soooooo.... this wasn't my tea. I am really sorry about that but... no thank you. I thought it was rushed, I thought it was on the wrong side of the grey area that seems to be sexual harassment in manga and yeah, this was a miss for me.

This was a cute and steamy romance story. I liked that we got to see both of the characters grow and change as they started their relationship. There was enough time to tell the whole story in this volume, which is a nice change from other manga that either keep going across many volumes, or rush to tell an entire story in a chapter. Probably not the right fit for my library's small graphic novel collection, but I think this would be popular with a lot of readers.

I've been in the mood to try more manga in the new year, and naturally, I want to read a little bit of everything. The ultimate goal is to add to my list of favorite series that I'll continue to follow. However, I'm Looking for Serious Love! will not be making that list.

Kyouhei lived his whole life in the country while dreaming of the day he could move to the city. Now that day has come, and he's feeling a little overwhelmed by it all. His new neighbor, Takara, isn't helping things.

You see, Kyouhei can't help but feel confused by Takara. One moment he's friendly; the next, he's insulting. But Kyouhei is trying not to judge everyone in this city based on one person's behavior.

I think this might be the first time I've rated a manga one star. It is undoubtedly the first one-star read of the year, which is a bit disappointing. To be clear, I feel I have a good reason for not enjoying I'm Looking for Serious Love!

That reason is consent: there's none of it in I'm Looking for Serious Love! Kyouhei is put into uncomfortable situations in multiple instances – situations he didn't consent to be in. This includes a scene where he was drugged and then sexually assaulted. The book 'addresses' this issue by having Kyouhei think that a favor has been done to him. It's all profoundly concerning and not at all a healthy thing to portray.

This manga is deeply unsettling even beyond the unhealthy relationship between Kyouhei and Takara. I would not recommend I'm Looking for Serious Love! to anyone, especially not anyone who would become upset at these subjects.

**Thanks a lot to NetGalley, Tokyopop, and Shoko Rakuta for the possibility to study this for my honest and impartial opinion!!**

I ought to preface this with, I definitely adore a bit reluctant romance and there’s a lot of that occurring here... that is brilliant lovely and that i without a doubt enjoyed the humor. The characters have been simply humorous and adorable. Kyouhei is simply too lovable and i really like how hesitant he is. Then there’s Takara and he’s the exact opposite, assured and take charge. They balance each other well.

Don’t even get me started on Granny!! She’s hilarious!! The artwork is good too, and the characters don’t all look alike, that can now and again manifest. There are some explicit scenes, so if that bothers you then you higher steer clear. otherwise, I particularly recommend this to individuals who love lgbtqia+ manga!! This one is light, funny, and oh so lovely!!

It was cute book. Of course the small town boy and the city boy is a classic but it worked for the story. The art was well drawn.

This is a enemy to lover relationship between a eighteen-year-old country boy who just moved to Tokyo and his next-door neighbor who happens to be his senior at university as well.

The art in this manga was great but the main issue was the complete lack of consent. One of the main character was a rapist and that was just brushed over and not acknowledged at all.

CW: SA This was so bad I wanna give it a zero, but I can't, so I give it a one.
I didn't even want to rate this but I can't give it zero stars, so I have to give it one star. I was super excited to read this book but the casual amount of sexual assault that takes place in this manga is ridiculous. And, I'm not sorry because there is nothing cute or sexy about a traumatic or horrible thing like that happening, so to use it as a plot device to further romance, is honestly disgusting. I won't say anything else, just don't even read this.

I'm Looking for Serious Love! is...overwhelmingly "meh."

While introducing himself around his new apartment complex in Tokyo, our main character -- a young man who grew up in the idyllic countryside and has to the big city for college -- meets his next-door neighbor, a seemingly sleazy upperclassman who goes after any girl willing to sleep with him. Through a series of events that don't *quite* hold up when examined with logic, they fall in love with each other...and then it ends? I found the plot of this particular series to be pretty lackluster/unbelievable. I've read plenty of works in my time that focus on couples who have bad, messy, or outright horrific first meetings and have a satisfactory end--the darker the better when it comes to my main love interests, amiright?--but the whole [spoiler: 'here, let me force a condom on you' followed by 'here let me work this roofie out of your system' and interspersed with 'kill this bug for me' (hide spoiler)] was just...boring. I guess that's my ultimate opinion here. I found this incredibly boring. If I hadn't been reviewing it for Netgalley, I wouldn't have bothered finishing it.

Unfortunately, "I’m Looking For Serious Love!" did not work for me. It is the story of an innocent country kid Kyouhei moving into the big city and meeting his city-slicker neighbour Tomohiro. The set up is good, but the execution fails horribly. The entire premise is Tomohiro telling Kyouhei not to let other men take advantage of him while purposefully taking advantage of Kyouhei literally at the same time.

We also have the unfortunate slutty bisexual trope in Tomohiro as well - who then declares himself gay and only interested in men when he decides he wants to get serious. No thank you.

The only redeeming factor in this novel is Kyouhei’s granny - I want all the short stories about this feisty little lady.

Overall, there are much better, less “icky” yaoi selections from TokyoPop and I see no point in recommending this one. Instead I would recommend "Chéri, My Destiny!" by Okoge Mochino if you’re looking for a cute and steamy yaoi standalone to read this Valentine’s Day.

CW: biphobia, bugs, toxic relationships, and repeated sexual assault and harrasment.

*I received an eARC from TokyoPop LOVE x LOVE & NetGalley in exchange for my honest review*

I absolutely loved this LGBTQ romance.

Such a great book with a solid storyline and great characters.

I eagerly look forward to reading more from this author.

A definite recommend

I am happy to see some male male romance being published especially a Yaoi with some sex scenes defiantly not for kids! I think one thing that bother me was the lack of consent that sometimes manga have in this case he does not stop with no or ask if he can touch or be more intimate i understand it was part of the plot of him being drugged but still i think it could be handle in other way but overall i really like the characters the city/country side

Video review on 20th of February : https://youtu.be/uQlgnfdH0Xg

This was an interesting read but I expected more from it. There was a lack of depth in connection with how the story was executed versus the promise of the title. Perhaps I had too much of an expectation towards it that I ended up being disappointed with something that is actually good.

Unfortunately this book didn't work well for me. I can see how it can be good, but the method of how the story was laid out was just too underwhelming.

CW: s3xual assault & 18+ graphic content

Going into this story, I thought my biggest issue would be with the enemies to lovers trope which is not usually my fave. However this was the least of my concerns.
I’m Looking for Serious Love! could have been an excellent M/M manga if it wasn’t full of s3xual assault that is completely brushed off by every single character in the manga. The love interest in this manga s3xually assaults the main character multiple times throughout the story and it’s never brought up as an issue, and when the main character is later s3xually assaulted by another character, the love interest states that they would never do such a thing although they already had and continued to do so throughout the course of this manga.
This is not a healthy relationship and not a LGBTQIA+ manga I can comfortably recommend. This was not it.

I really enjoyed this story! It's such a cute and funny read, plus all the blushing faces and EHERM, uncensoredness (kekeke). It's a super cute story about a tsundere country boy who moves to the city for school and ends up being neighbors with a hot "bad" boy. It's a really simple story but the interactions between the main characters was just chef's kiss, adorable, blushy faces, gimme the cute! If I had to complain about anything, it would be the childhood friend, SHAME.

<b> I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review </b>

I expected just some plain Yaoi fun and it provided.

The writing is a bit childish and the characters are a bit outlandish, but I typically expect it from the genre because it's plain stupid fun. This isn't supposed to be some grand fantasy story so please don't expect it as such.

With that said, The Artstyle was really cute and some frames were funny as heck. And I didn't expect a manga to be so uncensored (I spit out my cereal at the panel 😭 and yes I read... Such things... While eating don't judge me😔✋)

In any case it was fun.

This manga's art style was beautiful 😍 That's a huge plus for me, more so because the mangaka delivers a lot through the character's expresions.

We have Kyoyhei, a country bumpkin that moves to Tokyo, and his new neighbor, Takara, a city boy womanizer. Their begining is bumpy since they are completely different, not only regarding their upbringing but also in regards of their personalities.

It's cute how their view of each other changes as the story goes and I had fun seeing them start getting hot for each other.

This being a one volume story, it lacks the depth we could find in a longer story. We get to know more about the two of them by context rather than because things are told or spoken, but that wasn't a problem for me. I'm aware what a standalone manga can or can't give.

There are some sex scenes and from what I read, I see many bothered by how them went. Well, it's yaoi and the genre has its issues... If you are a newbie to it, maybe some bother you too. For me it's like reading a dark romance and finding grey characters (=something I wouldn't like in real life but that doesn't bother me in fiction). I understand the discomfort, but as I said, if you are used to the genre I'm sure it won't be a problem for you.

In short, for me this was a cute read. I loved the art style the most and how they don't want to like each other but end up doing it all the same. It's not an unforgettable story, but it's undoubtedly enjoyable to read.

This was such a fun, trope filled manga and I had a blast reading it! These two men are new neighbhors, one recently moving away from his small town for the first time. They develop a sort of rivalry that forms into friendship and ultimately more.

I just love the grumpy one and the one who loves to tease the grumpy one mixed in with the innocent and the playboy vibe, the neighbors trope, the hurt/comfort trope! — I just loved all of it.

There were a few scenes that could be triggering to some (SA) so do be cautious with that. It did seem to be addressed but it does show a bit so I just wanted to give that warning!

Overall, I had a blast flying through this manga and I definitely recommend it if you’re into manga, romance and any of the tropes I stated above!

5/5⭐️

I am sorry I am DNF-ing this book due to the content. Aka, the sexual assault and total disregard to consent. Our MC gets touched and stripped and kissed when he clearly doesn't want to or when he cannot safely consent at all because of alcohol/spiked drink. I do not feel happy or OK reading this crap. I am sorry. Can we please make some FREAKING BL without the rape, the assault, the whole let's just do it because I can stuff. :|

Started out promising, ended up making me feel gross. As other reviews have stated, there is a HUGE issue in this book with regards to the non-consent. There were way too many "no's" and "I don't want you to do this" for me to even remotely consider this a romance or even "reluctant love." This was basically one sexual assault after another. Not a fan.

Thank you to NetGalley and TokyoPop for the free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a manga where we follow a new college student who is from a small country town experiencing the city for the first time. A lot of his mannerisms were picked up from
her grandmother so he decides to introduce himself to his neighbor. When doing so he realizes that his neighbor is a college senior and promiscuous. The story unravels from there as our main character and neighbor develop a relationship. For me the method in which their relationship developed outside the bedroom is cute and awkward, as a lot of relationships can be in college. That said, the way it develops inside the bedroom I don’t like. His partner seems to force him into decisions he isn’t ready for and he’s so off kilter that he doesn’t stand his ground. I do enjoy the art style and all the other characters though. I don’t think I’d recommend this manga.

* I received this as an advanced readers copy from #Netgalley and Shoko Rakuta.