So I’ve been in a reading slump but I’m at work!!! So manga time!! Today I read Dekoboku Sugar Days and it was surprisingly cute!

It’s about a short high school boy who has a crush on his 6 ft tall childhood friend. He has such a height complex, he is constantly chugging milk and he has everyone’s height memorized. But it really does play with gender roles, and the taller one-Rui-is soft and cute and Yuujiro is the one who is athletic. It’s really cute to watch them both come to terms with their feelings and have their own gay crises! But the story goes even further than that to their first time having sex (months later). It feels like a true coming-of-age story. They’re both nervous to ask about it, so they keep planning times separately but it doesn’t work out. After a failed date, Yuujiro asks Rui what time he needs to be home, and they both admit to each other they lied to their parents about where they were so they could have sex. It’s awkward and they have to figure it out but they do!! It’s not explicit but still spicy enough that it was awkward to read it at work. But it was earnest enough that I didn’t feel voyeuristic.

There’s a bonus chapter in the physical manga that includes a short story about a few months after their first time. Rui’s sister breaks up with her girlfriend and he gets insecure that maybe Yuujiro is in it just for the sex. He tries to explain but it doesn’t go well and they end up going weeks without it, after almost everyday and as a consequence, Rui doesn’t feel very loved. It’s pretty cute when they reconcile and learn both their own needs and how to communicate them. It’s so cute Yuujiro realizes he needs to be more vocal about his affection so he starts calling Rui cute all the time and even glares at some girls on the bus when Rui (fake) falls asleep on his shoulder

5/5 coming of age stars