Adorable.
I could probably leave it at that, but since this is a blog and not just Twitter, I won’t.
Go for it, Nakamura! is a Japanese manga that’s on quite a few Best LGBT+ manga lists, so I thought I’d give it a try. I honestly wasn’t sure if it was going to be closer to My Brother’s Husband Volume 1 and Volume 2 or more like Don’t Be Cruel #1 and #2 or #3 and #4. Thankfully, it was more like the latter, with no sex scenes (these are high school kids after all).
This is the story of Nakamura’s first love/crush and it is so freaking adorable and incredibly meta. There are times when the work is clearly poking fun at the genre, specifically when Nakamura tries to learn how to talk to Hirose by reading BL manga and their teacher mentions how bad that could be, and times when it falls into other tropes (supernatural charms, tentacle porn [just a fully clothed nod at it], questioning sexuality) found in yaoi manga.
Honestly, what I enjoyed most was Syundei’s take on first love. She got so much of it right from the “ba-dum” heart beats that take over some of the panels, to the weird reactions you have like yelling at someone when you’re trying to say something, or straight up walking away when you’re spoken to for the first time. And she does so much with the character’s eyes, I can’t get over how expressive they are.
The novel is a loose collection of stories that Syundei previously published online and you can tell there’s some discontinuity but overall everything connected and the evolution of Nakamura and Hirose’s friendship made sense. I think my favorite of the chapters, might’ve been the cultural festival, because let’s face it when you have a crush on someone, you know the most embarrassing possible thing is going to happen to you AND it’s going to happen in front of them. The ending chapter, although not an explicit happily ever after, was perfect. Like perfect-perfect and I just sighed when I was done and then re-read it.
Recommendation: READ IT. This is actually probably a really good introduction to Japanese manga because it’s not super long or complicated, it’s only one volume, and the sexual tension is basically non-existent. I enjoyed it so much I actually read it twice in the time I had it and re-read the last chapter a couple of times because it’s heart-melting and swoon-worthy.
I’ve not read any Manga. Not really sure what it’s all about and how they differ from the comics I read as a child beyond the subject matter.
Honestly, the majority are probably pretty similar to what you read as a child, but there are plenty that are definitely not what any of us read as children – they do love their racier/x-rated ones 😀 The main difference is the illustration style and you read them left to right. There’s a whole different way of reading the graphics too, with an emphasis put on facial expressions and location within a frame and so much more I’m sure I miss out on.
Thanks for helping unravel the mystery for me