Time Lag

by Shinobu Gotoh, Hotaru Odagiri

Satoru Tendou has confessed his love to Shirou Sawaguchi every spring since entering high school, only to be rejected with a cold stare. As the spring of their third year approaches, Satoru is starting to wonder if he should give up on Shirou or risk being rejected a third time. Will Satoru be able to convince Shirou that his love is genuine? Or will Seiichi Hiro, Satoru's friend and confidant, steal Satoru away before he and Shirou can reconcile their differences?

Genres: Manga, Yaoi, Romance, Boys Love, Graphic Novels, LGBT, Comics

184 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2000

About the author

Associated Names : Gotou Shinobu

Name (in native language): ごとうしのぶ

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

These two are pretty dense -- I guess they belong together! Otherwise a likable pair. The foil character Seicchi seemed much more nuanced; not sure what he cared about the others for, since he seemed to have lots of friends and admirers. Nice to see a fictional character lose gracefully (helpfully, even) though.

Amusing to see the old "lost letter" gimmick in a modern book.

[Leila Anani · Rating 3 out of 5]

One shot from the creators of 'Only the Ring finger knows' this high school BL manga follows Satoru school photographer who is in love with the top Track star Shirou. The pair had been best friends since middle school and then drifted apart - Satoru confessed his love not once, but twice and both times Shirou cruelly rejected him -

Journalist Student Seiichi tries to get Satoru to give up his crush and date him instead - but misunderstandings abound - Satoru thinks Seiichi is after Shirou. Shirou gets jealous of Seiichi. And when a letter arrives from Shirou that got lost in the post 3 years ago, his cruel rejection suddenly begins to make sense.... but will our two boys ever get it together or has too much water passed under the bridge?

This one's ok. The story is a bit weak and quite tame - one kiss only. Artwork isn't bad although does favour very pointy chins. Most annoying thing is that all the characters begin with the letter 'S' which makes it a bit of a challenge to keep who's who straight in my head.

Still over all a nice sweet BL high school romance, - there's far worse out there.

[Megan | The Mood Read Queen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh, this was okay. It's been a few weeks since I finished it, and I should have written my review immediately afterward because I couldn't even remember what it was about!

Some thoughts based on what little I can recollect:

I think the main characters were mostly likeable, but definitely suffered from communication issues. There was also a pretty big misunderstanding that is the main complication of the story. It's kind of a dumb problem, but once it is discovered, the rest of the story resolved fairly quickly.

It was a pretty cute, innocent story, which I appreciated.

And...that's all I've got.

[Michael McPherson III · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very cute story of mix ups and confusion. The uke is very clueless but it manages to be cute rather than annoying. The art style is beautiful as well. Time lag is a unique well written love triangle BL. I would definitely recommend this for a quick read.

[TT · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, an early favorite of mine but not one I've reread in awhile.

[Sparrow · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's easy to see that the writer for this manga was also the writer for "Only the Ring Finger Knows." The stories are very similar, but at least the art was better in Ring Finger. This story was pretty weak. From the drawings, it was difficult to tell who was speaking at times, and it was difficult to tell characters apart. Plus, a lot of the dramatics were drawn out unnecessarily long (which is common in these manga, I've noticed). I'm also really tired of the whole "all the boys think these guys are hot/cute together" when I don't think most of society acts like that (also, I'm really bothered with the whole girly-uke and feminine-but-aggressive-seme deal that fits in all these yaoi manga - I know these are written for a specific audience, but I am personally tired of it) Plus, the so-called love triangle wasn't really much of one since Satoru and Shirou both loved each other; Seiichi loving Shirou doesn't make a complete triangle. The only thing I kind of liked about it was the 3-year-late letter - that could make a good story.

*sigh* Just another manga to tell me that I'm over this phase.

[Tani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every year, Satoru confesses his love to his childhood friend, Shirou. Every year, Shirou rejects him and tells him to stop joking around. When he sees Shirou with the beautiful Seiichi, Satoru can only assume that the two of them have feelings for each other. Is it time for Satoru to give up on his hopeless crush? Or will a special letter change everything?

This was a really cute story, and although it assumed the usual complete lack of communication that seems to abound in yaoi manga, it was still a light, diverting read. If you're looking for something cute and fluffy, this should be right up your aisle.

[Didi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a 3.5 but I find this quite entertaining; starting with what looks like angst then end up in the comedy side. Satoru is an adorably confused-mind angel, Seiichi a wily suitor, and Shirou the suppressed-feeling grudger (is that even a word? :p).
And what (not who!) to blame for all the misunderstanding these bishies had is the postal (lame) service. (The one in this story is way too extreme though.)

[Sarah]

Solid one-book yaoi offering. Nothing ground breaking here, but it is a sweet love story. My main criticism is that the two older taller guys competing for his attention look a lot alike, so it was hard to tell them apart in the beginning of the book. Fan of the genre will probably enjoy, but you don't need to rush out and get it.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first ever Yaoi manga and I thought it was really cute. The story was really simple but sweet and romantic. It was clean but it was the type of book that made you *squee* just because they kissed. The art was gorgeous as well.

[Adriana · Rating 4 out of 5]

TIME LAG is a sweet tale of young love with moments of soap-opera-drama goodness to spice it up and make it interesting. It develops at a great pace with actual character growth. I found that pretty impressive on a one volume shonen-ai.

[Rachael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gentle, sweet, short, little bittersweet. :)
Definitely recommend.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was more a back and forth between who-said-who-assumed and became a little confusing with the similar names.

[Nisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's pure BL and its not exactly my genre. I don't like the sappiness and it didn't have enough humor. But I guess it was cute.

[Jarrod Scarbrough · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this to be another run of the mill, unremarkable Yaoi Manga. Not horrible, but not exciting or outstanding. Typical of the genre. Bleh. That's all.

[Jean Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a great story. This was also my first yaoi manga so maybe I feel a special connection and I recommend this to EVERYONE!

[TJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute yaoi book