Well, this was a bummer.

I’ve been catching up on manga series lately, I thought this would be an interesting story to follow. The cover looked beautiful and I got carried away by the art style and the synopsis.

Unfortunately, this didn’t live up to my expectations. I had several problems, which I’ll list down below:

-Slooooooooow pace – you either love it or hate it. I’m on the later, and every single chapter I was thinking “when is this gonna end?” which is never a feeling you want to experience as a reader.
-There’s only three expressions on the characters: blushed, smiling or serious. I kind of get that the story doesn’t have any ‘chibi’ or dramatically expressions, but I think that if your character feels something, their face and their body language should tell it. That’s the beauty of manga: to say a lot without words.
-They all look alike! – But that’s probably due to the previous point. Also, all characters’ personalities are so dull, you can’t tell who is who. Even the female characters feel just the same as the males.
-I couldn’t connect with the story nor with any of our protagonists – I am a queer woman, so I know the struggles of being part of the LGBTQ+ community, but this was so poorly portrayed, I almost feel sorry for the people that think this is pro-rights.

I’m sure I won’t be reading the next volumes, which is a shame because the premise of this story seemed rather entertaining. But, to be honest, the story-telling wasn’t my favorite.

Last but not least, the format of the e-book copy was so weird, I struggled to read every single page.

I was just going to read chapter 1 and leave the rest for some other day since it's late but then I just couldn't stop reading it!

It's a very heartwarming story of friendship and self-discovery and I just really enjoyed it, but to be honest I'm not too interested in continuing the series right now (I might change my mind later though).

This manga certainly has potential. I like the characters and I'd be interested to see how the story progresses. The format was a little cluttered and the quality made it difficult to see some of the text. Going forward, I would hope the text at least would be made more clear.

Any time anyone from the USA reads any manga you have to keep in mind that Japanese society is REALLY not ok with anything that makes people "different." This, sadly still very much includes LGBT+ people. So in that way, this story is quite Japanese, because in this day and age, it's really not a big deal for teenagers to announce their sexuality and be open about it. Trust me, I work with teens, they are OPEN about it.
Not so in Japan.
So, this is a story in which Hasegaway, a regular teen who is kind of homophobic accidentally finds out his classmate Yoshinaga is gay, and possibly also in love with Hasegawa's best friend. Hasegawa is totally grossed out at first, but then, when he and Yoshinaga end up in the same study group and they get to know each other, Hasegawa's perceptions begin to change, and he starts realizing that not only is Yoshinaga a truly good person, he also sees that they are both very much alike in their approaches to life, and love.

This is a solid 4 stars manga for me. I've read so much BL in my life, this was a breath of fresh air.

The name might say Love Stories, but this volume was centered in developing the friendship between the characters. While the relationship between Yamato and Yuiji is the main focus, and the one I believe will become romantic in the future, we also see the way Yamato deals with his existing and new friendships.
I like how the LGTBQ+ theme is being handled so far, although I'm not a fan of Sakura and his steryotype. Otherwise, I'm liking the portrayal of internalized homophobia and the issues Yamato deals with during these first chapters. It is mentioned during the story that he overthinks this, but it is something I felt I could relate as someone who figured out their queerness in high school.

The art was great, it fits with the genre and vibe of the story. I love seeing the soft gazes, blooming flowers in the background, it makes the story seem more pure and innocent even though it's dealing with a theme that can become even more serious.

Now I will be looking forward to the next volume so I can see how the story develops.

do like to read Manga but this was just very confusing.

There is a group of friends in high school. One friend is gay (call him A). A hasn't told anyone, that he is gay but he likes B.

B is oblivious.

Meantime C realises that A is gay and likes B. C tells A that he knows A is gay and C and A become closer friends.

Then along comes X who is a girl and she decides they should have a homework club whch they do.

They go out as a group and meet other friends and then A meets D who is out and proud but not in the same school. D gives A a lot of unsolicited relationship advice.

C also has a girlfriend called Z who he isn't sure he really likes. C spends a lot of time wondering about A and how A feels.

All of them do a lot of sports and B reads a lot of manga in class and likes models.

At some stage C kisses A.

There are a lot of other young people thrown into the mix, maybe another 5 or 6 others and the story rambles on but nothing much happens.

In summary, I think this is a story about a group of young people who may or may not have love lives and who are friends and that's it. At least they work together to improve their grades but nothing much happens

The artwork is good but the story is a rambling plot of nothing.

I do think that perhaps some of the story is lost in translation or maybe the story will develop over many volumes to come. This is just volume one. I certainly will not be reading any further.

Copy provided via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

This was really interesting - a book that uses the tropes of romance (will he/won't he, soft focus, gaze, detailed memories decorated with blooming flowers) to examine what it's like to come out in high school and what it's like to be an ally in high school. The art was a little off-putting (everyone is gorgeous and elfin and mature for Freshmen in high school), but that's no worse than a teen drama on TV (is everyone in Riverdale hot?).

This book really is about the superpower of clear, honest communication and support, which was surprising and refreshing. I hope subsequent books don't make this a love story between the two POV characters, because for now the story is something I've never seen before in comics or manga.

3.5/5

It was a nice story.
The text were a bit difficult to understand because of the format. But it was a good starter for the series.

I really enjoy to read manga, so I was very happy to receive this ARC copy from Netgalley in exchange for the honest review.
I have received an electronic version and I had a high expectation for this manga because I love LGBTQ graphic stories. However, I found it somehow disappointing. I do not know if I had too high expectation or EPUB format it is at fault, but I did not like as much as I have expected.
This Manga is about a guy named Hasegawa Yuiji who find outs his classmate is a gay and the story goes from there. First of all, it was very difficult to read due to the formatting of the e-book. No, to be honest, it was practically impossible to read. Furthermore, this graphic novel was also lacking consistency in the story. The whole story was very confusing and difficult to follow. I liked the art and the attention to detail.

recieved a copy from netgalley for review!

I'm not sure how much of my issues were based in the kind of messed up format the e-arc was in, but I kept getting characters & events confused. its a slice of life romance manga, but I couldn't understand what was happening half the time. again, some of it could've been the formatting of my review copy, but I didn't enjoy this as much as I was hoping. wonderful art & overall concept though, I think!

This had an interesting premise.

A boy figures out that his classmate is gay. But he is keeping the classmate's secret. What I don't get is why he is so worried about this. Maybe he likes the guy and doesn't realize it?

I found the art style to be decent. I think it's well proportioned in some shots and in others it could use some work. The story plays out logically and smoothly, which is really good and soothing. The characters are pretty sweet, too!

It can be hard to discuss LGBTQ+ issues in a story when there's a different cultural lens over them. In this case, the Japanese perspective on the LGBTQ+ community colors some of the plot, and can be hard for a Western perspective to understand. I hope in the published version, there are translation notes at the back that discuss some of this. There's a general issue with gender essentialism too (girls are this, boys are that) that can be culturally derived, but can also be sloppy writing pulling from generic romance tropes. Either way, I don't enjoy reading that.

Otherwise, I have to say: I sincerely hope Yuiji does not fall for Yamato. The concept of a story of the friendship between two teen boys, one straight and the other gay, is so much more promising than the supposed straight friend falling for his gay friend. Especially since the creator is really pushing the loneliness angle of Yamato's experience thus far.

Overall, the story was okay. It's incredibly slow-going, and drags in a few places. I'd be willing to read more, but again I hope this doesn't become a romance between the two protagonists.

As a side note, the digital review copy I had was very hard to read; the text was not well-rendered, which really made reading a struggle.

This book is narrated by two protagonists – Yuji, and Yamato. Yamato has a crush on Yuji’s straight friend, and Yuji notices. Now, I find Yuji’s perspective more or less boring, since he starts from a place of protectiveness over his friend aka the homophobic notion that Yamato might attack him, but by the time he gets confirmation Yuji is already friends with Yamato (they form a study group via Yamato’s friend) so he just feels bad for him, and instead promises him that he won’t out him and in general, make things easier for him. Now, Yamato’s perspective is more interesting, in that he is unsure of whether he is being his real self by being in the closet; the only being knowing being the above friend and Yuji, he feels he is doing his own best friend a disservice by not telling him. Later on, he meets another gay guy through cram school, and he has a more wider understanding of living as a gay person in a homophobic society.

The theme of unrequited love and relationships is a big part in the start of this book. Yuji noticing Yamato’s hopeless crush on a guy who can’t reciprocate his feelings, starts to question his own actions in his relationship; he feels he is not being a good boyfriend to his girlfriend, and tries to be better. He aims to be a support system for Yamato, to have him talk to him about his feelings which he can’t talk to about with his other friend. I will admit I didn’t like him at the start because of his knee-jerk reaction to Yamato’s interest in his friend, but I think by the end he was a reasonable and good friend to Yamato, giving him his space, but also lending a shoulder. Meanwhile, Yamato’s experiences as a closeted boy in high school, and his reasons for being so are depicted so realistically. His relationship with his best friend, the rendering of male friendships, the relief of having someone else like him to talk to – all are rendered so sincerely. Is it entirely new in stories about queer high school students? Not really. It has more of a slice of life approach to the storyline, than having a particular path, but it is also very invested in exploring the relationships between the characters.

ARC provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Despite the questionable formatting of the ePub, I really did enjoy this book a lot. It shone a spotlight onto identity, figuring yourself out, figuring out your sexuality and being a good friend. Although there wasn't a prominent romance, I did find myself loving the approach that Hasegawa had when he discovered one of his classmates was gay. He tried to support his classmate, Yoshinaga, no matter what and that bromance was highlighted throughout the 4 chapters contained in this book. I enjoyed it so much although it was a bit hard to read at times. I blame that on the formatting of the ePub. Just note it did not impact this review and my rating scale.

All in all, I'll definitely be back for the sequel though and I can't wait until it's released!

ACTUAL RATING: 4.2 STARS

From NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

The e-copy is impossible to read, which disappoints me as I wanted to read a manga tonight. Maybe I will look around for it somewhere else sometime, but as for now, this is all I can say.

This was so cute! i real slow-burn manga. I really liked how the story progress and how the main characters develop and thinks through the story. I can`t wait for vol 2.

This is a lighthearted slice-of-life manga that's more of a teen-drama than than an actual romance story (i went into it expecting a GFY story but it wasn't that, haha).

I actually really liked this but let's start with the things I didn't like. For one thing, the ARC format was weird and difficult to navigate. It wouldn't zoom in or out and I had to switch the reading view to full screen BUT even then, the panels were cut a bit at the bottom. ugh. Anyway, story-wise it was solid, if a little slow-burn and I found some scenes unnecessary for the plot. However, this is a story for teens half my age so maybe I'd appreciate those scenes more if I wasn't this old. LOL. I also found some of the character designs too similar, and those got me confused in some scenes.

Now with the things I liked:
The friendship dynamic is great. This volume is still the beginning and I expect a lot to change as the story progresses but Yoshinaga and Hasegawa's friendship is great. I also loved that the characters touched on difficult issues on sexuality, coming out, etc. It also pointed out how progressive the world in general is already at this age, and yet the fears and uncertainty of closeted people, teens especially, are still v real and v much the same. There is also the theme of questioning, most of the time in Hasefawa's POV, which is dealt with sensitively and and quite unique with the age-group's vantage point.

I especially loved that this didn't turn out into a GFY story (not yet at least) but I wouldn't really mind if it turned into that later on bec this first volume has given me well-rounded characters and made me care for them enough that I am rooting for everyone to have their HEAs when this manga is over.

I'm so looking forward to reading the rest of this when it comes out in English. :)
•
*The eARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for free in exchange for an honest review. It doesn't affect my opinion of the book. Thank you.

Koimonogatari Volume 1 show the development of feelings and friendship of Yamato, a student whom confessed his love for another classmate. Yuji is the one who discovered it and the two of them started to build a "friendship" based on 'I know you're in love with my best friend' and 'we're in the same study group so we have to spend a lot of time together'.
At first, Yuji doesn’t know what to do. The fact that his classmate is gay scares him a bit but discovering Yamato’s true character will try to help his friend with his "doubts" and fears.

I really liked the characterization of the characters, and I absolutely want to find out more about them. I want to know how the story will develop, if Yamato can face his "feeling different" and see the bond between Yuji and Yamato grow even more.

The design style is simple and clear but I had some difficulty with the dialogs. Sometimes I had to reading them again. I don't know why but the epub's pages were cut (maybe was my reader app? idk)

I am sorry but I was unable to read it as I could not understand what's written due to the Formatting and fonts. It was my first attempt at reading comics so I guess I was even unable to understand what to read first and where to start from in dialog boxes. Even after several attempts I still could not get the hang of it.

Considering Formatting:
I tried to zoom in to read the fonts clearly while reading digital copy from the phone, I was taken back to the starting page. I also tried to read via my Pc but was still unable to understand each and every sentence.

Though the description of it was interesting and hence I really wanted to read it. I hope it returns back with better formatting.

Thank you Net Galley for the advance copy but I am sorry for not being able to review it for its story.

** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Copy received through Netgalley

~

Koimonogatari: Love Stories, Vol. 1, by Tohru Tagura
★★★★☆
208 Pages


This was a seriously cute story. It's just the beginning of a long journey, for the two MC's, who are both battling different demons.

Yoshinaga is a boy at school, who Hagegawa has noticed looking at his best friend more and more. After overhearing a private conversation between Yoshinaga and his best friend, Shibata, Hagegawa discovers that Yoshinaga might be gay, and starts to notice little tell-tale signs, such as his not-so-secret crush on Hagegawa's best friend, Kyosuke. When Hagegawa needs help studying, he asks Shibata, who asks Yoshinaga to be a third. Shibata is great at English class, but struggling with Maths, which Yoshinaga is great with, and together they form a small study group that help each other.

It's through this study group that Hagegawa sees a different side of Yoshinaga. At first uncomfortable with the idea of having a gay classmate, Hagegawa is quite prejudiced and unwittingly homophobic. But as he and Yoshinaga begin to spend more time together – more often than not the only two taking their study group seriously – Hagegawa begins to see a different side to Yoshinaga.

And a new friendship blossoms. Together, they help unwittingly battle Hagegawa's homophobia, and Hagegawa helps Yoshinaga to deal with the immense internal struggle of whether to come out to his friends, and how to get over his unrequited crush on Kyosuke.

I really loved Yoshinaga from the start; he was such a lovely character, so deeply conflicted and struggling. I wasn't sure what to make of Hagegawa at first, because he was so firmly homophobic, but the more the story evolved, the more I realised it was learned-behaviour, not really something he felt strongly about. He just assumed that gay meant predator, as if Yoshinaga wasn't safe to be around because he was gay and constantly ogling other boys, as he'd been taught he would. But once he got to know Yoshinaga better, Hagegawa made the bold and smart move to do more than just assume; he went onto the internet and looked up what it meant to be gay, and then gave Yoshinaga the chance to show him what it was really like. The bond between the two was beautiful to watch blossom.

The formatting of my copy made it difficult to read. I think it would have been better in PDF format, where you could zoom in, because the original pages are 1/3 white space. I had to adapt my Kindle margins to the narrowest I could manage, and it was still a struggle to read it. But I was so invested in the story that I kept going.

I'll definitely be reading Vol. 2, to continue the journey. Because this is only the start of a beautiful friendship, and I'd love to see it evolve into more. Next time, I might get the paperback instead, to make it easier to read.