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juushikaTitle: Haru wo Daiteita (Embracing Love)
Mangaka: Nitta Youka
Length: 5 volumes read, 15 volumes total
Rating: 2 of 5
Review: When two adult video actors compete for a gay role, they spark something between them; years later, after both have become mainstream actors, they begin a public and taboo romance. Haru wo Daitetia, refreshingly, doesn't engage too many problematic BL tropes (if it's you it's okay is the primary exception), yet manages to hit every other possible BL or romance trope; the pacing becomes tiresome and the emotional register ridiculous as each chapter is another teary crisis and confrontation between the characters—all of which would be averted if they had a single straightforward conversation. The manga has potential: its setting and social ramifications are carefully chosen and at times compelling, and there is an authenticity to the relationship despite the unconvincing drama which surrounds it. I had hope that it might improve with time, once it had exhausted all possible cliché conflicts; it still may. But my patience has worn thin, and I'm not interested in continuing the story. The art begins subpar and improves to a level which is acceptable if unremarkable after a few volumes; fan translations are legitimately horrible; it's unflaggingly pornographic, but the sex feels equally natural as gratuitous. Of what I read, I'd in no way recommend.
Mangaka: Nitta Youka
Length: 5 volumes read, 15 volumes total
Rating: 2 of 5
Review: When two adult video actors compete for a gay role, they spark something between them; years later, after both have become mainstream actors, they begin a public and taboo romance. Haru wo Daitetia, refreshingly, doesn't engage too many problematic BL tropes (if it's you it's okay is the primary exception), yet manages to hit every other possible BL or romance trope; the pacing becomes tiresome and the emotional register ridiculous as each chapter is another teary crisis and confrontation between the characters—all of which would be averted if they had a single straightforward conversation. The manga has potential: its setting and social ramifications are carefully chosen and at times compelling, and there is an authenticity to the relationship despite the unconvincing drama which surrounds it. I had hope that it might improve with time, once it had exhausted all possible cliché conflicts; it still may. But my patience has worn thin, and I'm not interested in continuing the story. The art begins subpar and improves to a level which is acceptable if unremarkable after a few volumes; fan translations are legitimately horrible; it's unflaggingly pornographic, but the sex feels equally natural as gratuitous. Of what I read, I'd in no way recommend.
