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Karasugaoka Don't Be Shy!! #1-2
Crow Hill: Don’t Be Shy!! 1-2 omnibus
Feathers and hearts are ruffled in this Boys’ Love manga about two rival gang leaders and the feelings they have for each other.
Karasugaoka is a town divided into East and West, each half protected from crime by rival vigilante gangs. The two gang leaders, Izuhara Sou and Shinba Tetsuji, mix about as well as oil and water—or at least that’s how it seems on the surface. It turns out Izuhara has hidden feelings for Shinba, and he longs for them to grow closer together. Alas, his position, reputation, and shyness are all getting in the way. Will this secret softie get the embrace he desires?
Karasugaoka is a town divided into East and West, each half protected from crime by rival vigilante gangs. The two gang leaders, Izuhara Sou and Shinba Tetsuji, mix about as well as oil and water—or at least that’s how it seems on the surface. It turns out Izuhara has hidden feelings for Shinba, and he longs for them to grow closer together. Alas, his position, reputation, and shyness are all getting in the way. Will this secret softie get the embrace he desires?
- GenresManga
384 pages, Paperback
Published October 6, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 25, 2026
My initial impression was that this was a little stupid, but very cute. By the end, the stupid was outweighing the cute a little too much.
This is kind of Wind Breaker, but gay. It also reminded me a little of the rival gang leaders romance in vs. Love, although they're town vigilantes, not delinquents. And I really appreciated that they're in their 20s, which is something a friend and I used to complain about with Wind Breaker. Why are these high schoolers patrolling the town and beating up bad guys?? Do they even go to school or just fight all the time?
Anyway, the patrols are split into the east and west sides of town, with Sou and Shinba butting heads any time they meet. As we find out from a quick flashback, Shinba - who's 2 years older - saved Sou from some high school bullies a few years earlier, and was so cool and kind that Sou has hero-worshipped him ever since. He took Shinba's words to heart, transforming himself physically and socially and building his own vigilante gang focused on keeping the town safe and clean and helping people like Shinba had helped him.
The problem is that he can't stop being outright nasty to Shinba every time they see each other. It's some sort of defense mechanism he's picked up along the way - when he gets nervous, he loses his head and says stupid, rude things, leaving Shinba bewildered and annoyed. Shinba's not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he's very kind, so he has no idea why Sou hates his guts when they're basically on the same side.
Eventually, Shinba discovers that Sou is wildly different with everyone else - he's friendly and generous and sweet and smiles at absolutely everyone. Which annoys Shinba even more, because why is he the only one Sou won't smile at? And why does that bug him so much?
This is where some of the silly stuff started, with Sou randomly needing vision correction that's never mentioned again. (It would've worked better if he'd been wearing glasses in the flashback scene, but I sort of feel like the mangaka didn't actually think of him needing contacts until a funny scenario presented itself.) And it was indeed a really funny chapter. Sou and Shinba literally run into each other on the street, but since Sou's not wearing his contacts for some reason that's never explained, he has absolutely no idea who he's talking to - even after they have a meal together and walk across town talking. This all makes me think that the mangaka has probably never worn glasses, because that's not...how it works. Also even if Shinba was trying to disguise his voice a little, he'd slip up or Sou would recognize him.
For plot device reasons, though, they go through the entire encounter with Sou never realizing, and with Shinba finally getting a real sense of who Sou is as a person, which kicks off his interest in and attraction to him.
This leads to a couple of other ridiculous scenarios. First, one that was equally funny, and much shorter: Shinba illogically deciding that the only way to shut down a false harassment accusation was to kiss Sou and pretend they're dating. Which I don't think made sense for his character, but was hilarious because it shocked Sou so badly it make him puke...leaving poor Shinba wondering what it is about him that Sou despises so much.
The next scene develops as a direct result of that kiss, which had been witnessed by a local cop and friend of theirs. Who! Turns out to be absolutely crazy! This was a weird plot twist to throw in and then not deal with at all. The dialogue just says, "Okay, now that that's taken care of, let's move on to talking about feelings," and it just did not work for me at all. Why would Sou and Shinba have not seen each other for a week afterward? Why would Shinba have randomly gone off to the countryside to help his grandma in the middle of what would've been a police investigation and a lot of witness statements??? Why is no one bothered that the literal police are out there committing horrific crimes???
It's this weirdly dark attempted rape scene thrown in at the end of volume one, and then volume two gets another one that's even worse. That was the final nail in the coffin for me, honestly...that scene with the drug dealers and Sou and Shinba's little sister was too much and way too unnecessary. Plus it was framed pretty stupidly, with Shinba randomly finding Sou's ring on the street while wandering around looking for his missing sister.
The story just doesn't quite hang together, with pretty strong tonal whiplash and a central relationship that's very cute but not quite developed enough.
I did like the two of them, though, and their friends. And I appreciated how heavy the consent topic was, outside of the gratuitous villain scenes. Sou's been in love with Shinba for a long time but isn't ready to do more than kissing, which makes him anxious because he doesn't want Shinba to get sick of him for being so hesitant. Shinba, who shouted at one of his customers to "just not cheat in the first place!!", is an incredibly honorable guy who also just doesn't have the slightest clue why anyone would want to sleep with someone who's not equally into it. He's kind of impatient but of course he'll wait for Sou to be ready, and even says it's not like he'll break up with him if Sou never does want to go further.
There was also an interesting brief flicker of "why are you suddenly attracted to a guy now" with one of Shinba's school friends asking if he's just curious, or genuinely into Sou for the long haul. I thought that could've been developed a little more, but this simply isn't that serious of a story. (Except for when it is?? I swear, some of those scenes...)
So in general: cute, funny, with nice art and fun characters. I liked it, for the most part. But it just doesn't seem like something I'd particularly crave rereading.
This is kind of Wind Breaker, but gay. It also reminded me a little of the rival gang leaders romance in vs. Love, although they're town vigilantes, not delinquents. And I really appreciated that they're in their 20s, which is something a friend and I used to complain about with Wind Breaker. Why are these high schoolers patrolling the town and beating up bad guys?? Do they even go to school or just fight all the time?
Anyway, the patrols are split into the east and west sides of town, with Sou and Shinba butting heads any time they meet. As we find out from a quick flashback, Shinba - who's 2 years older - saved Sou from some high school bullies a few years earlier, and was so cool and kind that Sou has hero-worshipped him ever since. He took Shinba's words to heart, transforming himself physically and socially and building his own vigilante gang focused on keeping the town safe and clean and helping people like Shinba had helped him.
The problem is that he can't stop being outright nasty to Shinba every time they see each other. It's some sort of defense mechanism he's picked up along the way - when he gets nervous, he loses his head and says stupid, rude things, leaving Shinba bewildered and annoyed. Shinba's not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he's very kind, so he has no idea why Sou hates his guts when they're basically on the same side.
Eventually, Shinba discovers that Sou is wildly different with everyone else - he's friendly and generous and sweet and smiles at absolutely everyone. Which annoys Shinba even more, because why is he the only one Sou won't smile at? And why does that bug him so much?
This is where some of the silly stuff started, with Sou randomly needing vision correction that's never mentioned again. (It would've worked better if he'd been wearing glasses in the flashback scene, but I sort of feel like the mangaka didn't actually think of him needing contacts until a funny scenario presented itself.) And it was indeed a really funny chapter. Sou and Shinba literally run into each other on the street, but since Sou's not wearing his contacts for some reason that's never explained, he has absolutely no idea who he's talking to - even after they have a meal together and walk across town talking. This all makes me think that the mangaka has probably never worn glasses, because that's not...how it works. Also even if Shinba was trying to disguise his voice a little, he'd slip up or Sou would recognize him.
For plot device reasons, though, they go through the entire encounter with Sou never realizing, and with Shinba finally getting a real sense of who Sou is as a person, which kicks off his interest in and attraction to him.
This leads to a couple of other ridiculous scenarios. First, one that was equally funny, and much shorter: Shinba illogically deciding that the only way to shut down a false harassment accusation was to kiss Sou and pretend they're dating. Which I don't think made sense for his character, but was hilarious because it shocked Sou so badly it make him puke...leaving poor Shinba wondering what it is about him that Sou despises so much.
The next scene develops as a direct result of that kiss, which had been witnessed by a local cop and friend of theirs. Who! Turns out to be absolutely crazy! This was a weird plot twist to throw in and then not deal with at all. The dialogue just says, "Okay, now that that's taken care of, let's move on to talking about feelings," and it just did not work for me at all. Why would Sou and Shinba have not seen each other for a week afterward? Why would Shinba have randomly gone off to the countryside to help his grandma in the middle of what would've been a police investigation and a lot of witness statements??? Why is no one bothered that the literal police are out there committing horrific crimes???
It's this weirdly dark attempted rape scene thrown in at the end of volume one, and then volume two gets another one that's even worse. That was the final nail in the coffin for me, honestly...that scene with the drug dealers and Sou and Shinba's little sister was too much and way too unnecessary. Plus it was framed pretty stupidly, with Shinba randomly finding Sou's ring on the street while wandering around looking for his missing sister.
The story just doesn't quite hang together, with pretty strong tonal whiplash and a central relationship that's very cute but not quite developed enough.
I did like the two of them, though, and their friends. And I appreciated how heavy the consent topic was, outside of the gratuitous villain scenes. Sou's been in love with Shinba for a long time but isn't ready to do more than kissing, which makes him anxious because he doesn't want Shinba to get sick of him for being so hesitant. Shinba, who shouted at one of his customers to "just not cheat in the first place!!", is an incredibly honorable guy who also just doesn't have the slightest clue why anyone would want to sleep with someone who's not equally into it. He's kind of impatient but of course he'll wait for Sou to be ready, and even says it's not like he'll break up with him if Sou never does want to go further.
There was also an interesting brief flicker of "why are you suddenly attracted to a guy now" with one of Shinba's school friends asking if he's just curious, or genuinely into Sou for the long haul. I thought that could've been developed a little more, but this simply isn't that serious of a story. (Except for when it is?? I swear, some of those scenes...)
So in general: cute, funny, with nice art and fun characters. I liked it, for the most part. But it just doesn't seem like something I'd particularly crave rereading.
October 30, 2026
my silly babies got an official English translation!! coming back to this was such a joy
November 6, 2026
It was cute, i liked the setting of the story where it’s two “gangs” of essentially good samaritans who just wanna make their city safer for everyone else. Learning the mc’s backstory and how he was once saved by the ml who told him to speak up for himself and get help or call him and he’ll help him only to be so changed by that one act of kindness that he totally changed his life to be an upstander just like the ml and save others the way he was AND create his own gang of upstanders in response to the ml creating one and naming it VOICE bc ml told him to use his voice to call for him if he needed help was just so precious. Everything about that is just such a total act of love by mc, this gang is pretty much the manifestation of that act of kindness and love that came from it. It was also adorable how mc’s gang is all so supportive of him everytime he fumbles around the ml and gives him advice when he struggles while dating lol. Such sweet wingmen!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 18, 2026
Book one pinky is a tsundere while book 2 version is just awkward. Honestly, I think I was more interested in their gang rather than the romance portrayed.
Since this is the second time I am reading this duology, I can say with 100% certainty that the story didn’t leave an impression on me…. I couldn’t remember anything that happened except the couple getting together, obviously.
Since this is the second time I am reading this duology, I can say with 100% certainty that the story didn’t leave an impression on me…. I couldn’t remember anything that happened except the couple getting together, obviously.
October 25, 2026
A cute little story with adorable main characters. These boys were fun to read about.
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October 31, 2026Spoiler-Included Reviews:
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November 3, 2026
cute and silly
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews