At first I thought this was going to be the quintessential story about unrequited love between childhood friends. But things were not as they seemed and were much more complicated.

Kyousuke and Kasumi both wanted each other happy but they lived in the deeply Conservative Japanese society and thought the best way to deal with it was well... not dealing with it.

Needless to say, this led to quite some angst and heartache along the way. BUT! As we all know, the heart & soul wants what it wants. No matter the time, distance, or impediments that come along the way.

I've always loved Japanese style of comics and this was no different. The art was beautifully rendered and had some sexy panels which added to the adult feel of the manga. The story was also very well written and tugged at my heartstrings all through out.

The only issue I had was that it ended. I needed more of their cuteness after they finally got their act together and were all "loved up" and had the manga had 50 more pages, I wouldn't have minded one bit! :D

There Are Things I Can't Tell You is a cutesy friends to lovers story which I quite enjoyed. It follows Kasumi and Kyousuke, who go way back, as they work some stuff out. I'm trying to be pretty vague here for obvious purposes :)
While I really appreciated the topics this manga explored, I wish it went a little bit deeper.
It's well-written and the artwork is beautiful. There are quite a few graphic sex scenes here and they are very.....hot.
The reason this got 3 stars is because i wasn't all that blown away by it overall. Nonetheless, this was a very interesting read for me and it was worth the time.

*A copy provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book!

AWWWW... This book was very cute and I really enjoyed it. The art was very easily read and easy to follow. The plot and storyline in the book gave me what I was looking for. I highly recommend this author. I loved the writing. I will be looking for other works in the future from this author.

There Are Things I Can't Tell You is not the typical high school boys-love romance that you often see in manga, but instead featuring young men who are struggling with their sexual identity in the face a homophobic, judgemental society and scared to admit their feelings for each other in fear of losing someone important to them.

Kyousuke is a kind, hardworking graphic designer with big ambitions and he has been in love with Kasumi since forever but he's worried about him and believes he can't share his true feelings because he can't make Kasumi happy. Meanwhile, Kasumi is having an affair with a married woman but his heart isn't truly into it and he's unhappy. .

It was somehow and adorable yet bittersweet story, touching on more mature content as well, and I really enjoyed reading it! 3.5 stars rounded up to 4!

This manga, was a soft “will they, won’t they...already?”

Disclaimer: This book was provided to me by #Netgalley for an honest review. Thoughts on this book are my own.

WARNING: This BL novel is rated Mature. Touching on depression, graphic nudity, and homophobia.

There Are Things I Can’t Tell You is a one-shot manga by Edako Mofumofu. Recently translated by TokyoPop (yes, that one). Fun fact, Mofumofu roughly translates to english as “soft fluffy”. If you’re an old school fan of this BL author, you probably read a few steamer fan translated tales. (insert eyebrow wiggle)

The story follows two best friends navigating adulthood while secretly pining for the other. Mix in some personal trauma and melodrama. You get the recipe for a classic Male/Male romance (slight improvement to the Yaoi hands). Kyousuke has internalized homophobia. He’s also an Illustrator for a company. Kasumi struggles with depressive episodes brought on by childhood trauma. He’s attending (what I assume) graduate school while having an affair with a married woman.

While some readers will quickly dismiss this title for another fluffy BL, I can appreciate Mofumofu’s ability to reflect the realities of modern Japan. Mental health and same sex marriage is still a hushed topic.

That aside, I was pleasantly surprised by the short, graphic hookups later. See, I warned you again and Mofumofu still delivers. The conversation afterwards was a knee jerker. But keep reading!

The flashbacks may confuse some at first. The dialogue is very flat in some places, but the inner monologues were moving.

While we do see some character’s present day, I wanted to see more of a day in Kasumi’s life. Outside of adultery duties and breakdowns. But, I would not change that conversation in the park for anything.

If you’re looking for a BL riddled with angst and emotional hangups, this is the book for you.

Available in most major eBook sellers in english translation by TokyoPop.

There are Things I Can’t Tell You by Edaku Mofumofu, Trans. by Christine Dashiell

It’s an ok and quite of a quick read. But the dialogue was not great and I really needed that to appreciate this story more. Quite cliche and predictable at times, could be due to translation? I will never know. Also, a big pet peeve of mine when reading such books with young characters is the quite annoying and, most of the times unneccessary, miscommunication scenes just to be build up some drama. There are other ways to do that. Please, no more.

Trigger Warnings: Adultery, Familial Abuse, Unhealthy Romantic Relationships, Explicit Sex Scenes, Depression

I got a free e-ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sexy, sweet and angsty. Typical friends to lovers but it hits the spot and I found it enjoyable. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I gave this book a 2 star review. While I enjoyed the plot - two boys meet and become best friends, they end up having some romantic feelings for one another, etc. However, I felt super confused half the time with the flashbacks and the real time being so interwoven that’s I couldn’t tell them apart.

Spoiler?

The sex scenes also took me completely by surprise in the book. I don’t mind them at all in any form (manga, novel, etc), but they definitely came out of nowhere. I would be willing to give the author another shot with another series however.

A gorgeously drawn graphic novel with an interesting narrative, plot, and concepts. Definitely recommended for fans of this genre.

Nice gay rep, though there is a lot of internalized homophobia (due to upbringing) and more will they won't they than I really cared for (angst out the wazoo), but the art was really nice and both guys were cute in their own ways.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free manga*

This was super super gay and in parts very graphic, I didn't expect the latter as I didn't know it was yaoi, but that's me not having read the blurb carefully enough. Anyhow, it's super gay and explicitly erotic, comparable to "Call me by your name".

Quirky Kyousuke & shy Kasumi fall in love in school, but Kyousuke rejects Kasumi as he doesn't believe he could make the other boy coming from a problematic family background happy. A few years later, at 27, Kyousuke is an extreme workaholic who reconnects with Kasumi.

The story focusses on the two main characters who are a bit archetype-y but still evolve during this very short manga (I read it in one sitting). I thought the story was a bit predictable but I was still somewhat emotionally invested in the characters.

No idea how realistic or unrealistic the sex scenes are, but I found parts of it a bit weird, almost a bit cliché, but I'm not a suitable person to judge this.

But it was kind of a sweet story, the two of them finding together after so many years.

3,5 Stars

This is an ADULT manga that follows a m/m romance between two childhood friends. This gets really graphic when it comes to the sex scenes. While, that isn't something I enjoy, I don't tend to let it affect my ratings of other books and I won't let it affect my rating of this one.

But what did affect my rating was the story itself. The only thing I can really say is that it needed to be longer. Not only did I want it to be, it needed to be. We got their story from being middle schoolers to adulthood, with a skip in time between from high school-ish to after college.

But that's too much time to cover over one volume. There was so much to get into that this manga just wasn't able to delve deep into because of its length. If they would have made it a couple volumes longer, I could have felt more for the relationship and would have cared more about what was happening between these two.

That being said, I didn't hate this book. I did enjoy it and I know that it could have been even more amazing if it would have been longer. I didn't hate my experience while reading this book.


That's why I'm giving this manga 3 stars.

"There Are Things I Can't Tell You" is a Yaoi Manga about two male friends, and the way their relationships changes as they grow up. They both have very different personalities but they complement each other. The story and the art are pretty cute. Tigger Warning: it does talk about depression, internalized homophobia and parental abuse.

Romance manga has been a comfort throughout the current quarantine. But given the ample time on my hands to read since lockdown started, I quickly ran through my favorites in the shojo and josei romance areas and found my way yaoi, more affectionately known as Boy Love or BL. The romances in BL can vary from traditional shojo hand-holding with a kiss in the final chapter, or they can be romantic stories with explicit sex scenes illustrated. There Are Things I Can’t Tell You from Tokyopop and mangaka Edako Mofumofu is the latter of these but offers up a complex romance story that sees us following two friends who developed feeling for each other during childhood but were kept apart by perceived ideas of “normalcy.”

Masumi and Kyousuke are polar opposites when it comes to personality. While Masumi is reserved, soft-spoken and shy, Kyousuke is energetic and has always been popular among their peers. As the saying goes though, opposites have a tendency to attract, and these two have been fast friends since elementary school. To Masumi, Kyousuke has always been a hero to look up to, someone who supports him and saves him from the bullies. But now, school is over; their relationship suddenly becomes a lot less simple to describe. Facing the world — and one another — as adults, both men find there are things they struggle to say out loud, even to each other.

As a BL title, it’s no surprise that the two are in love, but its what this title does with this love and the revelation of it that makes it an amazing series. Over the course of just over 200-pages, this one-shot manga masterfully tells a story of becoming comfortable in your sexual identity and how society’s homophobia can wound individuals regardless of if they see their own pain or not. While there are two explicit sex scenes in the main story, the storytelling isn’t based on smut. In fact, it’s focused on telling a story of love, loss, and fear, and it just so happens to offer up some steamy moments that also have a deep emotional pay-off.

If you’re not familiar with BL as a genre, this storyline isn’t new. Often shonen-ai and yaoi both feature characters who have been love each other since childhood and for whatever reason, be it age or circumstance decide to confess each other. But this is also where There Are Things I Can’t Tell You diverts from the typical storytelling tropes by focusing on the societal pressures that impact budding love even when both parties want to move forward.

While the opening of the book shows us that Kyousuke is in seemingly unrequited love, an argument between him and Masumi reveals that he had actually rejected a confession from his best friend before. Instead of accepting Masumi’s love and returning it, Kyousuke was brought back to the way his father treated the simple idea that his son could be gay. With that stigma deeply rooted in his heart, Kyousuke chooses to push Masumi away from himself and encourage him to seek someone else. Mofumofu uses ideas of normalcy and “right” and “wrong” to show how deeply this self-hatred and runs in Kyousuke despite his deep love for Masumi.

While we do get one chapter told from Masumi’s point of view, recounting the events of their childhood which led to their friendship and eventual love, There Are Things I Can’t Tell You is Kyuosuke’s story. It’s about him coming to terms with sexual identity and allowing himself to feel like he is both deserving of love and that he can return it in the way that Masumi needs it. The beautiful storytelling can’t be understated and it comes from an understanding of not only how to build tension but also how to avoid common tropes within the BL genre, like expected plot twists and confessions.

There Are Things I Can’t Tell You is an emotional and beautiful romance that also offers up a critique on the way society forces people to hold themselves back from happiness. There is a beauty in this one-shot that makes it one of my favorite BL titles. From illustration to writing, Mofumofu does an excellent job of filling each page with a tenderness and understanding that you need when picking up a romance title.

I liked it. It reminded me of heavy dramas I enjoyed in the past -and those rarely had queer leads so this was a welcome improvement-, and the art is pretty. But if you don't like miscommunication as the main conflict, maybe skip this one. Things would've been resolved earlier if the protagonists were just super honest with each other. ⁣
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Then again, I would argue that it would be out of character for both Kyosuke and Kasumi to just say everything outright. What I liked most about this is the fair portrayal of people struggling with their sexuality. It isn't always pretty, and people do stupid things out of desperation or confusion, but it can still be quite beautiful at the end. It gets better. And these characters got the happiness they deserved.⁣
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It ends with HFN, thank goodness, and it is also explicit, though not very. Just right if you're looking for something stirring, with servings of spice. ⁣

Love this m/m romance manga!

I've read manga from this author before, and was once again impressed by the quality of the artwork, which pulls you in from the first page. The story is fantastic, fully showing the hard reality of many LGTBQ+ relationships. I love this couple and was really rooting for them the entire time!

I did feel some frustration with the main obstacle to their romance being them just not communicating. That by itself was fine, but she kept using the same misunderstanding several times in the manga.

Still, I devoured this manga in one sitting, and that's the sign of a good one for me! 5/5

Thank you netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

First I want to thank netgalley for providing me with this ARC.


There Are Things I Can't Tell You is about two boys that have been in love with each other since they were younger. They hold back their feeling while the reader gets to explore their past and present. The main characters have to face their own personal demons in order to find a way to be together.

This is my first manga that I have ever read. It took me a few pages to understand the right way to read the text. After learning that I understood some of the flow of the story. Some sections did seem a bit out of place or strangely ordered. Favorite scenes are when we get to explore both main character past because it gives us a glimpse of both their POV and how they see one another. *Please note that there are sex scenes*

All in all I am rating this manga a 2.5 out of 5 stars.

This manga was a roller-coaster of confessions, steamy scenes, and breakups. I loved that it comprised a lot of flashbacks, offering a closer look at the characters' backstories. I know it's a manga and it adheres to certain rules if the genre, but I wish it gave us some more insight into what it means to be queer in a society as conservative as Japanese. Jumping straight into a sex scene right after a love confession just doesn't cut it, there are some other things at play.

My expectations were just a little higher, maybe because the publisher's description suggested it was going to be more introspective. I think more manga creators should take a page from Kabi Nagata's book (well, not literally) and think about more than fanservice.

Otherwise, it was a cute read.

I received this through Netgalley! It was honestly such a cute manga though I wish there was more to their story. I would have loved to have seen them grow as a couple. The slow burn was really good despite it being over the course of one novel. I haven't read too many MxM in manga series before so this was really refreshing. I am a bit sad because I think it's a standalone and I want more from this world!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley

3.5 stars
I'm not really a manga person but this was described as a romance between two angsty boys so i gave it a try. I wanted this story to be a bit longer there was a few flashbacks that felt too weak for me to really see the realtionship grow. The characters were interesting though and i could connect to them despite the format of this book that doesn't really permit to dwell on everything. The romance is short and sweet pretty romantic with a few graphic sex scenes that unfortunately lacked chemistry in my opinion.
Great story with gay representation for people who enjoy manga.

tags: m/m pairing, erotic manga, stupid boys pining for each other, sunshine type character and shy introvert character fall in love
content warning: homophobia, toxic relationship with parents, death of a relative, depression and suicidal thoughts