Smile tells the story of 2 childhood friends - Wayne Huntington Jr (a half-japanese, half-american) and Itou Ren (Japanese) - who fall in Love.
6 Chapters (Complete)






This is such a fantastic story with amazing characters and execution. I'm so sad about how underrated this gem is.
I wish more ppl read it, it's seriously break my heart when author said they changed the tragic ending bcz even they can't bring themselves to kill both of them bcz it's just so sad.
I seriously wish ppl can accept and understand difference between them and others and stop pushing them to hating themselves and suicide.
It's such a simple premise and plot but the execution was just brilliant. I loved the realism that sensei brought to the story - how homophobia and discrimination could look like in rural Japan, and the fact that the characters actually accept that they are gay (I mean, how many times have you seen the "I'm not gay, it's only because it's you!" trope). I'm glad that it wasn't a tragic ending too, because 90% of realistic story plots end in tragedy and I just need some light and happiness in my life ya know.
I had some qualms about the art at first, it was in between lineart and 3D style? But it really grew on me, and sensei's drawings are just incredible, the characters are absolutely beautiful. This manga was not explicit, which is I believe rare for sensei, and instead focuses much more on the plot and setting the scenes (can I say the backgrounds in this manga are breathtaking, and made me miss the inaka so much).
I really hope sensei will gift us with more manga of such!!