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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Because I haven't read a lot of manga I'm not the best at reviewing them so here's my best shot. Since I have read from this author before I was familiar with their particular style of friends to lovers romance with an epic adventure/pilgrimage thrown in ad well as having the characters separate from eachother near the end and come back to eachother. I really did enjoy this story and how saeki and wataru bonded over there love of movies. Overall I would continue with this series because I want to see the rest of how their story unfolds.
*I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
This is an insta fave for me! I love the slow pace of this story and the way that Wataru's feelings for Saeki gradually develop the more time they spend together. It reminded me of I Hear the Sunspot -- where one character (Saeki) is up front about declaring his feelings and it takes the other guy (Wataru) time to catch up and reciprocate. I loved getting to know the characters more, and Saeki's backstory is especially interesting. Their story is sort of bittersweet at times but has such a good ending! And I love the bonus stories at the end! The art is lovely and gives a tranquil vibe while also communicating the nostalgia of summer. This manga delivers the best feels: deep friendship, gentle romance, and the promise of good things to come. I'm looking forward to adding this one to my collection.
This is an insta fave for me! I love the slow pace of this story and the way that Wataru's feelings for Saeki gradually develop the more time they spend together. It reminded me of I Hear the Sunspot -- where one character (Saeki) is up front about declaring his feelings and it takes the other guy (Wataru) time to catch up and reciprocate. I loved getting to know the characters more, and Saeki's backstory is especially interesting. Their story is sort of bittersweet at times but has such a good ending! And I love the bonus stories at the end! The art is lovely and gives a tranquil vibe while also communicating the nostalgia of summer. This manga delivers the best feels: deep friendship, gentle romance, and the promise of good things to come. I'm looking forward to adding this one to my collection.
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This feels like summer / Boy, you make me feel so alive / Just be my lover / Boy, you'll lead me to paradise (Get You – Daniel Caesar feat. Kali Uchis).
Somewhere along the way, writers around the world must have realized that the best gay love stories always take place during the summer, and that’s pretty cool. Ari & Dante, The Language of Seabirds, or even The Summer of ‘85, something about those few couple of months imbues people the intense urge to write the most nostalgia fueled and achingly sweet love stories out there. I guess we can now add My Summer of You to the list. See? Even the titles all fit together nicely! Haha! Yeah, I’ve got to say… this one is for the yearners, so don’t mind me, I’m just getting a little emotional right now. You win My Summer of You, you got me! I think it’s the way stories about summer love almost always start out as easy-breezy as can be, but without fail, end up leaving me hopelessly unmoored. You know that strange Doctor Strange power where he pushes people outside of their own body and they become, like, astral projected ghosts of themselves? If you can imagine that, then you know what this manga did to me. Anyway, the basic story here is that a popular guy named Chiharu and a not-so-popular guy named Wataru become unlikely friends, bonding through their shared love of movies. It was funny to read along as Wataru’s inner monologue is constantly going on and on about how much of a "hot guy" Chiharu is, and at first he says it in a “dude bro” kind of way, but then it turns into a term of genuine attraction. Anyway, this is a classic “the hot guy falls first” story in manga (my favorite!), and because Wataru’s clueless as hell, Chiharu then decides to take him on a pilgrimage of sorts to go to all the filming locations of their favorite movie, with the intention to finally confess his feelings. It’s sweet and nice, but if this in any shape and form sounds somewhat familiar, that’s because other than a few tweaks here and there, this premise basically has the same bones as all of these gay manga I’ve been reading. Even down to the hair color of the main characters. But, that’s not such a terrible thing, is it? Just because you walk down all the usual paths doesn’t mean you won’t see something beautiful along the way. Something new you didn't notice before.
Besides, I've always hoped I’d see the day where LGBT+ stories grow in such abundance that it gets to the point where you can point out and predict all the tropes you’re probably going to see. I don't know if we're quite there yet, but it's a nice thought regardless. Otherwise, even though the manga didn’t really get too into the whole “film bro” aspects, I do still enjoy reading about characters with specific passions and special interests. And sure, saying “I love movies” is one of the most common things a person could say when talking about what they’re into, but I still think it's a nice theme to center the story around. Maybe I'm just basic, but I like movies, and I enjoy stories about people who like the things that I like! I like to think that this story finds a sweet spot between interest and pretentiousness, and while I don't mind reading about pretentious art lovers as much as a lot of other folks do, I can understand why waxing poetic about cinema might not be the most interesting thing to most people. Conversely, I’d much rather read a story about movie buffs over music snobs because… as a resident music snob, whenever a character in a movie or a book or manga will say something overly opinionated about music, I’ll almost always have something to say about it. It always takes me out, you know? Remember that scene in La La Land where Ryan Gosling explains what jazz is to Emma Stone? I’m sure you do because I mention it in every other review I write. And you could probably tell that it might have made the movie worse for me because it still makes me roll my eyes to this day! While with movies, I like them well enough, it’s true, but if someone comes at me with an intense opinion about them, I usually just smile and nod, polite-style. Also, not to be shallow, but the characters being gay will literally elevate any kind of story for me. I mean, if someone out there wants to make a queer version of Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, I won't be mad. In fact, I’ll sure as hell be seated! Anyway, I really enjoyed this. The movie thing was great, the forlorn summer yearning thing was great, and… oh yeah, the gay thing was pretty great too.
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
i just finished watching the glory and needed something cute to unwind
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated