Laughter in the Sunshine

by Fuuki Maru

A sweet Boys’ Love romance about two young men, a smuggled cat, and the month they spend together.

On the way home from work one night, Kiriyama Taiyou picks up a friendly stray cat. Pets are strictly off-limits at his apartment building, but he attempts to sneak in his new feline friend anyway—only to be caught by the grumpy building manager, Taira Asahi. Taiyou begs Asahi to let him keep the cat until he can find it a new home. To his shock, Asahi agrees. The catch? Taiyou has to be his gofer until the cat is gone.

As Taiyou runs himself ragged completing errands for Asahi, he begins to notice a kind heart lying beneath his prickly exterior…as well as the unrequited crush on someone that Asahi’s been nursing for years. Taiyou wants to make Asahi’s romantic dreams come true, but will his attempts at playing cupid lead to his own broken heart?

Genres: Manga, Comics, Boys Love, Contemporary, Romance, Yaoi

240 pages, Paperback

First published March 23, 2024

About the author

FUUKI MARU is a manga creator in Japan. Laughter in the Sunshine is her first title to be published in English.

Reviews

[Swathi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two different stories but both are very good and both are just very touching. Both also have ML who have never been attracted to men but fine love in people that they didn't really see before. it kind of makes you feel like love is close.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Four stars for the first story which was sweet and believably paced.

Three for the second that, while cute, was a bit tonally inconsistent and felt more rushed.

[Cipher 🍄✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute and wholesome read! Bonding over a cat and blossoming into genuine love. Only the one volume, but I was left wanting more of these guys! The side story is also entertaining. I enjoy it when authors frame queer love as something normal, and that you don’t always have to label yourself to experience queer love.

[Sol · Rating 2 out of 5]

Firmly meh. I thought the plot wasn't super interesting, and the leads didn't have much chemistry. The art didn't really dazzle me much, either. Unfortunately, I feel like the bonus story at the end, which has nothing to do with the main story's plot, was a lot more interesting than the main story itself.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is actually two entirely unrelated stories bundled into a single book, which is a bummer because I really loved the title story. I definitely would've preferred to just see more of that relationship.

Even when taking up only half the book, the development between Taiyou and his landlord (well, his landlord's son, the apartment manager) was handled so well. They've interacted a decent amount, with Asahi always being pleasant, with a pasted-on smile that Taiyou doesn't realize was fake until he gets to know him better.

Things shift when Taiyou gets caught smuggling a cat into his apartment - against the rules - and quickly comes up with a lie about how he was going to ask Asahi to take care of it until he found it a new home. He got left in this mess because the original promised owner, Taiyou's girlfriend, had abruptly broken up with him and left the country for another job and another guy.

He's honestly not that devastated about it, but Asahi would've served as a pretty solid distraction if he had been trying to get over genuine heartbreak. Asahi is a couple years older, a former delinquent, and a really fun mixture of sweet and sulky and hot-tempered. Taiyou starts out by calling him a demon - Asahi has a very spoiled side where he leaves his apartment in a mess and expects Taiyou to cook and clean and shop for him - but as they talk and spend more time together, they get along really well.

And Taiyou discovers even more layers to Asahi's personality...like the soft, flustered responses to Asahi's longtime crush and Taiyou's college upperclassman, or the stunning smiles Asahi directly Taiyou's way when he's genuinely happy about something.

Taiyou doesn't make the romantic connection for a while - even after figuring out that Asahi's gay - but he knows pretty quickly that he wants to spend as much time as he can getting Asahi to smile at him like that.

I just liked everything about it. Great characters, a believable relationship that had some rough patches from their pasts but a new, much stronger connection that they built together. And while there was a bonus spicy chapter at the end, it would've been nice to see a more extensive future glimpse, with Taiyou figuring out his long distance job and eventually moving in with Asahi. Maybe even meeting the landlord mother.

As it stands, it's still 5 stars for me.

So imagine me smiling through their last chapter, then flipping the page and seeing two unfamiliar men having sex behind a bare window while a third one drinks coffee and glares at them from his balcony.

I ended up liking "My Neighbor with an Eastward Window" okay. It was a decent 3 stars. It just wasn't nearly as great as "Laughter in the Sunshine."

The latter's framed around longtime unrequited love and unexpected friendship that buds into fresh romance. Right up my alley, of course.

The former is about a college student who's cheerfully busy with the casual hookups stage of his life, and stumbles into an odd connection with his nosy neighbor.

Amane is an office worker who's known at work as "the nosy old man," although he can't be much past his early 30s, at most. He just likes butting his nose into other people's business - whether that's playing matchmaker, confronting rude customers at the coffeeshop downstairs, or worrying about whether his usual barista and sexually active neighbor is making the best decisions about the men he brings home....or even if he's eating healthy enough meals.

So they start spending more time together, with Amane cooking for Ayato, giving him advice he doesn't always ask for, and developing a fondness for him that he isn't quite sure how to define.

It steers fairly dramatic, with a stalker ex and some miscommunication that splits Amane and Ayato up for a while. It resolves decently and is a cute enough story, but I honestly never felt that much real chemistry between them. Which is odd because the first story was so stuffed full of it, so it feels like a flaw in the dynamic...

Probably wouldn't have kept this if it was just the second story, but the first one was wonderful.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars. I really liked the first story of Asahi and Taiyou overall. I liked the characters, I liked the slow burn, and honestly, it could have ended with the end of their initial story and I'd have been pretty happy with it. The second story with Amane and Ayato was okay. The tone is quite different and the relationship develops weirdly - at a standstill sometimes and way too rapidly at others. It just doesn't fit tonally with Asahi and Taiyou's story, which has the unfortunate effect of completely losing any impact the bonus story might have had, since we go back to Asahi and Taiyou after having spent 70 pages with the Amane and Ayato's story with very different vibes. My personal opinion is that the second story should not have been included. It's not a terrible story and would have been good if it had the space to be fleshed out more. However, as it is, it brought my overall enjoyment down and the bonus story lost its impact.

[Tommy K. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kompletnie nierozumiem po co nagle ta druga historia innej pary która była za krótka, strasznie płytka i na siłę. Rozumiem jeśli była by ona związana z głównymi postaciami ale to była randomowa para z innym storylinem jakby ktoś skleił dwie mangi by potem na samej końcówce znów wrócić do pierwotnych bohaterów których poznawaliśmy od początku. Po co i co miał na celu ten zabieg ? Dwie gwiazdki zamiast jednej tylko za to że w miarę podobał mi się początek

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this. I liked the build up of the relationships in both stories, although the second one did move way faster because it was much shorter. Also both stories had scenes where one of the characters says something harsh to the other character and that hurts me, but I thoroughly enjoyed how these were written. I was so invested. I'll have to pick up more from this author.

[yarilosAriboflavinosis · Rating 5 out of 5]

fav yaoi i’ve read yet omg the artstyle is so fucking pretty and the story is ACTUALLY pretty realistic and not too stereotypical THANK U MARU FUUKI

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not nearly enough cat in a book with a cat on the cover.

[Kiwisia · Rating 3 out of 5]

guwn

[Ash Law · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Light, fun, refreshing read.

[Yourmomorsmth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lubiłam tą pierwszą historię
Ta druga była dziwna i nie pasowała do całego komiksu, trochę zmarnowanie czasu i stron na tą drugą
Pierwsza główna historia była super

[The_BookAce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laughter in the Sunshine: 4.5/5 stars
My Neighbor with an Eastward Window: 3.25/5 stars

[Izzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy reading. Loved the plot and the character development. It left me feeling satisfied. I thought the side story was not the best, only because it felt random.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was really cute, my only complaint was it felt like the end was rushed. I feel it could have lasted another chapter or two. Still, I really liked it!