I’m Looking For Serious Love! by Shoko Rakuta ended up not being for me. I was very excited to see manga from TokyoPop appear on Netgalley and even more excited that it was from their LovexLove 18+ category. The synopsis hit on all the tropes I love, and I was eager to dive in.

I like the bad boy x innocent vibe that we start with, but I felt it quickly devolved into simple archetypes. I think if we had had more time to get to know Kyouhei and Takara before diving into their sexual relationship it might have grounded the story a bit more. Overall, I felt the pacing was too quick. We move through storylines that should have been stretched out over at least a second (or maybe even a third) volume.

From a personal standpoint, and why I concluded that this manga was not for me, was the lack of consent. I realize there are a few spots where Takara either asks Kyouhei if something is okay (like a kiss) or lets him know that if it is too much to tell him. However, the latter of those instances is after he’s already put Kyouhei into a position where he can’t really object and, in fact, when he does object Takara keeps going. Not to mention their first sexual encounter happens without any consent at all and, as we later learn, is a mirror of Kyouhei’s interaction with his childhood friend. The childhood friend is a whole other story and is the main reason why I think the storyline should have been stretched out a bit.

There were parts I really did enjoy though. I loved Granny. I love that she is still living her life, proud of who she is, and enjoying every moment like it could be her last. I think she is and could continue to be a great supportive character for Kyouhei, and maybe even Takara. I also really enjoy Murachin. He’s purposely understated so that when you learn something about him that doesn’t appear in his normal day to day interactions with Kyouhei it’s surprising and endearing. The art style is also on point.

Thank you for the chance to read and review this piece.

I wanted to enjoy this so badly but unfortunately, did not. I understand that a lot of manga/bl does veer into the dubious consent territory but its 2022, I feel like there are much better ways of portraying healthy relationships? Especially since practically every spicy scene started off being very non-consensual in natural and one was even built off sexual assault which is where I draw the line.

The art style was cute though, and it is a decent story if you can look past everything aforementioned.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you TOKYOPOP, LOVE x LOVE for an e-copy of this manga.

This was absolutely super cute. It’s the story of Kyouhei who just moved to a big city from the countryside and he is trying to fit into this new life. He will try to befriend his neighbour, Takara, but it turns out he is a bit of a playboy and super annoying. A few events in the life of Kyouhei as a college student will bring him and Takara inevitably closer and eventually at the start of a serious love relationship.

This is a cute romance, based on the reluctant love trope. Takara is such a fun character and I love how they teased each other. They are completely opposite, Kyouhei is a bit naive and socially awkward, but Takara has a more confident personality so they clearly complete each other.

It’s an easy and spicy read, the drawings are beautiful and the dialogues quite fun, I loved Takara’s fear of insects, it was hilarious. The translation is also good with lots of insights about inside jokes, and I appreciate that the translator kept them. You should read this if you are ok with reading yaoi and how sometimes in this genre the concept of consent is overlooked.

— thank you NetGalley, TokyoPop and Shoko Rakuta for the arc. —

this was cuuuute.

Ryouhei was so innocent and cute, and so brave. Takara was cute with his jealousy and his love. i really like that Takara's weakness was obviously shown multiple times, and Ryouhei was always there to save him. they truly balanced each other.

i wished it was longer, or more of how Takara fell for Ryouhei, bc that seems abit all of a sudden.

ps seme goes full naked before the uke! (it's rare bc usually its (only) the uke first.)

i understand what Yuuta did was wrong, but my heart hurts for him. i would love things to be addressed more deeply, but i'm glad he did apologised and acknowledged his mistakes.

i think.. when reading a manga, we gotta place ourselves in the manga section. like how "sexual assault" "assualted" "raped/molested" are term as "normal" for yaoi. i'm not saying its right, and we can't keep passing by this as its not wrong, but we gotta rate it differently to other (mm) books. it is yaoi afterall, these are things that are "normal" for this type of genre.

This graphic novel took me by surprise. For something young people can get their hands on it was very sexual. I did not like how the guys intersted in the man basically had NON consenual sex then made it seem okay leading to a relationship. Their was really no depth to the relationships, parts of it was cute but not much story. Hopefully their are more books to come that add to the story.

I was actually debating on preordering this one but I wasn't sure if it was one I would like for sure. I did enjoy reading it though. As with most one shots, kinda wish it continued alittle further. There are spicy moments many toward the end.

Kyouhei moves to Tokyo from the boonies for college. When he goes to greet his neighbor they don't start out on the greatest terms. After hearing some noises from his neighbor's apartment he gets worried and checks on him to find out he is scared of bugs. After helping him out, Takara actually introduces himself and makes Kyouhei a meal. Takara finds himself interested in Kyouhei and likes to tease him.

I won't include more so I don't spoil it for anyone haha. A childhood friend does appear at one point too.

Yaoi/spicy

Kyouhei moves to the big city for college and his next door neighbor is this f@;& boy and recently set his sight on kyouhei.

I knew going in was most likely going to be yaoi I however did not expect the explicitness of some of it. I did find the story line to be cute and charming. I would’ve enjoy it a lot more if it was alittle less graphic but other than that I liked it!

This Boy's Love manga is set in Tokyo and follows Kyouhei, a country boy who has come to the big city to attend University. He meets his neighbor Takara, a seemingly typical Tokyo playboy, who always seems to have different women coming and going from his apartment.

Kyouhei is very sensitive about his country upbringing, and the boys get off on the wrong foot because of Takara's teasing. What follows is a fun, opposites attract rom-com that I really enjoyed. The character designs art well done, especially Kouhei. There are lovely side characters like Granny (aka the master!) and Kouhei's friend Murachin.

*****Heads up, this manga is rated 18+ for mature content!*****

Thank you to TOKYOPOP and Netgalley for the advanced digital copy to read and review!

I'm Looking for Serious Love!
by Shoko Rakuta
A Review by Jamilla @LandsAwayBooks on Wordpress.

This is just the right amount of fluff ( and heat 👀) for a Saturday morning!

Country Bumpkin X City Slicker.

Kyouhei is our country-bumpkin, who just moved to the big city to enjoy the full urban lifestyle college experience! He was doing as his granny instructed: greeting his neighbors, when he met Takara, who lives up to all of his worse preconceived notions of a city slicker! And worse than that Takara uses every opportunity to tease Kyouhei about his naivety!

But is this just Takara teasing Kyouhei because he’s a bully….or is there something building between the two?

TW: Dubious Consent; Sexual Assault(multiple); Alcohol; Bugs

After reading the blurb I thought I was going into a cute m/m romance. That's my fault I guess for not reading reviews. This Manga has very blurred sexual consent which made me personally uncomfortable.

The art style is nice and done well but the lack of consent made me extremely uncomfortable. It felt very much like sexual assault.

*I recieved a gifted arc from netgalley and the publisher which I voluntarily read and chose to review*

As much as I wanted to like this manga, it fell extremely flat from the get-go. This story is your typical yaoi, with main characters Kyouhei (a boy who knows next to nothing about the city and is just now finding a place for his own) and Takara (a playboy that seems like he wouldn’t know how to be a decent person if he tried) becoming next-door neighbors. Due to their forced close proximity, they grow closer, despite Kyouhei’s attempts to keep Takara away.

Now, I am all for a good enemies to lovers trope, but when it includes sexual assault and dubious consent I am going to have to draw the line. In the first half of the book there are three total instances where Kyouhei is assaulted. THREE. In about 100 pages, give or take. Only one of these times didn’t involve Takara. That’s right, the other two assaults were performed by the love interest himself. If dubious consent is your thing, then this book should be a blast for you, but in all honesty I can’t stand it, and it is almost entirely what made me stop reading. Other reasons I had for disliking it included the just generic personalities of the characters. When will the time come for authors to put away the overused trope of “innocent boy that almost reminds you of a literal child and the guy who cannot wait to ruin that innocence” away. It’s tiring.

The art style is the one thing I’ll give this book. It’s nothing special, but it’s cute.

Overall, this manga was a trainwreck unless you have a very VERY specific taste in tropes. I couldn’t get behind it, and it sucks that I read it for as long as I did, just holding onto the hope that it would get better when it never did.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING!!!!! I literally have no word to describe the pure serotonin rush this book was. Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique. UGH!!! I wish this book was longer.
(arc from netgalley)

This is a one volume BL with some spice. The art style is really cute and the story is fine but there are some big red flags. I enjoy reading BL but I personally would not read it again, and it kind of bothers me the way women tend to be portait in BL in general.

Cute short college romance. I like the how it's starts as enemies to lovers but the main character then going on to go see beyond his perceived prejudices of the main love interest. I liked their contrast on how one is scared of the smallest insect but the other will rescue them from it. Wish the story was a bit longer.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this.

This is a MM one-shot manga about a sweet and innocent college student Kyouhei and the aggressive city boy (and playboy) Takara, who has a surprisingly very cute side.

Kyouhei meets Takara on the first day at his new apartment, and this one-shot follows their budding relationship, which develops to something further, with Takara becoming more aware of his feelings very quickly (openly showing his jealously).

I enjoyed this and feel other who enjoy this genre will really enjoy this as well.

Kyouhei grew up in the country and has moved to Tokyo for university. He happens to move into the apartment next to playboy Takara. (Who is incredibly afraid of bugs.) If you know anything about the countryside in Japan, you'll see where this is going.

This is a fun premise. However, one of the major drawbacks of this genre is that quite a lot of it lacks consent or contains dubious consent. Unfortunately, "I'm Looking for Serious Love!" had a lot of issues in that arena. Which is a shame, because there are other aspects of this manga that are very fun.

With that said, there is a lot of good humor in this. The ongoing bug joke being one example. It's also well-drawn and moves quickly. The characters are memorable, particularly Kyouhei's granny, who is absolutely charming. While it's a pretty standard plot, I don't mind that. The only issue is the consent one. Definitely an 18+ read.

This is a BL so it has the questionable consent that I expected and didn't love but that aside the two many characters have a decent back and forth with teasing. Takara, the aggressive city boy, takes care of Kyouhei, the country bumpkin, when he finds himself in unpleasant situations. Then Kyouhei kills the bugs that Takara is deathly afraid of 😂 overall, an enjoyable adult BL manga .

I'm Looking for Serious Love! isn't really anything new. Boy meets boy, there's some dubious consent going on, some funny scenes, some drama, some sex. It follows a classic formula, but that doesn't mean it's bad. It was nice enough to get some 3 stars from me, but I don't think I'll remember it in a few weeks. There wasn't a lot of information or background for either of the main characters (especially Takara, since at least we know a bit about Kyouhei's life before the romance).

There's a random event thrown in the middle, but that never goes anywhere? It's there, then it's gone, and never mentioned again? I feel like if this manga had at least another volume (or even just another chapter) it could've worked a bit better.

But well, it's not deep, not sad, not long, so it's enjoyable, and if you're just looking for a short BL to read for distraction, it's not a bad choice. At least it avoids some of the bad tropes usually found in this kind of manga lol

Big thanks to Tokyo Pop for the e-ARC of this manga. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a MM one-shot manga featuring a freshman in college who moves from the Japanese countryside to attend college and on the first day at his new apartment he meets his playboy neighbor. This one-shot follows their budding relationship and features some sex scenes. I enjoyed this and feel that others would also like it due to its simple and straightforward romance plot.

*channeling my inner Stefon*
The hottest new bl manga is I'm Looking for Serious Love! It has everything (I mean, all the tropes): the unpleasant first meeting, the "oh no someone spiked your drink with an aphrodisiac but I'm here to lend a hand, wink wink", the jealous ex-boyfriend messing with everything, the happy ending(s). It's just a very pleasant read, but whenever I read mangas like this I'm very confused about who's supposed to be predatory and who's supposed to be a knight in shining armor, because to me it all looks the same. Anyway, if you like blushed cheeks and racy scenes at regular intervals, it's a manga for you.