it maintains its charm and individuality. Her characters are expressive and likable, and though they’re definitely a little same-y looking but this didn’t bother me too much.
Tomo Maeda’s name was familiar to me and I felt like I owned something else by her, and so I looked her up and saw that the series I must be thinking of was Black Sun Silver Moon, released in English by Go!Comi – her debut series and only other English-licensed title. She was not very prolific and Beyond My Touch was actually her only BL…she mostly does shojo and shojo-ai. This is a bit of a shame as I think she had a cute style, but I haven’t yet read a Go!Comi title that didn’t have a bit of BL fanservice so I guess I can look forward to that possibility when I read Black Sun Silver Moon.
Maeda is full of self-criticism in the afterword and goes beyond the typical Japanese polite apologizing, and I thought she was being too hard on herself. As her first BL she was clearly lacking confidence, but she did just fine. I’ve read far worse debuts. Given that it was her only BL she must not have loved doing the genre, but I’m glad she gave us this one anyway. The more BL in the world, the better!
TL;DR This is shounen-ai stevia – a sweet, sugary alternative if smut spikes your blood sugar. The main “ghost story” has a great premise and some missed potential due to its short length, but it’s a nice read all the same. I think I would have liked this title more if I’d read it when I had less BL under my belt. Ideal for those who like their shounen-ai like they like their green tea – comfy and wholesome.