...as the manga I read right before this one. I was reading "Kimi Note." This was more about jealousy. I found myself thinking halfway through - "It's not over yet?" It just didn't hold my interest.

The couple in chapters five and six, "Tranquilize" and "Compose," are fascinating. It's like a brief, condensed study of the human desire to possess and dominate another. Violence and tenderness: two sides of the same coin,

The main story is big-eyed, weepy uke and sweet, self-assured seme--a lovely, if cliched story line.

This manga got a 5 (as my rating) just bc of the first story, it was cute. The second one was okay. While the 3rd story was prettyyyy f'd up... I'm a little bit used to psychological SM or whatever, but what it irked me was the fact that love was involved. When love is involved, it pretty much makes a story into a f'd up one (in my opinion)

... Last updated on February 6th, 2017, 2:11am

Overall I think the stories were quite good, even though I struggled a little with the dialogue more often than not. I think that in the main story [Katase and Yuu's, the cutesy one] there was a little too much love and sweetness compared to plot and character development, plus the moment with the girl was all too predictable. Although I liked it enough to smile every now and then, I can't bring myself to rate it more than 6.

The second story [the stepbrothers] was cute. Not outstanding, just cute. I personally found the art style was better in this one than the others - but I'll get to that later.

I loved the premise to Aki and Keito's story [chapter 5 and 6], even if it could use some work around the edges. I love the violence, both physical and psychological, I love the jealousy-stricken seme, the vulnerable uke - it sounds cliché I know, but it really depends on how the author delivers such themes... again, what pained me was the "length" of all this. It was too short. It would've been a great story if the whole volume was dedicated to this couple.

Now the art. Oh, the art. Hanamura Ichika-sensei draws the most beautiful eyes (and hands, too). But the eyes, it's like they take over the entire page. And don't they always look like they're full of pain? Really, even when the character was supposed to be smiling, I couldn't shake that feeling that deep inside they were all hurting and miserable and in terrible pain. When I first read Kimi no Iru Sekai Shikairanai by the same artist I felt there was something odd about these eyes, but I felt mesmerised all the same. Now I love it, fufu.

So, that this is full of clichés, it's true; of a lot of quick and predictable solutions is also true; beautiful art -- check. But it's faithful to its title: it's sweet. And the third story - I repeat - is definitely worthy. 7.5 for that alone!

I must say, this is one of my favorites if only for the reason that it made me feel like I was reading a fairytale. The art is so unique and beautiful! And the characters are amazingly expressive considering the artstyle. I could just look at it all day long...

Plot-wise the main story is nothing special, not bad but unoriginal. There were some funny and cute moments but that's about it. If you like a uber innocent uke, you'll like this... Very sweet, amai amai as promised right?

The one shots, however, I adored! The Thorns are Hurting my Cheeks is probably my favorite one shot of all time. Wonderfully constructed with some delicious angst and bittersweet love. I especially loved how it was the seme who was more like the innocent one. I found this refreshing after a whole bunch of innocent ukes and confident, experienced super semes. It was so good! The other one shot was great too. A bit of a new twist to your standard bullying seme / innocent uke concept cos it was really a bit more complicated then that...

I recommend this to people who like sweet stuff, are into even the more common tropes but with a twist, and people who like their art pretty. It was definitely worth a read!

... Last updated on November 7th, 2011, 2:38am

It's aight, and it's true that it is predictable..but the really possessive one somehow grabbed onto my attention it's kind of odd and twisted the art is decent but there is something about the eyes...it reminds me of another mangaka's drawings. But the eyes made the character look teary all the time LOL xD the story is pretty simple and crushy. There was a lot of 'I love you' tossed in each story lol and 'cute'. But it isn't too bad I suppose, could've been better.

... Last updated on August 28th, 2011, 6:53pm

Theres basically 4 stories. Ch 1,2,3 are really sweet and to me just seemed really cliche. The characters annoyed me a bit too. ch 4 was of step-brothers falling for each other, it wasnt bad, just average and not very lasting. I really liked ch 5 though but its not everyones thing. Ch 5 is rather dark and twisted. Quite a lot of angst too. Part of the reason I liked it was because of how the seme was actually a lot nicer than he let on, He wasnt a flawless bullying Gary Stu but rather someone who just didnt know how to do things the acceptable way. The uke was great as well, he seemed like a weakling who just lets himself be pushed around but he actually is sometimes controlling and demanding. I also loved how the author wrote about how the seme would smile each time the uke got hurt or cried but you could hardly call it a smile, it looked like a painful grimace and shows how his actions are hurting himself too, you could see the pain in his face whenever the uke followed his orders. This chapter was amazing! Ch 6 carries on from ch 5 so its a peak into their life after getting together, this wasnt as good as ch5 and seemed more shallow and more focused on the sex. The chapter after "Secret Sweetness" was just outright plain and boring. Overall 7 as I really only enjoyed one of the four stories.

... Last updated on January 15th, 2014, 4:18am

I have said it before, that the drawing style of the author is somewhat unique and in my case I'm not going for the cute eyes, but the body builds and the scribble like lines. The outlines are light and give off a lively feel and that's somewhat nice, at least every now and then.

As for the stories included, they have their strong points and their weaknesses.

The first one includes a love triangle and as expected, there is always some angst included and painful to see drama. Anyways, the twist near the end was interesting and even somewhat unexpected for me. That's the reason I came to like this story, although in the beginning the thoughts and the characters, their description, have had a "too strong" contrast by times.

The second story about the stepbrothers didn't really stay in my mind, but the sadistic-masochistic pairing from the third story did. Yes, you will have to like those settings and types of characters, but somehow it was slowly getting me on it's good side. Aki and Keito have been given off this vibe, that they exactly need the other one to live balanced and feel safe. This need of the other one is just too strong, but this may count for both and so it's interesting, because in Keitos case you hardly see this till the end.

However, in conclusion reading this was a good way to spend my time, even though it wasn't able to make it into my favourites. Sighs.

normally i love angsty stories to death, but with proper characterization to back it up. the characterization in these stories were shallow at best, so all the angst felt super melodramatic and eyeroll worthy. i didn't really care about any of the characters or their relationships with each other. meh. a few sweet scenes. i didn't like the third story at all. im not into abusive rapey possessive semes.

the art is pretty great, though. i feel like if i stare into the eyes long enough, i might fall in them.

It's pretty average, but I'll give it an extra star for not having any enjoyed rape...My name for what usually happens in yaoi where the uke says no and the seme just continues and somehow that equals a love relationship. Realistically, no should mean no, but it seems in a lot of yaoi no just means the seme hasn't been forceful enough...but off the rant these stories were cute and it was refreshing to see an uke that said I want to have sex before, instead of saying no while a seme pushes them down and forces them.