Great art buuuuuut... A very unhealthy relationship. Some scenes of dubious to no consent that shouldn't be translated as a loving or consensual. :(

Cute little romance, i don’t really feel the need to continue with it tho

This was supergood and surpassed my high expectations. A story about two guys who were together in high school, but then split up because of a lack of communication. It takes them a while to get things right the second time. This is a really well done BL manga that captures the insecurity that comes with relationships where there isn't marriage as a final goal. I really loved this.

TW: Rape!!! This would've been quite a sweet story if it wasn't for the weird and unnecessary rape between the two main characters, there's literally no need for it and they just brush it off like it was nothing.

How To Ruin A Book With One Scene, and The Subsequent Levelling Out Of 4 Stars vs Wtf Why

May 2022. BL manga series about two guys who dated in high school and had a bad breakup, and find themselves in the same major and friend group when they start college and struggle to work out what they should be to one another now.

Overall I enjoyed the characters and the story. It was often playful and the changing dynamics with the characters was propelled by the ways they have and haven’t grown as people, and their continued doubts and immaturity as college freshmen.

However there was one scene in which one of the couple started to assault the other by initiating sex while the other was protesting, and while they thankfully stopped and it was very brief, it was too serious of a violation to not be given more weight in the aftermath of it. It was not a miscommunication or withdrawn consent but clearly and knowingly disregarding the other’s boundaries.
It was ultimately treated like a fight or other lesser conflict in which the party at fault apologized and they moved on. I would’ve wished it either wasn’t included or was treated as the larger issue it was.
It was also very out of character and didn’t reflect the dynamic of them in the rest of the book or whole series, which is two people who care for each other trying to figure out what their relationship should or can be.

So, I still recommend with the caveat of that one element being a huge problem, but as it is very brief you can basically just flip 1-2 pages and get past it.
If the same type of behavior occurred multiple times and/or in other volumes I would likely not recommend it, but it doesn’t happen again.

All 3 volumes available through Sac library system.

“Escape Journey” volume 1 by Ogeretsu Tanaka.

This started off pretty cute, but I'm disappointed by that

Spoiler

one sex scene when they were arguing.

It definitely wasn't necessary! Like I don't understand why BL authors include something like that. It ruins the entire relationship.

I really like Nao, so I might continue this just for him, but maybe not.

BL que comença amb dos exs que sortien durant l'etapa d'institut i que han deixat de ser amics coincidint a la universitat. Miren de reprendre l'amistat una mica per compromís, s'emboliquen una nit i tot es torna força incòmode, però decideixen tornar a sortir junts. Es van descobrint els moments foscos de quan sortien i els motius pels quals va anar malament: estaven en una relació força tòxica i molt basada en el sexe, però el de les ulleres voldia més (se sent inferior per ser parella homosexual i no poder ser "la seva família").