Kotaro and Asako are living together, but close quarters caused the first major hiccup in their relationship. As they recover, an anniversary is looming, but Asako has to meet the parents first and Kotaro is about to learn that sometimes the biggest rival is the one we create for ourselves.
While a particular kink brought these two together, this series has smartly remembered its roots while building on them as well - that kink is not what keeps them together, as every volume quietly illustrates. Kotaro still loves to sniff, Asako still deals with her sweating (perfectly reiterated this volume), but they are together because of what they’ve come to mean to each other.
And good lord this book knows the difference between love and sexy and how to show both as part of a good relationship. The morning balcony scene that opens this volume is absolutely adorable and it feels like a “real”. moment, right down to the cold concrete.
Then, later on, when Kotaro helps Asako with her after-work foot massage, you can practically feel the page steaming (to say nothing of Kotaro likely having a whole other fetish awoken in him). There are more than a few great moments like this. I love that this book can show that sexy doesn’t have to be straight nudity (though it does that really well too).
The biggest action in this book is the trip to Kotaro’s family home and it’s such a fun experience since we’ve never seen these characters before (also the green tea fields look gorgeous). I absolutely love the way that his mom’s blindness was portrayed - her request of Asako at the end makes so much sense and means so much in context.
There’s just a ton of good stuff here, including some classic Asako where she worries she’s not being polite enough because she’s so relaxed (and some classic Kotaro before the trip where he uses a request for advice to sneak in some cosplay) and Kotaro’s sister, who is delightfully bubbly.
But my biggest praise is for Kotaro’s incredibly stoic father and I love the tack they take with him. Normally this emotionally withdrawn mountain would be nothing but a disapproving jerk, but this isn’t most books and I loved that the point here is that being emotionally quiet doesn’t mean you have to be a bad person.
Now, Kotaro had a seriously grumpy reaction to Asako getting hit on before, causing a very awkward birthday, and when that guy crosses paths with him again, well, I think we know what most books would be going for here.
Good thing this isn’t most books. Again.
The florist hits it off with Kotaro as they work to correct a flaw with the set-up for an event and he invites Kotaro for a drink and Kotaro, who has been eaten up by this for a while, decides to push the issue.
Well, I don’t think I have ever seen a story ding its protagonist for assuming so much in such elegant fashion. There’s a lot of being forced to realize that you were the source of your own problems and a very non-judgmental point that not all men operate in the same way.
It’s yet another great twist of expectations in a book that is still pure charm and so adult about things that it makes you wish more books were like it. I hope it ends on a high note because this is such an easy recommend right now to people who need a break from school romances in manga or anybody who can see the joy in a functioning relationship.
5 stars - this series is head and shoulders above 95% of the manga I read and while it isn’t hitting its highest highs this time out, that doesn’t mean it’s bad or anything of the sort. I am quite content to finally proclaim this definitively as the best relationship in any manga I’ve ever read.