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Beautiful Things: The Complete Manga Collection
From Narise Konohara, the author behind The Vampire and His Pleasant Companions, comes a new, beautiful manga about bittersweet romance--finally available in English!After a tough breakup, Matsuoka finds solace in a surprising place--his ex-girlfriend's wardrobe. Donning her outfits, he embarks on nightly escapades that garner a whirlwind of attention, not all of which is welcome. One perilous evening, Matsuoka is rescued from an assault by his unsuspecting co-worker, Hirosue.
Hirosue, an endearing klutz, is completely taken by Matsuoka's disguised persona and falls head over heels. As Matsuoka thrives in the glow of Hirosue's adoration, the weight of his secret looms large. How long can he keep his true identity hidden? And what will unfold when Hirosue discovers the truth?
Hirosue, an endearing klutz, is completely taken by Matsuoka's disguised persona and falls head over heels. As Matsuoka thrives in the glow of Hirosue's adoration, the weight of his secret looms large. How long can he keep his true identity hidden? And what will unfold when Hirosue discovers the truth?
320 pages, Paperback
Published December 17, 2024
11 people are currently reading
78 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
March 8, 2025
If I wasn't reading this physically from my library, I would have dropped it so hard. Because this story is really *not* that good. But I had the whole collection borrowed, and it was nice to rest my eyes away from a computer screen for a whole session. That is frankly the nicest thing I can say about this manga, and it has nothing to do with the content.
For a story which requires the concept of gender to be so at the forefront, it just... it has nothing to say about gender or sexuality. Absolutely nothing. And it certainly doesn't have anything to say about assault. If the story was able to stick it's messaging, I would have loved seeing their messy dynamic. But as is, I just felt apathetic, and mainly sorry for the women in their lives.
For a story which requires the concept of gender to be so at the forefront, it just... it has nothing to say about gender or sexuality. Absolutely nothing. And it certainly doesn't have anything to say about assault. If the story was able to stick it's messaging, I would have loved seeing their messy dynamic. But as is, I just felt apathetic, and mainly sorry for the women in their lives.
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August 10, 2025Based on the cover, the title, and the rating, I thought this would be a sweet and touching manga about miscommunication and people eventually coming together, with perhaps a sprinkling of confronting some compulsory structures of gender and sexuality. But this was much less on the sweet side—featuring a relationship beginning with major misunderstandings and deceptions, a messy breakup and fallout, and multiple sexual assaults (but no illustrated peen, so I guess that passes for a Teen (13+) rating???). The ending was also not satisfying, but I believe the manga was discontinued before it could adapt the complete novel (or that's what some commenters on sm have said). Although I felt that the complex emotional reactions and messiness was realistic and human, it didn't make for a very uplifting read. I would've liked to have seen more self-reflection on the two male leads' parts—and I also wish the women around them weren't used as "easy girlfriend" material 😭 Of course I would've liked to see the characters confront compulsory heterosexuality and gender roles, too, or even reflect more on how cross-dressing made them feel, how learning about makeup and stuff impacted them, thinking about why feeling "beautiful" has to be restricted to any singular gender or look, etc.
January 12, 2025
This hurt my heart. I just kept saying you two love each other. Just be together.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 12, 2025
Devastating, and as beautiful as the title says.
I'm not surprised, really, that I liked it. Konohara is the author behind one of my favorite series, The Vampire and His Pleasant Companions , and while the storylines are very different, there's a similar feel to the storytelling.
It's not a simple, happy story - there's a complex sorrow to human experiences and emotions, and Konohara is masterful at capturing those liminal moments in a way that leaves you sobbing but ultimately hopeful. And oh goodness was there a lot of crying in this one. A little from the main character, Matsuoka, as he gets his heart shattered, but mostly from me.
I'm really, really glad that Seven Seas packaged this in a single thick volume. If it'd been split in half with the breakup, and a long wait in between, I'm not sure if I would've liked it as much. I actually stayed up past 2 AM to finish reading - a mistake, I shouldn't have begun so close to bed - but I hadn't realized how deeply invested I would be and how much I did not want to wait to find out what happened to their love story.
There's some of that "I'm only gay for one person" element to it that I don't always love in BL, but I don't mind it here because it's more apparent that it's not actually true. It's just two men who don't really understand their own emotions, much less how to communicate them to each other. But they really do try.
We don't find out much about Matsuoka's breakup, or why his girlfriend of 3.5 years would've left him so fully that he's never spoken to her again, or even sent the things she'd left behind at his place - like some of her clothing, which he tried on "just for fun" and discovered he liked wearing.
The story doesn't go too much into why he enjoys dressing up in women's clothes, despite never actually wanting to be a woman, but it's a thing for some people, and it makes him happy. A sense of invisibility, I think, where he can just dress up and be someone else for a while, after long workdays spent pretending in different sorts of ways. He's a salesman, and he's very good at it, but it exhausts him a lot more than anyone around him expects from his unruffled, put together exterior.
The story opens with him drinking with a coworker whom it initially seems like is a good friend of his - but it turns out that Matsuoka pretty actively dislikes the guy and is just politely nonconfrontational. He takes the compliments about how attractive he is and how easy life must be for him, and swallows his beer and all his arguments - that he's tired, that he works so hard, that he even skips meals to make his quotas, that people look at him and don't understand him at all.
So I get it. He just likes going out in a wig and a skirt and a pair of heels and breezing along the sidewalk with no one knowing anything about him and not needing to interact with any of them.
Except the one day that he runs into a possible client whom he lets hit on him because his salesman instincts kick in, and he figures he can use some drunken conversation to pull out some insider information that can land him that contract. Except the guy drugs him and tries to assault him...only to end up attacking him instead when he finds out he's a man.
That thread was left hanging a little bit, because it seems like Matsuoka must've left his wallet in the hotel room, which means the guy would've seen his personal information...but I suppose someone who's drugging random women in a bar wouldn't out a salesman who'd wound up in one of those beds with him.
Anyway, that's how Matsuoka and Hirosue first meet - with Hirosue being the only person to show a shoeless, crying, rain-soaked woman a bit of kindness.
Their relationship develops in a natural, lovely way from there, with Matsuoka visibly falling for the guy who turns out to be a coworker he'd never paid much attention to before. I loved the pining, and how badly Matsuoka wanted to find ways to "meet" and begin interacting with Hirosue as himself. Unfortunately, Hirosue had fallen deeply in love with the woman he'd met on that rainy day, and Matusoka digs himself deeper and deeper into the deception he'd never intended.
What's interesting to me is that Hirosue, while considering himself entirely straight, displays absolutely no issues with the crossdressing itself. He says he understands that people do that, and he seems accepting of trans and gay people as well - but deeply confused that Matsuoka doesn't consider himself either. It's a fair point from his perspective - if Matsuoka isn't gay, how can he keep saying he's in love with Hirosue? That "only gay for one person" thing doesn't make sense to him, either, and he's also thrown by the grief of losing someone whom it turned out had never existed.
It takes a while to shift gears and to begin seeing Matsuoka as his true self, without overlaying the woman Hirosue had thought he'd been speaking with all along. He doesn't handle it very well. But that also fits his personality: he gets in trouble at work because he's slower to pick up on things, but very kind and thoughtful, and extremely dependable if you just give him the right amount of time and space to process.
He messes things up pretty royally and shatters Matsuoka's heart, but he spends those months of heartbreak trying to piece together what really happened and who Matsuoka really is. The thing that bothered him the most was just the lie - and the sense that he couldn't tell which parts were true. How could he believe in Matsuoka's love when he'd been lying to him about so much else from their very first meeting?
So the pacing makes sense, and the somewhat inconclusive, but deeply hopeful ending. It's just a complicated, very human, very flawed story that feels raw and real and ultimately beautiful.
I'm not surprised, really, that I liked it. Konohara is the author behind one of my favorite series, The Vampire and His Pleasant Companions , and while the storylines are very different, there's a similar feel to the storytelling.
It's not a simple, happy story - there's a complex sorrow to human experiences and emotions, and Konohara is masterful at capturing those liminal moments in a way that leaves you sobbing but ultimately hopeful. And oh goodness was there a lot of crying in this one. A little from the main character, Matsuoka, as he gets his heart shattered, but mostly from me.
I'm really, really glad that Seven Seas packaged this in a single thick volume. If it'd been split in half with the breakup, and a long wait in between, I'm not sure if I would've liked it as much. I actually stayed up past 2 AM to finish reading - a mistake, I shouldn't have begun so close to bed - but I hadn't realized how deeply invested I would be and how much I did not want to wait to find out what happened to their love story.
There's some of that "I'm only gay for one person" element to it that I don't always love in BL, but I don't mind it here because it's more apparent that it's not actually true. It's just two men who don't really understand their own emotions, much less how to communicate them to each other. But they really do try.
We don't find out much about Matsuoka's breakup, or why his girlfriend of 3.5 years would've left him so fully that he's never spoken to her again, or even sent the things she'd left behind at his place - like some of her clothing, which he tried on "just for fun" and discovered he liked wearing.
The story doesn't go too much into why he enjoys dressing up in women's clothes, despite never actually wanting to be a woman, but it's a thing for some people, and it makes him happy. A sense of invisibility, I think, where he can just dress up and be someone else for a while, after long workdays spent pretending in different sorts of ways. He's a salesman, and he's very good at it, but it exhausts him a lot more than anyone around him expects from his unruffled, put together exterior.
The story opens with him drinking with a coworker whom it initially seems like is a good friend of his - but it turns out that Matsuoka pretty actively dislikes the guy and is just politely nonconfrontational. He takes the compliments about how attractive he is and how easy life must be for him, and swallows his beer and all his arguments - that he's tired, that he works so hard, that he even skips meals to make his quotas, that people look at him and don't understand him at all.
So I get it. He just likes going out in a wig and a skirt and a pair of heels and breezing along the sidewalk with no one knowing anything about him and not needing to interact with any of them.
Except the one day that he runs into a possible client whom he lets hit on him because his salesman instincts kick in, and he figures he can use some drunken conversation to pull out some insider information that can land him that contract. Except the guy drugs him and tries to assault him...only to end up attacking him instead when he finds out he's a man.
That thread was left hanging a little bit, because it seems like Matsuoka must've left his wallet in the hotel room, which means the guy would've seen his personal information...but I suppose someone who's drugging random women in a bar wouldn't out a salesman who'd wound up in one of those beds with him.
Anyway, that's how Matsuoka and Hirosue first meet - with Hirosue being the only person to show a shoeless, crying, rain-soaked woman a bit of kindness.
Their relationship develops in a natural, lovely way from there, with Matsuoka visibly falling for the guy who turns out to be a coworker he'd never paid much attention to before. I loved the pining, and how badly Matsuoka wanted to find ways to "meet" and begin interacting with Hirosue as himself. Unfortunately, Hirosue had fallen deeply in love with the woman he'd met on that rainy day, and Matusoka digs himself deeper and deeper into the deception he'd never intended.
What's interesting to me is that Hirosue, while considering himself entirely straight, displays absolutely no issues with the crossdressing itself. He says he understands that people do that, and he seems accepting of trans and gay people as well - but deeply confused that Matsuoka doesn't consider himself either. It's a fair point from his perspective - if Matsuoka isn't gay, how can he keep saying he's in love with Hirosue? That "only gay for one person" thing doesn't make sense to him, either, and he's also thrown by the grief of losing someone whom it turned out had never existed.
It takes a while to shift gears and to begin seeing Matsuoka as his true self, without overlaying the woman Hirosue had thought he'd been speaking with all along. He doesn't handle it very well. But that also fits his personality: he gets in trouble at work because he's slower to pick up on things, but very kind and thoughtful, and extremely dependable if you just give him the right amount of time and space to process.
He messes things up pretty royally and shatters Matsuoka's heart, but he spends those months of heartbreak trying to piece together what really happened and who Matsuoka really is. The thing that bothered him the most was just the lie - and the sense that he couldn't tell which parts were true. How could he believe in Matsuoka's love when he'd been lying to him about so much else from their very first meeting?
So the pacing makes sense, and the somewhat inconclusive, but deeply hopeful ending. It's just a complicated, very human, very flawed story that feels raw and real and ultimately beautiful.
January 19, 2025
Okay. So I am happy that we didn't start out having to watch the break up occur between the protagonist and his girlfriend at the beginning. It was nice to not have to go through that and just jump straight into him cross dressing. But here's the thing, though. It starts out with him almost being SA'd but when his attacker notices he has a penis, his attacker starts beating on him instead. You know, the whole Gay Panic thing. So that's frustrating because I really do just want to read a happy queer story without any of this in it, but I did read the preview, so I knew that was going to happy. Still a nitpick of mine.
So the protagonist is dressed as a woman, no shoes, and kind of crouched on the sidewalk after escaping the attack. So in walks the love interest. He hands the protagonist an umbrella and shoes, and helps the protagonist get home by getting a cab and giving them money. In this exchange the protagonist doesn't say anything, and the love interest gives them a notebook to write in, thinking that the protagonist is mute. Okay, cute. I'm with it so far.
And then the love interest pulls a Hachi and just keeps showing up at the same train station to try to meet this woman again, so protag crossdresses again to give him a new pair of shoes and pay him back. Okay. And then they exchange numbers. And right there is where you start to lose me. Protag could've either not given out his number, since it's not exactly safe to let that cat out of the bag in a public place like that, or as soon as they exchanged numbers, he could've blocked it. Or said "Listen, I appreciate what you did, but I am not a woman and I don't want to deceive you." or something, right? But okay, he doesn't do either of those things.
So a few chapters later, the relationship is really amping up or whatever and we get to the only explicit scene in the book, which by manga standards is not explicit at all, I've come to learn, and at this point the protag has come out to the love interest and he's just like "Well, how do you know you won't like it if we don't even try it once? Let's just try it!" and then enter the dubcon that we've all come to expect in manga. Every time. There can never be any enthusiastic consent in these things, I swear. Is it a fetish thing? I don't know. So they're trying it out and the protag says "stop", and the love interest doesn't, so already you completely lost me. That's called assault. That's assault, honey. And the love interest leaves and it's a whole to-do. And then of course the protag is trying to "win" the love interest back, and it's like... honey... no. You deserve better. You deserve SO MUCH BETTER. Like, that is no tokay. And people just... romanticize this relationship and I just can't. Listen, I was in a relationship like this for years. He's not going to change. Get out and find something better because that's what you deserve.
Other than that, the story was fine, if a little predictable. The art was incredible. I just wish that it had a better ending, where the protag actually got to have a happy, healthy, loving relationship instead of trying to pull the love interest into this relationship they clearly didn't want.
So the protagonist is dressed as a woman, no shoes, and kind of crouched on the sidewalk after escaping the attack. So in walks the love interest. He hands the protagonist an umbrella and shoes, and helps the protagonist get home by getting a cab and giving them money. In this exchange the protagonist doesn't say anything, and the love interest gives them a notebook to write in, thinking that the protagonist is mute. Okay, cute. I'm with it so far.
And then the love interest pulls a Hachi and just keeps showing up at the same train station to try to meet this woman again, so protag crossdresses again to give him a new pair of shoes and pay him back. Okay. And then they exchange numbers. And right there is where you start to lose me. Protag could've either not given out his number, since it's not exactly safe to let that cat out of the bag in a public place like that, or as soon as they exchanged numbers, he could've blocked it. Or said "Listen, I appreciate what you did, but I am not a woman and I don't want to deceive you." or something, right? But okay, he doesn't do either of those things.
So a few chapters later, the relationship is really amping up or whatever and we get to the only explicit scene in the book, which by manga standards is not explicit at all, I've come to learn, and at this point the protag has come out to the love interest and he's just like "Well, how do you know you won't like it if we don't even try it once? Let's just try it!" and then enter the dubcon that we've all come to expect in manga. Every time. There can never be any enthusiastic consent in these things, I swear. Is it a fetish thing? I don't know. So they're trying it out and the protag says "stop", and the love interest doesn't, so already you completely lost me. That's called assault. That's assault, honey. And the love interest leaves and it's a whole to-do. And then of course the protag is trying to "win" the love interest back, and it's like... honey... no. You deserve better. You deserve SO MUCH BETTER. Like, that is no tokay. And people just... romanticize this relationship and I just can't. Listen, I was in a relationship like this for years. He's not going to change. Get out and find something better because that's what you deserve.
Other than that, the story was fine, if a little predictable. The art was incredible. I just wish that it had a better ending, where the protag actually got to have a happy, healthy, loving relationship instead of trying to pull the love interest into this relationship they clearly didn't want.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 14, 2025
When I first read the summary for this manga, it sounded like the type of drama I would enjoy reading: a person saving another from a bad circumstance which turns into a romance. But this wasn’t that story. It’s the exact opposite in every way. Be advised, there’s a sexual assault scene in this manga, emotional manipulation, and stalking. In this manga, no good deed goes unpunished. To add insult to injury, those who endure reading the entire story like I did will be faced with a conclusion that is ambiguous and frustrating.
I did not enjoy reading this manga. If you’re looking for a manga with an atypical meet cute, look elsewhere. This manga is not worth your time.
Read my full review at nostalgiadepartment.com
I did not enjoy reading this manga. If you’re looking for a manga with an atypical meet cute, look elsewhere. This manga is not worth your time.
Read my full review at nostalgiadepartment.com
July 1, 2025
Un manga corto, que siempre viene bien para aligerar las noches de verano.
Antes este tipo de historia habría sido un 'te leo pero me olvido de ti en dos días'. Sin embargo, algo ha cambiado en mí en los últimos meses y me es imposible no sentir esa desesperanza del protagonista.
Es terrible enamorarse de un hombre sin capacidad emocional. De que ni él mismo sepa lo que quiere, y tú sí lo tienes claro: le quieres a él.
Me gusta que haya tenido un final más o menos abierto, pero basta ya con las cosas tristes.
Antes este tipo de historia habría sido un 'te leo pero me olvido de ti en dos días'. Sin embargo, algo ha cambiado en mí en los últimos meses y me es imposible no sentir esa desesperanza del protagonista.
Es terrible enamorarse de un hombre sin capacidad emocional. De que ni él mismo sepa lo que quiere, y tú sí lo tienes claro: le quieres a él.
Me gusta que haya tenido un final más o menos abierto, pero basta ya con las cosas tristes.
December 23, 2024
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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January 31, 2025I genuinely don’t know how to rate this story because it was such a complex and intense manga to read.
It was the kind of story where, especially after a specific scene, I stopped rooting for the main characters to be together. I wanted them to move on and heal from their relationship then find wherever their true happiness was. But instead, I got an extremely messy and emotionally exhausting dynamic that left me troubled.
I feel like I need a nap after reading this.
It was the kind of story where, especially after a specific scene, I stopped rooting for the main characters to be together. I wanted them to move on and heal from their relationship then find wherever their true happiness was. But instead, I got an extremely messy and emotionally exhausting dynamic that left me troubled.
I feel like I need a nap after reading this.
January 20, 2026
This tugged at my heart. Such a beautiful story. The artwork is amazing. So sad that it was just that short bit. There could have been so much more between the two. The hurt each one did to each other and then not listening and taking a moment to really talk it out really was a repeat but they love each other. I believe that they kept such secrets from each other mainly the main character did but he was vulnerable and offered a fresh start. Still ... I enjoyed it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 20, 2024
I liked the writing, plot and art style quite a bit, but there was a lot of build up to a very anticlimactic ending. That may be a personal thing though. I've never been a fan of stories that feel like they should lead up to a concrete resolution, and go through all the motions, but then fall short of something solid. I don't feel like I wasted my time with it, but I do feel underwhelmed.
March 2, 2025
Holy shit... what a roller coaster of emotions. If I wasn't reading this around my mom I would have been sobbing. For a long while I genuinely thought that I wasn't gonna like it at all, but the ending made everything so much better. I loved the characters, I loved the emotions, I loved the plot. I loved basically everything it was so good. I will definitely reread this!!
November 13, 2025
This easy-to-read tale of a man who accidentally falls in love with another man is further complicated by one of the men cross dressing when they met. The anguish of an unrequited love is tangible along with an inescapable heartbreak. It's easy to sympathize with all the characters and still be frustrated.
Warning- the sex scene is rough.
Warning- the sex scene is rough.
December 9, 2025
I adore this manga. It makes me want to cry at times. The only problem is that it's only part of the novel so you have to search the internet to find the rest of the story. The characters are flawed and the relationship goes back and forth like a real relationship does. It's a very real telling of struggle.
December 25, 2024
Rating: 3.5
This was so painful to read. Like it hurt my heart and I wasn't really satisfied by the ending. Just two pathetic men figuring out their feelings. I'm not sure what you're supposed to take away from this story. I just felt like I was along for the ride.
This was so painful to read. Like it hurt my heart and I wasn't really satisfied by the ending. Just two pathetic men figuring out their feelings. I'm not sure what you're supposed to take away from this story. I just felt like I was along for the ride.
January 7, 2025
It was a painful story to read - the writing and the drawing was amazing, but I would have loved a more definitive and happier ending. The ending though felt exactly like the author wanted it so I can't complain too much.
June 24, 2025
I really don't think I enjoyed this. The story just felt flat and quite bleak. No insight or good commentary on gender and sexuality.
*spoiler*
It also has two SA's in it, which I hate as a feature in BL.
No thanks.
*spoiler*
It also has two SA's in it, which I hate as a feature in BL.
No thanks.
January 17, 2026
3.4
Potrebno mi je malo vise, ali overall dobra prica samo nedovoljno razrađen odnos među svima; character development ne prikazan samo se desio (at least I think it was) kao i neke mračnije scene koje su načete ali nikad nedovršene.
Potrebno mi je malo vise, ali overall dobra prica samo nedovoljno razrađen odnos među svima; character development ne prikazan samo se desio (at least I think it was) kao i neke mračnije scene koje su načete ali nikad nedovršene.
December 25, 2024
Amazing read!
Boy, did this pull at my heart! I love this book so much!! The characters have so much depth. 5/5
Boy, did this pull at my heart! I love this book so much!! The characters have so much depth. 5/5
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December 26, 2024I thought this was lovely. I loved the complicated emotions in this and the lies just building up and AHHHH, it was so my shit.
December 28, 2024
This was a good series. The plot was interesting and the characters were good.
January 5, 2025
It's a great little romance manga. I liked how the main character was a cross dresser and found love.
April 14, 2025
I liked that the characters were older and their emotions were more complex than is typical. I just wish the ending was a little more concrete.
June 11, 2025
it's all about communication.
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July 11, 2025Spoiler-Included Reviews:
Read Here
Read Here
August 21, 2025
Empezó muy bien, pero siento que en cierto punto cae, puede que sea porque es una adaptación, igual el final me dejó un poco decepcionada...
November 10, 2025
*3.75 stars
February 27, 2025
I'm a die hard fan of the author (Konohara-Sensei). I have read a lot of her works and I love them so much.
She has a lot of common themes in her novels such as: love turning into hate, pain being pleasure, and that everyone deserves love and kindness. She writes complex characters so well. What I love most about the novel & this manga is how unconventional Matsuoka & Hirosue's relationship is. I love the rollercoaster that is their relationship. That things are not fluffy and sweet right off the bat. They have to go through a lot of challenging obstacles. Matsuoka and Hirosue have a very complicated and difficult love but, I really, really enjoyed reading it. In fiction I love reading about difficult, painful love because in real life love is not always like that. I love that the cross dressing Matsuoka goes through shows his internal conflict within his self. He's not comfortable in his own skin so he dresses as someone else. There is a side story that shows Matsuoka & Hirosue being in fluffy love.
August 10, 2025
BL-mangan jos jonkin kanssa olen saanut huomata, etten voi aina luottaa kaikkien ihmisten mielipiteisiin. Muistelen nähneeni jossain suuria kehuja Beautiful Thingsistä, joten aika luottavaisin mielin tilasin sen luettavakseni. Olihan tämä ihan luettava ja ihan hyväkin, mutta ei kyllä varsinaisesti mitään mistä kirjoittaa kotiväelle. Apea ja surullinen kertomus. Tässä oli ihan piirun vaille raiskauskohtaus, jota en hirveästi arvostanut. Manga ei ole myöskään erityisen romanttinen, vaikka loppu onkin toiveikas. Sarja jää sellaiseen kohtaan, josta olisin mieluummin seurannut hahmojen tarinaa siitä eteenpäin. Manga lähti jo kiertoon, sillä tuskinpa haluaisin lukea tällaista tarinaa uusiksi.
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