My expectations of anything by Momoko Tenzen are now so low that all she has to do is draw something marginally ok at this point for me to think positively of it. This is her 8th title, and it seems she finally figured out how not to suck by now.
Despite the edgy-sounding title (that doesn’t have anything to do with the story), this is really just your typical high school fluff plot. It’s a very straightforward ordeal of two classmates realizing their feelings for each other and then having sex…and honestly, that’s all it needed to be. No complications, no BS, no trying to reinvent the wheel. It’s no mystery what fujoshi want to see in and it delivers.
Matsushita is popular with the ladies but his heart secretly belongs to his friend Mashita, who soon figures out Matsushita’s feelings. Mashita loves him back but is slow to admit it to himself, and though he wants to be the one to be in control and tease and toy with Matsushita a little bit, he finds his resistance wearing thin the closer they get.
This leads to one of my favorite types of BL scenarios, a clothed handjob scene in a public place, in this case in the school bathroom. I just love the loss of control aspect and the fact that they have to be quiet and show some restraint in case someone walks in.
Once they realize they’re in love, the second half of the book is them planning when and where to have sex, which builds some anticipation. They finally end up going to Matsushita’s house and sealing the deal and Tenzen delivers unto us a loving and delicious 13-page sex scene. Alleluia! Here’s a sneak peak:
The story rotates their POVs so that you can see what each character is thinking, but the dialogue and characters’ internal thoughts are sort of dumb and don’t make much sense half the time. The characters have a really cute and wholesome relationship though and it’s a surprisingly decent title, which I can’t believe I’m saying about something Momoko Tenzen drew…she earned it though, this is definitely an improvement on her earlier works like Seven and Manhattan Love Story. The story is better, and the art – though still dated-looking – is more polished for sure. Great title for beginner BL readers too, it’s an easy and short read.
TL;DR Despite the edgy-sounding title this is a pretty tame and fluffy first-love high school story, but it’s surprisingly ok for a Tenzen title…dare I say it’s good even and the art is a bit more polished than her earlier stuff. Plot is very typical and straightforward although the dialogue is kind of dumb. The couple is cute and wholesome though, it’s an easy fluffy read and delivers a nice long sex scene at the end.