Manga Review: I Hear the Sunspot: Limit 2 (Volume 4) by Yuki Fumino

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: One Peace Books

Release Date: September 2019

Volumes: 4+

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1. 3.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Kohei is a college student who, because of his hearing loss, tends to distance himself from others. His attitude starts to change after he crosses paths with an ever-optimistic classmate named Taichi. And over time, the two begin to develop feelings for each other. As the story continues, the pair tries to balance their budding relationship alongside Taichi's inspiring new career and Kohei's continued studies at school. But the harder they try to make things work, the more misunderstandings they seem to encounter.

Review:

Taichi and Kohei are still struggling to settle into their relationship. Kohei is having a harder time with accepting what his deafness could do to their relationship, especially when he learns more about why Taichi is going for the career he is. Whereas Taichi has seemed to accept the difference in their relationship—despite how he's still learning about some of the difficulties and how to handle it,—Kohei is feeling like the burden in the relationship.

This has been culminating for a while, but after a few things are revealed, they're forced to confront it.

  This volume gets hard to take a few times. It's a struggle between them, and it's a struggle to watch, because I just want them to be happy together, but they've got a ways to go still.

Manga Review: I Hear the Sunspot: Limit 1 (Volume 3), by Yuki Fumino

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: One Peace Books

Release Date: November 2018

Volumes: 4+

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1. 2. 4.

Goodreads Synopsis:

"You rescued me from a world without sound. If it wasn't for you, I never would've known the world was such an amazing place!" Because of a hearing disability, university student Kohei had made a habit of distancing himself from those around him. But after meeting the exceedingly cheerful Taichi, he gradually begins to embrace a more positive outlook on life. Kohei eventually begins to see Taichi as more than a friend, and after he finally confesses his love to Taichi, the feelings become mutual. In this new addition to the I Hear the Sunspot series, Kohei continues on as a student, while Taichi makes his way out into the working world to pursue his own calling and the two begin a new life together!

Review:

Now that Taichi and Kohei are officially together, they're still finding their way with that. At the same time, Kohei is discovering that his hearing might be going even more, and Taichi is at a new job, where he's helping people with deafness, and he's being taught some hard lessons.

I really like the realistic aspect of deafness that this series takes. As Taichi starts his new job, he's being made to learn how to deal with it in the real world, how he can help but also how he can't take over like he wants to, in order to do everything he can to help in the moment.

We meet a new character in this volume, when Kohei is shown a deaf sports team. Ryu seems rude at first, but we discover that he's just got his own sense of boundaries and morals. He can be very intense, in good and bad ways, I think. I'm intrigued by him.

We see Kohei and Taichi finding their balance in their new relationship, and in the new places they're at in life in general. I'm really glad this series didn't end at either of the single volumes before this, as I really want to read more, and it never quite felt like their story was done yet. I'm looking forward to reading more.

Manga Review: I Hear the Sunspot: Theory of Happiness (Volume 2) by Yuki Fumino

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: One Peace Books

Release Date: February 2018

Volumes: 4+

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1. 3.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Because of a hearing disability Kohei is often alone. Taichi is outspoken and cheerful. At first, Kohei keeps himself well guarded, but after he meets Taichi he slowly learns to open up.

Review:

We meet a new character, Maya, in this volume. She does put up some issues for Kohei and Taichi, get between them a little. She has her own issues and thoughts on her deaf-ness. But, really, Kohei and Taichi's conflicts mostly come between themselves.

Now that Kohei has confessed, it's making Taichi acknowledge his own feelings, and he doesn't know how to respond. It makes things a little awkward, but also harder between them. They haven't figured out how to talk to each other, with all of these unsaid things and feelings between them.

Maya is an interesting contrast for this series. And it takes a while for Taichi to say something, to voice his feelings to Kohei. And meanwhile, Kohei is dealing with issues with his hearing decreasing even more.

I'm so glad there's more of this series to go, and that it's been licensed. I can't wait to read more.

Manga Review: I Hear the Sunspot by Yuki Fumino

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: One Peace Books

Release Date: August 2017

Volumes: 3+

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 2.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Because of a hearing disability, Kohei is often misunderstood and has trouble integrating into life on campus, so he learns to keep his distance. That is until he meets the outspoken and cheerful Taichi. He tells Kohei that his hearing loss is not his fault. Taichi's words cut through Kohei's usual defense mechanisms and open his heart. More than friends, less than lovers, their relationship changes Kohei forever.

Review:

Kohei has a hearing disability, and so a lot of people think he's rude and antisocial. Taichi accidentally bumps into him, and thus forms a friendship. Taichi starts taking notes for Kohei in class, and Kohei gives him food.

I liked Taichi from the beginning. He's a poor college student, and he loves food. It's rather relatable, actually. Kohei wasn't born deaf, and he can still hear somewhat, and he doesn't even know sign language. It was a really interesting take on being deaf, and I appreciated it.

The yaoi element is rather slow, and takes quite a lot of the volume to even become apparent to the characters. It's definitely felt from early on, though, and I loved seeing their struggles with their feelings, especially Kohei's. It's hard and painful. The ending is somewhat open, but still in a nice place. I'm so glad that there's a sequel, because I need there to be more to their story.

I'm really glad that I picked this up, and I cannot wait to read the next one.