This manga is amazing. It's predictable in a unpredictable way.
I really wanted to dislike it. The description really didn't appeal to me and I just wanted to read it so I could understand "Hana no Miyako de" better. I had seen some of the ratings and the beginning seemed kind of normal, so I was ready to diss it, to say how common it was. But I was so, so wrong.
The first and most noticeable thing is the characters. They are so charismatic, it's impossible not to love them. Arikawa is different from all the other characters in yaoi manga I've ever seen. He's truly one of a kind. He's gentle and kind of an airhead, yes, but he has that whole...heterossexual vibe about him. You can tell he truly fell in love with Misaki and never expected to feel that for a man. But the best part is that he doesn't even care. He's so genuine, I bet he'd be the type to say gender is not important, but rather what's inside. He's very human, with shy and nervous moments, but also sooo sexy at times!
And then Misaki. First, can I just say how much I love this name? But the whole character is really good, too. He's not a tsundere, like most ukes usually are. It's very refreshing to see this. Although he does push Arikawa away in the beginning, it's not out of embarrassment or a reluctance we can never seem to understand with other ukes. Normally, even though the uke loves the seme and the seme has already said a billion times how much they love the uke, the uke will still not give in. With Misaki, however, I understand his reserves and can respect them. But once they are gone, he evolves, changes into a better person, a better lover. It's just so different to see that kind of development in yaoi.
Lastly, Kawabata. Yes, it's a common yaoi scenario for an uke to have someone insanely in love with them and that's a stalker. But the story is very uncommon. When have you seen this kind of situation? In all my years of reading yaoi, I haven't. Usually, one of the characters who's actually in the main relationship can't accept their feelings and that's the whole struggle of the story. Or, most of the time, even, they already know they are in love with the other person and are just trying to make them suffer more. Not this case. To see the uke be able to move on and that people have a life once their first love doesn't work...that's something I really liked to see. And the best part is how they make up, how they talk it through, solve their problems toward a better future. I loved it.
The pace and length are also just right. No extra BS once the conflicts have been solved, no dragging forever. Everything that had to be in there was in there, all the sex scenes were just what we needed. Oh, and don't you just love how creative mangakas are? I just keep thinking of the scene when Arikawa leans over Misaki from his bed, while Misaki is on the floor. It's such a simple thing, but such a different position. I had chills from the sexual tension in this part.
This was short and concise, just what I needed, and there's not much else to say about it. I did cry lightly at some parts (sucker for angst here), but it's otherwise a very lighthearted read. I definitely recommend it.
I'd read one manga by Takarai Rihito before that I didn't even . Thankfully, I always leave reviews, so, upon reading my own review, I could see my perception of it was just average. And if I don't it, it probably was. But then I read Ten Count and I loved it. I usually search for relevant to find new yaoi manga, and this one had one of the ones I usually go for (unexpressed feelings), but, more than that, I'd found "Hana no Miyako de" through it, which I was really interested in. Although I disagree with this term for the manga, this makes me want to give Takarai Rihito's work another chance.