i have always loved this mangaka and her works, this one is no exception! i love it, it's amazing. the extra about the uncle is a bit... *ahem* not normally in my taste, but it was still quite well done and the andou and minaguchi story was absolutely YAYsome, so i'll overlook it ;P
there's one page in the manga that i absolutely LOVE, possibly out of all the yaoi/BL manga i have ever read. its in chapter 4, near the end... its like:
minaguchi: *moves forward*
*pauses*
*moves back*
andou: *YANK*
LMAO its both hilarious and yummy

... Last updated on May 17th, 2008, 10:11am

I loved this story. The characters are very real and their emotions touched me. It's about two high school boys falling in love, the tentative advances and slow acceptance of it. Very sweet.

I too would have to agree. The main story is nice, developing in its own time and finding, along the way, good emotions.

But, though I was warned I still read the oneshots (ch.6&7). As predestined I was definitely disappointed and it kinda threw me off from the enjoyment of the main story. So if you can resist just stay away from them & if you can't, just read them another time so you don't associate them together.

... Last updated on February 1st, 2010, 10:31pm

I loved the main story in this one volume manga. Fujiyama's ability lies in conveying restrained feelings and the study she gives to the internal thoughts and emotions of her characters. I would have given this manga a 10 if not for the one short story in this volume about the guy and his uncle *shudders*.

The relationship progresses quite slowly and is not easy on either one of the characters involved, this seems to be a common thing on the mangaka's stories but it's what makes you want to read more about the characters and see how everything will turn out.

Every single story is a heart warmer, even the 'sad' ones.

Tender, true-to-life and a little bitter sweet, all the stories in this anthology made me read them slowly over a couple times; there is a lot of poetic depth to each movement and phrase.

She has a very unique delivery style. Quite often her panel transitions are moment-to-moment and the intensity of characters seems to just throb. The quiet and unrelenting questions of growing up--sometimes questions that are never really 'answered'--resound and echo satisfyingly.

She is always creative in her delivery. For example, the very first page of the first chapter, the reader sees through the eyes of the main character; the next panel, the reader sees through the artist's eyes as if at the scene. Attention is grabbed right away--even in the most mundane actions--a boy taking a picture.

She knows how to talk about loneliness and about loss, desire and mutual love without being trite, generalizing or saccharine.

The beautiful work by Bliss and Biblo Eros allow Fujiyama-sensei's quiet and powerful work to shine.

And her art! The eyes on these boys are compelling, full of emotion. There is something about Fujiyama's delivery that makes me hold my breath.

i really liked the first story, the relationship was realistic, you can see the attraction develop slowly (something this author is great at.) they dont meet and fall madly in love, they both slowly come to realize that they feel something special towards another guy, and one of them tries to deny it for awhile, but you cant deny love! plus, it ends in a hopeful note, not with the whole "i'll love you forever" thing, but they both know there is love and that they'll work hard to be together, they dont just believe it'll magically work out, they know its something they need to keep at.
there was one story that i really didnt like, it was the one about the uncle/nephew, (some spoilers) the uncle was such a jerk, how can he randomly have sex with his nephew like that? especially when he already has a boyfriend! but it does end realistically in the sense that the uncle runs away from the nephew so that he wont hurt the family or his boyfriend (mind you, if he didnt want to hurt them he shouldn't have slept with him in the first place.)

... Last updated on January 12th, 2009, 5:47pm

i don't think i could say it any better than "MightyMaeve" below. that's exactly how i feel about this volume.

with the small exception of "the vast summer sky", which, while not terrible if sad, left me wanting something more/else. and no, that's not because of the possible incest (or maybe not primarily so; fujiyama could probably sell me incest with a bit more preparation).

well, the main story and the two side stories had very different feelings. The theme for all the stories was 'unrequited love', but the main difference was

To elaborate on the above spoiler, read this one:

I guess I don't really mind stories going either way, but I do prefer to have a clue of which way they're going. I much prefer when collections of stories all have a similar feeling, so I can read them based on my mood, etc. Sometimes I'm reading fluff, and then you have some gang-bang-murder-suicide story and I'm just like "WOAH outta left field there, hm?!"

The art wasn't bad. It looks pretty much exactly like the cover art, so if that's your thing, you'll like it. I guess it's not really my thing though. I think this is about a mid-range rated story for me - nothing great or memorable, but nothing terrible either I guess.

... Last updated on July 24th, 2016, 3:11pm

The main story is difficult to not love. Slightly cliche and predictable, but still endearing and sweet. It definitely gives a 'warm, fuzzy' feeling, without seeming fake or too forced. And certain moments really tug on the heart strings, arguably more than I'd expected.

The characters walk the line between being unrealistic/ridiculous and genuinely well-intentioned - with a slight suspension of disbelief in some moments, this doesn't detract from the story. But if you like your men masculine and hard-edged, this is definitely not the story you're looking for. If you want a more 'mature' kind of boy, check out Rakka Sokudo instead, as that features older, accomplished characters.

But despite the almost-too-naive schoolboy protagonist, this is my favorite story from this mangaka.

... Last updated on January 11th, 2010, 11:16pm