Reviews

this manga has so many ideas it brings up but then does nothing with any of them. it keeps tempting the reader with the kernel of something interesting then abandons it to focus on boring, surface-level romance between the two leads. it continually ignores things that warrant discussion which makes for a very frustrating read.

there's one scene in particular where ogi is out walking with his blind boyfriend, tago. some people ogi knew from high school see him and start to chat with him. they see tago holding onto ogi's arm and comment that ogi must be doing volunteer work. ogi freezes up and says nothing to dissuade this, and tago doesn't comment either. this scene is not brought up for the rest of the manga. ogi and tago do not discuss it. it's just a thing that happens and then it doesn't effect anything else.

which is SO frustrating because it's an incredibly common and dehumanizing situation for a disabled person to be in! disabled people are desexualized constantly. we are not seen as autonomous beings that can fall in love, get married, have sex, etc. when my wife is pushing me in my chair in public, he is assumed to be my sister, friend or caregiver. its incredibly unusual for anyone to think we're a couple unless we refer to each other as "wife". this is an example of everyday ableism that mixed-ability couples deal with - the idea that someone who is with a disabled person in public could only be a caregiver/friend/family member and never a romantic/sexual partner. seeing it depicted in a manga made me feel very seen - until neither character mentions it ever again.

this is something to be talked about! something where tago can express frustration at the ableism he faces or where ogi can realize that dating a blind person is going to come with unique experiences and challenges! but because the manga only presents the situation, then doesn't comment on it at all, it feels out-of-place and strange. why show this if it's not going to cause lasting conflict or character growth?

and really, that's the whole manga. scenes happen to cause drama in the moment, but not to have a lasting impact on the story or the characters. it's like the characters move from set piece to set piece, learning nothing along the way, simply existing as things happen to them.

it also means that, much later in the manga (literally the last three pages), ogi suddenly has a deep guilt about dating tago because ogi... dresses "femininely" and wears nail polish? this is included in the summary of the story so you would think it would have a more of a place, but it really doesn't. it just kinda sucker punches us at the end where tago's brother is transphobic at ogi and ogi suddenly harbors extreme guilt about dating tago because apparently he's ashamed of liking cute things. it's not a conflict that's present anywhere else in the manga, it comes out of nowhere, but its included in the summary! nonsense.

theres several other things that happen that are frustrating - tago suddenly sexually assaulting ogi in chapter two while claiming he does this stuff with his brother (was he being serious? is he forcing his younger brother to roleplay sex with him?), the girl who is in love with ogi and demands that tago and ogi break up, the fact that tago actually doesn't really give a shit about ogi, probably isn't gay and is only doing this because he's bored and horny... it's a mess. and it's a short volume, too!

i have no idea what this was going for but it didn't work in any direction - not from a disability angle, not from a gender nonconforming or dysphoria angle, and not from a romance angle.

tsunos_haunted_reads's review

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I feel like the story isn’t finished to a point where reviewing it is a fair judgment. I will be getting the next volume.

juicelina's review

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3.0

More of a 2.5~

On the first day of summer vacation, Haruto Ogi fell in love with legally blind Shinya Tago. Ogi feels comfortable being himself around Shinya, because he can't see him. He feels safe and unjudged. The two spend a lot of time together throughout the summer. Shinya is clueless at first about Ogi's feelings and Ogi is fine with leaving things as they are, but things change and Ogi's not sure what to expect anymore.

Ah this was not what I expected. Mostly because Shinya was not what I expected. His personality is pretty odd and I don't really love the vibes of the relationship. Ogi is adorable and I feel a little bad for him. I mean Shinya's not being malicious, but the things he does to Ogi when Ogi feels the way does. Idk it makes me a little sad for him. I'm hoping volume 2 will be a little better and maybe the tokyopop translation will be better too? I have hope for their relationship and for the messaging of the story and what it wants to do, but for now it felt a little off.