I thought the premise was cute and the art is nice but neither characters could hold my interest past a few pages. I love me a plot where it involves a gloomy type black haired uke (appearance different from personality) but eh. I don't think it's a bad series, just the metal aspect didn't also interest me as a plot point. Can't rate the manga since I didn't get past even one chapter.

It's a slow romance with pretty art and likeable, kind characters. It's perfect for a quick read. The idea was good, metallheads rarely appear in manga, so it was refreshing to see one as main character, but the execution was far from perfect. If mangaka didn't skip a few months of the story after every chapter (it was confusing and completely unnecessary, it felt like some pages were missing, so I had to double-check if I didn't skip anything) and added more background to main characters it could be 10 out of 10. Anyway it's not bad, you can read it.

A super sweet and simple series! The plot is nothing amazing at all, but I do think the characters were created skillfully. With very little, the mangaka fleshed out each character nicely and I could see these characters existing and moving independent of the story. Loved Kento's friend, the girl at the nursery and even the manager of the cake shop. Their appearances were brief, but they made enough of an impression that I felt they contributed to the lighthearted feel of the story.

In terms of development, I feel like the time skips were definitely awkward and hindered believable character development. It would have been nice to see Kento and Soushi grow closer as friends over the year and maybe have little hints of their growing affection for each other instead for it to seem to come from epiphanies. Regardless, I thought the pace was appropriate and didn't feel too rushed, despite the time skips.

Lots of potential, I'll definitely be keeping tabs on this mangaka!

I agree with several comments, that the characters and stories don't get enough time or development to make this an excellent manga. But, it's a perfectly enjoyable yaoi manga, with enough personality of its own.

The author is clearly a metal fan, and that shows. I want to see the raws to see if the joke band names were in the original. But seeing bands t-shirts like System of an Up and Pan Tera was a delight.

I also really liked the kindergartener who gave love advise while smoking a lego. I'd love to see that child tell it like it is to more yaoi protagonists. Haha.

... Last updated on March 20th, 2021, 7:50pm

except I find the art not dated at all. Rather it is mamita's style

I really like the personality difference between these two as they complement each other well.
The story creates a warm, relaxing and sweet atmosphere with a decent relationship development, although the time skips are a little rushed without enough details.
Another impressive thing is how the funny moments are drawn so effectively it made me laugh out loud.

I'm quite fond of the concept: socially anxious older guy who's into patisserie and metal music x the puppy-like younger guy next door. Unfortunately the actual story was very rushed and the characters fell very flat; it was hard to care about anything going on in this manga.

Reading this story feels like the mangaka is in a race to hit every milestone on the "Typical Yaoi Relationship Timeline." Important developmental stages of the MCs' relationship (first as friends, then as lovers) are never explored, because the mangaka throws in year-long time skips that serve little purpose other than leaving readers confused and disconnected from the characters.

The thing is, I can't care about how a couple is doing three years later if I was never given the chance to form an emotional attachment to them in the first place. I wish Mamita spent more time on the development and realization of the MCs' feelings for each other, because I'm still skeptical about how quickly Soushi decided that yes! he's in love with the guy who kissed him without consent, despite never having romantic feelings for anyone before. I would've loved(!!) to see the anxious and withdrawn Soushi grow comfortable in Kenta's presence and for Kenta to see past Soushi's "scary" exterior, but apparently all that happened in the space between chapters 1 and 2.

For a series that came out in 2019, Tonari no Metaller-san feels awfully dated both plot and art-wise. I'd probably have a higher opinion of this series if it was released in 2009, but imo the characters are lifeless, the story is poorly paced, and the art is messy compared to many contemporary manga. I'd recommend skipping this one.

I like the premise, and it's sweet. Soushi is precious. But all the interesting parts were skipped! The time jumps between chapters made it feel like maybe I was missing chapters, but I know I wasn't.