Reviews with content warning for Bullying - I Hear the Sunspot

First off this isn’t a one shot kind of story, go into it expecting a fairly well fleshed out time line of events. There’s no NSFW, but for those looking for it, stay (and maybe cry!) for the angst and romance that Fumino creates. As someone who is hard of hearing, this story was endearing and really opened my eyes to why I shouldn’t apologize to take up space nor for embracing my disability without conforming to what’s normal. I Hear the Sunspot is an angsty, SFW, fluffy, disability diversity, and even better most of the characters are of age. Also there is more to this series, this is the first volume!

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iuvmoonie's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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asexualandriod's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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parasolcrafter's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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frantic_vampire's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I Hear The Sunspot is a lovely read. It’s heartwarming and filled with a love that’s built on a foundation of friendship. I liked that we’ve got a bit of a grumpy x sunshine thing going on. I liked that Taichi was so open with his emotions and he wasn’t afraid to let them show. And Kohei. He was just so quiet and kept to himself. I really felt for him and I hated that he had to go through everything that he did, especially with people not understanding him or making things accessible for him.

I think the only thing that I didn’t like about this manga was the way a lot of the ablism was handled. I wish that it was handled differently…or better? I don’t think those are quite the right words that I’m looking for, but they’re close enough. There were so many opportunities for things to be challenged and it only happened a couple of times. I hope in future volumes that that happens more.

Overall, this was a really good read. I loved the deaf and hard-of-hearing representation and that we have a character that uses hearing aids. This is getting a solid four out of five stars. I can’t wait to read the next volume.

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howlinglibraries's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I haven't seen a lot of D/deaf representation in fiction in general, much less in manga, and I don't believe I've ever seen any representation at all that follows a character who is currently experiencing their hearing loss increasing over time. While I have an auditory processing disorder, I can't actually speak to the representation shown here, but I can say that from my perspective, I really appreciated some of the things this story touched on, like the way people (especially femme people) like to pity disabled people or feel as though they can "help" that person with their love and attention, or how frustrating it is for many people in Kohei's position to be told "nevermind, it isn't important" instead of the other party simply repeating themselves and allowing Kohei to feel included in the conversation. It was heart-breaking, some of the casual things people said and did that you could see were wearing down Kohei's self-confidence and his desire to be social with anyone aside from his mother and Taichi.

As far as watching the romance slowly bloom between Kohei and Taichi, if this tells you anything about how invested I am, it took me all of 10 seconds between reaching the end of this book and borrowing the ebook for the sequel from the library. 🤣

This book was recommended to me by Ellyn for my 2022 12 Books in 12 Months Recommended by 12 Friends challenge! ♥

✨ Representation: Kohei is deaf; Kohei and Taichi are both queer

✨ Content warnings for: ableism, bullying, poverty, medical testing

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afi_whatafireads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad 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? Yes

4.25

Well.. That was an emotional turn of events.

The manga started strong and also highlighted some issues on abandonment, loneliness and especially deaf representation.

Short Summary
Taichi and Kohei are two very different individuals. Taichi is always hungry and on the look for a job due to his family circumstances and he would do anything if it can feed him. Kohei is cool and popular and he has hearing disabilities. They two met in a very weird circumstance that turned their encounter into a friendship.

Personal Thoughts
The first volume had set the story nicely. I like that the chapters kind of alternated between the two characters, between Kohei and Taichi. We get the perspective of the both of them which I really like and I find really cute tbh. I also like how the mangaka sets the tone of the story and that the story sets them off in college, where both of them are kind of in the midst of finding themselves whilst being used to the idea of having someone to be attached to.

It was cute and just very heartwarming. I like how Kohei and Taichi has this really cute friendship that evolved into something more. I'm digging into the story for sure and I'm happy that its one of the reads that I managed to finish in 2021 due to my hectic schedule. Can't wait to see how their relationship progresses.

Its more of a mix of coming-of-age mixed with shonen-ai that is, well, very subtle and cute. Loved it already!

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