ふったらどしゃぶり When it rains, it pours

ふったらどしゃぶり When it rains, it pours #1

by Michi Ichiho

恋人とのセックスレスに悩む一顕と、同居中の幼馴染を想い続ける整。ある日、一顕が送信したメールが手違いで整に届いたことで、奇妙な交流が始まった。互いに抱える報われない想いがふたりの距離を近づけて――。

WEB小説マガジン「フルール」連載に書き下ろしとイラストを加え待望の文庫化。

347 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 13, 2013

About the author

Associated Names:
* Michi Ichiho (Japanese)
* 一穂ミチ (Japanese)

Reviews

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love BL. It doesn't matter what you call it - m/m, slash, BL, shounen ai - the nuances may differ, but the basic fact remains that I love reading about two men falling in love and quite possibly doing the do.

I also love stories, though. Stories about people, stories that mean something. I don't mind reading superficial and "just for entertaiment" stories at all - in fact, I love that sort of thing. But I also like the other kind, the kind that makes you stop and think and go, "Yeah, it's like that."

This was the least-like-BL-BL-novel I've read in a long time. Is what I'd say if I hadn't read "日月星、それからふたり" last week, I suppose. Also, maybe it's less that they didn't feel like BL and more that they both weren't typical romance novels. Yeah, I think that's it. But this one felt more complete than "日月星、それからふたり", and I liked the structure better.

The story's POV switches regularly between its two protagonists, Kazuaki and Sei, who both work for the same company, if in different departments, and even though they're the same age they don't interact that much, usually. Kazuaki is living with his girlfriend, Kaori, and Sei with his best friend, who is also called Kazuaki (the Kanji are different, though). Looking at it from the outside, both Kazuaki and Sei have great lives, but the reality is, of course, different: Kazuaki hasn't had sex with his girlfriend in a long time, and Sei is unhappily in love with his best friend. Due to one of life's weird coincidences, Kazuaki and Sei start mailing each other without knowing the other's true identity, and soon open up to another, finding comfort in the other's understanding.

I don't know whether I convey how well this was done without spoiling too much, but I think this worked so well for me because it wasn't a novel about Kazuaki and Sei getting together - this was a novel about Kazuaki and Sei. Their relationship with their other "partners" isn't just something they have to "get over", it's very much part of what they are. I also liked how Kaori's behaviour is never judged (apart from an outside character) - it clearly makes Kazuaki unhappy, but he never acts like he is owed sex by her, which I really, really appreciated. I'm noot 100% happy with everything involving the other Kazuaki, but even his behaviour makes sense, even though I don't approve. I have the sequel starring him right here, so I hope getting to know him better will help.

At some point I was reading one of their text conversations and though, "this is the first time I'm reading a BL novel where the straight character feels real." (Actually, at that time I thought "this is the first time the characters feel real", but I realized that wasn't quite it.) I suppose Kurume from "Natsu no Shio" was similar, though, so I guess this was the second time. In any case, Kazuaki really read like a "real man" (whatever that is supposed to mean, I guess) rather than a BL character. I even hesitate calling him the "seme". I don't think I'm explaining this well - the point is, I actually could see everything Kazuaki does in this story happening in real life, and that is a rare thing indeed.

Now, I usually try to avoid stories where characters are unfaithful, but in this case I didn't mind it. And the sex, oh. It wasn't particularly hot or arousing, but you could feel their passion and emotions. I really loved that.

I suppose if you read this with the wrong expectations you could end up disappointed, but I absolutely loved it. My poor excuse of a review doesn't do this justice - this was a very good novel. I'm not sure whether it's the label or the writer that make the difference - I realized I already read another novel by Ichiho Michi, which I liked but didn't love - but I remember that there, too, the development of the relationship was slow and not as forced as it occasional feels. In any case, I am happy I ordered both novels at the same time. Good job, me!

[Meow Meow · Rating 3 out of 5]

This a BL novel by an author who has moved on to general fiction space and keeps winning literature prizes and nominations, including the prestigious Naoki Prize in 2024. Even though I haven’t read any purely romance for at least 5 years but I was piqued by someone commented on its adapted TV show that every viewer hoped the MCs would cheat. Because I don’t watch TV, so I bought and read the novel (a deep discount also helped). The story is basically about the emotional toll of people who live with the ones they love but are denied to have sex with them. This book has a lot of talks about sex, or specifically, lack thereof, and the frustration that comes with the sexless lives, although MCs never fault their partners for not having sex with them. One of the MCs also gives a really good reason of not hiring a sex worker even though his girlfriend hadn’t wanted to have sex with him for over a year.

This novel is said to be a literature-like BL novel, and I totally agree. It has so much symbolism that I felt like I was back in English lit class in high school trying to crack the meanings of those symbols. And all those passages about the MCs' feelings and thought processes sometimes were hard to follow and I had to re-read them. It’s also hard to know who’s talking sometimes and I needed to backtrack the conversation. Overall, it’s a good novel. The characters feel real, and the writing is beautiful but I don't think I will read any of her works anymore because I'm not cut out to read literature and can only enjoy easy-to-digest mass media.

[Grecia Yaquelin · Rating 5 out of 5]

El libro buenísimo y la serie también. Gracias a la serie me interesó el libro y no me defraudó