Zantei, Koibito

Description

Contains 3 short stories:

Chapters 1-3 - They'd been drunk. Or, more specifically, his boss had been drunk. So when Sakamoto jumped him, Kurahashi just went along with it. After all, it was just the alcohol...right?

Wrong!

At least, that's what his boss thinks...and said boss doesn't have a problem trying out a relationship with a colleague he thinks is in love with him. Unable to gainsay him, Kurahashi gets dragged into a relationship he never asked for - and finds himself getting deeper than he ever imagined.

Chapter 4 - Two childhood friends who abruptly drifted apart years ago are reunited. One of them is now a Buddhist monk... What does his friend feel about this?

Chapter 5 - The shy, reclusive, bespectacled Egawa confessed to Aoki on high-school graduation day...and was politely turned down. The two unexpectedly reunite in university, but to Aoki's surprise, Egawa has become a completely different person who's very popular with the ladies! But why does this cause strange, conflicting emotions within Aoki?

Type

Manga

Related Series

N/A

Associated Names

Tentatively Lovers

暫定、恋人

Groups Scanlating

Storm in Heaven

Latest Release(s)

v.1 c.1-5 (end) by Storm in Heaven 15 years ago

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Status in Country of Origin

1 Volume (Complete)

Completely Scanlated?

Yes

Anime Start/End Chapter

N/A

User Reviews

N/A

Forum

0 topics, 0 posts

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User Rating

Average: 7.9 / 10.0 (314 votes)

Bayesian Average: 7.76 / 10.0

11%

21%

30%

22%

Last Updated

March 23rd, 2025 6:08am PDT - 3 months ago

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Genre

Comedy Drama Romance Shounen Ai Slice of Life
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Categories

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Category Recommendations

Matsu no Ma

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Akasaka Buchou no Prince Boy Ikusei Keikaku

Recommendations

N/A

Author(s)

AKIBA Touko

Artist(s)

AKIBA Touko

Year

2008

Original Publisher

Tokuma Shoten

Serialized In (magazine)

Chara (Tokuma Shoten)

Licensed (in English)

English Publisher

N/A

Activity Stats (vs. other series)

Weekly Pos #749

(-29)

Monthly Pos #1683

(-146)

3 Month Pos #2208

(-1032)

6 Month Pos #5367 (No change)

Year Pos #7852 (No change)

List Stats

On 122 reading lists

On 156 wish lists

On 1033 completed lists

On 14 unfinished lists

On 304 custom lists

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User Comments [ Order by usefulness ]

Adorable and Calming

by toastmuncher
8 years ago

Rating: 9.0 / 10.0

It's quite a strange feeling to come back to a good manga which you have read and completely forgotten about until to reach middle of the first chapter. 1) It makes me wonder was it really that good if I forgot? 2) Why did I forget?
The manga is, undeniably, good. The story telling is strong, and so is the narrative cohesion. The art is also pretty solid in my opinion. The stories are well thought out, especially the second and third one which really break conventions, and the characters are not stock characters, they have their own personalities that nicely fleshed out. So, I guess I forgot because the length is too short and while the manga is unique still there's this tint of genericness about it. I would really like to clarify that while I do have this feeling that this manga is somewhat generic vis-a-vis the genres and over all thematic structure, it is not cliched. There is this new perspective and depth to these stories.
I do have certain reservations, but that's only for a few scenes, the character's facial expression and dialogues-it's over use to be exact.

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Love it!

by sofistree
9 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

The first story is adorable and I had a great time with it! It's an old favorite of mine.

In the second story, I don't understand the Japanese/Korean trope of one of the couple leaving without warning and having it be a twist in the romance. It always baffles me. But whatever. Despite my confusion, this was a cute oneshot story! Although the fact that Ray was afraid having a crush on his friend was a sin made me so mad. I'm glad it worked out for them. <3

The third one was...meh. Aoki was a huge jerk, honestly.

But the extra in the last chapter was cute!

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Main couple is great!

by F0rcefi3ld
11 years ago

Rating: 8.0 / 10.0

For a simple read, this was a great yaoi! I absolutely adored the first couple and wished there could have been more. (I liked the sempai-kouhai couple that was introduced too.) The mangaka talked at the end about how sometimes her readers/editors couldn't tell her seme and uke apart (although I can) but that's what makes this yaoi special; the uke is confident and a man of his own, not some girl in a man's body.

There was some humor in all this and it was lovely. Another plus was there weren't any overly sappy, cheesy moments especially since the smut wasn't explicit.

... Last updated 11 years ago

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Much better than expected

by OmNom
12 years ago

Rating: N/A

Okay this manga is quite generic for its genres I don't deny, yet underneath that shadow I must say there are many more things it offers. The humour for one is absolutely undeniable. And it's the smart kind of humour as well, which is frankly quite refreshing. Typical as the stories might seem, the mangaka still managed to come up with unexpected reactions and outcomes that I admittedly didn't see coming at all. Some stories might be better than others, but overall it was a nice balance of a collection, not overbearingly cliche AND acceptably cute. Although the art truthfully is not my cup of tea I found that it didn't bother me as much as I thought, and that's not a common sight for me, for once I've hold a grudge against a certain type of art I just simply can't like it. That's far from a virtue I know but I don't think I can ever change that about me. Thus I guess I was more engrossed in the manga than foreseen.

Though it's not like I don't have any issues with the series 'cause there are still things that bugged me a lot, I could say it surpassed my expectation big time (it could also be due to the fact that I honestly set the bar for the manga quite low, oh well, good news is it proved me wrong isn't it)

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Interesting

by blueseeker
14 years ago

Rating: 9.0 / 10.0

I don't think this mangaka will ever do "serious" or "deep", but it's not plain fluff either. I like the humor in her stories, and even some of the oneshots, make me want to keep reading about the characters. In all honesty, i really wished this one was longer.

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A lot of fun, if nothing else.

by cyclamen
14 years ago

Rating: N/A

This is a really fun manga. It isn't particularly deep and the plot is definitely unrealistic - maybe even typical - but it's still one of the best romantic comedies I've read.

The characters are amusing, with very likable personalities. It is incredibly refreshing to find a uke who doesn't blush and cringe all the time, and who looks every bit a man as his partner does. Sakamoto is very bossy and strong-willed, and his 'battles' with Kurahashi never failed to have me in stitches!

The third story is good too - both guys are equally strong and endearing; and though the conclusion is predictable, it was very nicely done.

The second I didn't like quite as much. I'm a Buddhist, so while I acknowledge the truth of the fact that Buddhism does not oppose homosexuality (the only thing our religion prohibits is infidelity to your partner - the gender of the partner is not relevant), I must also note that monks are encouraged to remain celibate. The discrepancy in principles is obviously due to the Shinto influences that have tainted Japanese Buddhism, but still...

Though it's quite difficult to explain the whys and the hows, there's something that sets Zantei, Koibito apart from the majority of BL manga out there. If you're looking for a laugh or two in your shounen-ai, this title is a good choice. If you want something serious - then move on and keep searching.

... Last updated 14 years ago

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so-so

by xono
14 years ago

Rating: 6.0 / 10.0

This a so-so manga. The art is clean and neat. Fitting facial expressions with the dialogue. Most of the time, I read a completely scanlated manga straight even up to 10 volumes a day. I read this into two installments. The first read bores me and I stopped. The theme is not that interesting enough to engage me all throughout.

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enjoyable

by keristars
15 years ago

Rating: 9.0 / 10.0

I really enjoyed this story. It takes place almost entirely in the office setting (or after-work drinking with coworkers), and except for a brief flashback, occurs several months after the couple gets together. I found it to be an interesting chance of pace to the usual. The art style is also refreshing, particularly since I don't usually feel like every panel is an attempt to pose the characters for maximum "bishi" appeal, no matter what they're doing. In fact, the faces were very expressive, without that constant brooding look.

There aren't a lot of BL manga that I would be interested in buying, because of the lack of rereadability and the way so many blur together, but I think I might like to own this one.

The second story (chapter four) is about two childhood friends, one of whom went away without a word several years earlier, and returned as a Buddhist monk. I didn't find it as enjoyable as the rest of the book, mostly because I didn't think there was enough of the story, and I don't know much about Buddhist monks and what that means for the one character.

The third story (fifth chapter) I liked almost as well as the main story. It's about a sempai and kohai from an all-boys high school. The kohai confessed to the sempai on graduation day, and now they're both at the same university, and the kohai has joined the sempai's indoor soccer club. He's had a "college debut" and is now surrounded by girls, but the sempai has strange, conflicting feelings towards the kohai. It's perhaps silly, but I liked the sempai's characterisation in this one, because it didn't really seem like one that I've seen time and again. The story itself has a good pace, too, and the resolution was very satisfying, instead of feeling inevitable or just the usual for a BL manga.

I think one thing that all three stories share is a lack of that cloying feeling that a lot of shoujo manga and BL manga have - they're not overly sweet or saccharine or angsty. And the drawings have strong lines without the cloudy screentones all over the place.

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