Sleeps In Sunbeams's manga / #Single Father(13)

This is the kind of story that you want to take your time with and enjoy. Single father, Oosawa had known his regular restaurant customer Yoshioka, for a long time now. He had seen the openly gay salary man go through relationships with a variety of partners and couldn’t help but be a little judgemental at the string of broken hearts left in his wake. But when he gets to know the now single Yoshii outside of work, the two become unexpected friends (although Yoshioka cheerfully pursued the straight man for something more) and each learns to depend on the other in an unlikely romance. Their story makes sense, the characters have well developed histories that make their relationship feel authentic, and it’s all just very sweet.

Completed story This was a sweet story about young single dad Take, his adorably bratty son Kota, and the new kindergarten sensei, Aota. For ex yankee Take, raising his son alone after his wife left has been full of challenges. But the anxieties of being a good parent were matched by the loneliness he found after old friends drifted away and his partner left with a new man. So when Aota praised him for being strong and doing his best, he broke down in his arms. That vulnerable moment bonded this seemingly mismatched pair and their story was really lovely to read. Falling for each other was natural and the little family really were heartwarming. I loved the art for Take, he had such a cute delinquent look that was still remarkably vulnerable. Loved the story.

I found this to be a rather melancholy story, not a cute one (though Iyo was cute). Things just didn’t make much sense when it came to character motivations. Most especially with Fumichi. He is waiter at a bar where he got beaten up by a customer he offended. But he keeps working there, even when the customer returns, drugs and rapes him violently. And he still returns. Sure, there is an impression that the drug makes him forget a lot, but it makes no sense especially when you find out he doesn’t even get paid at the bar? The flashes of his childhood show him as a runaway with no attachment to his caregivers. But no reasoning why. Are they abusive, was he stolen, are they even his parents? When saviour type Sazawa and his daughter, Iyo step in, Fumichi seems to fall for them both. But he resists that safety. Feelings of low self worth? I found him hard to relate to. I still enjoyed the story but overall it feels like too many missed opportunities to flesh out both of the MCs properly. CW: Rape.