A fresh start turns sour after a manga editor's new boss turns out to be his ill-fated first love!
When Ritsu Onodera changes jobs, looking for a fresh start, he's not exactly thrilled when his new boss turns out to be his old flame. Ritsu's determined to leave all that in the past—but how can he when his boss is just as determined that they have a future?
Manga editor Ritsu Onodera is still working as hard as ever under his relentless editor in chief—and first love—Masamune Takano. And although his skills as an editor continue to improve, his unrealistic goal of being Takano’s equal gets the better of him, causing Ritsu to collapse from overwork. Fed up, Takano declares that, in order to prevent another such collapse, he will now have to manage Ritsu’s private life. Ritsu knows he should be mad, but Takano’s concern for his health touches him in ways he doesn’t care to admit.
Shungiku Nakamura (中村春菊 Nakamura Shungiku?, born December 13,1980) is a Japanese yaoi manga artist. She is most famous for creating Junjo Romantica: Pure Romance. Shungiku Nakamura's distinct style of manga has been identified largely throughout Japanese and English yaoi fanbases. Her works usually include large age gaps between the seme and uke and characters with careers in the publishing industry (as depicted in Junjo Romantica and Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi). She often cowrites with Fujisaki Miyako, who authored the novels of Yoshino Chiaki no baai in Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi.
Works: Junjo Romantica: Pure Romance (2002 - Ongoing) "Junjou Mistake" (2008) Hybrid Child (2003 - 2004) Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi (2007 - Ongoing) "√W.P.B." (2004) "Touzandou Tentsui Ibun" (1998 - 1999) "Mangetsu Monogatari" "Tsuki wa Yamiyo ni Kakuru ga Gotoku" (1999) "Picturesque of a Mask" (art only) "Umi ni Nemuru Hana"
Although there isn't any breakthrough in this 9th volume of the Seikaichi Hatsukoi series, hardly any yaoi author/manga-ka can do romance comedy better than Ms. Shungiku Nakamura.
This series is way better with using queer IDs than most yaoi I've read but the MC doesn't use one/hasn't thought about his identity like that (yet) and I'm just like PLEASE because that would be pretty groundbreaking in yaoi tbh.
Star knocked off for some problematic content but otherwise a good entry. I like that they're getting deeper into things like overwork and high expectations from society/self and how that can really fuck with mental health
Μετά από μακρά περίοδο αναμονής, κάτι που έχουμε συνηθίσει βέβαια, ολοκληρώθηκε και το 9ο τεύχος της σειράς, το οποίο μας επιφύλασσε πολλές και μεγάλες αλλαγές, σε πολλαπλά επίπεδα, που συζητήθηκαν πάρα πολύ ανάμεσα στους κύκλους των fans της Nakamura. Το τεύχος αποτελείται από 4 βασικά κεφάλαια και 2 extras, με τα 3 βασικά να ανήκουν -κλασσικά- στους Onodera και Takano. Στα κεφάλαια αυτά, λοιπόν, θα λέγαμε πως οι ανησυχίες και οι προβληματισμοί των ηρώων μας είναι πιο εσωτερικοί απ' όσο συνήθως. Με αυτό δεν εννοώ πως τις άλλες φορές τα προβλήματά τους είναι πεζά ή μας μεταφέρονται με αυτόν τον τρόπο, αλλά όσο η ιστορία εξελίσσεται, νομίζω πως εξελίσσεται και η αφηγηματική της ποιότητα. Ο Onodera, λοιπόν, συνεχίζει να προβληματίζεται σχετικά με το κατά πόσο μπορεί να πετύχει στον χώρο των εκδόσεων, καταλήγοντας μάλιστα στο νοσοκομείο, με τον Takano να γίνεται έξαλλος και ακόμα πιο στενός κορσές γύρω του, πράγμα βέβαια που δεν μετριάζει ιδιαίτερα τις ανησυχίες του. Αυτό ίσως να είναι το σημείο όπου αρχίζουμε να αντιλαμβανόμαστε ακόμα περισσότερο το πόσο δύσκολο είναι για κάποιους να σηκώσουν στις πλάτες τους το βάρος του οικογενειακού τους ονόματος σε μια κοινωνία που περιμένει από αυτούς πάντα το κάτι παραπάνω, αλλά και το να φτάσουν τον σύντροφό τους, όταν αυτός βρίσκεται στο ίδιο επαγγελματικό πεδίο με εκείνους και μάλιστα, αρκετά βήματα πιο μπροστά. Την ίδια ώρα, ο Haitani συνεχίζεται να μπλέκεται με ποικίλους τρόπους στα πόδια των δύο, προκαλώντας κάποια προβλήματα που δεν είναι ικανά να κλονίσουν το σύνολο των καταστάσεων, αλλά αντιθέτως οδηγούν σε δυνατές παραδοχές που καταφέρνουν να σπάσουν φράγματα. Επί της ουσίας, ο Onodera μοιάζει να έχει μπει στην τελική ευθεία των αποφάσεών του, και το συναισθηματικό τείχος του καταρρέει μέρα με την ημέρα όλο και περισσότερο, παρά που πλέον οι προβληματισμοί του είναι περισσότερο κοινωνικοί, παρά συναισθηματικοί. Όσο για το τελευταίο βασικό κεφάλαιο, αλλά και ένα από τα δύο extras -γιατί το άλλο ανήκει στο short story του Yokozawa που μας δίνεται σε δόσεις σφηνάκια-, ακολουθεί τους Kisa και Yukina στα μονοπάτια της ζήλιας -ξανά-, αλλά με τις θέσεις τους να αντιστρέφονται και με το αίσθημα αυτό να εκφράζεται από τη μεριά του Yukina ο οποίος, έπειτα από μια τυχαία συνάντηση με τον πρώτο έρωτα του Kisa, αρχίζει να έχει ανασφάλεια για τα συναισθήματα του δεύτερου απέναντι στο πρόσωπό του, τρανή απόδειξη πως όταν αγαπάμε ένα πρόσωπο με βεβαρυμένο παρελθόν, δεν μπορούμε να εμποδίσουμε τον εαυτό μας από το να κάνει δυσάρεστες σκέψεις και να έχει ανασφάλειες, όσο κι αν το προσπαθούμε, αλλά και πως το ερωτικό μας αντικείμενο πρέπει να προσπαθήσει για να μας πείσει, ακόμα κι αν στην πραγματικότητα δεν είναι απαραίτητο. Ναι... οι σχέσεις θέλουν δουλειά. Αν κάτι δεν μπορούμε να μην αναφέρουμε είναι πως μετά από πολύ καιρό, παρατηρούμε έντονες αλλαγές στο art του manga, ειδικά στο τελευταίο κεφάλαιο των Onodera και Tanako, μια αλλαγή που προσωπικά δεν με ενθουσίασε αρχικά -αλλά που πλέον έχω συνηθίσει και εκτιμώ-, και που κατάφερε να εντυπωσιάσει τη μεγαλύτερη μερίδα του αναγνωστικού κοινού. Εντάξει, το ομολογώ, σοκαρίστηκα αρχικά, αλλά προσαρμόστηκε τελικά. Όλα είναι θέμα συνήθειας και την εξέλιξη, ακόμα κι αν σε ξενίζει σε πρώτη φάση, δεν μπορείς να μην την αναγνωρίσεις.
I don't know if it's because I'm reading the volumes of this series back to back but I am actually starting to get a teensy weensy tiny bit bored with the Takano/Onodera story. Each act is starting to become repetitive and I'm just ready for them to get together so I can see what their relationship looks like as well as see what types of situations they get into as a couple.
I'm not saying the actual story in each act is same (because it isn't), it's the interaction between Onodera and Takano that is. Basically, something happens in the beginning, Takano demonstrates or outright expresses how much he loves Onodera, Onodera either freaks out and tries to run away or outright dismisses him, Takano grabs him, they have sex (during which Onodera usually starts off by telling Takano to "stop" before proceeding to ooh and ahh for the remainder of the time), he then thinks about how much he (supposedly) cares about Takano or how much he (supposedly) is falling in love with him before falling asleep, and in the morning Onodera's an asshole to Takano for no reason telling him to never touch him again 😑😒. It's getting old and by book 9 I would've expected there to be more development. Even if they didn't officially get together I would have expected Onodera to at least be more comfortable with Takano's advances.
It's frustrating to read about those two and the introduction of Haitani doesn't make it any better.
We also get another story told from Yukina's point of view. He meets up with Kisa after a wedding Kisa attended and on the way to his house they run into Kisa's ex. Kisa started acting strange after the encounter and Yukina couldn't figure out why. I enjoyed their story and by the end was left trying to wrap my mind around the fact that unconfident, prone to negativity and doubt, "I'm too old for love" KISA is more evolved when it comes to relationships than Onodera. It boggles the mind.
Onodera/Takano- Ondera collapses after working too hard (staying up all night studying manga). Takano explains to him that he can't make up several years at once- that he is doing fine. Onodera ends up grabbing him to keep him from leaving, surprising them both. Later Takano makes a pretty big love confession to Onodera, similar almost to a marriage proposal. We learn that he worked with Hatori on shounen manga previously and that a lover of Hatori's (who is bisexual/gay) had fallen for Takano. Despite Takano's rejection, the lover broke it off with Hatori who blamed Takano. Thus there is intense dislike/unresolved tension between the two.
Kisa/Yukina- Kisa has to go to a friend's wedding and gets a bit jealous at the attention Yukina receives from women. He tries to hide it, leading Yukina to initially think that Kisa doesn't care that much. Little fight, leads to making up, deeper love, yay!
Holy hell, stop the presses! This book uses the term “bi” for Haitani! Never thought they’d use the word! But it is only used for the “sneaky, greedy” guy, so it’s still biphobia to have your only go character be a villain. In reality Onodera and Yukina are bi, but don’t identify as such so it doesn’t count (in that it’s bad to have the only openly by guy be bad and have many negative stereotypes associated with bi people). Also, as soon as Onodera realizes Haitani is bi, he automatically assumes he did something bad to Takano and that’s why they don’t get along. Not good rep.
Also it’s creepy and rapey when Takano is pushing Onodera into sex when he clearly says to wait or stop and Takano says it’s Onodera’s fault they’re having sex. I get it’s supposed to be kind of a push/pull slightly rough kind of sex but it misses the mark by a mile and a half. Ick.
I do like that this story so far is liberal with sex that doesn’t have to be super romantic and carefully timed and only in a bed in the silent missionary position. I appreciate it a lot. I just wish all the sex (kinky or otherwise) came across as consensual. Call me crazy.
Kisa and Yukina are as batty and adorable as always. Yukina getting jealous over the ex from 10 years ago was kind of hilarious. Him realizing he’s possessive as well is funny, especially because he had never been jealous over anyone before (because he’s the one people are usually jealous of, lol). It’s also done not in a creepy way, and none of it falls on Kisa in a creepy way. Same when Kisa gets jealous, he doesn’t take it out on Yukina or make him responsible for it. I like the dynamic of Kisa being the more experienced adult here of the two of them and calming Yukina down (by yelling a little logic at him). Yukina is pretty mature for 21 but he’s still a young man learning stuff. Kisa is still a youngish man learning stuff too, really.
Also, I know Yukina is a skinny guy, and apparently so is Kisa - Koi’s one hand can span his waist (as Yukina wonders if Kisa has always been that slim). I guess they’re both skinny, but only Yukina is tall. I know Kisa says he’s always been really small.
Ahh this volume may be the cutest volume yet. It was literally filled with cute moments. This volume followed Ritsu and his relationship with Masamune, and had both viewpoints of Shota/Kou. This volume was so cute because we saw Masamune taking care of Ritsu when he was ill, and declaring the depth of his love. It was so cute. With Kou's chapter, you saw him jealous! It was really refreshing to see, and you see how perfect they both are for each other. It was nice to see Shota reassure Kou. Then with Shota's chapter, you got to see how much Kou's little things mean for Shota and it was so cute! I can't deal.
One of the criticisms of the Yaoi genre is the lack of characters identifying as gay. I feel like this series disputes this with Shota (within pages of us meeting him, he tells us he's always been gay), and Haitani being described as bi. Whether it is good depiction is another question (I would argue more on the side of this series having good representation but there are negative aspects to it too).
I would recommend this series! I am so sad knowing that I only have one more volume left before I have caught up with all the English volumes that are currently out! I have marked in on my calendar when Volume 11 comes out in English, so I can go to my local manga store (which is literally a minute away from my work! Yay! My wallet dislikes it though).
I liked the flow of this volume a lot. Takano is finally pushing Onodera more when it comes to how he feels about him, which I’m all for because, holy crap, does Onodera need to figure his shit out.
Also, Kisa and Yukina continue to be all the fluffiness I need in my life.
What a love story!! And that was confession!! Also I love that Ritsu got sick and had to be taken care of. We all know he is not going to do it himself! and Kisa... making Yukina jealous without even knowing it!! Love it!!
The longer this goes on the cuter it gets! Though, I do wish Takano would listen to Onodera a little more. And man! What an insight into the world of manga publishing! So much work!
Okay the ending was *chef's kiss, How could you not love that ending, Ritsu's face when Masamune says he wants to be lovey-dovey LOL, that is what I call quality content.
Yukina y Kisa siguen siendo mis favoritos, amo leer sus capítulos. Y en estos momentos la historia principal aún no llega a la parte de drama innecesario. Creo que entre el 8 y 9 han sido mis volúmenes favoritos.
**1st read** Fiu. Con mucho dolor me despido de lo que queda hasta hoy publicado. Luego de un laaargo tiempo siguiendo fielmente Sekaiichi Hatsukoi, ahora me quedará esperar como gente normal a que salga el suguiente tomo :( Pues nada. Vamos al review.
Amé este tomo (queda claro que amo todos) es que de verdad que fue hermoso. Muchos dicen que se sobrevalora a Shungiku Nakamura, pero la verdad es que en lo personal, cada cosa que hace me hace sentir las emociones más hermosas que hay. Desde Junjou Romantica hasta Hybrid Child. Cada cosa es INCREÍBLE. Y este tomo también lo fue.
Poco a poco Onodera se está dando cuenta de que de verdad ama a Takano. Y pues Takano...su amor por Onodera es...incondicional. Otra vez me llenó el corazón de puro amor cuando pasaban estas escenas tan románticas. Cada palabra. Cada beso. Amo como Nakamura lleva el romance en sus historias, es como que se me adormece el corazón y me lleva a una plenitud que me hace sentir...viva. Es asombroso. Me gusta como Takano simpre trata de proteger a Onodera, se preocupa muchísimo por él, se asegura de su salud hasta lo cuida de Haitani ya que tiene miedo que le haga daño D: TAKANO ES UN AMOR. Y por otro lado, Onodera ya no es un tsundere de mierda. Ya está aceptando que SÍ ES AMORhell YES La verdad es que finalmente recapacitó y se dio cuenta de cómo se volteó la torta y él fue el que terminó haciéndole daño a Takano, pero Onodera tiene miedo que si admite sus sentimientos...la gente los juzgue por ser hombres y cosas así. Pinche gente :( Pero en fin, me puso muy feliz como mi Nakamura llevó las cosas en este tomo con esta pareja :33
Luego están mis consentidos, Kisa y YUKINA*-* Estos siempre me llenan de felicidad y amor :D Aquí el problema fue que era el cumpleaños de Kisa y él se sentía triste porque cada vez siente que se hace mucho más mayor que Yukina. Y cree que la diferencia de edad es muy grande y los va a separar :(( Pero obviamente no fue así. Mi bebé Yukina hermosho ama a Kisa sobre TODAS las cosas y jamás lo dejaría *insertar awwww aquí* Además hubo un capítulo corto de ambos donde se nota esto. Apesar de la diferencia de edad, que ambos sean hombres y los horarios de trabajo, se aman TANTO que esos no son problemas para ellos (bueno, sí pero no)
Ahora sí, haciendo un breve resumen de lo que pasó en este tomo me despido hasta que se publique el siguiente tomo de Sekaiichi Hatsukoi. Y pues nada. Lean yaoi :33
10.01.2016: Capítulo 22 ha sido traducido a inglés. ALELUYA <3 ASDFGHJKLÑ AHHHHHH Luego de como 2 meses finalmente lo tradujeron :'D estoy tan feliz!! Y valió la pena porque fue HER-MO-SO!!!
Este capítulo es la continuación del viaje realizado el pasado. Se puede ver como están todos allí y eso (xD?) Pero como ya saben...lo más hermoso siempre es la parejita de Takano y Onodera <3 El Ritsu es tan adorable tratando de ocultar sus sentimientos (aww cozhita) y pos el Takano es tan jodidamente hermoso. Son de esas parejitas que me hacen gritar, patalear y reir como foca retrasada. Fue un capítulo muy pero muy DULCE <3 Y morí *literal* con la parte de Kisa. No puedo esperar para el siguiente volumen D': Quisiera ir a Japón para comprarlo. Y saber japonés btw.
19.05.2016: Pues finalmente acabó el vol 9. Y acabamos con Yukina y Kisa. Fue demasiado dulce. Amo a Yukina. ¿Lo había dicho antes?
**2nd read** Estoy 100% segura de que mangago está loco y publicó como 9 los volúmenes 9, 10 y 11?? wtf
Igual lo amé, pero de la nada ya estoy en el 12 qué
Mumpung paperback vol 3 baru datang kemarin, akhirnya reread lagi seri ini dari no 2 (krn jeda terbit dgn next vol lmyn lama jd agak2 lupa sama vol 2) sampe no 9/10 tapi cuma fokus di pasangan Ritsu x Takano dulu, pasangan lain aku skip dulu. Sejujurnya, mungkin karena efek terjemahan kali ya, 3 buku pertama edisi paperback membuatku memberi 4 bintang setelah reread, padahal awalnya kuberi 3 bintang utk versi scanlation. Sekali lagi terjemahan itu berpengaruh, atau mungkin pola pikirku 2 tahun yg lalu sudah berbeda dgn saat ini. Tapi tetap saja denial Ritsu dan acara tarik ulur dia terkadang bikin aku menghela napas, walaupun kali ini setelah reread dan maraton read dari vol 1-9/10 aku mulai merasa bisa lebih paham kenapa Ritsu begitu galau.
Dan oh ternyata aku ketinggalan cukup banyak setelah vol 6 (vol terakhir yg kubaca tahun 2013)... walopun sbnrnya di vol 9 ini mulai terasa repetitif acara tarik ulurnya si Ritsu, tapi titik terangnya ya Ritsu itu ternyata trauma berat patah hati oleh Takano selama 10 tahun sehingga ia takut jika kali ini ia kembali "terjun bebas" bisa jadi luka hatinya akan jauh lebih parah ketimbang pertama kalinya, dan krn itulah dia masih ragu2 dan berada dlm hubungan tanpa status ini dgn Takano. Ia tdk yakin hubungan mereka bisa happy end, "what comes after happily ever after?" begitulah menurutnya. Trauma masa lalunya menjadikan karakternya sinis, pesimis dan tdk berani berharap lebih krn takut kecewa dan sakit hati, dia juga tdk tau seperti bagaimana 2 pria menjalin hubungan cinta, setelah hubungan cintanya dgn Takano kandas sebelum mereka bisa mengenal satu sama lain lebih jauh. Walaupun ia sendiri sudah mengakui berkali2 dalam hatinya bahwa dia mencintai Takano (Takano yg saat ini, bkn Takano-senpai) dan juga 2 kali menyatakan cinta pada Takano (yg pertama tdk terdengar Takano krn kebetulan ada petir menyambar, yg kedua krn Takano keburu "membungkam" mulut Ritsu dgn ciuman sblm Ritsu sempat blg "...ove you"), dan juga sudah berkali2 menunjukkan perasaannya lwt tindakan alih2 kata2, tapi kurasa dia ini mau nunggu sampe Takano sekarat baru mau blg 3 kata sakti tsb, lololol. Sementara itu Takano kasihan bgt krn terus menodong dan meneror Ritsu utk menyatakan cinta pada Takano. Dan omong2, sex scene-nya juga mulai terasa repetitif dan polanya ketebak, huahaha. Repetitifnya krn gayanya itu2 saja, urutannya juga itu2 saja. Sejujurnya aku berharap mrk berdua ini lbh banyak bicara ketimbang fucking, tapi apa boleh buat, dua org ini termasuk tipe yg susah mengutarakan perasaannya lwt kata2, lbh banyak memendam dlm hati, dan jangan harap mrk bisa act cute or lovey dovey kaya pasangan lagi mabuk cinta dan lupa dunia sekitarnya. Mereka berdua sama2 mengakui kalo lovey dovey is really difficult. Walaupun begitu, di HTS ini mereka berusaha utk mengenal satu sama lain lebih jauh, Ritsu tau kalo dia enggan "jatuh cinta lbh dalam" tapi dia juga merasa tak berdaya menghadapi "serangan" Takano dan dia tdk bisa menyangkal kalo dia itu ingin tahu lebih banyak soal Takano. Jika tak peduli, takkan ada rasa penasaran bukan? Well, ini countdown-nya tinggal puluhan hari lagi (sekitar 60-an) sebelum Ritsu completely in love sama Takano.
I mean were to start. This story is so well built and so painfully slow and wonderful I can't even. It's just ugh I love it. Great impossible situations that have you laughing, crying, wanting. Absolutely the best manga and it has an anime eeeeeeek. So good. Also the depth of the story and complexity of the characters makes this manga a step above the rest.
Being about a Shoujo manga publishing house made this manga so much more enjoyable and interesting. I appreciated the little definitions of the publishing house words we dont understand.
Update: I might lose if they the writer never finishes this manga. I need the ending I need churchbells and all things happy. Too much has happened to these two THEY NEED THEIR HAPPY ENDING! AND I NEED TO READ ABOUT IT. And kou omg just seeing some random guy in the background sparkling and you instantly know its him, well it just makes my day. KOU YOUR TOO DAMN SHINY!