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Okay so this manga has taken over my life for the last few days.

First of all, probably should address the elephant in the room: like the other person who left a review on this, while I understand the concerns, I'm a firm believer that the focus is more 'Otsu looks happy when he eats, and that's why Minegishi takes every opportunity to give him food' and yeah, I know how that comes off but I genuinely don't believe this is a fat fetish piece or feederism, even if the line gets blurred at points. Minegishi comes off as very stupid and naive to me and ... I feel like that's the point. Maybe I'm being biased because I have NEVER seen myself in a character like I see myself in Otsu, but yeah. However you're completely valid if you were put off and I'm not going to act like you're not. I wish there were more fat protagonists where food wasn't the focus, I hope we get more of those.

To add to that, there's a lot of stuff in here where other folk might not be comfy with it but it appeals to me because I personally find it cute, such as the penguin comparisons (I give myself animal nicknames all the time) so I'm not going to judge anyone if they're weirded out by this approach or they don't like it.

That said, GOD this made my heart jump.

What I love about this manga and I haven't shut up about in the last few days is that Otsu's story deals with the issue of how fatphobia and standards in general effect our outlook on ourselves and moreover our outlook on how other people treat us, and Minegishi's naivety makes this even more prominent. Some parts of this hurt to read because Otsu's view on himself was familiar to me: 'I have my role and I just have to tolerate how they treat me' and without spoiling anything, GOD one of the things Otsu is almost forced to do and the way they try to pressure him into it makes me so upset. Minegishi's naivety mixed with Otsu's cynicism hurts because one part of my brain is like 'Otsu he's trying to be nice' and the other is like 'God, I remember how I used to think like that.' Otsu has built up these walls and they're not gonna come down easy because he's dealt with years of this treatment. He's not used to someone being genuinely nice to him, and Minegishi is so awkward about everything that I think it makes it worse for him to be able to read him. The idea of someone actually liking him for who he is is INSANE to him because he's just the fat guy. He's become accustomed to that. And like Minegishi says, it shouldn't be that way, and he should be able to be happy as he is, but the world isn't kind.

I've always loved Hurt/Comfort pieces that directly center on a character's self esteem because I've been treated like shit in life, and reading someone not only fall in love with someone, but fall in love with themselves and understand that the way they've been treated isn't okay fills my heart with hope. I want to see more of this manga. I want to see Otsu feel at peace with himself as someone who used to be him.