empty heart ～偽りの恋だから～

by Masara Minase

『兄貴の身代わりで構わないから、俺を抱いて･･･』拓巳、兄・龍太の親友であり、自分が通う高校の教師でもある宇佐美にひかれている。けれど、宇佐美は兄の龍太に学生時代から告げられぬ想いを寄せていた。そのことを知りながらも、宇佐美とカラダの関係を持った拓巳だが、それは自分の容姿が兄と酷似しているからにすぎないと、関係は深まるばかりで……。

Genres: Manga, Yaoi, Romance, Boys Love, M M Romance, Comics, Shounen Ai

180 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 12, 2003

About the author

Masara Minase (水名瀬 雅良 [みなせ まさら]) is BL (Boy's Love) manga author and Illustrator of Japan.

Birthday: December 16

Zodiac sign: Sagittarius

Blood type: B

Born in Iwate, live in Tokyo, Japan.

First published work: 「empty heart ～偽りの恋だから～」2003.

Wikipedia: 水名瀬雅良 (Japanese only)

Likes: cats, chocolate
Dislikes: bugs
DJ Circles: Flourish, ça et là, Ca et La, Seventh Sea

Reviews

[Chocobox]

Takumi looks just like his older brother Ryuuta. He knows that Jun, while acting like he's nothing more than Ryuuta's friend, is really in love with him. Takumi doesn't tell anyone that he knows, because he's in love with Jun himself. So when Ryuuta announces that he's getting married, Takumi takes advantage of his looks and Jun's drunken state to seduce him. But the longer their relationship continues, the worse he feels, because he knows that Jun is still in love with Ryuuta... To be honest, I can't explain why I like this story so much. I think it's the cheesy pseudo-angst. It's obvious that Jun is really not in love with Ryuuta anymore, and watching Takumi wallow in the pit of despair that he dug himself is just amusing. Plus, they're totally adorable once they work things out in the end. The pretty art helps, too. Not that I'm shallow enough to keep a manga because I think one of the characters looks really cute in a hat.

[Neko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-read 10/11/2020
I don't know, it might just be nostalgia but I still really love this manga. 💕

[Darien · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just wanna read this one all over again. Love Minase Masara, and her artwork is super beautiful.

[Riina Y.T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

So-so; not bad but I didn't get much out of the story.
The artwork isn't my favorite either :(
The cover here is gorgeous though!

[kimberly_rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another early English published BL manga. Masara Minase knows her way around gorgeous bishonen art, and she has found her own unique style, but her story telling is meh.

[TT · Rating 5 out of 5]

A favorite of mine, I have the paperback copy from DramaQueen which I treasure. Love this mangaka. Another publisher that I wished I owned more of their books!

[Bhawisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Leli · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.2/JR/jr/v/*

My rating system

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Рисовка подбешивала - выражения лиц и гнездо на голове у одного из гг, но сюжет и история хорошо проработаны. Годная)

[Daesy · Rating 5 out of 5]

**grammar**
This story was nice. The art teacher Jun Usami loved for a long time his best friend, Ryuuta, and now he is going to teach at his little brother's High School. The things are going to chage, when Ryuuta tells his brother he is going to get married. Takumi Kajiwara, already knew that Jun was in love with his brother, and since he was in middle school and had found out about it, he had fallen in love with Jun. Takumi seduces Jun, telling him that he knows about his love for his older brother and that he can call him Ryuuta, when they have sex. We find out after, that this was Takumi first time with a man, and the boy tells Jun that he wanted to try sex with a man, so is not a big deal. (he is lying he wanted to have sex with Jun bcs he loves him). They start this strange relationship, but when they have sex, Jun doesnt call him Ryuuta, that happened only the first time, bcs Takumi had asked him too. When Jun's older friend, comes to ask him to stay for some day at his house, the things change. This older friend tells Takumi that he and Jun had a sexual relationship in the past and he knows all about the love Jun had for Ryuuta and that he is using the little brother as substitute. Takumi knows that and is sad, and he doesnt really care about the fact that these 2 had a sexual relationship (this guy can be a top or a bottom, he says that, so we can think what we want about who was what in their relationship, anyway i didnt mind this and i belive Jun was the top also in the past), but he is hit in the face with the substitute act, and runs away sad. Days later, Takumi finds himself walking down the streets and Jun's friend sees him and asks him to go back to Jun's house, to talk. There, the smart friend, sends a message to Usa-nii(Jun) and after "jumps" on Takumi, telling him that if he really means that any men will do, he can have sex with him. Logically is not like that, and Jun running (after he read the message sent to him on purpose as test), separates the 2. Nothing happend, and Takumi knows that he cant be with anyone else, bcs he loves Jun, he slept with him. Jun tells him that yes, he loved Takumi's older brother in the past, but that he never thought about Takumi as a substitute, bcs he loves him, and the only idea that he could be with someone else hurts him. The 2 of them become a couple (they already were, but they didnt understand it yet), and the book ends with them going to Ryuuta's wedding and in the end skipping the evening party bcs they are in their room making love XD
Nice story and good end.

[Ghofran · Rating 1 out of 5]

For some reason another series by this mangaka was recommended to me because I read Otomen. It was one about incest, yikes! Really tho, Otomen is nothing like yaoi, main part being that Otomen actually has a positive trans character, something yaoi manga can only dream of having.

As you can tell I'm not excited to read this at all but the curiosity of past me drives me to read this.

Anyways I remembered that I actually read a couple of series by her back when I wasn't aware of the problems of yaoi. And brother does it have lots of problems, sexual assault masked as romance being on top of the list.

This one was just meh. It's not straight up vile like other yaoi series (which is not saying much because yikes), and the art is also better than most yaoi series, which again isn't really saying much. I don't like dissing artists because art is super hard, so I'll just stick with saying it's not my cup of tea.

I don't care for sex scenes in general, but these ones were just... I don't even know what to word I can use to describe my indifference.

The characters were meh and the student-teacher relationship aspect is always squicky for me, especially when you combine it with the fact that the protagonist refers to his older love interest the way you refer to your brother.

Speaking of brothers his older brother was 100% justified in punching the love interest and I was disappointed that I was suppose to be rooting for the protagonist to tell him off.

I wished he had a stronger reaction because yeah I would do the same if someone I trusted (who is in a position of power btw) took advantage of my teenage sibling's naivete and lack of emotional development.

[Kristal Kitap · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abime aşık olan adama aşık oldum. Evet. Hikayemiz aynen bu şekilde. Liseye giden Takumi abisinin yakın arkadaşı Jun'a vurulur. Jun ise çok uzun zamandır Takumi'nin abisine aşıktır. Uzaktan uzaktan izler Jun'u. İçi acır ona karşı. Çünkü abisi Jun'un aşk dolu gözlerle baktığını bir gram dahi anlamaz. Jun'da beni sevmiyor ama en azından arkadaş kalalım ayağına tüm bencilliklerine katlanır Ryuuta'nın.

Takumi o kadar çok abisine benzemektedir ki bir gün bu benzerliğini kullanarak Jun'u baştan çıkartır. Abisinin yedeği olur vs. vs...

Tanıdık hikayeler. :) Japonların çok sık kullandığı fantezilerinden biri buda üvey kardeş sendromu gibi. :D Sonunu güzel bağladıkları sürece sıkıntı yok benim için severek okuyorum ama bunu pek beğenmedim. Açık konuşalım. Çok daha iyileri varken bununla idare etmek zor geliyooorrr. :)

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm always surprised when an author manages to make me something I usually dislike - like love triangles or student-teacher relationships.
Takumi looks exactly like his brother - something that's both a blessing and a curse when it comes to his art teacher, who used to be his brother's best friend and who also used to be in love with Takumi's brother. Now, as for Takumi, he's in love with Usami, and when his brother announces he is going to get married, Takumi seduces Usami, telling him he can pretend he's with his brother instead.

I always love Masara Minase's art, and the many conflicting feelings are very well portrayed here. A very good read.

[Jules Jones]

[2006-12-17] Yaio manga. Seventeen year old is in love with his older brother's friend -- who is now a teacher at his school, and still in love with the brother. When older brother gets engaged, it's younger brother's opportunity to offer comfort... It's a fairly simple plot, but a believable one, with interesting characters and some seriously hot sex. Nice art as well. I read a borrowed copy, and I'll probably put it on my own wants list.

[LD Durham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again, the art is worth the purchase price of this book. Masara Minase has a wonderful way of drawing emotions and she utilizes the eyes best.
This story has a strange love-triangle and one-sided loves. It is handled well with the characters being strong in their own voices. Another favorite that I'll read again and again.

[Aredhel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked this manga! The artwork is great, the characters are well formed, though the story itself is not that long. I had one problem with it though. Sometimes I just mixed up two brothers. I understand that they were meant to look this way - to be alike - but it was just a little bit unsettling.

[Haruka · Rating 2 out of 5]

The artwork is so beautiful, but the story is so substanceless, lifeless and completely unfullfilling. But the artwork is beautiful. Maybe her other works are better in substance?

[Kit · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am in love with this mangaka.

[Sparrow · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just don't like what I used to.

>Melodramatic, long-winded, and convenient. The art is no longer too appealing either, compared to other artists.

[Lilly [Hiatus due to School] · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this manga.

[Grace 🎻 · Rating 3 out of 5]

enjoyed this book although I thought it had a couple of tired clichés, but I guess that is what's to be expected by a student-teacher relationship in a yaoi manga like the one in this book.

[Coyora Dokusho · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it for the most part, felt like it was retreading stuff a little bit towards the end though, but still pretty good!!

[Jae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread. Love the mangaka's art work.

[♡Kayla♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn't anywhere as enjoyable as I was hoping, and I thought that everything was just okay.

[Nikko · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really romantic story and super super super hawwwwwt!!!

[Moosa Alnajae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Better !!