A slow-moving romance that is slightly redeemed by the last ~30 pages. The art is good, but the translation leaves something to be desired: whoever/whatever did the translation seems to have a poor grasp of subject-verb agreement.

Received via NetGalley.

This was a really cute oneshot that focused on taking a chance and going against societal hetero norms for how one show live. It left on an open ending of sorts, which honestly made me want just a bit more from the story. Overall, it was a quick and thought provoking read.

I want to say thank you to Netgalley for an advanced ARC of this manga

This was an adorable story of a guy thatha regrets about his past, but in time gers a roommate and romance pursues

This was a cute story where u route for the main character hoping he finds happiness and also becomes happy wirh himself and also in life in general, the romance is at a steady pace and seems more nature then most (manga's I have read) I look forward to reading the second volume

I LOVED THIS MANGA SO MUCH! I cannot wait to read more in this series, that cliff hanger. We love bi rep too.

And they were roommates!

This is a quiet, slice of life and workplace BL from a Taiwanese creator, which was refreshing to see in the market.

Jason (they've adopted English names to use in the wokplace, pretty common) needs the help of IT whiz Frank, a younger worker who's dealing with a rough commute. Jason, whose apartment is huge thanks to family money, asks Frank to room with him, and they settle into a cozy companionship that seems posed to bloom into something more. But Jason's feeling the familial pressure of being an unmarried virgin at 35, and Frank has his own drama to deal with...

It was great to see bi rep spelled out in a manhua for once! Other than that, this wasn't that remarkable. The typical internalized homophobia doesn't abate until near the end, and there's some biphobia and misunderstandings about bisexuality. There were also translation errors and typos in this copy.

It was a cute story with some nice design choices, like the table of contents design looking like an old webpage!

3.5
This is definitely a sweet story that’s more about discovering yourself at a later age than it is about being in a relationship. I will say the English names kind of threw me off and there are some grammatical/sentence structuring that messes with the flow of the story, but overall it’s a good manga.

Thank you to NetGalley and Media Do for the e-book copy!

I am always excited when I see romance titles with older protagonists because they don't get published as often. Confessions of a 35 Year Old is the story of Jason, who struggles to find love at 35. His coworker Frank ends up moving in with him and from there Jason wonders if his relationship with Frank will move past roommates. The author allows Jason the room to navigate his feelings and his perception of "normal love". I like that in the end, the relationship wasn't rushed and that Jason and Frank were able to come together on their own terms. If you like older protagonists and romance this volume will be for you.

I thought this was absolutely adorable. There is no sexual aspect in this, other than a mention that our main character is a virgin. It's a heart-wrenching story of a man very slowly coming to terms with his sexuality. I loved both of our main characters and kinda said that this is a standalone. I would love to see how their relationship continues to grow.

I actually quite enjoyed the writing, and the art style is fine, typical of manga. This isn’t spicy but leans more towards a wholesome romance. Reading through other reviews, many have pointed out that it’s more of a coming-of-age story for Jason, even at 35 years old, and I find myself agreeing. His younger coworker, Frank, seems to have a better grasp on life, whereas Jason is still figuring out what he wants.

Not to say it lacks any romance; in fact, there’s one part where I had a giddy smile on my face from all the wholesomeness.

It’s a bit like a fast slow burn romance—short and sweet, so it feels like a slow burn that happens quickly. You could argue that it needed more depth and was too short, but I think any more would have lost my interest. This is a great short one-shot story.

I wish this was coming out in paperback because I think it would be great to add to my collection.

Oh, and I believe this is actually a manhua (Chinese) comic not a manga..? & This is an ARC review, meaning I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A pleasant story of a man who thinks he's missing out on life because he has not found love. Once a man his journey confessed feelings for him and he ran from the feelings.
He spent years wondering what if?
Years later it happens again and he is going through it. Worried about family, co workers, and friends.
While there were a few comments I found slightly on the edge of homophobia, I do have to take into account cultural differences.
The drawing is very good and the story was sweet. I soon began to care about these two men, and hoped they found the love they both wanted.
Thanks to @netgalley for the opportunity to read this eArc in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Cute and quick. A small snippet into the mind of a man wondering, as we all do, if he’s normal and can be loved.

I got an ARC of this book.

This was not the yaoi I grew up with, which is wonderful! The push towards BL is wonderful. The level of consent and feelings and yes. I am all for BL.

That being said, this one felt a little shallow. The MC didn't understand his own sexuality and still didn't at the end, in a weird way. It felt like his decision of how to handle the confession was based on not wanting to be lonely and not actually based on feelings. That difference made me worry about the love interest. I liked the love interest. He was so sweet and gentle.

The art was pretty standard, which is still high level. Manga has a particular style and this one fell into that beautifully. It was consistent and clear. So despite being great, it won't stand out.

So overall, it was a messy and confusing for the MC coming of age in middle age story in the best sort of way. It was not hard to follow at all, but it was full of musing and circular logic. It was a wonderful, quick read.

This was just okay for me. I appreciated the maturity of the main character and his love interest, the bisexual representation, and the gorgeous artwork. The story didn't flow as well as I would have liked and it felt severely disjointed at times, which led to some confusion in figuring out how certain panels and conversations were related to each other. The pacing of the story felt off, as well. It moved a little too quickly. This story would have benefitted from a longer exploration of the topics presented.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a free copy of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review!

This was overall a pretty nice story! For such a short story there was a surprising amount of depth to Jason and Frank's characters, but I just felt the story was lacking spark - so it didn't leave a strong impression.

All in all I'd say it is worth checking out!

Super fun comic with wonderful art and dialogue. Very easy to get into and relax. The story is very interesting and captivating

Confessions of a 35 Year Old is part of a new batch of Taiwanese BL (MLM) comics put out by Media Do and Yuzu Comics. It's the story of a Project Manager and his new report who ends up moving into his spare room after the suggestion of another coworker. From there, they become friends in their roommateship, but maybe, some other feelings are blossoming...

It's refreshing to have a story from the point of view of someone over 30, someone who questions if he threw away a chance (even if we have, again, the 'but we're both men??' trope in there-- not that it was successful in his youth), bisexual characters, maybe even demisexual? Ah, the perils of app dating and differing expectations when you actually go out...

Anyway, this one-shot comic was short and sweet enough, we have some 'caring for my coworker-that-I-like when he's sick', we have cute note keeping, we have learning to understanding each other little by little. While like the other MediaDo/Yuzu Comics books released in this batch the translation was a bit clunky at times, it wasn't quite as noticeable as the other three, and I enjoyed myself here.

I really liked that this author acknowledged the existence of bisexuality and had the MC to learn to view sexuality as more complex. I feel like that's lacking in quite a few romance books these days. I also liked that the MC was older and it was an age gap that didn't feel too unrealistic.

Volume unico che racconta la storia di un 35enne che non ha mai avuto una relazione.
Il protagonista vive costantemente nel rimpianto dopo aver rifiutato un suo amico anni prima, perchè sentiva che ricambiare sarebbe stato "strano e sbagliato". Ma non si rendeva ancora conto che lo era solo per gli altri.
Sul posto di lavoro incontra un suo collega più giovane e si offre di dividere l'appartamento per via del lungo tragitto coi mezzi che era obbligato a fare ogni giorno.
I due iniziano a convivere tranquillamente, finchè tra loro iniziano a presentarsi situazioni imbarazzanti, come la visita non preventivata della madre del protagonista, che non fa altro che impicciarsi della sua vita e di lodare i risultati ottenuti dal fratello.
Solo dopo la strana confessione del collega, il protagonista si rende conto piano piano dei suoi sentimenti, cercando di affrontare le paure che lo hanno sempre tormentato, accettando a piccoli passi la sua prima relazione, infischiandosene di quello che penseranno gli altri.

Credo sia una storia buona, che tratta argomenti importanti come il bullismo sul lavoro, le prime relazioni e la conoscenza di sè stessi.
E' realizzata in maniera delicata, ma allo stesso tempo manca di sentimento. Infatti non ho sentito nessun affetto per i due personaggi, ne per la loro storia. E' una buona base, ma andava lavorata un po' di più, dando più dettagli e affrontando con altre scene il loro rapporto.
Forse se avesse avuto un altro volume o pagine in più, avrei sicuramente apprezzato maggiormente questa storia.

Grazie Netgalley per avermi permesso di leggerlo in anteprima.

-----------------------

Single volume that tells the story of a 35 year old who has never had a relationship.
The protagonist constantly lives in regret after having rejected a friend years before, because he felt that reciprocating would have been "strange and wrong". But he didn't yet realize that it was only for others.
Years later at work he meets a younger colleague and offers to share the apartment due to the long journey by public transport that he was forced to make every day.
The two begin to live peacefully, until embarrassing situations begin to arise between them, such as the unplanned visit of the protagonist's mother, who does nothing but interfere in his life and praise the results obtained by her brother.
Only after his colleague's strange confession, the protagonist slowly realize his feelings, trying to face the fears that have always tormented him, accepting his first relationship in small steps, not caring what others will think.

I think it's a good story, which deals with important topics such as bullying at work, first relationships and self-knowledge.
It is delicately crafted, but at the same time lacks feeling. In fact, I didn't feel any affection for the two characters, nor for their story.
It's a good start, but it needed to be worked on a little more, giving more details and addressing their relationship with other scenes.
Maybe if it had had another volume or more pages, I would definitely have enjoyed this story more.

Thanks Netgalley for letting me preview it.

very cute and im a sucker for romance mangas that are about adults and not teenagers. The budding relationship between the two characters is precious and cute and i am excited to see the development of the relationship.

Honestly this story was cute. I liked the pacing and the story. The art is stunning!!

I got an e-arc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.