Stuff i read this week
A Sign of Affection Vol. 4 - 5
What a good book. There’s not much more to say that I haven’t already said before but it’s wonderful to see the relationships in this grow. I just love reading soft warm romances. This is just an incredibly, incredibly good series and you should go read it. 10/10
Lets zoom into a moment. There’s a bit where Yuki is worried about what would make a date spot with Itsuomi and asks for some advice and her friends like “he seems like the kind of guy that would have a good time anywhere and just wants to see you have fun” and dang that line made the reason I like this series click.
I’m hella lesbian and fundamentally DO NOT guys - but it seems to me that most of these dang boys in hetrosexual romance mangas a lot of time just fundamentally do not seem interested in women and seeing them have a good time? I think all the ones I REALLY like probably have make leads that like uhhh... actually feel like they just want to see their love interest have fun? It’s a simple thing but really comes across - this dude clearly is going to be the world's biggest wife guy. I dunno if there actually is anything to this though... there's just something to these characters that clicks well and feels real.
ALSO in case you missed it, the first trailer for the anime adaption came out the other day ITS GOOD.
https://cohost.org/LotteMakesStuff/post/2666950-a-sign-of-affecti
My Happy Marriage Vol. 2
Ohh here’s something the manga adaptation does better than the anime- Koji. He’s a bit weird in the anime, very much a wet blanket of a man. His motivations are a lot more clear and sensible in the manga, and that 100% down to like, two panels of internal monologue that he can’t get in the anime. It makes him make way more sense - that boys messed up!
Anyway, the manga’s pretty good but the anime is a hundred times better
Last Game Vol. 2
It’s really interesting reading the author's notes about how hard it was to go from a 3 chapter short to being given a full serialisation. Still, she did a great job! Last game is a classic and gosh it’s so much fun to read. Yanagi-kun is such a funny little guy and his endless flip-flopping between hope and despair is incredibly drawn. Dude needs to catch a break, but i will forever stan for clueless girls.
Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included Vol. 3
Still inoffensive and just “ok”. Maybe that's a little mean. There was actually quite a few REALLY good idea in this - The standout idea was having a kid who keeps insisting she’s a vampire. Protag-kun initially immediately believes her (cos he's surrounded by supernatural weiro girls), but then the whole story begins to fall apart when it turns out she's got colour contacts in and is acting all chuunibyou. This is then flipped around again when it turns out that yes, she is actually a real vampire, she just admires bright-eyed Western vampires so much that it makes her a lil bit cringe. That's probably the smartest the writing will ever get in this, but it was genuinely a very funny bit.
Pulse Vol. 4
Pulse continues to be beautiful and incredibly horny. Our good good heart doctor finally manages to tell a girl she loves her and a hot, evil ex-girlfriend shows up as her new boss, ready to cut costs at the hospital. Why are ex-girlfriends so often unhinged capitalists? Anyways good volume. Looking forward to volume 5 cos ohh boy there's a lot of juicy drama being set up here
I Don't Know Which Is Love Vol. 1
Wow this book has wildly high energy levels! It’s 200% a yuri harem manga, and it’s pretty great. Each girl is attracted to something unique about the protagonist, and it’s all built around the five senses. One is crazy for her voice, another loves her gaze… you know there's a girl who is totally smitten with how good she uhhh…tastes?!? Like I said it’s high energy. Neat book!
Bonus: Audiobooks
Even if These Tears Disappear Tonight
This is a direct sequel to "Even if This Love Disappears Tonight" which is a book i thought "Theres NO way she can write a direct sequel to that its all tied up so well" TURNS OUT I WAS WRONG. This is a REAL good book digging into love and loss. I love it when media shows you the same scenes from multiple points of view, and this book REALLY is that, all the time. It takes a lot of the key scenes and themes from the first book and flips them around so you can see how they deeply affected Izumi's life. She's a good girl and deserves to heal. 10/10
stuff in the pile for next week
Now we have finished with Citrus, the next big series I have at the bottom of a pile and desperately want to read is Wotakoi. Let's see if I get around to digging it out... that and i really want to read an isekai.
Books read this year: 289
Last week's post
https://cohost.org/LotteMakesStuff/post/2639434-august-21st-27th