When two people are so similar, what can it mean? For Tanaka and Nakata they’re not sure. While yes, they do have similar names, and use similar Kanji to represent those names. But they can’t be that similar can they? But they soon discover that they are.. from fashion to cell phone cases to interests to lap times. Tanaka and Nakata are two peas in a pod.
Clearly they’re meant to be friends. But are they meant to be something more?
This is a cute one shot Manga that tells the story of high-schoolers Tanaka and Nakata throughout the course of the school year. It’s a slow burn shonen-ai romance that is both sweet and frustrating in the best of ways. There’s a lot of journey of discovery in this manga and one of the revelations near the end actually surprised me. Which doesn’t happen a lot but it was so well done that it heightened my enjoyment of this book. This is a very slow burn romance that features some heterosexual dating and mutual pining.
Tanaka and Nakata are well done as protagonists. They are similar enough that you can see how they’d be two peas in a pod, but they are different enough to be unique. Tanaka is the outgoing sporty one. While Nakata is the quieter more introspective one. A lot of the story is seen through Nakata’s eyes, and honestly that was a good choice. There’s also a really quite awesome side character of Futaba who I’d love to see get a story of her own.
The artwork is very pretty, but also minimalist. But it works to help heighten the story. For instance watch who’s paying attention to the contrails and who isn’t. Seriously. Beautiful.
Honestly I really enjoyed this manga.
Five Stars
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I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley