After School Etude by Hirune Cyan

 

Love hits the right notes in this Boys' Love manga about two unlikely dance partners who make the perfect pair.

When Minobe Chihiro is admitted to a private arts academy to study ballet, the last person he expects to train with is the surly second year Ichinomiya Shun. Yet by some stroke of luck, the two have been paired up for their school’s mandatory pas de deux practice. While Minobe has fallen at first sight for Ichinomiya’s superior dance sense, the second-year’s attitude leaves a lot to be desired. For Ichinomiya, paired with Minobe as a dance partner is not how he’d like to be spending his time. The grumpy upperclassman has his walls up, but Minobe’s puppy-like affection might be just what he needs!

My Rate: 8 (amzn.to/4kxB4fL)

After School Etude is quite beautiful graphically speaking, and I had the wrong impression it was some sort of esthetically beautiful piece of art with little feeling, but I was wrong. It's also quite cute, and strange enough very sexy at the beginning, some sort as to set off the mood, the slowly move more to being cute and romantic. Ichinomiya is this strong core in a litlle man body (little = short). The body contrast between Ichinomiya  and Minobe is quite clear, but it's doesn't give you the feeling that Ichinomiya is forced by Minobe, on the contrary Minobe is very attentive and tender and caring... the perfect boyfriend. I also like that there is no drama in their relationship, they understand each other and the people around them too. I would have only liked that the ballet professor who is basically a pedophile suffered some consequences...

I Didn't Mean to Fall in Love by Minta Suzumaru

Inexperienced Yoshino is about to turn thirty. He's nearly given up on ever falling in love, let alone having decent sex--until one day he steels himself and goes to a gay bar. There he meets Rou, a charming, silver-haired college student who is everything that Yoshino isn't: mysterious, assertive, and experienced with both men and women. Yoshino finds himself hopelessly attracted to Rou, as their awkward courtship simmers into something more. But is it love?

My Rate: 8 (amzn.to/3w7IWB5)

The first book in this series is really cute. Yoshino is an almost 30 years old virgin who wants to loose his v-card on Christmas eve, a day that is also his birthday. He is lucky enough to enter a bar in Shinjuku that is not shady or dangerous, it's actually a gay version of your neighborhood bar, only that, instead of old men playing cards (or since we are in Japan, Mahjon), you have some chatty queer guys who are no dangerous at all. So yes, Yoshino was like even more when, who picks him up is Rou, a college student with a yankee exterior but who is actually a softie at heart. The ensuing love story is quite and fluffy, and basically a no drama happily ever after.

I Didn't Mean to Fall in Love: Double by Minta Suzumaru

 

Yoshino and Rou's love story continues in the sequel story to the hit Boys' Love manga I Didn't Mean to Fall in Love!

Charismatic college student Rou never expected his one-night stand with thirty-year-old Yoshino to amount to more than a casual fling. But more surprises are in store for this unlikely couple! Rou has just joined the workforce and is looking forward to a happy future together. But things get off to a rocky start—Rou butts heads with Niko, a colleague at his new company, and the two lovers find they have less time to spend together now that they’re both working. When Yoshino begins to suspect that there’s more going on between Rou and Niko than Rou is letting on, his insecurity and anxiety threaten to tear their relationship apart!

My Rate: 8 (amzn.to/3I2vAfi)

The second volume in this series concentrates on Rou's first job experience, and the entering in his life of a new friend, Niko, very similar to Rou, and for Yoshino, the old say that opposite attracts seem to work on the contrary, and he fears that Rou will be attracted to the younger and cooler Niko. Of course, like the first book, this is a no drama love story, so readers don't need to worry. Just enjoy a sexy, but not dirty, love story, with a nice graphic. Sometime that I have to highlight is that the graphic is clean, sometime the panels are so rich in details that they are distracting. Here instead the focus is centered on the characters, and that is really nice. Also the bubbles are not too much wordy, and again, that is nice.