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About Love
Asaka is a dedicated wedding planner who’ll do anything to guarantee his clients’ happiness. Sadly, his own love life has all but vanished thanks to his ridiculous work schedule! But when Asaka’s first patron resurfaces, the precious spark of true love may finally fly for him. Can he plan the perfect affair…or will it just have to happen by chance?
200 pages, Paperback
First published June 20, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 2, 2012
Centered on wedding planner Asaka and his unusual relationship with his first client, About Love is a BL manga that contains multiple levels of conflict, complexity and character development. The story is well-plotted and includes dramatic revelations that genuinely surprise but are rooted in the layered and very real emotional repression and conflicted desires of these characters. Unlike many other yaoi, the characters here are deeply flawed. They can be vindictive, clumsy, selfish and unattractive in their attempts to love one and other or express that love. And the causes of their connections and disconnections can be layered and/or subtle (and frustrating). One of this manga's greatest strengths is its ability to get the reader emotionally invested in its characters and story.
Also unlike many other yaoi, real issues pertinent to the gay community are tackled (gay marriage, marrying to stay in the closet, starting a family as a gay person, etc). Most of the story, however, focuses on the development of the central characters' relationship, their deepening bond, but we can see these characters have lives outside of this relationship, which is deftly mirrored in the challenges Asaka encounters in his job (wedding planning). The only reason I think people complain about this story being "slow" is because it doesn't focus on sex or romance, but rather, on the complex relationship at its center and the development of conflict and theme.
The only let-down for me in this manga was its abrupt and unsatisfying ending. Otherwise, it is a stellar graphic BL manga- and perhaps more proof that a writer-artist duo can often result in better developed plot and characters in yaoi.
Also unlike many other yaoi, real issues pertinent to the gay community are tackled (gay marriage, marrying to stay in the closet, starting a family as a gay person, etc). Most of the story, however, focuses on the development of the central characters' relationship, their deepening bond, but we can see these characters have lives outside of this relationship, which is deftly mirrored in the challenges Asaka encounters in his job (wedding planning). The only reason I think people complain about this story being "slow" is because it doesn't focus on sex or romance, but rather, on the complex relationship at its center and the development of conflict and theme.
The only let-down for me in this manga was its abrupt and unsatisfying ending. Otherwise, it is a stellar graphic BL manga- and perhaps more proof that a writer-artist duo can often result in better developed plot and characters in yaoi.
March 13, 2012
I actually wasn't pleased about this yaoi. The story took WAY too long and there were random misunderstandings and not speaking for a month because of courage...
It just wasn't my cup of tea.
It just wasn't my cup of tea.
January 30, 2022
This was so close to being five stars. I love love loved the first half; it had exactly the kind of slow friendship-to-romance development that I keep looking for in these kinds of stories, and that are sort of oddly difficult to find.
Every bit of the relationship build between the wedding planner, Asaka, and his first client, Sasagawa, was achingly wonderful. They started out entirely as friends; Asaka was grateful to Sasagawa for how kind he'd been during his wedding, which had turned into a little bit of a disaster when Asaka accidentally stepped on the bride's dress and knocked her flat onto her face. (Dramatic, funny, and honestly not that unlikely - weddings are a mess.) Sasagawa is more eager to hang out than Asaka had expected, and they start eating and drinking together regularly, spending a lot of time talking.
Over time, Asaka finally discovers that the perfect marriage he's been envisioning and clinging to as an ideal doesn't actually exist. (Being a wedding planner is hard, too, because you see people's worst sides, and witness marriages fall apart before they even get started.) It turns out that while Sasagawa is married, his wife doesn't live with him and never has; she's in love and living with another woman, and the wedding was just set up to fool her parents.
Unfortunately, Sasagawa actually did love her, but it was pointless to tell her, so he never did. She just believed that he was being a kind person and a good friend.
As Sasagawa and Asaka spend more time together, Sasagawa starts to stand up for himself just a little bit - he tells his wife that he doesn't want to be a part of her IVF plans so she can raise a child with her lover. And he falls in love with Asaka, which feel utterly natural and earned.
Unfortunately, there are a few problems that these two keep stumbling over. The primary one is that Sasagawa is an extremely mild-mannered pushover, who already got into one bad relationship situation because he was willing to repress everything he wanted to please the person he loved. He's repeating history with Asaka, which is frustrating because he and Asaka actually have the capacity to talk openly about these kinds of things, and their attraction is mutual this time.
The second problem is that Asaka has never actually said out loud that he's in love with Sasagawa. As someone who's insecure and used to being rejected, it's very easy for Sasagawa to interpret Asaka's hesitations about the physical side of their relationship as him not actually being interested in him romantically/sexually. This could all be solved if they would just talk about it, of course, but Sasagawa has a habit of shutting down when he's upset, and leaving Asaka hanging for weeks or even months until he has the emotional capacity to deal with what he assumes is rejection.
It's frustrating, and I wish Asaka had listened to his gay client's advice that he be more aggressive in love - he's the proactive one, the guy who knows how to get things done, and he knows that Sasagawa is like this. He should be battering down his door and sitting down with him and talking things out.
But Asaka is insecure, too, in his own way, and takes it really, really hard when he finds out the part that I liked the least...that Sasagawa had started dating some other woman in an attempt to forget about him.
To Sasagawa, this wasn't cheating, because he genuinely thought they'd long been over and that this was, in a weird way, the solution to him being able to maintain a friendship with Asaka. But from Asaka's viewpoint, they had never broken up, so this would be immensely hurtful.
I wish we'd seen more of them actually talking this out, and Sasagawa finding out that Asaka had just blatantly lied about sleeping with another man - the other part I didn't really like, with Asaka kissing his Sasagawa-like coworker, although it was entirely a drunken misunderstanding and there was never anything actually between them.
But poor Sasagawa was willing to just be the other man yet again, just like he was with his wife...and that's not showing enough character growth. He shouldn't have been willing to settle for being the sidepiece. He shouldn't be centering his happiness so much around the person he loves. And I wish we'd gotten just a little bit more of him becoming more strong and secure in himself, without needing Asaka to hold him up. While so much of their relationship feels balanced and wonderful, there's still that piece that needs work, and I would've liked to see more hints that it was at least underway.
Still, I enjoyed this a lot. It was a beautiful story and had huge amounts of achingly good chemistry.
Every bit of the relationship build between the wedding planner, Asaka, and his first client, Sasagawa, was achingly wonderful. They started out entirely as friends; Asaka was grateful to Sasagawa for how kind he'd been during his wedding, which had turned into a little bit of a disaster when Asaka accidentally stepped on the bride's dress and knocked her flat onto her face. (Dramatic, funny, and honestly not that unlikely - weddings are a mess.) Sasagawa is more eager to hang out than Asaka had expected, and they start eating and drinking together regularly, spending a lot of time talking.
Over time, Asaka finally discovers that the perfect marriage he's been envisioning and clinging to as an ideal doesn't actually exist. (Being a wedding planner is hard, too, because you see people's worst sides, and witness marriages fall apart before they even get started.) It turns out that while Sasagawa is married, his wife doesn't live with him and never has; she's in love and living with another woman, and the wedding was just set up to fool her parents.
Unfortunately, Sasagawa actually did love her, but it was pointless to tell her, so he never did. She just believed that he was being a kind person and a good friend.
As Sasagawa and Asaka spend more time together, Sasagawa starts to stand up for himself just a little bit - he tells his wife that he doesn't want to be a part of her IVF plans so she can raise a child with her lover. And he falls in love with Asaka, which feel utterly natural and earned.
Unfortunately, there are a few problems that these two keep stumbling over. The primary one is that Sasagawa is an extremely mild-mannered pushover, who already got into one bad relationship situation because he was willing to repress everything he wanted to please the person he loved. He's repeating history with Asaka, which is frustrating because he and Asaka actually have the capacity to talk openly about these kinds of things, and their attraction is mutual this time.
The second problem is that Asaka has never actually said out loud that he's in love with Sasagawa. As someone who's insecure and used to being rejected, it's very easy for Sasagawa to interpret Asaka's hesitations about the physical side of their relationship as him not actually being interested in him romantically/sexually. This could all be solved if they would just talk about it, of course, but Sasagawa has a habit of shutting down when he's upset, and leaving Asaka hanging for weeks or even months until he has the emotional capacity to deal with what he assumes is rejection.
It's frustrating, and I wish Asaka had listened to his gay client's advice that he be more aggressive in love - he's the proactive one, the guy who knows how to get things done, and he knows that Sasagawa is like this. He should be battering down his door and sitting down with him and talking things out.
But Asaka is insecure, too, in his own way, and takes it really, really hard when he finds out the part that I liked the least...that Sasagawa had started dating some other woman in an attempt to forget about him.
To Sasagawa, this wasn't cheating, because he genuinely thought they'd long been over and that this was, in a weird way, the solution to him being able to maintain a friendship with Asaka. But from Asaka's viewpoint, they had never broken up, so this would be immensely hurtful.
I wish we'd seen more of them actually talking this out, and Sasagawa finding out that Asaka had just blatantly lied about sleeping with another man - the other part I didn't really like, with Asaka kissing his Sasagawa-like coworker, although it was entirely a drunken misunderstanding and there was never anything actually between them.
But poor Sasagawa was willing to just be the other man yet again, just like he was with his wife...and that's not showing enough character growth. He shouldn't have been willing to settle for being the sidepiece. He shouldn't be centering his happiness so much around the person he loves. And I wish we'd gotten just a little bit more of him becoming more strong and secure in himself, without needing Asaka to hold him up. While so much of their relationship feels balanced and wonderful, there's still that piece that needs work, and I would've liked to see more hints that it was at least underway.
Still, I enjoyed this a lot. It was a beautiful story and had huge amounts of achingly good chemistry.
March 9, 2020
Ahhh, this was a really cute one. The characters were great, especially the wedding planner, he was adorable. But Sanagawa was a sweet man too. The relationship was slow, and quite painful like others have said, but I personally liked that. That's sometimes how new relationships are: lots of heart straining and miscommunication about your feelings.
October 19, 2019
This is only getting 2 stars because I am in love with the wedding planner and how passionate he is about his job.
Otherwise this is quite painful to read. Really good for the first third but it just is super repetitive and hard to read.
Otherwise this is quite painful to read. Really good for the first third but it just is super repetitive and hard to read.
April 18, 2020
It was a cute little story. I did not feel that their conflict was resolved at the end, at least the one that involved the miscommunication between the two. Getting intimate with people can be scary and I felt it never got discussed enough between them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 23, 2022
Cuando elegí este manga, no esperaba mucho, pero que bueno que me equivoqué, porque ha sido una magnífica lectura y un excelente manga.
Con una historia de lento desarrollo pero que te va enganchando y terminas amándola.
Con una historia de lento desarrollo pero que te va enganchando y terminas amándola.
March 31, 2015
A very nice story about a wedding planner who ends up falling in love with a former client. I really loved the first part, because the build up was slow and felt realistic (well, as realistic as these stories can be). The second part wasn't quite as good, and the ending was a bit muddled, but overall it was nicely done. Not perfect, and not a comfort read, but you don't often get one-shots with such a slow development. I really liked that.
June 24, 2012
Not much happened on this story other than misunderstandings and pretense. Way too long for what little the characters did.
June 24, 2018
I enjoyed this quite a bit, but my curiosity was really piqued by the other queer couples in this, and I wish that this book was three times as long to tell THEIR stories too.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews