Koi ni Nare!

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Note: I'm rewriting this review after having re-read the manga. My opinions changed a bit since I found some flaws I didn't see the first time. It's a great read none the less.

Let's Go Love! is a story about first love for one of the characters, while having to deal with homosexuality and its problems. It was told in a very sweet and somewhat realistic way and that is why I enjoyed it so much.


Story 8/10:
Plot: The is about a student who just discovered he is gay and wonders how to deal with these new feelings. When his roomate learns about his sexual orientation, he ... accepts him and even offers to help him finding a man. This is how Komatsu ends up going on a date with a random man, who turns out to be his teacher and dorm supervisor!

What I liked about the story is the fact that it was kept pretty realistic. Instead of having the super in love student going for his teacher, we have a main charatcer that refuses to admit his emotions at first. The struggles of homsexual relationships and forbidden love between a teacher and student are touched here in there in the manga. It was not profound enough to my taste, but way more than most yaoi mangas and it was good enough for a one volume story. Overall, the story was good with no useless drama or smex.


Art 7/10:
The art is what you should expect from yaoi. The characters are pretty and all look like bishies. The uke is drawn as frail and cuter, while the seme is more in shape and has this sexy vide to him. Like most yaois, I have a hard time dealing with the huge mouths, but that might just be me. Backgrouds were nothing above average. The art is nothing stunning, but it's really pretty.


Characters 8/10:
Komatsu is the main character and gets the more development in this story as he starts from a shy introvert and get a bit more confidence thanks to sensei's and his best friend Nakajima's help. I liked how he was asking himself questions and was really self confident about his feelings and his newly discovered sexual orientation. It felt like how a teenager would really act. He was really cute too, because he blushed a lot!

Shindo-sensei is a likeable character as we get to discover he is more than just a popular teacher who is kind to everyone. I liked how he would tease Komatsu a lot. But, in the end, he was nothing special, just what you would expect from a seme that likes a shy, younger boy.

I liked how even if Komatsu's friend was a boy, the author didn't go in the ''let's make him gay too'' way, like a lot of yaoi do. He did have his gayer moments, though, because we could see he found Komatsu really cute. Actually, the relationship between Komatsu and Nakajima reminded me a lot of what you would see between two girl friends in shoujo manga. It was really sweet. I think Nakajima is my favourite character because he was so understanding and always there for his friend.

The three characters where all likeable and felt real, as far as yaoi manga goes. However, I wished we would get to learn more about them, with back stories for example.


Enjoyment 9/10:
This manga was really cute from start to finish. I liked how we could really get in touch with Komatsu's feelings and toughts. I liked how the relationships where handled. It was handled in a more realistic way, instead of having one of the characters just jumping on the other all the time in order to create way too many sex scenes. Nothing felt too cliché or over the top, it was just really cute and fun to read. It made me smile a lot over the cuteness of it all.


Overall 8/10:
Koi ni Nare! is a great pick. The characters are likeable, the story is realistic and cute, the pace is just right. I wouldn't recommand it to people who are looking for a lot of smexy scenes, because there is only one. But, if you want a nice story with a cute main character, you can't go wrong. Everything is cute and gives you feels. One of the best one-shot mangas I've read in the past months!

*This Review Contains Spoilers*

This manga was adorable, short, sweet and to the point. I was smiling all the way through. Since it is only six chapters, there is not a whole lot of character development, but I thought the artists managed to create wonderfully likable characters with what they had. I particularly liked the protagonist, Komatsu. I found his internal struggle very relatable, and his reactions and emotions felt realistic and appropriate.
As a teacher myself, at first I was a little put-off by Shindo-sensei's behavior. As a teacher, he should be able to control his behavior, and I was sure he was aware that the ... manner with which he conducted himself would easily make an isolated, insecure teenager fall in love with him. But I suspected the mangakas had a plan to remedy the situation, and they sure did.

SPOILER:

Though I guess it's not much of a spoiler, we all know how yaois end. The reason I was okay with Shindo's behavior is that I appreciate characters who know their minds, are decisive, and act on their emotions. Shindo acknowledges that he loves Komatsu, but wait for the kid to graduate and makes sure his behavior doesn't distract the student from his studies. I appreciated that.

SPOILER DONE


The art style is not my type, but I thought the story and dialogue more than carried the manga through in the parts where the art was a bit lacking.
A highly recommended short read, sure to put one in a good mood!