The story itself wasn't anything particularly groundbreaking, but it was still sweet and I found myself looking forward to seeing how it would end. The artwork is also lovely and adds much to the storytelling.

This was really cute at times and I enjoyed reading it, but it could have been a lot better. I liked the characters but it was slightly confusing at times. I wish they wouldn’t just assumed that Hama was straight because it was obvious he felt something for Shouji.

A cute one-shot read. Not a lot of characterization for the MLI but can't be helped really. The ending was pretty sudden but again, it's a one-shot so to be expected.

Everything I was hoping for. The ages are a little too old for this to be called shonen-ai but it's not steamy enough to be much else. Super sweet, the manga addresses issues of homelessness and draws metaphorical parallels between that and homosexuality in away that clearly frames both in a empathetic and progressive way. Very nicely done. Major take away is dont date straight.

I needed a quick, light read between intense novels and I chanced upon this one while browsing for graphic novel ARCs and this was the perfect one for me!

Because I haven't read a lot of non-fantasy manga, I thought this was going to be a v light comedy and it kind of did start that way, with the same beat as K-dramas and J-doramas with a main character with a heart of gold crossing paths with an unlikely character in the form of a homeless man. And then it got a little darker when it is revealed that Shouji is having relationship problems, which then delved even deeper and made Shouji's character even more complex than I thought.

I loved this. It had the sweet, fun and sort of nostalgic tone to it by setting it in rural Japan with v fun supporting characters, but it also questioned a little bit of issues surrounding class and sexuality. I loved that it was straightforward in dealing with internalized shame and that the story didn't solely hinge on overcoming such feelings, and instead flowed into an overall improvement on the lives of both MCs. I also loved the fact that while the problems could've easily been solved, the author decided to go for a bit more drama but didn't overdo it. It was the perfect balance of fun and light, and sad and heavy. I found the associations with the word "dirty" brilliant.

Although I do think Shouji fell rather fast for Hama, I wouldn't put it against him since he was a really emotional person to begin with, and well, in the end, he was right about Hama.

Other things I loved were the supportive Dad, Mr Kaji's whole story, the rich cultural backdrop, and "Kiddo" - who I thought would just be a passing character but became a good part of the story by the end of it. I also caught on an underlying romantic subplot, which i won't say bec spoilers, and I'm glad it's canon in the post-story comics.

I highly recommend this and I'm glad I found a new mangaka to follow!
•
*The eARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for free in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.

I was slightly skeptic about Don't Call Me Dirty, since the cover isn't the best really. Or the title either. I was wrong, this is actually a good yaoi story. It centers around Shouji, who works at a sake shop with his dad, but helps out the old man at the snack shop next door. Shouji's relationship with his boyfriend is not working and suddenly he meets this homeless guy, who calls himself Hama. Shouji learns to understand stuff through Hama and eventually falls in love with the literally dirty man. But he cleans up nicely at the end of course. This is not your typical yaoi, but it's a homosexual story about relationships and growing up as a person. It's about making choices, sex hurting and talking about real feelings. I'd say this is more seinen than yaoi, which is good. I just can't understand why Shouji doesn't wash Hama! Like, give him clean clothes or something, sheesh.

The art works nicely with the story and looks more grownup too. There's more content and thought in the story and it avoids the overused cliches. I'm glad this has been translated into English, since this is refreshing albeit not so known sadly so. If you want to try a different kind of yaoi, this one's for you!

Don't Call Me Dirty was a 3.5-star read for me. I liked the way the story looked at how the homeless and gay people can sometimes be viewed, with those attitudes helping to tie the characters together. I found some of the LGBT portrayal a little off-putting, but that may be because I am reading the story from a different cultural standpoint. Overall, though, it was a sweet story with a good message.

Unfortunately, I coulnd't download this book/ couldn't open the download...

The premise does sound nice and I haven't read a manga in quite a while, therefore I was excited to dive into this, however, as mentioned above I coul not read this... I will try to find out whether there are ways and then update this review
______________
UPDATE:

After asking for help I was now able to read the manga.

This has been the first manga I've read in about 1.5 to 2 years and I liked it.

First of all, I feel like the description promises something entirely different. The description says "When a young man takes in an unfortunate vagrant, helping him clean up and get back on his feet" and honestly this is not true at all. The young man befriends the homeless man, but he does not take him in, nor does he help him "clean up".

Shouji was a very interesting character and I especially liked how he interacted with the kids. His father was a bit weird, but there always has to be at least one weird character in a manga, so that was fine. Also, I liked that he wasn't the typical father and that he was fine with his son being gay. No problems on this front.

I think the manga did pick a very interesting and also kinda important topic with how homeless people are treated. This made me sad. And I know that this is a standalone, but I wished there was more background story for Hama. In the end we did get to know why he became homeless, but I think this part of the story deserved to be more flashed out.

Plus, I wanted more emotion between Shouji and Hama. From Shouji's point the feelings were sort of just there all of a sudden and from Hama's POV they weren't, but all of a sudden they were?
Plus, I think that Hama was straight to begin with, but that he did develop some romantic feelings for Shouji over time. So I think this should have also been a bigger part of the storyline. It would have been super interesting seeing how these feelings slowly developed.

Overall a short and entertaining read!

Cute BL manga.
Slice of life story focused on a couple of shops. Gentle plot focused on an ailing shopkeeper and the young adult next door who helps him out. Comparisons are drawn between
Shouji's homosexuality and Hama's homelessness and how both are regarded in Japanese culture.
There are some lovely funny scenes with the children who regularly visit the store.

Clear consistent drawn characters.

First up, thank you for the opportunity to read this manga. Sadly, we didn't click.

It was just so utterly boring and nothing much happened except for our MC to still try to cling to his ex who cheated on him and still get fucking hyped about his phone calls. Come on dude, just say no. Just don't pick up. He is just toying with you. Just fucking around with your feelings. Then he is worried about helping out Hama, as it may look bad for him as he is in retail, but he also wants to help out as he feels a connection or something to Hama (at least that is how it came across to me). Other than that tons of candy, manjuu, liquor, and kids being kids.

Meh.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this manga in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars
I feel like when it comes to manga, you have to "judge" them with a different yardstick from the one you'd use for a Western novel.

I live in Japan, currently, but I'm a foreigner.
I see these attitudes (the ones towards Hama's homelessness and Shouji's homosexuality) even in the metropolis all the time, so it wasn't something that was alien or even particularly shocking to me. Sad? Absolutely -- but not shocking.

This manga does its part to address those issues, though I think they're too complicated or broad to deal with in just one volume. At least they get accepted by the people who matter?

I think Shouji's a nice person who's too trusting and fell in love far too easily, and Hama did his best to come off as cold and uncaring. Still. They love each other. They're happy. Life's good.

The ending was incredibly rushed, though. "Hama dealt with the legal problems of the homeless in [town name] and is now called their saviour online."
Come on.
Really?

Anyway, it's a nice manga. Don't compare it to Western m/m books.

This is a stand alone story told in several chapters about life in a small town in Japan. The story focuses on boyish adult Shoji mostly but also brings in a host of small town characters. The plot is about what you would expect, though perhaps not with a focus on finding a hot guy in a homeless man so much as village life and getting over prejudices. The title refers both to homeless young man "Hama" as well as gay young adult Shoji - both of whom were called 'dirty' for different reasons.

Story: After graduating school, Shoji opted to work in his father's liquor store. But most of his time is spent helping an elderly man (who naps most of the day on the job) with his old fashioned snack kiosk next door. As Shoji's relationship with a hetero man who was 'exploring' begins to unravel, Shoji is heartbroken. At the same time, he began to help a dirty and smelly homeless man who showed up now and then to purchase a snack at the shop. Shoji sees a quiet goodness in the homeless man and begins to fall for him, surprising everyone. But is he just rebounding? Or compounding his poor discretion in men?

Our homeless man, Hama, plays a fairly small part though he is seen in quite a few pages. He represents pathos and his quiet stoicism is a counterbalance to Shoji's energy and lack of ambition. Hama doesn't go through a character arc - he remains the 'smelly and dirty' homeless man (those attributes are over emphasized throughout) until near the end. Instead, the story is really about Hama, about changing attitudes toward small towns and sensibilities, and about how redemption comes in unusual forms.

The cover makes Shoji look a bit manipulative but really he is portrayed throughout the book as a pushover and nice guy. There are lovely scenes of him interacting with the local village kids, with his internet-obsessed but pragmatic father, with a rude teen who comes by the shop randomly to be a jerk, and the father of the elderly shop owner. Each is quite quirky and interacts in different ways with both Shoji and with Hama. It is a very gentle story.

This is more of a slice-of-life story than a dramatic one. It's about Shoji recognizing that his 'boyfriend' was just experimenting and not serious (and a jerk) and also about Hama coming to accept the help of others. It's about small town life and the disappearing small snack stores as well as modern parenting in small towns. So there is a bit of nostalgia, especially for Japanese, and a sweet 'homey' feel for those who did not grow up in Japan. At the same time, not much happens, the story moves at a glacial pace, and Shoji is the boring typical uke - almost childlike, genki, over emotional, and very cliche. His immediate attachment to Hama (despite the dirt and smell) did not feel realistic at all.

So although the plot moves slowly, not much happens, and the characters felt far too over-idealized, it is a quick and pleasant read. The artwork is fine and the characters easy to identify. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.