Wow the more I read of this story the more I love it. It starts out a little slow but definitely with potential, but as the story goes on you just get more involved with the characters and the atmosphere is really slow-paced and peaceful, it's really great. It provides a great contrast to Hidaka Shoko's other ongoing work, Yuuutsu na Asa, which is also really great with its dark intensity. I think with these two works Hidaka Shoko really shows us her latent abilities and how diverse she is able to work. I hope she will have the opportunity to develop these into long stories and really draw us into the characters' lives.
I'm just a little uncomfortable with the age difference there just seems to much of a gap for me but yeah... oh well!

... Last updated on May 19th, 2012, 2:09am

This manga is probably my favorite shounen-ai of all time. It is so beautiful and wonderful. Some may view it as perhaps too simple or not exciting, however the slice of life feel builds up fantastically alongside the relationship between Youichi and Sakurai. I can sense such a pure love that Hidaka Shoko has crafted. I hope I don't sound too overboard with my descriptions, but this manga is just too much for me, in a good way.

Even though Sakurai is twice Youichi's age, THAT MEANS NOTHING. I actually like that factor. Age gaps are present in a lot of shounen-ai / yaoi, but I truly do like the age gap here, and the way Hidaka Shoko presents it. I also enjoy the contrast she has made between the two characters. Youichi is young and new to the concept of romantic love, yet Sakurai has already spent his years in and out of relationships, as he is nearing 40. He is a business worker, yet Youichi is an aspiring artist. Anyway, it's great.

If I could read Japanese, I would order all 3 volumes so far and read every inch, but unfortunately, I cannot. I wish the manga would be licensed in English, because it is already translated in French and German. So close yet still so excruciatingly far.

So, I love this manga.

A LOT. It fills me with joyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.



... Last updated on February 26th, 2013, 2:31pm

i agree that the atmosphere is everything in this series. the romance is slow to develop, but it's sweet and deliberate, unlike the rushed sexual tension in other stories (which isn't bad, just a nice change of pace, lol.).

i enjoy that the focus is not only on the atmosphere in this story, but also on the characters. there isn't a real plot to the story other than the characters discovering more about one another, especially sakurai and youichi. but it's really enjoyable to see these characters discover one another and slowly change the relationship between each other. plus shouta is freaking adorable. i'd love a little brother like him.

edit: just finished the series...LOVE IT. so glad everyone had their inner conflicts resolved and sakurai and youichi are still the same lovable dorks. youichi becomes less quiet and more outwardly sassy...YES. and shouta being his blunt self and getting into college like it's no biggie is the best. my love for this series will forever live on.

... Last updated on September 15th, 2015, 11:06pm

Well, let's just start off by saying that this is an exceptional piece of work. The art, in my opinion is beautiful! The characters are memorable, not to mention cute! The plot in itself is quite refreshing, There is an age gap in the love interests, but that is what makes this manga so beautiful. The juxtaposition of the two main characters is adorable, merely goes to show how two completely different people can come to become a whole...I still don't know how it will end but it is very promising and like the title of this little rant, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND

God, this is so good. It's been a while since I've been so captivated by a shounen ai love story. It's quite the basic story, but it is well-executed, and you can feel all the small changes in the characters' emotions.

Seriously, I've just read chapter 8, what a cliffhanger. Pure evil to make me wait! *shaking*

... Last updated on August 5th, 2011, 3:59pm

Start just from the cover you can see the pureness of this manga.
A simple love between a working man and a confused teenager. The cover of Youichi face shows his averted eyesight displaying what is essentially his role in this manga - a clueless tsundere. This story does not need fancy art, exciting SFX, bubbles to spice up the panels. I feel as if I am living in the world of the manga, just as confused as the two main characters.
There are no drama (maybe just... a bit), no stupid gags and smut inserted in every chapter. A clean cut and direct manga for every shojo out there to read.

So far this has been the most captivating read. The plot develops surely slower than usual, yet without dragging along pointless lines. The love grows just a little bit at a time, yet the reader falls harder and harder each time. Everything about this manga is quite well executed, from character development to the beautifully clean panels. I love Hidaka-sensei's art style and the fact her men look like men, regardless sexual preference, is just more than welcome. Nonetheless, although I'm loving the "purity" of the relationship, the so called sincerity, I just can't wait to see Youichi and Sakurai-san's in a more mature level, so to speak (pardon my French, fufufu).

If you love Slice of Life and beautiful slow-paced romance, nothing overtly dramatic, plus a gorgeous art style, you can't miss out on this. Can't wait for more :3

Easily one of the best stories I've read. A pleasant, insightful, sentimental slow burn of a romance between characters that feel genuine and multi-dimensional. This mangaka is an excellent writer - and this is among their best works. Very few stories captured my attention this way this one did; I'm still as in love with it as I ever was, even after multiple readings.

Something I respect about this mangaka is that they're not prone to relying on old BL tropes to get the story moving. Sure, there are a few things I can do without (an uncomfortable love triangle, for one) but it's not sprinkled with tacky cartoonish gags, the characters don't stumble into sudden non-con to 'prove' anything, there's a lot of healthy communication between the characters so we're not running around confused for pages and pages, and neither character feels like a stereotype. There are a few familiar tropes in the mix, but they're used lightly and intelligently.

The artwork in this book is stunning. It's downright beautiful; the covers do not do it justice. I'd frame some of these panels; there's such skill in everything this mangaka draws.

The only downside to this story (and it's kind of a big one) is that it's been licensed recently, and those releases are moving along slowlyyyy. Tracking down translated versions of this story is a bit more difficult now, because of that. But if you have some patience, it's absolutely worth the effort.

All I can say is that it has been worth it so far. The story has a much slower pace than usual, but it makes the build up of their relationship genuine and beautiful. The characters all have uniqueness to them and come across as real. If you're looking for something to start small and grow a little more each time, then this is a story for you

Wonderfully paced, and so dreamy. The motif of nature and plants throughout the manga was exquisitely integrated into Sakurai's feelings. Hidaka doesn't leave much room for ambiguity, so there is less significance in body language that the reader has to catch themselves. However, the beauty of the art and its subtlety still stand out in key scenes. Intimacy between Sakurai and Youichi is always a means to an end, and not something inserted for the sake of it (which is, unfortunately, a method a lot of yaoi seem to operate on). It feels like all events in this manga actually serve a purpose in the story rather than merely occurring for no reason, and that's one mark of good work to me.

The manga treads on delicate ground - there are a lot of "first times" for Youichi, and I found myself wondering: given the age gap, could Sakurai be depriving him of his youth? The manga tackles these questions very indirectly; they're rarely confronted head-on, but the reader remains aware of their presence like the elephant in the room. The beauty of it is that the reader is guided towards their own conclusion through the eyes of the characters, and I'm glad to say that I wasn't disappointed.

The characters are fleshed-out, given depth and their own unique pasts that they all have to acknowledge. Also characters are not thrown in the mix at random just to create additional obstacles in the developing romance. I even ended up liking Fujimoto. Sakurai was my favourite character, even though Youichi was charming in his own way. No one's flat like a cardboard, everyone's motivations are clearly drawn out where possible, and we are occasionally granted different points of view to create a layered universe where a few people live and coexist in their ecosystem, in a place of friendship and harmony. Ooooooh, it's good alright.

It would have been a 10 if only everyone was given full closure. The author seems to have deliberately left it open-ended with an optimistic outlook for all of the characters, but I have this nagging feeling that it could've been more comprehensive, nonetheless.



9/10 would recommend. It's one manga I won't forget for a long time.