Manga Review: Hide and Seek, Volume 1, by Yaya Sakuragi

Rating (Out of 5): ~3-3.5

Publisher: SuBLime (VIZ Media)

Release Date: July 2013

Volumes: 3

Spoilers?: Not really

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 2.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Shuji, a divorced single dad running a modest corner shop, has an easy-going attitude and an eye out for anything to break the boredom of his days. So when Saji, the serious, reserved pediatrician who's been coming into his store, suddenly declares that he’s gay and wants to take Shuji home, Shuji goes along with it out of simple curiosity. He thought they'd just mess around, have some fun, and that would be that. But he gets a lot more than he bargained for in this the story of opposites in love!

Reads R to L (Japanese Style) for mature audiences.

Review:

This is not quite what I expected, and I’m not sure how I feel about it. It was good, but I think I wanted more.

I like Shuji, and I did like him a lot from the first series, Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love. He’s still great. I like his nonchalance, his entertainment, although some of his ‘wanting to find entertainment’ got a little annoying. I’m not sure why. He seemed a little like an ass, though.

I still love his relationship with his daughter. She’s a cutie. I hope she shows up more later.

Shuji meets Saji, a pediatrician. He’s straight-faced but sweet, and I did like him quite a bit. I like how he doesn’t show a lot of emotion, even looks a little rude, but is actually really nice and tries to show that to people. I even feel a little bad for him, because I think that Shuji is going to hurt him. Shuji was even a little bit of a jerk by having a fling with him, when I think Saji would like an actual relationship.

There was more sexy stuff in this book than in the first series. I did like that. Their relationship is obviously going somewhere. I think mostly, though, is that I predict this series is going to go at a similar pace as the first one, and I don’t really want that. I don’t know, I’m a little iffy at how I feel about this series. I will probably pick up the next volume when I get the chance, though.