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A review by ellelainey
The Troublesome Guest of Sotomura Detective Agency by Sakae Kusama
4.0
TRIGGERS: kidnapping, attempted sexual assault, unlicensed/non-con porn (mentioned), mentions of cheating, selling someone into the porn trade to pay off debts.
This one really took me back to the manga that were prevalent about 10 years ago - the art style, the story and the pacing - were all so similar to the kind of stuff that used to be everywhere, like [book:Embracing Love, Vol. 1|30315].
I liked the art, mostly. It was sharp and angular, but it was nicely presented. I liked the pacing of the plot, that it was a fairly spicy one-off story, but it wasn't ALL about the sex. There was some fun and cute chemistry, with one MC being the grumpy "I don't like you, but I like us" type, and the other being all bi-awakening "say what you like, but I know you like me".
Matsuda and Kamiko went to the same high school, where Kamiko was a total player. He would date the "plain" girls and they would work hard to keep his attention, prettying themselves up for him, but then he'd lose interest. The boys at school loved it, because he gave the plain girls the incentive to dress prettier. It was a bit gag-inducing, TBH, BUT...while I would normally hate that mindset, Matsuda was the only one who saw how gross and hypocritical it was of them...and of Kamiko. However, when we start to see things from Kamiko's POV, you see that he's actually more interested in plain, non-traditionally pretty types who are themselves. It's only when the girls start trying to prove themselves, dressing pretty and getting all flirty that he loses interest.
Matsuda hated Kamiko's behaviour and personality in high school, and he wasn't quite about it. He just didn't realise that Kamiko *knew* about his opinion and found it intriguing.
When they reunite as adults, Matsuda is running a detective agency. A woman comes for help, after her sister gave a lot of money to a boyfriend who just upped and left shortly after. When trying to track him down, Matsuda recognises Kamiko from school and convinces him to give the money back. In return, Kamiko implants himself in Matsuda's life and work, claiming he's got nowhere else to stay. They very quickly end up having sex, when Kamiko finds out Matsuda is gay. There's the implication that Matsuda was always interested in Kamiko and the only reason he hated him in school was because he was jealous, so I really didn't have a problem with them ending up in sexy times within a day of Kamiko moving in.
There's a hint of hate sex or at least enemies-to-lovers, with the way Matsuda resists the relationship forming and the suggestion that Kamiko is just having a good time rather than planning anything serious.
I liked the overall plot - Matsuda and Kamiko coming together - but I also liked the investigative aspects, because there were a few cases for them to work on together. Kamiko proved particularly suited to the work, actually helping Matsuda rather than holding him back. It was like an older-style version of [book:The (Pet) Detective Agency|60333934]
This one really took me back to the manga that were prevalent about 10 years ago - the art style, the story and the pacing - were all so similar to the kind of stuff that used to be everywhere, like [book:Embracing Love, Vol. 1|30315].
I liked the art, mostly. It was sharp and angular, but it was nicely presented. I liked the pacing of the plot, that it was a fairly spicy one-off story, but it wasn't ALL about the sex. There was some fun and cute chemistry, with one MC being the grumpy "I don't like you, but I like us" type, and the other being all bi-awakening "say what you like, but I know you like me".
Matsuda and Kamiko went to the same high school, where Kamiko was a total player. He would date the "plain" girls and they would work hard to keep his attention, prettying themselves up for him, but then he'd lose interest. The boys at school loved it, because he gave the plain girls the incentive to dress prettier. It was a bit gag-inducing, TBH, BUT...while I would normally hate that mindset, Matsuda was the only one who saw how gross and hypocritical it was of them...and of Kamiko. However, when we start to see things from Kamiko's POV, you see that he's actually more interested in plain, non-traditionally pretty types who are themselves. It's only when the girls start trying to prove themselves, dressing pretty and getting all flirty that he loses interest.
Matsuda hated Kamiko's behaviour and personality in high school, and he wasn't quite about it. He just didn't realise that Kamiko *knew* about his opinion and found it intriguing.
When they reunite as adults, Matsuda is running a detective agency. A woman comes for help, after her sister gave a lot of money to a boyfriend who just upped and left shortly after. When trying to track him down, Matsuda recognises Kamiko from school and convinces him to give the money back. In return, Kamiko implants himself in Matsuda's life and work, claiming he's got nowhere else to stay. They very quickly end up having sex, when Kamiko finds out Matsuda is gay. There's the implication that Matsuda was always interested in Kamiko and the only reason he hated him in school was because he was jealous, so I really didn't have a problem with them ending up in sexy times within a day of Kamiko moving in.
There's a hint of hate sex or at least enemies-to-lovers, with the way Matsuda resists the relationship forming and the suggestion that Kamiko is just having a good time rather than planning anything serious.
I liked the overall plot - Matsuda and Kamiko coming together - but I also liked the investigative aspects, because there were a few cases for them to work on together. Kamiko proved particularly suited to the work, actually helping Matsuda rather than holding him back. It was like an older-style version of [book:The (Pet) Detective Agency|60333934]