Mube Ryouko
"Ima Sugu Dakishimete" (Outou Shobou) May/2003 *** 8.55
One very dramatic romance series of the delinquent student who should live together with the sidewind between his father and his mistress and one short romance of long-distance love (The high school student falls in love with the college student at his entrance preparation and comes to Tokyo to enter it but college student graduates and gets a job and should go to Osaka for training. They talk through cell phones but one-way complaint of working at company makes the lover tired.... The story of the series (A rich student, Keigo Minakami, 21 years old visits his own new condominium which his father buys for him because his step mother starts to live separately and father wants living alone with his bedmate. He expects to live alone, too but his father's secretary & bedmate, Tomohiko Sakakida introduces his room mate, Midori Nishio, 16 years old who is a sidewind of Keigo's father and his mistress who suddenly disappeared. Midori should be dependent on Minakami family because his mother died. Through miserable life, Midori holds killing grudge for Keigo's father, so there is no choice but living with Keigo. Keigo can not allow the relationship between Tomohiko and his father, so he accepts seduction of Midori. Tomohiko finds their sex and scolds Keigo so much but Midori protests because Keigo already knows Tomohiko's relationship with Keigo's father. Tomohiko is very surprised but Keigo accepts it because of Midori. One day Midori is attacked by a burglary and gets injured. Keigo's stepmother appears and she tells about Midori is not a real son of Keigo's father. Midori has been threaten by his real father who is a violent drinker. Keigo is very surprised but forgives all about Midori. Keigo's father adopts Midori as his son / First encounter between Tomohiko and Keigo's father. Very human drama. Tomohiko's parents died when he was 12 years old but his relatives thought him as a nuisance. Keigo's father was a just friend of Tomohiko's father but got angry and took in him. But Tomohiko refused to be an adopted child. 16 years pass and Tomohiko tells the reason he refused it for the first time to Keigo's father). The author's art is very beautiful but the story is unexpectedly very humane and well worth reading. It's very interesting that sloppy & cold hero gradually changes and has grown up by the life with his stepbrother who has experienced severe childhood. All the characters are very sincere though they think themselves unfaithful. I can understand the hero who has the sulks because his father deprives Tomohiko who is liked like his brother, how gravely Tomohiko (very nice character!) gets shocked to know Keigo knows Tomohiko's relationship with Keigo's father and apprehension of Midori who starts living with Keigo after his mother's death, so I want to empathize with all of them. The author's emotional expression is very elaborate. There are some cruel scenes but feels relieved at the end because the author's viewpoint is very tender. During serialization, the author got so many fan's sincere letters and it makes sense. The short story is also very dramatic! The gap between student and worker (wage slave) is well described using long-distance love. It's very short story but expresses the truth of life. The author makes great progress in making good drama!
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