Is This the Kind of Love I Want?, Volume 1

Is This the Kind of Love I Want? #1

by kouki

When Uta comes out as gay and confesses he wants to sleep with another man for once, his friend Ryouma -- who's a virgin himself -- obliges. But Ryouma is straight. Or at least, he thinks he is.

The two men live together as friends, living their own lives and dating their own partners. But they continue to be inextricably drawn back to one another...

Genres: Manga, LGBT, Romance, Boys Love, Yaoi, Comics, Graphic Novels

160 pages, Paperback

First published December 24, 2021

Reviews

[Curious Madra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Christ almighty I didn't know wtf was happening with the 2 bois as the story is just way too chaotic for me to understand!

[Ariz]

I was so ready to dnf, but then he got stabbed, and it was such a wtf moment i kept going.
I didn't particularly enjoy it. The main thing I liked was that the love interest saw Uta as a bunny at times and it was cute. I found a lot of moments to not be very realistic. Spoilers for the rest of it: for example, when he got stabbed it was just the strangest circumstances. I couldn't even tell if his ex did it on purpose. And then Ryo asking him to move in with him as he's on the floor bleeding out. Read a room hahah. You see why i had to keep reading. It made no sense. Didn't foresee the fact Ryo knew him in high school. I don't love it when romance does that. I thought the couple felt disjointed and unnatural. People just don't act like this.

[laith ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wtf did I just read? 😭 some of it was touching, but it was way too confusing. The three stars are for the beautiful art.

[Andria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story is kind of meh.

[Imanewreader ✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

rep - closeted gay mc
tw - assault

i feel so sad for uta. he wanted to live what he saw as a 'normal life' (having a gfriend, wife, a family) but he finally chose happiness.
weirdly enough, uta and ryo feels like a painful slowburn but is, actually, not really one ?

book 2 here i come !!

[Georgia · Rating 1 out of 5]

the answer is no 🙃

Not sure if it was the translation, but half of this was just unintelligible.

1/10

[♡ ari · Rating 4 out of 5]

bro got stabbed in the dick

[Beeccy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this!

This relationship dynamic is so similar to my own that I was giggling loudly to myself. The way they both communicate and are simply comfortable around each other despite not being in love with each other, is a kind of love I can relate to. One I know quite well.

Their relationship is more a platonic kind but at the same time not, since there is sex involved and little to no romantic intimacy.

It’s hard to explain but this is the kind of attraction I’m familiar with; simply finding someone that sees you and understands you and that you can continuously grow with. It’s like being in a relationship with your best friend!

It’s very much a mutual and genuine relationship that has happiness as a core value.

As these two characters found happiness together, they learn to adapt to each other without compromising their own identity and desires. In short, they acknowledge and accept their differences. They also learn to listen to each other to navigate this confusing world of communication.

To be honest, I believe the characters to be autistic and ADHD coded as this is extremely relatable as an autistic individual. I can easily relate to both Ryo and Uta (though not the other characters haha).

I was surprised by the low rating, as this is definitely a wonderful representation of how many similarities it has to my own life. It deserves 5 stars! Can’t wait for the next volume!

[Madison Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

plot was kinda boring but character personalities were great tbh

[Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was such a pleasant surprise. I wasn't expecting the level of nuance it presented. Iki's relationship with his grandfather was particularly poignant for me. Iki admits that he hated his grandfather and is elated when he dies. And yet he still finds himself unconsciously parroting the misogynistic (and by extension, homophobic) lessons that his grandfather taught him. This impacts his relationship with Uta in such an honest and realistic way. When Uta points out Iki is parroting a misogynistic talking point or behavior, Iki works to correct it, but it's a slow process. It's even to the point that Iki is enjoying sex with Uta, has never been attracted to anyone else before he started sleeping with Uta, and for some reason still calls himself straight. In other BL, this might fall into the "only gay for you" trope or something equally as overdone and unrealistic. But Iki's relationship with his grandfather (in addition to the attention the plot gives to societal homophobia) gives this plotline the depth it deserves.

[tortie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this one. A bit confusing to follow, there’s a lot of text and dialogue, but I don’t mind it at all. Iki isn’t so much straight as he is asexual or just plain inexperienced, and him being the older of the two also makes their dynamic together really cute. Full of angst, and you know I love a good internalized homophobia struggle, coming this time from the other main protagonist Uta. I thought I would hate the too-convenient sort of backstory that they actually went to high school together and Iki knew Uta, but it works really well here. Genuinely so interested to see how this turns out, though if I had to guess it looks like their love is mutual so I’m sure it’ll work out somehow.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

where to read: hoopla

Rating: 3.5*

I liked this a lot. While the romance is definitely the focus, a huge part of the story is about Uta's struggle with his sexuality and deciding whether he should continue to follow the status quo or if he should choose his own happiness. I was a bit concerned about the love interest for a bit since he was kind of a bum, but he's turning himself around... I think. The art was super cute and the story was a little confusing at first, but by the end I was into it. I'm looking forward to the sequel.

[Yolotzin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute. They seem weird, but who isn't? Also, the stabbing is glossed over so quickly. Like, was it an accident??? Did she actually really mean to do it??? Did he go through with the charges???? Interesting. The timeline is kind of hard to follow. Like chapter 1 is the intro, ofc, then flashes back to the breakup/stabbing, and then moving in together, but at the end, how long had they been living together? And did they have sex more than once? The beginning made it seem like it was only the one time, but by the end, I thought there were implications that it happened more than once. Idk, to continue though.

[Amanda Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feelings about this manga. I actually really enjoyed the premise of the story, kind of a refreshing take on a typical BL trope of straight + gay relationship. I did feel as if the art style was a little inconsistent, but it was different and kind of rough around the edges which I like. The writing kind of felt out of order, like it was telling the story but from too many different time periods, and it wasn't always clear from whose perspective. I am however still interested in where they will take their relationship and look forward to the next volume!

[J-Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stuck between a two and three star rating….

This could’ve been much better if we actually had development in terms of their relationship. Instead, we see flashback on top of flashback (literally), so I don’t know if the relationship issues are in the past or present. I’ll give volume two a shot it can’t get any worse, right?


I hope I didn’t set volume two up for failure…. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[T.J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was stupid.

This is the kind of mediocre book that makes you wonder why a company would choose to spend time and money on licensing, on translating, on retouching, on a designing a beautiful cover... when there are so many other better, intelligent works to pick from. Is this the kind of manga I want? So underwhelmed.

[Frank Chillura (OhYouRead) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The artwork is GORGEOUS, but I got a little confused about the timeline. Also, they’ve lived together for a year and they’ve had sex, but they aren’t dating, but they aren’t having sex? So I’m a lil confused. I’m hoping it gets cleared up in the second volume.

[Mari · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

Miscommunication trope. Coworkers to lovers. Office romance.

I felt like it was almost something, but it was lacking. The lack of communication was a little too much. It is still cute if you don't mind two very dense mains. The smut is light.


Cw of stabbing, domestic violence, cheating

[Jerrica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe this just wasn’t for me but I felt like it was really slow and I didn’t care for the characters or their relationship. I wasn’t rooting for them to win because it felt like there wasn’t that much to it.

[Clari · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars
Did not feel the chemistry between the mcs at all, saw no reason why they should stay together… although i gueee thwt was the premise of the story. Read whole volume and i still dont know. The art was nice though

[DonutKnow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved that there is history there, even if Uta doesn’t know it 🥰🥰

[Micah · Rating 2 out of 5]

wtf was happening here

[Chelsea Brooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

it was okay

[Devon · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5
I have mixed feelings with this one. I like the premise of the story but felt like the story was kinda was all over the place and it felt like the art style was a hit inconsistent

[Athira · Rating 2 out of 5]

Art was good. Plot made no sense

[Samvander · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.6

[Cameo · Rating 2 out of 5]

So boring and not really into the artstyle. Will not be reading vol. 2.

[Vivian Lu · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot is meh at best… 2.75/5

[Mii · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh

[Love Veridian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A complex read and more emotional baggage than I originally expected from our two main characters. The art is lovely and everything was so well organized. It just wasn’t my favorite BL.