otakulys's manga / #heartwarming(4)

Very sad, some more than others. I think this anthology showed strengths and weaknesses among the mangaka involved. Short stories can be challenging, writing something satisfying that fills in the blanks and makes sense in such a limited amount of space. The first story broke my heart into a million pieces. I was ugly crying and my cat came and forced me to hold him, which made me cry harder, so there's that. I was super bummed to see that mangaka has yet to produce anything else. I hope that just means she's new and we'll see a lot more from her in the future. Several stories were a little brief and rushed, but the ones that hit you hit you hard. Definitely a sweet but very heartbreaking anthology. Obviously, haha. But it was a good kind of sad. It felt real and emotional. The stronger stories, at least.

I was torn between four stars and five until the ending. It was so sweet, so I had to go with five. Beautiful art as always, and the mangaka sure has her little kinks that seem to pop up a lot. She loves two moles on the uke, a seme with memory loss, and lack of communication of feelings causing issues, lol. But her work is great, and she never uses nasty tropes like rape to love, so her little quirks are fine by me. I actually guessed the twist right at the beginning (in a general sense) but I got so caught up in the story that I actually forgot and got surprised. XD That's the sign of a good manga. This isn't my absolute fave by her for a few reasons, but I did really enjoy it. She's quickly becoming one of my favorite mangaka.

Awwww! What a sweet story. Always a surprise when it comes to this author, haha. The language used to describe the deaf people was slightly problematic here and there, though I don't know if that's a cultural difference or general ignorance from the mangaka. In the states, it's offensive in deaf culture to refer to deaf people as disabled, for example. But either way, this was a sweet, heartwarming story that made me cry. I loved the main characters so much. And on the topic of the main pair, I can see why some people might view it as shounen ai or romantic, etc. Personally, regardless of their genders, they just seemed like really close, sibling-type friends to me. But I loved their dynamic and how much they supported each other. A very sweet, sad, and heartwarming story. <3

Sad and sweet little story. I gave it five stars, but I feel like it could have gone a little deeper. More with the mom, more with the family. I mean, I like how it turned out more or less, but it felt too short for what it was. These stories rarely really dive into the conflict of being gay in a homophobic world. But I appreciated the attempt.