After School Etude, Vol. 1

放課後のエチュード #1

by Hirune Cyan

An unlikely pair makes a perfect match!When Minobe Chihiro is admitted to a private arts academy to study ballet, the last person he expects to train with is the surly second year Ichinomiya Shun. Yet by some stroke of luck, the two have been paired up for their school's mandatory pas de deux practice. While Minobe has fallen at first sight for Ichinomiya's superior dance sense, the second-year's attitude leaves a lot to be desired. For Ichinomiya, paired with Minobe as a dance partner is not how he'd like to be spending his time. The grumpy upperclassman has his walls up, but Minobe's puppy-like affection might be just what he needs!

Genres: Manga, Romance, LGBT, Boys Love, Queer, Yaoi, Comics

Kindle Edition

First published May 10, 2021

Reviews

[⋆˚𝜗𝜚˚Tiara (Alec’s ver.) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️🩰

[Bine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh mein Gott, das hat mir SO GUT gefallen. Ich dachte mir schon, dass eine Ballett-Story etwas für mich ist, aber ich habe es deutlich platter eingeschätzt. Es war einfach so süß und so tragisch, so schön und dann auch noch traumhaft gezeichnet. Der Umgang der Charaktere miteinander ist dermaßen süß und gleichzeitig zotig, es steckt aber total viel dahinter und das macht das Ganze so tragisch. Dabei steht das Ballett 10 Mal mehr im Vordergrund als die sexy Szenen, obwohl die auch einfach ganz liebevoll gemacht sind. Aber ich finde es auch wirklich toll und überraschend, dass man dem Manga von vorne bis hinten abkauft, dass es hier um hoch professionelles Ballett-Tanzen geht. Zudem ist es auch einfach nur sehr interessant.

Das einzige Manko: Ich fürchte, es wird nur zwei Bände geben. Warum? (heuli)

[grayi ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art style is gorgeous, you can immediately tell the artist LOVES ballet, and dance in general. It was a delight.

Ichinomiya is my favorite, ofc, I love his boldness and the gap moe whenever he gets a little shy.

[Jessi ❤️ H. Vojsk [if villain, why hot?] · Rating 5 out of 5]

The art is absolutely stunning and next to a super adorable story about two ballerinas falling in love in an art school it also gives information about ballet and dance in general.

Absolutely beautiful! Loved it!

[Sollenbum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the world of dance, this book shows the development of both dance skills and romantic involvement between the main couple, Minobe Chihiro and Ichinomiya Shun. The artwork for this manga is beautifully done and it is clear that the artist understands ballet and especially the importance of lines in classical ballet. For readers who may not know about the world of ballet, there are quite a number of good explainers embedded in the story to help.

The boys meet because Ichino helps Minobe with his ballet variation. There are coaching sessions in the studio and they quite quickly develop into romantic interludes. This happens rather suddenly in the first book and it is only afterwards that the emotional attachment follows along.

There is, however, also an unsavoury aspect later on in the book where Ichino's teacher clearly has been involved with his student and is planning for them to live together if Ichino goes to study ballet abroad. This part of the plot is fairly short but also rather shocking. It is upon this background that the suddenness of the physical nature of the boys' relationship becomes a non-issue. The boys have an appropriate age gap and are engaging in consensual activity. Also there is no power imbalance, either. At the end, Minobe and Ichino go to a love hotel together and do what the place dictates.

[alex :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars! lately, i haven’t read much about characters who yearn, but when i do, best believe i eat. that. shit. up. i really enjoyed this but you can tell it was an introduction to the characters and their backgrounds. i loved how minobe was obsessed with ichinomiya, but i also wanted more romance from them.

[Liss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eine bittersüße BoysLove Story. Das Thema Ballett wurde wirklich genial aufgegriffen und man merkt, dass es im Zentrum der Geschichte steht. Zusätzlich bekommt man immer wieder kleine Sidefacts über das Thema Ballett, was die Geschichte einfach nur spannender macht, da der Leser versteht wie schwer diese Branche sein kann. Shun und Ichi sind für mich zwei Charaktere, die komplex zu sein scheinen und einfach wunderbar sind. Ich hoffe sie bekommen in den nächsten Band noch eine Charakterentwicklung. Der Zeichenstil war himmlisch.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars may round up

This was beautiful! It's clear the author knows dance, and their passion for it comes through in every gorgeous movement. The love story is equally stunning. It's a joyous, moving, and hopeful connection these two have, and I love the love they have for each other, and for dance, with all my heart.

[Riki (˶˃⤙˂˶)]

Like can I just immediately start this right now!? It looks freakin' adorable!!! I'm tearing up just looking at the cover. I want uppies!
(つ╥﹏╥)つ

I'm so sad and so single...

[Imanewreader ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

tw - child abuse, sexual assault

rocky start bur omg they are adorable

[marcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series came on my radar when I was browsing the 2022 Chil Chil BL Awards winners. It's beautifully drawn and paneled, especially when it comes to those dance sequences. However, I'm baffled by certain writing choices. First of all, Minobe and Ichinomiya get together super fast. There isn't enough slow burn so I don't feel as invested in their romance. I also take issue with the teacher storyline. The story glosses over that too quickly.

While it didn't change my life, I still enjoy it. Will be getting the other volumes from the library.

[Nayli · Rating 3 out of 5]

No sé si va a haber un 2do volumen o la autora dijo que habría un extra…

[Sparkling Lemonade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chinese title: 放學後的芭蕾戀習曲

This one has 神率 of 57.9% on Chil-Chil!
5⭐️

Hirune Cyan sensei’s debut BL manga is the hottest talk of the town!

Such beautiful drawings of curves and muscles requires strong foundation in life sketch and human anatomy. The artists with this kind of style will usually be in the erotic manga category.
This is a very rare combination of high school story with pure love and nice body physique…

The artist wrote in the manga that ballet is one of her most familiar things in life, no wonder she’s able to draw such touchy story with years of learning/dancing ballet. I especially like the little tutorial about ballet knowledge at the end of every chapter!

It’s a more mature high school story but not far away from the harsh realities for dance students, the highly competitive nature, short professional career, importance of personal relationship…

The uke has natural gift in dancing, super talented since his childhood. His mom is the artistic director and famous ballet dancer. The uke reached his limit in high school and had to give up going to Russia because he’s too short, now he’s in second year of contemporary dance. His cartoon version is a lil cat.

The seme is one year younger, just entered the dance school. He’s got the ideal body, very tall and big, but lacks confidence in expressing himself and performing in front of crowds. His cartoon version is a big dog.

The two got paired together for after school practice and this is the story about the development of their dance skills and emotional bonds. The seme admires the uke’s confidence and talent, whereas the uke is attracted to the seme’s perfect physique.

Although there are some smut scenes at the beginning, it’s ultimately a lovely story about mutual salvation and support. They have very complementary and compatible personalities. The seme is very gentle and caring, and just let the uke lead their relationship.

The uke’s ballet teacher is a professional acquaintance of the uke’s mom and has been teaching uke since he’s a young boy. Trigger warning for sexual assault that happened when uke’s in first year of high school… The uke drew a clear line with the teacher by the end of the book.

[Lid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ha estado bien aunque esperaba más.

After School Étude es el primer todo de un manga de una escuela de ballet BL con un chico bajito super pro y un alto que necesita mejorar.

La relación se me ha hecho demasiado rápida, empiezan muy a saco con el spice y la construcción se me ha hecho inexistente. Se profesaban amor y si que son muy cucos y divertido, pero no he visto una evolución como tal y un momento de profundidad importante ha pasado de forma muy rápida.

En tema del ballet le da su punto, tiene los elementos clásicos del talento pero no el físico y viceversa y presenta temas interesantes.

[LAURENT READS !? . . ૮ + ᗣ ๑ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐⭐⭐

Wow, me gusta como van manejando la trama del ballet y la escuela en la que están. Además de sus diferencias tanto fisicas como al tratar con otros. El pasado de Shun y su falta de habilidad social, me parece bien manejado y me gusta sisis. Ya quiero leer el siguiente tomo.

[Yui · Rating 5 out of 5]

So eine schöne Story und so ein süßes Pärchen. Ich liebe es!

[Bin · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 ⭐️ so cute! (Except for they first kiss yeesh 😵‍💫)

[Shakera✿✿✿ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5☆
So cute🩰

[Ash · Rating 3 out of 5]

artwork was beautiful but the relationship happened far too quickly. and why is there always a skeevy fucking teacher?? this one left a real bad taste in my mouth throughout the whole book.

[bella · Rating 4 out of 5]

yearners are earners !!

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up

Not sure why but it took me a bit to get into this one. I think that the relationship is really sweet though and the sex scene at the end was very sweet and tender. I’m really glad that Shun was able to get away from that predator, hopefully he’ll actually face some consequences but I doubt it.

[Leonie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would recommend this for all BL Manga fans. Warning though: there are explicitly drawn sex scenes ;)
The Main Couple is incredibly cute even though they are quite cliché for the BL scene. One is the adorable puppy and the other the grumpy and cold one that eventually becomes just as infatuated. And of corse we have the usual height difference...
The ballet setting is quite nice though and creates many cute moments for the main couple.
***Trigger Warning Sexual Assault/Pedophile)***
One of the ballet teachers, who used to give the ML private lessons, is a pedophile. There are depictions of "consensual" sex scenes between him and the ML when he was a middle-schooler. Later he shows stalkerish and possessive tendencies when Shun tried to leave him. There is also a non-explicit rape scene.
*** Trigger Warning End ***
Thankfully this is not the focus of the stoey and the character leaves for another country in Chapter 10.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars with a lot of potential.

I have a soft spot for ballet stories - even though I only have one broken bone and a couple years of experience under my belt, and certainly could've never made it much longer, regardless of the injury and cross-country move. It still gave me enough of a taste of the discipline required, and an appreciation for the artistry and intensely hard work that goes into it.

Dancing is hard. Probably one of the most difficult sports there is, and one of the least forgiving. With ballet, you're expected to not only perform intricate, strictly maintained forms, but to look a certain way. Meaning, if you're not born with the proper physical traits to make you a dancer, you won't be. Not professionally. Not on the stages where you want to perform.

This is a big theme in an Australian ballet school show I liked a lot, Dance Academy, and the same topic slowly unveils throughout this story. It's wrenching and beautiful and a lot more thoughtful than I'd expected.

The official summary is not great and really doesn't express at all what this story is - or how dark it is, really. They're not even pas de deux partners? I'd thought, from the summary, that this was some sort of male/male partnering where they'd be dancing together on a regular basis, leading up to a performance, like the much grittier 10 Dance . But it's just a support/mentorship program, I guess, where first years are connected with second years for extra after school dance practice.

Honestly, I'm not entirely sure what the point of it is, since the ballet and contemporary dance students, male and female alike, were all mixed into the tin of names to pull from, so whether you ended up with someone helpful was pretty random. Again, though, it wasn't a "stroke of luck" that made Minobe pull Ichinomiya's name. He went into it already wanting to partner with Ichinomiya, and dug around until he felt a tightly balled up scrap of paper that he correctly guessed would've been Ichinomiya's. Since he doesn't get along with anyone else at school and is probably the only person who would toss his name in like that.

(Turns out he'd actually tried to throw it away, but their teacher, Futami, had fished his name back out and included it in the pile. He probably regretted that later on.)

Anyway, Minobe is interested in Ichinomiya from the moment he sees him: nearly naked in a classroom, facing down a group of bullies who'd thought stripping his clothes off him in public would humiliate him.

Idiots, Ichinomiya says, prepared to peel off his underwear, too, while they're at it: he's a dancer. He spends every day trying to be seen, with his full body on display. He's not ashamed of anything. He has no reason to be.

Minobe is instantly struck by both a physical attraction - because Ichinomiya is smokingly good-looking - and an intense interest in finding out what Ichinomiya's dancing is like. Which, of course, is extraordinary. Perfect in its precision, but also stunningly emotional and eye-catching, in a way Minobe has never been able to figure out in his own dancing.

Through his time with Ichinomiya, he learns how to demand attention from the audience, and how to put his heart and soul into the dance, rather than just going through the motions that are simple enough for someone of his enviable height and build.

Because, unlike the tall, long-limbed, perfectly proportioned Minobe, Ichinomiya is too short to pursue ballet professionally. Which is why, despite rumors of him being scouted for a famous Russian school, he'd abruptly switched to contemporary dance.

This is where all the great stuff in the story lies: in that complicated tug of loving dance but being rejected because of physical traits you simply cannot change. Of having dance be the only thing you're good at, the only thing you know how to do, so you're lost without it. Or, from Minobe's side, having everyone tell him he's made to be a dancer, then being looked at with disappointment when he doesn't have the charisma or passion to pull off his potential.

In the midst of it all, of course, we've got a love story, which slammed into sex way faster than I was expecting, throwing me a little bit at the beginning. But that progresses beautifully over time, too, with Ichinomiya gradually responding to warm, kind, utter adoration from someone who loves his dancing, isn't threatened by him in the slightest, but loves him beyond his abilities. Just for who he is.

The stuff with Futami is...very creepy, but signaled from early on, and handled a bit better than I was anticipating. Not sure how how prevalent his petty jealousy will be throughout the rest of the series, or if he'll do anything to try to derail Minobe's blossoming talent, but we'll see. This volume, at least, ends on a really promising note, and it could be a five star series from here, depending on how it goes.

The bits that didn't totally make sense to me in this volume were Ichinomiya's introduction - a stunning chapter that didn't really get explained. Who was the bully's brother who got disciplined for something to do with Ichinomiya? Does this kind of thing happen often? And it doesn't really fit with the flashbacks we see of Ichinomiya, who looked like a quiet, earnest, hardworking student the year prior, and only fell into his angry hating-the-world-and-everyone-in-it "broken doll" stage after his ballet school rejection and Futami's abuse.

Why was everyone saying Ichinomiya had always been like this? It doesn't seem like he was...maybe they were just jealous of him in the past, for being quiet and keeping to himself and being massively talented?

Besides that, everything was pretty great, and the art is gorgeous, too. A very promising start to their story.

[Fny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t really like this as much as I wanted. I always liked dance!mangas but this one was way to rushed in its “romance”. I felt it to be very disconnected.
The art was nice. A bit icky too that the protagonists is only in high school. I always felt like it should have been like college…. Very graphic scenes.
.
It also deals with some heavy topics.

[Cassie Renais · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is difficult to rate because it's great barring one specific scene (5 pages of ick) in the middle which throws the whole thing off. I'll detail that scene at the end, but for now, the review will just cover everything else. Without that scene, I would rate this 4, or even 4.5 stars.

The best part of this manga is the art. The way the artist captures the movement of ballet bodies and contemporary dancers is stunning. You get a real sense of their strength and physicality, but also the elegance and grace of their movement.

The two main characters are cute individually and separately. Ichinomiya is adorably prickly, and Minobe's crush is equally adorable. They have distinct personalities and realistic reasons for being attracted to one another. They each have inner turmoil and journeys to go on to become better people and achieve their dreams/overcome disappointments.

The plot also has external complications and conflicts which keep the stakes high and the story moving. If it was just two dancers dancing, it would get boring pretty quick. There are a couple of holes (or perhaps mysteries that aren't solved yet?) - it's unclear to me if Ichinomiya is being bullied, or what exactly is going on with him to make him wander around half naked, or have a bruise on his wrist etc. If this never gets answered in later volumes, that will be annoying.

The smut, when it occurs, feels realistic to the characters and their relationship. It is entirely believable to me that two elite dancers would get up to some hanky-panky in their private practice sessions and that having sex doesn't mean they're instantly in love.

Overall, if I could just remove that one, bizarrely out of place scene, this would be amazing. As it is, my feelings are complicated. I'm just baffled by the incongruity.

The scene: Ichinomiya has already had a problematic fling with his dance teacher in the past - fine, that's not an ideal subplot, but I can get over it. BUT. Then he ends their relationship and the next scene is him thrown on a bed, hands ZIP-TIED together, pleading with the teacher not to assault him. They then have some back and forth about Ichinomiya now being with another ballet student, and then it cuts to Ichinomiya staggering home exhausted looking depressed as hell. It leaves room for interpretation, but I thought the implication was clear.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5🌟

This manga was absolute chaos to start with 💀 It definitely captured my attention. That’s for sure!

I was ultimately snared into keeping my attention on this manga because I’m a sucker for a grumpy/sunshine dynamic. Ichinomiya is an absolute menace to society…and with good reason! He’s feral, unsociable, and an extremely talented dancer. Then there’s Minobe. He’s sweet and good-tempered. He likes ballet, but he lacks the drive to make him stand out as a dancer. The two get paired up…and it’s 🤩 for Minobe for the whole volume.

Truly, my favorite thing about this volume was how genuinely Minobe liked Ichinomiya. There was no pretense and no hesitation. He was clear and direct while also being patient with Ichinomiya’s strong character. It made it all the sweeter when Ichinomiya starts reciprocating the feelings. He starts to feel treasured by Minobe, and it makes it clear to him that Minobe is worth his time.

The absolutely FOUL part of this manga is the ballet teacher who needs to FACE CHARGES and be sent STRAIGHT TO PRISON. The fucking disgusting dynamic and “relationship” he has with Ichinomiya makes me sick. And he literally physically harms him TWICE in this manga. I need him to ROT IN HELL.

All this to say, I’ll definitely be continuing this series!

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Japanese Manga story takes place at a performing arts school - high school. We follow two ballet students as they prepare for their dancing career. One is in contemporary dance and the other classical ballet. We follow Minobe, a tall ballet student and Ichinomiya, a surly contemporary dance student.

They are paired up together and they practice together after school. There are some great sugar moments in this one. It also has some spice to it. I love stories set in the world of dance. It's intense and cut-throat and oh so beautiful. I wish I had gone into dance. I have the body for it, or I did when I was young.

The story is choppy and it's difficult to understand who's saying what and what is going on. It's not smooth and continuous. That happens so often in these things. Then there are those that do it so well.

I'm in for the ride. I can't wait to read V2.

[PM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ballet? Check. Steamy and also cute romance? Check. Beautiful art? Check! What is not to like? I immediately fell in love with the cover art. It reminded me of how I felt when seeing Jimin and Jungkook do a pas de deux for Black Swan! I loved that pairing and was immediately hooked for that idea in this book. I WAS disappointed that there was not an actual pas de deux in this volume with the two characters, but loved the plot nonetheless. There were copious explicit scenes which was believable to me given their age, even if I was surprised how soon those scenes began. A great story, intimate with some trigger warnings for the relationship that is not the main. I love tsundere characters and loved the comparison of cat and dog for these two. Great read! I also ended up getting vol 2 and 3 shortly after. Also the references to ballet are well researched and beautifully drawn. The shoes look exactly like my soft shoes 💜.

[Marlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grundidee der Story fand ich süß und toll. An sich bin ich kein großer Mangaleser, daher habe ich nicht die meisten Erfahrungen damit und vergleiche es mit einem Buch.
Ich fand den Malstil super schön und ästhetisch. Die Dynamik der Charaktere fand ich auch toll. Aber mir hat die nachvollziehbare Entwicklung gefehlt, es war eher so, dass es halt passiert ist. Aber es war zu kurz um mitzufiebern und Emotionen zu spüren, wie ich es bei Büchern habe. Ich hatte mehr Gefühle erwartet. Die Substory mit dem Lehrer war interessant und ich hätte davon gern mehr erfahren, aber wahrscheinlich in Teil 2.
Kann man machen, muss man aber nicht. Ist ein bisschen wie Yuri in ice nur mit weniger Feeling und Atmosphäre.
Ich glaube Mangas sind mir einfach zu kurz, da fehlt mir am Ende wahrscheinlich einfach der Tiefgang, wie ich ihn in mehreren Hundert Seiten Buch hätte.

[Bee C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ballet takes center stage as does love in this first volume. Minobe falls in love at first sight with prickly upperclassman, Ichinomiya, and becomes his practice partner. He’s like a puppy following his love and tiring him out till he caves in and finally practices with Minobe. Love deepens on Minobe’s side and develops with Ichinomiya all the while they practice ballet and fix/critique Minobe’s posture and so on. It’s a good story and somewhat a bit heartbreaking with lost ballet dreams and a story line of adult/teacher grooming. You get the ick but also feel proud of how Ichinomiya handles everything to be with Minobe.