I probably had high expectations because of how highly rated this manga is, but it didn't move me that much while reading, it left no impact on me whatsoever. It wasn't boring at all, it was rather a smooth read, maybe that's why I finished it all without dropping it; but it was just...okay? No more no less, an average okay read that's it.

... Last updated on November 20th, 2020, 3:01pm

I’m giving this manga a mixed-negative review. The conflicts and arguments are somewhat strong but there are few off points I saw. I don’t like the sex scene, but the relationship is so so in some way. I know how Kawabata and feel kinda bad for him for trying his best to satisfy Misaki but struggles to express is natural feeling for him.

... Last updated on May 11th, 2020, 4:18pm

...still not a book I would read again. It had a lot of cliches and I was pretty uninvested the whole time. I struggled to even finish it. I had high hopes based on the reviews but it did not live up to its potential for me.

This manga is amazing. It's predictable in a unpredictable way.
I really wanted to dislike it. The description really didn't appeal to me and I just wanted to read it so I could understand "Hana no Miyako de" better. I had seen some of the ratings and the beginning seemed kind of normal, so I was ready to diss it, to say how common it was. But I was so, so wrong.
The first and most noticeable thing is the characters. They are so charismatic, it's impossible not to love them. Arikawa is different from all the other characters in yaoi manga I've ever seen. He's truly one of a kind. He's gentle and kind of an airhead, yes, but he has that whole...heterossexual vibe about him. You can tell he truly fell in love with Misaki and never expected to feel that for a man. But the best part is that he doesn't even care. He's so genuine, I bet he'd be the type to say gender is not important, but rather what's inside. He's very human, with shy and nervous moments, but also sooo sexy at times!
And then Misaki. First, can I just say how much I love this name? But the whole character is really good, too. He's not a tsundere, like most ukes usually are. It's very refreshing to see this. Although he does push Arikawa away in the beginning, it's not out of embarrassment or a reluctance we can never seem to understand with other ukes. Normally, even though the uke loves the seme and the seme has already said a billion times how much they love the uke, the uke will still not give in. With Misaki, however, I understand his reserves and can respect them. But once they are gone, he evolves, changes into a better person, a better lover. It's just so different to see that kind of development in yaoi.
Lastly, Kawabata. Yes, it's a common yaoi scenario for an uke to have someone insanely in love with them and that's a stalker. But the story is very uncommon. When have you seen this kind of situation? In all my years of reading yaoi, I haven't. Usually, one of the characters who's actually in the main relationship can't accept their feelings and that's the whole struggle of the story. Or, most of the time, even, they already know they are in love with the other person and are just trying to make them suffer more. Not this case. To see the uke be able to move on and that people have a life once their first love doesn't work...that's something I really liked to see. And the best part is how they make up, how they talk it through, solve their problems toward a better future. I loved it.
The pace and length are also just right. No extra BS once the conflicts have been solved, no dragging forever. Everything that had to be in there was in there, all the sex scenes were just what we needed. Oh, and don't you just love how creative mangakas are? I just keep thinking of the scene when Arikawa leans over Misaki from his bed, while Misaki is on the floor. It's such a simple thing, but such a different position. I had chills from the sexual tension in this part.
This was short and concise, just what I needed, and there's not much else to say about it. I did cry lightly at some parts (sucker for angst here), but it's otherwise a very lighthearted read. I definitely recommend it.
I'd read one manga by Takarai Rihito before that I didn't even remember. Thankfully, I always leave reviews, so, upon reading my own review, I could see my perception of it was just average. And if I don't remember it, it probably was. But then I read Ten Count and I loved it. I usually search for relevant terms to find new yaoi manga, and this one had one of the ones I usually go for (unexpressed feelings), but, more than that, I'd found "Hana no Miyako de" through it, which I was really interested in. Although I disagree with this term for the manga, this makes me want to give Takarai Rihito's work another chance.

... Last updated on July 12th, 2017, 3:08am

There's a certain angst in the manga but at the same time it's all fluff. Well it's good enough for me to actually right a review about it. I love all the characters even the antagonist. Even though it's not entirely realistic, it tackles some things that could possibly happen or has happened in our daily lives. I recommend this.

I really loved it.
I love the draw, was beautiful and also the story. You can find the awakening of you true self.
Misaki he thought his likes were a sin loving a guy to him wasn't "correct" or "normal" and he didn't express to much his own feelings because he didn't want to get hurt -again- (who doesn't understand that) but when he meet arikawa he start to change and feels like his love its no just for one side and he understand that his feelings are not wrong. Such a beautiful story.

Next we have satoshi, I really pity for him (I fall for him actually) because he doesn't do what he really wants, he only does what his mum would approve, it's frustrating living like that. that's it's not life at all and he also have the same problem as misaki, he doesn't accept himself, he thinks being gay is abnormal, that's rubbish.
He really needs to change, because he lost the love of his life just for that stupid way of thinking.

I think this is a cute and little realistic story about what we live in our life. Except for those amazing sexy beats. Ugh.

This story gives off feeling of being fragile esp. The uke, it feels that he is going to break in my perspective. This is so good, so solemn(for me) and pure. I love it very much, i've also read the sequel and i feel like crying because the ending is really good, it nearly made me cry. This is just so sweet and fulfilling.

It was a cute story. The characters don't have flaws so they're not very realistic. It does give you a nice, warm feeling when they get together though. There is also a token guy who is homophobic and that takes away from the story as little because you knew exactly what was going to happen at a certain point.

Reposting what I posted on another site:
I heard about how great this yaoi was so I came to check it out. It's just okay. For me it's missing that one spark that makes it great. Don't let my sentiments fool you though because among a lot of crappy yaois it's up there. One definite thing: Arikawa is a diamond.

Adding a few things:
I love slice-of-life romances, but this one was missing the chemistry factor for me. I couldn't believe in this thing that built up and existed between the two main characters. The seme's interest in the uke was a big "huh" and never convincingly explained. The uke I thought was undeserving and a little irritating mainly because his backstory was not developed to the extent or depth that would make me root for him. I always seem to say this in my comments, but I may be a little harsh on this manga, but for being so popular with fujoshis and people (that I know) praising this like it's one of the best yaoi ever written... well, it's better than your usual by a whole lot yet somehow also not much at all. Maybe my expectations were too high and after reading this I just couldn't figure out how I'm supposed to react.

One thing for sure, I'm going to need a lot more convincing to read the sequel and spin off series. I'll probably never touch them at all.

... Last updated on August 17th, 2014, 2:51am

Haha somehow I feel rather quizzical about this manga now that I've finished it. It's almost like a paradox I would say. The title has been one of the highest rated yaoi series for years in many sites and particularly here in MU, so there certainly were rave reviews which I thought would overhype the manga to an extent, but then there were also less positive ones which had me wonder for a while what the true direction that this one headed in was.

So now that I've finished it, I gotta say I stand on a different ground to most. I've read countless slice-of-life mangas in general so I have a pretty good idea what the genre has to offer. This manga is not the over-the-top and melodramatic type, but not similar to those slow and passive mangas either. As far as the plot and development go, the series is actually quite decent imo though not entirely brilliant. I'm quite okay with the story and the characters are alright as well. That said, I feel that the mangaka could have 'exploited' the setting a bit more and dived deeper into the emotions hidden without displaying too much, which would definitely help adding more sustance. Still, this is surely one of the better BL mangas out there that could undoubtedly satisfy many readers' taste for sure, especially when it's just full of rosy love like that.