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A Boys’ Love manga about just how complicated love is when opposites attract.Kanata is a handsome young man who can't help but be the center of attention, even when his mind is miles away. Akira is the perfect student who barely talks to anyone. They don't even know each other's names, but they can't forget each other's faces. And then one day, these two happen to meet on the stairwell near the rooftop and find comfort in each other's company. From then on, it becomes their secret rendezvous spot. Slowly they discover that while they might be completely different, they both have feelings for each other. Is this a case of opposites attract, or are the differences too great for them to ever truly connect?
192 pages, Paperback
Published July 26, 2024
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57 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 1, 2025
I was not expecting this to be so angsty.
November 11, 2025
To find someone that understands, accepts and loves you back unconditionally is truly such a wonderful thing...
Opposites really do attract. Kanata, the popular guy who can't help but find himself surrounded by people, and Akira, the quiet, perfect student who's always alone. Drawn to each other's gazes without even understanding why, the two strike an unexpected friendship and bond over their differences and how sweet and carefree the time spend together feels. Growing closer by the day, they can't help but feel conflicted about their ever-changing feelings towards one another.
Each of them holding personal baggage, I love that they found and helped each other heal from the past they so desperately wanted to tuck away.
This was a manga longer than most single-volume series, which I appreciate. It allowed the author to write Kanata and Akira's story in a way that made it possible for us to see the characters grow closer more naturally and for them to be more fleshed out, although I'm a little greedy so I wish we could have seen more of their time as a couple.
Nonetheless, this was an incredibly sweet book, full of beautiful art and a lovable cast of characters.
Opposites really do attract. Kanata, the popular guy who can't help but find himself surrounded by people, and Akira, the quiet, perfect student who's always alone. Drawn to each other's gazes without even understanding why, the two strike an unexpected friendship and bond over their differences and how sweet and carefree the time spend together feels. Growing closer by the day, they can't help but feel conflicted about their ever-changing feelings towards one another.
Each of them holding personal baggage, I love that they found and helped each other heal from the past they so desperately wanted to tuck away.
This was a manga longer than most single-volume series, which I appreciate. It allowed the author to write Kanata and Akira's story in a way that made it possible for us to see the characters grow closer more naturally and for them to be more fleshed out, although I'm a little greedy so I wish we could have seen more of their time as a couple.
Nonetheless, this was an incredibly sweet book, full of beautiful art and a lovable cast of characters.
July 21, 2025
A little bit too shallow for a full five stars, but I did enjoy this one. It felt oddly long, which isn't really a complaint...I like when a story's given space to develop a bit more slowly and naturally...but the ending did seem to drag on some, like itz couldn't really figure out how or where to conclude.
The setup is a fairly basic one, with the quiet, studious guy and the carelessly extroverted popular classmate developing an interest in each other, then a friendship, then a romantic attraction. I did like how much space was given to the friendship component, with their connection and communication being a very visibly important part of their lives.
Kanata finds Akira incredibly easy to talk to and is able to open up to him about a lot of things he can't bring himself to discuss with his friends or family. Like his love of soccer and the regret he feels over leaving the team after his injury. His little brother turned out to be more talented than him, scouted for high-profile teams in a way he won't ever be, but he still enjoyed and misses the sport and shouldn't have given up on it so easily. But Akira is the only one who never pressures him one way or the other and who just lets him sort through his feelings about it on his own.
Akira takes a lot longer to open up about any of his own secrets. Eventually we (and Kanata) find out that he had a really rough experience with a best friend who'd given him a lot of the same touchy-feely affectionate signals Kanata is giving off now...but who'd turned out to be both extremely straight and very homophobic.
That "friend" not only rejected Akira's feelings, but he started bullying him, leaving Akira far too afraid to develop romantic hopes or pursue anything like that again. The only person he'd told about any of it was his older brother's gay best friend, who was struggling with his own tragically one-sided love...for Akira's very straight (but probably much less homophobic) brother.
The two of them - Akira and Kanda - wound up in a non-romantic partnership of sorts, using each other for physical release and support. This whole thing ended up being addressed in a surprisingly decent way, with Akira admitting that he was able to be more open and daring with Kanata because this time he had Kanda as a safety net if the friendship went badly again. Letting go of Kanda so he can truly pursue a relationship with Kanata is terrifying, but Kanata is stubborn and caring and very open about his feelings, and their connection makes everything feel worth it.
The getting together aspect dragged out a little bit too much, because they'd already both expressed, numerous times, that they were into each other. But I suppose they still had to work their way into actually dating.
I liked that Kanata's friends were genuinely just good friends to him, including the girl who could've been a rival love interest, but who ultimately became Akira's bestie instead. And having Akira's ex-friend / ex-crush show up for his own chapter right at the end was a nice touch. There was no indication that he would've ever wanted anything romantic from Akira, but they had been really good friends, and by reacting the way he did to the reveal of Akira's sexuality, he'd ruined any chance at keeping that friendship intact.
Not a perfectly written story, but there was a lot of good stuff, and I'd definitely enjoy revisiting it.
The setup is a fairly basic one, with the quiet, studious guy and the carelessly extroverted popular classmate developing an interest in each other, then a friendship, then a romantic attraction. I did like how much space was given to the friendship component, with their connection and communication being a very visibly important part of their lives.
Kanata finds Akira incredibly easy to talk to and is able to open up to him about a lot of things he can't bring himself to discuss with his friends or family. Like his love of soccer and the regret he feels over leaving the team after his injury. His little brother turned out to be more talented than him, scouted for high-profile teams in a way he won't ever be, but he still enjoyed and misses the sport and shouldn't have given up on it so easily. But Akira is the only one who never pressures him one way or the other and who just lets him sort through his feelings about it on his own.
Akira takes a lot longer to open up about any of his own secrets. Eventually we (and Kanata) find out that he had a really rough experience with a best friend who'd given him a lot of the same touchy-feely affectionate signals Kanata is giving off now...but who'd turned out to be both extremely straight and very homophobic.
That "friend" not only rejected Akira's feelings, but he started bullying him, leaving Akira far too afraid to develop romantic hopes or pursue anything like that again. The only person he'd told about any of it was his older brother's gay best friend, who was struggling with his own tragically one-sided love...for Akira's very straight (but probably much less homophobic) brother.
The two of them - Akira and Kanda - wound up in a non-romantic partnership of sorts, using each other for physical release and support. This whole thing ended up being addressed in a surprisingly decent way, with Akira admitting that he was able to be more open and daring with Kanata because this time he had Kanda as a safety net if the friendship went badly again. Letting go of Kanda so he can truly pursue a relationship with Kanata is terrifying, but Kanata is stubborn and caring and very open about his feelings, and their connection makes everything feel worth it.
The getting together aspect dragged out a little bit too much, because they'd already both expressed, numerous times, that they were into each other. But I suppose they still had to work their way into actually dating.
I liked that Kanata's friends were genuinely just good friends to him, including the girl who could've been a rival love interest, but who ultimately became Akira's bestie instead. And having Akira's ex-friend / ex-crush show up for his own chapter right at the end was a nice touch. There was no indication that he would've ever wanted anything romantic from Akira, but they had been really good friends, and by reacting the way he did to the reveal of Akira's sexuality, he'd ruined any chance at keeping that friendship intact.
Not a perfectly written story, but there was a lot of good stuff, and I'd definitely enjoy revisiting it.
November 20, 2024
En Boys love, je suis une grande fan des histoires toute douces et mignonnes permettant de surmonter les difficultés de la vie et ITZ nous en confie une ici des plus adorables.
Volume conséquent qui ressemble en fait à un tome tome, Contrast nous offre ainsi une histoire complète en un volume, où on rythme de ces années lycée qui peuvent se montrer aussi belles que cruelles nous allons suivre deux garçons qui manquent cruellement de confiance en eux. Kanata a abandonné le foot à regret après une blessure mais surtout après que son jeune frère ait été remarqué et pas lui. Quant à Akira, c'est un homosexuel qui a essayé de sortir du placard en avouant ses sentiments mais qui a subi du harcèlement à la clé.
C'est avec une grande douceur et beaucoup d'émotion que l'autrice prend le temps de mettre en scène et nous conter leur rencontre puis leur rapprochement, lors de scènes superbement dessinées où la sobriété laisse place à la douceur et l'intensité selon les moments, et surtout où elle évite tous les écueils dramatiques longtemps habituels. J'ai beaucoup beaucoup aimé.
Je me suis laissée prendre par le flot de la vie de ses deux jeunes garçons si bien conté pour faire une émouvante et crédible toile de fond. J'ai aimé que ce ne soit pas seulement deux solitudes qui se rencontrent mais qu'on creuse cela. J'ai trouvé intéressant d'aborder la jalousie à travers une passion dont on s'est senti dépossédée par un membre de sa famille, puis de voir comment sortir de ce cercle vicieux. J'ai apprécié également qu'on montre un coming-out qui tourne mal et la douleur de se relever de ce type de harcèlement, et le besoin d'avoir quelqu'un. L'autrice, certes, fait le choix d'une relation un peu malaisante mais elle la tourne joliment avec deux jeunes gens conscients du malaise et qui n'en abusent pas.
L'atmosphère de l'oeuvre est donc pleine de douceur malgré les douleurs des héros. Elle réchauffe le coeur, à l'image des amis de Kanata qui peu à peu entrent dans la danse et aident ainsi nos amis - amoureux à prendre conscience de leurs sentiments, en leur offrant des gens sur qui s'appuyer. Ça fait un bien fou. Je n'ai ainsi pas vu filer le temps et je suis ravie de les avoir accompagnés de bout en bout dans leur découverte d'eux-mêmes en temps qu'individus et que couple.
Un slow burn parfait pour moi, dans un cadre scolaire qui révèle toute sa richesse douce et âpre à la fois au fil des rencontres de ces deux solitudes, deux mal êtres, deux manques de confiance. J'ai été très touchée par ses adolescents et leur histoire en somme banale mais qu'il est utile de montrer. On a besoin de modèles positifs pour se construire et ce genre d'histoire fait du bien. Merci ITZ.
Volume conséquent qui ressemble en fait à un tome tome, Contrast nous offre ainsi une histoire complète en un volume, où on rythme de ces années lycée qui peuvent se montrer aussi belles que cruelles nous allons suivre deux garçons qui manquent cruellement de confiance en eux. Kanata a abandonné le foot à regret après une blessure mais surtout après que son jeune frère ait été remarqué et pas lui. Quant à Akira, c'est un homosexuel qui a essayé de sortir du placard en avouant ses sentiments mais qui a subi du harcèlement à la clé.
C'est avec une grande douceur et beaucoup d'émotion que l'autrice prend le temps de mettre en scène et nous conter leur rencontre puis leur rapprochement, lors de scènes superbement dessinées où la sobriété laisse place à la douceur et l'intensité selon les moments, et surtout où elle évite tous les écueils dramatiques longtemps habituels. J'ai beaucoup beaucoup aimé.
Je me suis laissée prendre par le flot de la vie de ses deux jeunes garçons si bien conté pour faire une émouvante et crédible toile de fond. J'ai aimé que ce ne soit pas seulement deux solitudes qui se rencontrent mais qu'on creuse cela. J'ai trouvé intéressant d'aborder la jalousie à travers une passion dont on s'est senti dépossédée par un membre de sa famille, puis de voir comment sortir de ce cercle vicieux. J'ai apprécié également qu'on montre un coming-out qui tourne mal et la douleur de se relever de ce type de harcèlement, et le besoin d'avoir quelqu'un. L'autrice, certes, fait le choix d'une relation un peu malaisante mais elle la tourne joliment avec deux jeunes gens conscients du malaise et qui n'en abusent pas.
L'atmosphère de l'oeuvre est donc pleine de douceur malgré les douleurs des héros. Elle réchauffe le coeur, à l'image des amis de Kanata qui peu à peu entrent dans la danse et aident ainsi nos amis - amoureux à prendre conscience de leurs sentiments, en leur offrant des gens sur qui s'appuyer. Ça fait un bien fou. Je n'ai ainsi pas vu filer le temps et je suis ravie de les avoir accompagnés de bout en bout dans leur découverte d'eux-mêmes en temps qu'individus et que couple.
Un slow burn parfait pour moi, dans un cadre scolaire qui révèle toute sa richesse douce et âpre à la fois au fil des rencontres de ces deux solitudes, deux mal êtres, deux manques de confiance. J'ai été très touchée par ses adolescents et leur histoire en somme banale mais qu'il est utile de montrer. On a besoin de modèles positifs pour se construire et ce genre d'histoire fait du bien. Merci ITZ.
July 18, 2025
Ah this was so good! Such a sweet yet emotional story. It made my chest hurt several times. Like that little twinge? I kind of want a story about the brother's friend. He's a bit of a questionable character since he basically took advantage of a minor, but the support he provided Akira and how he quietly stepped back made me sad. I thought he was going to be an asshole when he was first introduced, but he wasn't and it's hard to dislike him. Also loved Mizuki and the part she played in the story and how she became friends with Akira. I wish it went a little more in depth in certain aspects of the story, but I still thoroughly enjoyed this and I'm happy I picked it up.
July 15, 2025
It's more of a 3.5 than a 3 star for me. The art just isn't quite my thing in some places, and it's a bit too light and distanced from the heavier issues it wants to deal with. It does touch on important topics, like homophobia, bullying, and anxiety (particularly around schooling, relationships, and careers), but it feels like trying to read a bubble. There is a darkness in the story, with two particularly dark storylines it kind of walks around, but overall it just feels a bit too fluffy for me.
July 24, 2025
This was very nice - I like the lack of bullshit and it made me look at the kind of relationship (older and young gay men making do) in BL in a different way, which is so great. But I didn't feel like this did anything in a way that I would be like you have to read this one instead of any other.
September 27, 2025
While this was super angsty, I still really liked the dynamic between the two leads.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews