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Lovers on the Last Train
Finding love in your 40s can be tough, but when two total opposites match on a dating app, they'll have a one way ticket to romance in this Boys' Love manga.Harue, a forty-two-year-old gay man, hasn't had a single date in his life. Deciding to try out his company's dating app, he's surprised when he matches with the suspiciously hot Fujishima. Harue has his doubts, of course. Fujishima is sexy, smart, and kind--too good to be true. However, once they start talking, Harue gets butterflies for the first time. The conversation and alcohol flow freely, and before they know it, they've missed the last train, left with no choice but to spend the night together...
194 pages, Paperback
Published December 16, 2025
8 people are currently reading
54 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 25, 2025
To love and be genuinely loved in return... is really such a wonderful feeling.
Hmm, it was okay but I only got hooked starting at the 5th chapter. I couldn't care less about anything else to be honest. And there's nothing interesting about the characters? But they're cute together, so.
Hmm, it was okay but I only got hooked starting at the 5th chapter. I couldn't care less about anything else to be honest. And there's nothing interesting about the characters? But they're cute together, so.
December 18, 2025
I was excited about this one, but it was actually pretty disappointing. It's not a bad story, just...very mediocre and shallow.
Despite the back cover's summary, Harue is 41 years old when he meets his first-ever boyfriend. We start, a little confusingly, when he is 42...with all the tension completely stripped out of the story because he's a year into dating and living with Fujishima. They had a recent argument about Harue's pessimism and "dark thoughts," but are still being very new-in-love and cutesy. Harue curls around Fujishima in bed, desperately spinning a little wish-spell to ensure they stay together forever.
It's very sweet...but a little bit of a weird way to start, because it ends up making their future seem not quite as settled and guaranteed as the "forever" Harue wants so badly.
We then skip back to their first meeting, when overworked salaryman Harue is out drinking after another long day at work, and runs into a guy he'd matched with on a dating app he'd only installed on his phone for work purposes and had forgotten to delete. The backstory for that was funny, with Harue literally dropping his phone on his face and accidentally "liking" a hot, out of his league guy's profile.
Fujishima had matched back, or their phones wouldn't have chimed with recognition when they were in the same bar, but he clearly hadn't been that interested, because he'd never bothered messaging Harue.
Once they start talking, though, he gets increasingly intrigued: Harue is cute, interesting, and very refreshing. He seems to really get Fujishima and laughs along with him, contributing such good conversation that they stay out drinking and talking until the last train is gone. So they go to a love hotel - something Fujishima is used to and has indeed used this app for - but which Harue is not remotely ready for.
At no point in the story does Harue actually tell Fujishima that he's completely inexperienced; it's implied near the end, when he's "practicing kissing," but we don't get to see him telling Fujishima he's literally never dated anyone. He just says things like "it's been a while." Fujishima is his first love and his first boyfriend, and it makes him extra anxious and worried about getting a lot of things wrong, or making Fujishima lose interest in him.
Fujishima tells Harue that's what he loves about him...because after one night of talking and some online chats, he's decided he's in love. And Harue says he is, too.
That was...honestly way too fast. I appreciated that the physical parts were a slower progression, with Fujishima respecting Harue's pace and understanding he didn't want to rush things he wasn't ready for or experienced in. But you don't fall in love overnight, and it cheapened their story a little bit.
It also added to everything feeling a little more shallow. Fujishima loved all those fresh, exciting expressions Harue had, which were largely due to his inexperience. But a year later, they have an argument about Harue...still being insecure and pessimistic and hard on himself, which is what Fujishima had claimed to love about him? So the shine wore off, that quickly, as things do with new relationships.
That's what made the pacing and structure feel off to me. I did like the little bits of Fujishima's side, where it showed more of what he liked about Harue and how lonely he'd been, even with a lot more relationship experience. But I never felt the real depth of their connection.
Plus we literally got two separate guys barging in to try to steal Fujishima away, which was an awful lot for a story this short.
And a lot of the art was pretty indistinguishable...there's this particular, very distinctive jacket/blazer pattern that was used (with only minor variations) for Fujishima, one of his former app hook-up buddies, and one of his gay male coworkers. Then this other guy, an ex wedding client of Fujishima's who'd gotten divorced so he could be with him instead, suddenly shows up out of nowhere to tell Harue he's drab and doesn't deserve him. I had to flip back to figure out if he was the same former hook-up guy (he wasn't).
Fujishima goes from "oh hey it's been so long, nice to see you," to an instant "I WILL CALL THE POLICE FOR HARASSMENT," which was also really weird pacing and hardly even seemed in character. Then Harue has this kind of immature outburst about "he's my boyfriend, how dare you say I'm not good enough!"
On top of that, there's this whole side thread about Fujishima's grandmother dying, and then his cat dying, and him being a lot more sad about the cat. There are close up panels showing him touching his cat necklace and being sad, and the ex-hook-up guy tells Fujishima he's sad and lonely because of his dead cat and should hook up with him again so he doesn't feel so alone...
But Fujishima never talks to Harue about his cat. Then they suddenly have a cat when they move in together. Happy ending, woo?
It feels like so many scattered ideas that just didn't work for a coherent story. Should probably be a lower rating, but I wanted to like this so badly that I'll just let it stay at 3 stars. It'd be nice to have more actually good stories about middle-aged men in love, or finding love later in life. I appreciate that there was an attempt, at least.
Nice idea, fairly poor execution.
Despite the back cover's summary, Harue is 41 years old when he meets his first-ever boyfriend. We start, a little confusingly, when he is 42...with all the tension completely stripped out of the story because he's a year into dating and living with Fujishima. They had a recent argument about Harue's pessimism and "dark thoughts," but are still being very new-in-love and cutesy. Harue curls around Fujishima in bed, desperately spinning a little wish-spell to ensure they stay together forever.
It's very sweet...but a little bit of a weird way to start, because it ends up making their future seem not quite as settled and guaranteed as the "forever" Harue wants so badly.
We then skip back to their first meeting, when overworked salaryman Harue is out drinking after another long day at work, and runs into a guy he'd matched with on a dating app he'd only installed on his phone for work purposes and had forgotten to delete. The backstory for that was funny, with Harue literally dropping his phone on his face and accidentally "liking" a hot, out of his league guy's profile.
Fujishima had matched back, or their phones wouldn't have chimed with recognition when they were in the same bar, but he clearly hadn't been that interested, because he'd never bothered messaging Harue.
Once they start talking, though, he gets increasingly intrigued: Harue is cute, interesting, and very refreshing. He seems to really get Fujishima and laughs along with him, contributing such good conversation that they stay out drinking and talking until the last train is gone. So they go to a love hotel - something Fujishima is used to and has indeed used this app for - but which Harue is not remotely ready for.
At no point in the story does Harue actually tell Fujishima that he's completely inexperienced; it's implied near the end, when he's "practicing kissing," but we don't get to see him telling Fujishima he's literally never dated anyone. He just says things like "it's been a while." Fujishima is his first love and his first boyfriend, and it makes him extra anxious and worried about getting a lot of things wrong, or making Fujishima lose interest in him.
Fujishima tells Harue that's what he loves about him...because after one night of talking and some online chats, he's decided he's in love. And Harue says he is, too.
That was...honestly way too fast. I appreciated that the physical parts were a slower progression, with Fujishima respecting Harue's pace and understanding he didn't want to rush things he wasn't ready for or experienced in. But you don't fall in love overnight, and it cheapened their story a little bit.
It also added to everything feeling a little more shallow. Fujishima loved all those fresh, exciting expressions Harue had, which were largely due to his inexperience. But a year later, they have an argument about Harue...still being insecure and pessimistic and hard on himself, which is what Fujishima had claimed to love about him? So the shine wore off, that quickly, as things do with new relationships.
That's what made the pacing and structure feel off to me. I did like the little bits of Fujishima's side, where it showed more of what he liked about Harue and how lonely he'd been, even with a lot more relationship experience. But I never felt the real depth of their connection.
Plus we literally got two separate guys barging in to try to steal Fujishima away, which was an awful lot for a story this short.
And a lot of the art was pretty indistinguishable...there's this particular, very distinctive jacket/blazer pattern that was used (with only minor variations) for Fujishima, one of his former app hook-up buddies, and one of his gay male coworkers. Then this other guy, an ex wedding client of Fujishima's who'd gotten divorced so he could be with him instead, suddenly shows up out of nowhere to tell Harue he's drab and doesn't deserve him. I had to flip back to figure out if he was the same former hook-up guy (he wasn't).
Fujishima goes from "oh hey it's been so long, nice to see you," to an instant "I WILL CALL THE POLICE FOR HARASSMENT," which was also really weird pacing and hardly even seemed in character. Then Harue has this kind of immature outburst about "he's my boyfriend, how dare you say I'm not good enough!"
On top of that, there's this whole side thread about Fujishima's grandmother dying, and then his cat dying, and him being a lot more sad about the cat. There are close up panels showing him touching his cat necklace and being sad, and the ex-hook-up guy tells Fujishima he's sad and lonely because of his dead cat and should hook up with him again so he doesn't feel so alone...
But Fujishima never talks to Harue about his cat. Then they suddenly have a cat when they move in together. Happy ending, woo?
It feels like so many scattered ideas that just didn't work for a coherent story. Should probably be a lower rating, but I wanted to like this so badly that I'll just let it stay at 3 stars. It'd be nice to have more actually good stories about middle-aged men in love, or finding love later in life. I appreciate that there was an attempt, at least.
Nice idea, fairly poor execution.
December 26, 2025
Fue tan bueno que me sorprendió cuando lo terminé :'( pensé que habría más sobre estos dos, son tan adorables aaaa
December 19, 2025
[4.5]
Very cute, in both story and art. The cover and title were what caught my interest. Wish it was a bit longer though for more substance. Got through it in a little less than an hour (reading fairly slow). Neverthless, the balance between both Harue and Fujishima's thoughts was done well. However, he ex-client scene was a bit too tropey and pointless, and felt a bit out of nowhere tonally. Especially because they kind of just immediately move on from the incident. The short message at the end about wishing for gay marriage to be legalized in Japan was nice, being a lot of BL creators only care about the marketability and fetishization.
Wanted something a bit lighter compared to what I've been consuming recently, so it served its purpose well.
Very cute, in both story and art. The cover and title were what caught my interest. Wish it was a bit longer though for more substance. Got through it in a little less than an hour (reading fairly slow). Neverthless, the balance between both Harue and Fujishima's thoughts was done well. However, he ex-client scene was a bit too tropey and pointless, and felt a bit out of nowhere tonally. Especially because they kind of just immediately move on from the incident. The short message at the end about wishing for gay marriage to be legalized in Japan was nice, being a lot of BL creators only care about the marketability and fetishization.
Wanted something a bit lighter compared to what I've been consuming recently, so it served its purpose well.
December 20, 2025
(3.25)
обожнюю роменсики про дорослих та дещо непевних людей зі своїми загонами ✋😔 бонус поінтс за те, що insecure тут (моментами) були обидва. ця історія вдарила б ще сильніше, якби трошки глибше були пропрацьовані персонажі, але й так все доволі миленько. втім, хотілося все ж чогось більшого. було б класно, якби сюжет розтягнули принаймні на дві частини, доповнивши його якимось суттєвими деталями. це була б взагалі казка, адже почуття є, персонажі симпатичні та й мальовка гарненька!
обожнюю роменсики про дорослих та дещо непевних людей зі своїми загонами ✋😔 бонус поінтс за те, що insecure тут (моментами) були обидва. ця історія вдарила б ще сильніше, якби трошки глибше були пропрацьовані персонажі, але й так все доволі миленько. втім, хотілося все ж чогось більшого. було б класно, якби сюжет розтягнули принаймні на дві частини, доповнивши його якимось суттєвими деталями. це була б взагалі казка, адже почуття є, персонажі симпатичні та й мальовка гарненька!
Review of advance copy
While I found the relationship a little underbaked my love for gay romance set well into adulthood is unmatched. So fluffy it almost feels fake but I enjoyed the romance and the quiet thoughtfulness of it a lot. And like the author, I hope we get to see same-sex marriage legalized in Japan (and around the world) soon.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 5, 2025
The pacing is very off, but the story itself is quite sweet.
December 17, 2025
this story doesn't go very deep and we dont get a whole lot of info about the characters. however, its a sweet read and a super quick read too
December 20, 2025
i love old man yaoi
December 26, 2025
This was really adorable and precious! I honestly wish there was another volume.
December 27, 2025
IM SEEING A SURGE IN OLD MEN YAOI
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews