Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to review this.

I usually don’t write reviews about manga because they tend to have many volumes, but this one seemed to be a stand-alone volume which is refreshing to read every once in a while.

Overall, this is a cute story. Two boys that became best friends and find they are in love, but their childhoods prevent them from being together for most of their high school/college life: one grew up thinking it was wrong and the other too broken to give himself the opportunity. The only thing I would say it that I would have liked to know a little more about Kasumi’s profession, we get a lot of that for Kyousuke.

Note: There are a couple sex scenes, no penetration is presented, but you can see some genitalia & action going on.

Rate: 3.5 rounded up to 4

** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Copy received through Netgalley

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There Are Things I Can't Tell You, by Edako Mofumofu
★★★★★
272 Pages
Content Warning: homophobia, abandonment, family issues


There Are Things I Can't Tell You is a super cute story of unrequited love and self-acceptance. The main characters, Kasumi and Kyousuke, met as kids, but both have their own personal issues, at home and with accepting themselves, flaws and all. After a confession of love led to them spending 5 years apart, they're reunited and it's getting harder to ignore the feelings brewing between them.

The story deals with some interesting issues, in a really sensitive, sweet way that lets you bond to the characters through their trials and problems. We see a lot of Kyousuke at work, because one of his biggest problems is self-worth, thanks to his over-achieving father. In contrast, we see Kasumi's disastrous love life, because his biggest problem is his parents loveless marriage, which they took out on him, because he was clumsy and felt unwanted. Together, they fill the gaps in each other's lives, but the things they've left unspoken could end in heartbreak if they don't start talking.

The plot was intriguing, clever, and had a few nice twists that I didn't see coming. The romance was super cute, slow burn and unrequited love at the same time, with a side story of Kasumi settling for being “the other man” to a married woman, because she filled the gap Kyousuke had left behind.

With both characters in the closet, the bulk of their former friendship is told in flashbacks, which are easy to distinguish by their ages. The adult story is charming and gets hot in places, while the childhood story is super cute and lovely.

Overall, a brilliant story told in one volume. I'll be buying the paperback soon.

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Favourite Panel

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I saw this on Netgalley and I had to get it. The emotion coming off the page along with the beautiful illustrations took my breath away.

It was a beautiful story about the friendship of two boys and how their opinions of each other changed and shaped their own lives as they got older.

Kyousuke Shiina is a hard working outgoing graphic designer so he pulls alot of all nighters to get things done. His team has faith in him though they worry about his health when he takes on a big project.

Kasumi Amemiya is the opposite. He is shy, clumsy and just wants to be loved and love someone.

Their love story is beautiful and filled with so much angst and uncertainty. Friends since grade school, their childhoods shaped them into the adults they become and unresolved feelings they do not know what to do with.

I really wanted this to be a series but it is only a one shot. I hope maybe one day there will be more.

It’s been ages since I read a Manga - and somehow this manga, a M/M romance caught my eye on Netgalley, and I couldn’t resist.

First, can I just say how absolutely beautiful the illustrations are - the color palette as well as the characters are so freaking pretty; that I couldn’t help but be drawn to the book (if you don’t believe me, check out the cover of the book!)

Coming to the story itself - two best friends; with unrequited love for each other - as well as dealing with taught homophobia that the MCs find hard to go against - it was an angst-y romance that will have you euphoric when you reach the end of the book.

Unlike most mangas; this is a stand-alone read - with some very smexy times between the MCs but what I adored the most is the character growth that both the MCs show throughout the book.
It’s their need for each other and the need to find happiness together that will have you totally and fully submerged in the book!

Loved it! And looking forward to reading more stand-alone mangas; which I must say is a very good option for readers who aren’t able to commit to a lengthy series!

What an emotional roller-coaster. This yaoi manga was a nice quick read but that still packed a punch in the feels. Best friends since childhood who are still friends as adults try everything that they can to avoid admitting they are in love with each other even to themselves.

I only wish there was a bit more to the characters, but with this being a single volume one shot it does a pretty good job of getting a lot of information in to a very limited space.

I was very satisfied with the ending, and the sexy bits were very tastefully drawn. I highly recommend this one to my fellow yaoi/boys love fan out there.

**Digital ARC provided by Netgalley and Tokyo Pop in exchange for an honest review**

There Are Things I Can't Tell you is full of miscommunication, and angst. The storyline goes from present to flashbacks to time skips but didn't feel like we were going all over the place. The story to me however felt like a 3/5. I did not hate the story but nor did I love it. I just did not feel a bond of attachment to our main protagonist.

This is one of those rare yaoi titles where the characters actually get framed by the real world restraints of "Wait, isn't homosexuality not accepted by my father/society?" From the start it is clear that the story's gay agenda is: They just want to be happy. I enjoyed reading this one-shot title.

This manga was quite cute: two men struggle with their ability to communicate their feelings for each other. I enjoyed the parallel timelines as we watched their love grow and get messy both in the past and present day, though it was occasionally confusing trying to decipher which timeline we were in and from who's perspective. Many stories like this would try to pull in outside forces to comment on the love story situation, and this one does it subtly, which is refreshing. There is quite a lot of internalized homophobia, perhaps more than a reader from a liberal place would understand or like to see, but it is still the reality for many around the world. The art was nice and I enjoyed the little background jokes, though sometimes the tails on the speech bubbles were so small it was hard to tell if a character was speaking or thinking something. All in all a solid, an enjoyable little story with some depth, but not one that will stick with me.

"There Are Things I Can't Tell You" is a m/m one-shot manga that follows the love story of two long time friends. This is a beautifully illustrated manga that tells its story succinctly and effectively, with topics of internalized homophobia and mental health at the forefront. One of my least favorite tropes is miscommunication, but I think this manga handles miscommunication in a meaningful way (aka: not as a plot device.). The few moments of humor help alleviate the heavier themes of the manga, but pining and angst help to position this manga as a more serious read. I appreciated that the characters were adults (27yrs old), too! And just FYI: this manga does have explicit scenes.

The only con I have is that the timeline gets a little confusing at times, but it didn't hinder my overall reading experience. The bonus at the end was sweet, too.

This has a 4 star rating from me. The art of this manga is absolutely incredible, and the story of both protagonists are really moving. It also deals with some heavy topics such as acceptance of yourself, miscommunications in relationships, and living up to parent ideals.

It does get slightly confusing with the time jumps though, maybe it would read better in color.

I really cannot wait for the next volume to come out and too see where these characters will go.

Loved the art in this LGBTQ-themed coming of age love story. The scenes set at the protagonist's work and the flashback scenes were especially well executed and made the plot more interesting than just a simple love story; extended things into really being about self-discovery and understanding in general. The themes of misplaced self sacrifice and coming to understand what love is and who you are were sweet. The explicit sex scenes were unexpected but mostly tastefully done.

This is a beautifully illustrated story full of angst, bad communication, mutual pining and internalised homophobia. I liked it although there were some points that felt a bit slow. I personally didn't feel overly invested in the relationship, I think that is tied to the pacing and being told they loved eachother more than shown it in the early chapters. The flashbacks helped with this and I really enjoyed them. I would note that it has some explicit scenes so it is definitely aimed at a mature audience.
Content warnings for homophobia, affairs and suicidal thoughts.

There Are Things I Can't Tell You is a stunning work of art. Mofumofu gives us a beautiful story that deals with some significant issues. The art is gorgeous, and the story is gripping. The only critique I have is that the timeline jumps around a bit and can be difficult to follow until you are well within the story.

It's important to note that this Manga is not for children, and is for mature audiences only. There are some explicit m/m scenes.

If you like romance, m/m, steam, and gorgeous art in graphic novels, this graphic novel is for you!

Thank you to Edako Mofumofu, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased and honest review.

This was a surprising read! I think if you're into m/m romance comics on lezhin then this comic is perfect for you. I also loved how the author brought up relevant issues in Japan like the taboo around discussing mental health, and the still very present homophobia.

Advanced reader copy provided to me by the publisher on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I requested this book from NetGalley because Tammie loved it and I wanted to see if I would like it 😂 Link to Tammie's review: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/57571473-tammie-c
Link to Tammie's July Wrap Up where she talks about this manga: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-LpRu19-jo

I'm really glad that I ended up picking up this manga because it was cute. It's got childhood love, a lot of angst, both of the characters trying to put the other's happiness first, and some sexy times. It also deals with internalised homophobia and coming to terms with that, so it's not just a light read. It's probably one of the best one-shot romances that I've read because it's cute and not problematic! The art style is also incredibly beautiful.

I would definitely recommend this manga. It's a super quick read that will leave you feeling happy with the ending. I almost want to read more from the characters but I know that if we got more mangas, then their love would be tested and I'd rather not watch the characters go through trials.

Es una trama bastante simple, con un buen balance de momentos tanto tristes como felices. Los personajes se me hicieron sencillos pero entrañables, me gustó el desarrollo que tuvieron a lo largo de la historia y el final me sacó una pequeña sonrisa. El estilo de dibujo también me gustó bastante.
Lo único que quizás me estresó un poco fue que el gran problema de la historia era la falta de comunicación, y realmente me estresa cuando eso pasa, pero aparte de eso el resto está bastante bien. Realmente lo disfruté, es un bonito manga para pasar el rato y sin duda lo recomiendo.

This novel got good graphics and I cannot lie at it, it got a good plot and I really enjoyed it but I didn't really liked the decision some of them made like I didn't really say what I felt because I thought I was wrong about it, and I did that with you just because of pity. So the character that got hurt didn't make the right choice for me to love it.
I loved that in some point there's the point of view of the other boy and tells us his version of the story and I completely loved some of the flashbacks.

The other personal problem was that this is completely different and when I started I didn't know that you got to start reading in the first image from the left side and in the start I was confused..
Sometimes I think they filled up the story with parts of the job of one of them that were unnecessary, despite that, I thought some parts were really romantic and some others that got into my heart but I cannot live with the final decision of Kasumi.
I wish it would have ended up differently but it didn't, life sometimes can't be what we always wanted.

So, thanks Netgalley for providing me this "romantic" graphic novel

This was such a good manga. It was short so I was able to get through it pretty quick. The relationship between the two was so frustrating because they both had such strong feelings but thought the other would be better off.
I definitely recommend this one for a cute and heart warming story.

So beautiful art and powerful message indeed in this manga.
This was just amazing and beautiful. I adored the ending!

Kyousuke and Kasumi have been close friends since they met in elementary school. Complete opposites, the pair were drawn to one another and quickly became friends. Now out of college, their friendship teeters on the edge of becoming something more as they struggle to define their feelings for one another. The only problem is that they are both too self-conscious to put their feelings on the table and clear the air.

I thought this was a realistic plot about best friends who have feelings for each other struggling to figure out what that means on top of talking about them. It was quite realistic to see them struggling with their sexuality, especially during a flashback sequence where Kyousuke overhears a conversation between his parents where homosexuality is described as disgusting. Starting to realize that you are attracted to the same gender and beginning to learn that people are against it is an unforgettable memory.

I think that the story does a great job at bringing depth and realism to the story in many ways. It’s quite heartbreaking to watch these two characters struggle with their sexuality, grappling with how society views same sex couples, and remembering their own hardships from their upbringing. Kyousuke is a well-developed character and majority of the story is told through him and his experiences, so I understood him well.

At the same time, I think the story is lacking in other areas. I think that there are parts of this story that are not very memorable and will easily be forgotten as time goes on. Kasumi is not developed well, and I feel like I only got to know him on a superficial level. In fact, Kyousuke is the only fully developed character in the story. I wish that we got to learn more about Kasumi outside of what we did learn. He was a little too glossed over, which made him a little hard to follow at times.

I also think that the flashbacks and the overall timeline could have been handled better. There were a couple flashbacks that threw me through a loop because I couldn’t tell if they were a flashback or taking place in the present at first. Because of this, I honestly thought the story was going to reveal that Kasumi was dead at some point because of the way the timeline was handled.

While I do have a few complaints, I think that the overall story itself is good and I’d like to read more from Edako Mofumofu in the future.