Location: Osaka, but in a rural area Likes: Professional baseball, Salmon Dislikes: My stomach, sea urchin, salmon roe Recent News: I’m gargling diligently
Is it possible to score half of a home run? That’s kind of the case for Yuuji and Saburou, who finally manage to get the time and privacy to be intimate with each other. Meanwhile, Yocchan (Yoshita) is having a heck of a time with Kenji, whose selfishness and manipulation borders on sociopathic behavior. My gut instinct is to loathe Kenji, but he looks so like my crush in high school (40 years ago! He was another beautiful blond boy) that I can’t quite full out hate.
But I’d break up with his immature, greedy ass in a heartbeat. Yocchan, you can do so much better! We learn a bit more of a mystery man from Kenji’s past, a flashy priest from a nearby city, information that eats away at Yocchan’s heart.
Another writer, having created a snarky, self- serving character like Kenji, would introduce something that redeems him at this point, for instance, by giving the character a damaged childhood. But not Kotetsuko. Kenji remains as uncompromisingly asshole-ish to the very end of volume 3.
All of which points to Kotetsuko Yamamoto’s skill as a mangaka. She knows her audience and understands the ways we read between the lines. As a result, she uses a very light touch, just a phrase or two, to convey big chunks of backstory or the set up for a new scene. She trusts that in between one line and the next, or in the gutter (i.e. the white space) between one panel and the next, our imaginations will fill in the details, so that there’s no need to slow the story with too much exposition.
This is a 100% purely enjoyable series from just about any point of view. I might like Honto Yajuu (Like the Beast) a bit more, but in hard pressed to say why. The characters are both funny and realistic in the “A Blessing on Your House!” series. Maybe they possess an everyday familiarity, a universality, that makes them relatable across cultures (though this could also be a measure of the translator’s skill). Regardless, I’m having a grand time with every chapter.
Em fa moltíssima ràbia quan la trama d'una sèrie tan llarga com aquesta no va enlloc, et deixa un sentiment d'obra inconclusa, que no aporta gaire, fútil, sense un recorregut clar. Això és justament el que passa en aquest còmic amb dues històries BL de dos germans monjos budistes amb dos nois del poble on viuen, excompanys de classe. Els 4 protagonistes són molt carismàtics i atractius, així com també ho són les il·lustracions, però el context es menciona de puntetes i la trama no avança, és un xiclet interminable. Des del desconeixement més absolut i la influència sufocant de la moral cristiana no em deixa de sorprendre la naturalitat amb què dos monjos s'emparellen amb homes i hi mantenen relacions sexuals (que si bé són explícites, m'esperava molt més). És una llicència de l'autora o té certa versemblança? Sèrie amena, però que deixa un regust agredolç molt frustrant :(
This goes a little bit too slow for me, their problems never change it's just always about them not having any time to see each other which is boring after a while.