Well, I have mixed feelings… The art was really cute and pleasant and the story was the same. Cute would be the perfect word to describe it. I really liked the characters and how the book flowed, except half way through it started getting rushed and I just wanted more.
I unfortunately didn’t notice I was picking a book with smut… and well, they are not my fav. It’s not too much of the book, but it was enough for me to feel awkward and out of place. I just think it was absolutely not needed and for me it just made it less special.

Muchas gracias a NetGalley por permitirme leer este manga! Me ha parecido super tierno, y los protagonistas son absolutamente adorables. Me habría gustado conocerles más. Quizá en siguientes tomos (?)

1 star

The blurb was intriguing but the story was horrendous and Hozumi was just terrible. Hozumi broke his boyfriend’s heart, came back 7 years later and immediately begins to stalk and harass his ex who does not want to see him and escalates to what looked very much like SA which never gets properly addressed and is hand waved away, turns out Hozumi broke up with Mishima because he thought he knew what was best for Mishima and then they get back together. That isn’t love.

This story reminded me of all the BL Manga I read during high school in a good way. This one shot was sweet with a just a little spice. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a quick romance.

It was a second chance romance about a guy who regretted giving up his first love. He finds his first love and chooses to own up to his mistake and win him back.

I enjoyed this little one-shot and the story about second chances. The art is really pretty and fits the vibe of the story very well. Loved some of the background art as well and just the general vibe of life by the sea. I love the ocean and would love to live there so the vibe was very cozy and sweet.

I did enjoy the idea and the plot. However, given it's a one-shot I wished it would have been more in-dept. By that I mean, if the plot would have gotten a few Manga as a mini series you could have fleshed out the characters a bit more and give more about their background. It felt a bit rushed because of the fact it was a one-shot but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

I got this book for free via NetGalley for a review.

This book sees the reunion of two young men seven years after their relationship ended with Hozumi lying to Mishima about never really loving him.

Content Warning: this book contains a small amount of sexual scenes, however the consent is dubious.

The characters are well written in that they feel very realistic. I liked Mishima, he seems very sweet if somewhat lonely. I found it harder to like Hozumi, solely because of the way he treats Mishima. Beyond the initial lying, I'm just not convinced that their relationship is the best for Mishima.

The plot has a nice gentle slice-of-life style story, with the hook of how their relationship is going to unfold to pull you along. It didn't have me desperate to keep picking it up, but it did have me wanting to read more to find out what happened next.

I enjoyed the world building; you get a really nice impression of life in this island town. I always enjoy a sea setting, so having this based around the lighthouse with a couple of scenes on the boats was appealing.

The art style is good. Not one of my favourite styles, but the illustrations are clean and there are some beautiful panels. The style suits the type of story being told here.

Overall this was a nice little one-shot story which I enjoyed. But I just cannot get behind their relationship which made things feel a little awkward while reading.

Thankyou to Netgalley and publisher for an ARC of The White and Blue between Us.

Hozumi and Mishima dated in High school and right before graduation Hozumi broke up with Mishima with a lie. Seven years later Hozumi comes back home to help out his family in their store as well as to heal their past.

This is a nice one shot BL manga. It is only a few chapters. The artwork is very beautiful to look at. It is very calming and relaxing. Hozumi feels bad about what he did to Mishima and still has feelings for him. He wants to tell him the truth and hopefully rekindle their relationship. Mishima also still has feelings for Hozumi even after he was hurt. Mishima took Hozumi back way to quickly for my liking. There was no real communication for why Mishima forgave and got back with Hozumi so quickly. I would have liked to have seen this happen over a few more chapters and more discussion between the characters. The ending was sweet and it does show the awkwardness of them getting to know each other again.

I do recommend this if you like sweet second chance romances.

Thank you to NetGalley for the copy.

I feel like there is a portion of this manga missing - the story felt rushed and also just not very good.

There’s some serious issues in one area with consent and just feels like the ‘relationship’ was forced.

A sweet BL manga about a second chance love. What happens when you love someone so much you are willing to let them go to keep from holding them back? Hozumi returns home after seven years away to confront the man he let go. Mishima. Mishima understandably has his walls up. and lives a rather solitary life now that his grandfather passed. However, Hozumi is determined to right the wrongs of his past and make amends to Mishima because he never stopped loving him.

This was a sweet and even paced story. It had its somewhat spicy moments, but I focused more on the love story. I liked that Hozumi's parents were supportive. but I found myself wanting to learn more about how Mishima coped with his solitude for the past seven years. All in all, it was a good read.

*Honest and voluntary review via Kodansha Comics through NetGalley.

CW: dub-con (imo)

*SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD!*

This really wasn’t very good. I’m not sure what it was, but the storytelling was really off, at least for me. Everything felt very one-sided for Hozumi, like Mishima was being almost bullied into being in a relationship again. There was a scene that was all kinds of dubious consent, and Hozumi is just like “sorry, but I love you”.

Maybe the story suffered from being a one-shot story, so it didn’t have a full series to fully develop the characters and the storyline? It just fell really flat for me and didn’t feel at all believable.

This had a really cute concept. And the art was stunning. I felt the story got lost throughout the pages. It was a cute love story but there was no meat to the story. I wasn’t expecting the spice so that was a nice surprise !

Thank you so much for arc and the ability to enjoy this story!

Thank you to Kodansha Comics and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this manga. I definitely enjoyed this volume of manga due to more of an in-depth feelings (plus more not safe for work moments) But I still want more from this series!!!! Because of these points, I have to give this a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

I don't even know what to say about this. for starters, there's almost no plot at all, the little there is makes no much sense as the story progresses and the characters are not speaking in one scene, the next one is literarily raping the other one, and the next they are together again without any resolution.

I wasn't expecting much from this manga. Which is great, because it delivered very little.

First of all, the art. While the environmental art was visually pleasing, the character art was... Amateur. The faces were inconsistent and not very pleasing at the best of times. The anatomy was disproportionate, making the already stiff posing look even stranger. Overall, the art was boring and unprofessional.

The story was... I mean there wasn't really anything there. The pacing was ridiculous. The plot went out the window within the first chapter. The characters weren't particularly likeable and the chemistry was non-existent. I won't even get into the extremely out of place sex scene in which the consent was dubious at best.

Either the team was extremely new to this or just... Didn't care about this series. Either way, I could not recommend this to anyone.

Thank you NetGalley.

I definitely preferred the flashbacks over the present timeline. I feel like the present is so rushed. There was no tension and no build up. While the flashbacks weren’t slow, I feel like the teenage awkwardness added some tension.

I liked the art style. And the story concept is good. I’m all for them finding their love story, I would just like more tension.

I'm still not sure how I feel about this one. I didn't love what felt like harassment being included even if it was under the guise of "love". Also, the first sex scene was very ambiguous and appeared like it could've been coercion, which I also did not like. Otherwise, it was a sweet book. It's so hard to fit everything you want to into a one-shot I guess.

1.25 stars.

When I saw the beautiful cover for this, and read the synopsis, I was hoping for a cosy, second chance romance by the sea.

What we actually got was...well, definitely not that.

While the artwork is nice, it was pretty inconsistent, and despite there being 7 years between the high school flashbacks and the present day, there was nothing to make this easily distinguishable in the visuals. Paired with the strange pacing and back-and-forth between present day and memories, I was left confused at times as to when and where we were with the guys.

As for the characters themselves, there was very little personality for either of them. Mishima is an assumed hikikomori, with an abrasive demeanor that doesn't allow us as readers to really get to know him. And Hozumi just isn't very likeable full stop.

Their relationship break-up was nonsensical, the flimsy reasoning seeming like almost an afterthought of the author just for the sake of having it happen. We quickly go from Mishima wanting nothing to do with Hozumi, to being back with him again with no real conflict or conversations to address any of their history.

And let's talk about the out-of-nowhere sex scene which, though not 100% clear, seems like dubious consent at best, and actual assault at worst!? But again, it's never addressed, so who knows what the author was thinking.

I think the only thing I actually enjoyed was the brief glimpse we got of them during high school, when they were originally falling for one another. The moment they took a nap together outside was very sweet.

Overall though, this was a mess, sorry to say.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars out of 5

This story was just very okay. Definitely not the worst story I've ever read and it was still a bit enjoyable in parts. The story was mostly comfy and cute with some angst but there were a few parts that happened out of nowhere that were uncomfortable. I did like that these characters were adults, I am glad that is becoming a more common thing in manga the last few years but there just wasn't here. I wish there was a bit more, especially for a one-shot because it doesn't really seem worth the 13-15 USD that it'd cost and I can't imagine it being too many people's cup of tea because of the lack of much of anything.

Disclaimer: I received an arc copy of this on NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

The cover is cute, but the story is lacking. There is absolutely no reason to feel like these boys are in love. The timeline and the way the story cuts from past to present seemingly without reason makes it worse.

Ultimately, the very very low rating is due to a non consensual sexual experience that was thrown in for what reason??? And romanticized. I hated that. Would give zero stars if I could.

I did really enjoy reading this, but I wish we had another 100 pages or so for plot. We get roughly 130 pages or so of the main story, and it KILLS me because I think there was really something there if only we’d gotten a little more buildup and a lot more groveling. Seven years is a long time to nurse a broken heart, so the reconciliation was a little abrupt for me.