Omgggg, as soon as I saw the brother I was like, why does he look so familiar...? And it turns out this manga is a spinoff of her series Akihabara Fall in Love!!!! I'm having a mindblown moment right now. It's been forever since I last read that so I can't tell which I like more. This volume closes off the "romance" between our mains and ahh, the missed potential. I'm glad they finally got to talking but Satoru (mangaka) just... Maybe if they'd gone like on another date or something. I really liked their interactions after they got together but I guess I was hoping for more buildup, especially because they ended up being so cute. We also got that tragic past that helped explain more of Satoru's situation but still. 3.5 again
I stopped reading in the middle because I'm having a hard time focusing on anything in general and I feel like I forgot all the Japanese words I ever knew. I don't even remember their names 😔
But let's try to pull ourselves out of this rut!
In volume 2 we explore the reason why Satoru is so suspicious of love: it's not that he prefers 2D, which is what I would have assumed from an otaku and self-proclaimed fudanshi. It's because his mother left the family without warning and their father barely gave a fuck. Satoru doesn't think love lasts. From his experience, couples grow up hating each other and leaving, and that scares him. It's why he kept his distance from people and never truly made an effort to make his past relationships work.
I don't hate it and I think Chiaki Kashima put a lot of thought in how to work with Satoru's trauma. But I guess it doesn't click as much in my brain because it's a more specific kind of fear compared to, say, the trauma Anezaki has in 「俺と上司とかくしごと」. God these titles are so long. Uh, the English translation seems to be The Secret of Me and My Boss, so let's call it TSMMB 😂
So in TSMMB, Anezaki's distrust of love comes from having been betrayed by a former lover and the general fear that he would grow old alone because he's gay. Even so, Anezaki doesn't push Mikado away or act coldly towards him, which is why the manga manages to flow a lot more smoothly even if it's just one volume.
Can't stand any longer (CSAL) is a lot rockier. Satoru lies. It's not that he can't feel love, he just doesn't allow himself to become close enough to other people to care about them. He makes a mistake with Shishio, and that's because Shishio appealed to his fudanshi/mangaka side. It probably also helps that Shishio's a bit older and more mature? He has a lot more experience socialising with people and being in a relationship (compared to Satoru who is also an otaku even though he's more adjusted to society compared to his older brother).
Actually, now I've sit down and thought about it, yeah I like it better than I initially thought. This whole thing can honestly work (maybe better) without getting tied with with Akihabara Falling Love since that was years ago and Chiaki Kashima's storytelling has gotten stronger, but it's nice seeing familiar characters I guess 😂
Le premier tome est vraiment une belle introduction à l'histoire et des personnages. L'histoire prend place dans l'humour, la curiosité, l'expérimentation et quelques quiproquos.
Par contre, pour le deuxième tome, l'histoire à beaucoup plus de profondeur et fait davantage place aux émotions et au développement de leurs relations.
L'idée d'un éditeur prêt à tout pour aider son auteur jusqu'à qui surprendre lui bien est vraiment bien! Leurs personnalités sont tellement à l'opposé que c'est vraiment cocasse! Mais c'est intéressant de voir comment les facettes de leurs personnalités des chacuns changent en avançant dans l'histoire, rendant le tout encore plus intéressant et complet.
J'ai bien aimé les dessins! Il y quelques cases où j'ai adoré les expressions, ils étaient trop mignon!
When I finished this second volume, I just realized that it's actually a spin-off of Akihabara Fall In Love, which tells the story of Ayumu and Hasegawa.
In this volume, the comedic side is toned down compared to the first one, since the story focuses more on how Satoru tries to better understand himself and rebuilds his perspective on love and relationships.
Reading this second volume was just as enjoyable as the first, mainly thanks to Shishio's character, who's always open when communicating about everything. Overall, I really like this manga.
The relationship still leaves a lot to be desired. I believe the editor fell for the mangaka. I don’t believe the mangaka cares about the editor. I think the establishment of him having abandonment issues was an attempt to say love looks different for him, but it still feels like a really one sided relationship.
Haven't seen a character in a long time that was so obviously aromantic only for the story to push it into a romantic angle, because of course. Feels like a missed opportunity to me, but it was entertaining nonetheless.
this spin off was way better than that single volume main story. satoru is more interesting as a main character of his own story and i loved masumi too!