Given that this is an explict yaoi I assume that it is okay for me to discuss the sex in this review? If you would like to avoid this, just don’t read the very spoilery section.
Spoiler-Free Section:
The site that I read this on was tagged psychological, which got me excited. I personally love the psychological genre especially when it really messes with your mind. In that regard this manga let me down. I’m actually unsure which aspect of this manga is considered psychological, but I suspect that it is the convoluted atmosphere that it creates. The main theme of this manga is about questioning the relationship dynamic, and perhaps the psychological aspect is the fact that it does make you wonder.
Basically the plot is that Hiroi has always shared everything with his best friend Take ever since they were kids. He even shares his girlfriends. When Hiroi begins dating Minegichi he tells him that he will have to enter a polyamorous relationship with Take as well. If polyamory is your thing then I recommend reading, but if doubious conscent is not then this is probably not for you.
High Points
I like how the perspective switches between the three of them so that you can see how each character’s perspective slowly changes throughout the story. Not only does this give a full picture of the relationship, it is the main reason why I at least began to feel the questioning atmosphere. If this character feels this way, but this other one feels this other way, what does it mean? The relationship was messy the entire time and each character had good and bad sides.
The art is nice for the most part. Parts of the sex scenes were not to my liking, but putting those aside I really liked the art style. The covers were particularly stunning.
Low Points
At one point Mine asks Take what he feels for Hiroi, and Take begins to say that it is as if Hiroi is a part of him but stops saying that he can’t explain it. While this “part of Hiroi” is elaborated a bit later, his feelings for Hiroi are never really explained beyond this. I also felt that Hiroi was never actually shown falling for Mine. Basically he was like, okay I can date you, and then the next thing we know he’s saying that he’s in love.
At the end of the first chapter Hiroi buys three different ice creams (which I assume were chocolate, strawberry and vanilla to go along with the title). I was hoping that this title connection would be pushed further, but it really wasn’t. They are also shown eating ice cream, and the character’s unique perspectives do stand out, but this connection to the ice cream itself is not stressed.
Frankly, I think that this manga could have done more. I don’t hate what the manga did, but it could have been longer and incorporated these things. I also felt that the manga did not have a stable ending. Perhaps this was done on purpose, though, to show that relationships (especially polyamorous) are unstable in nature.
Bit Spoilery Section:
I debated how to write this section. I thought maybe doing high and low points for continuity, but it would probably come out jumbled that way. I decided that separating things into each character would probably make the most sense.
Take:
I found Take the most interesting character. He goes back and forth from being nice and mean. At first I thought he was just a nice guy that understood that Mine shouldn’t be forced to do anything that he didn’t want to, but later it is implied that he only acted this way because he didn’t care in the slightest.
He tells Mine an unnecessarily mean lie, that at first I thought was absolutely awful, but now when I think back it was because he cared for Hiroi. This only furthers the view that he didn’t care about Mine in the slightest. That is why it is so interesting to see him develop whatever feelings it is that he developed for Mine.
This image especially struck me. What is this expression?
That is also why I got annoyed with the ending, because Take’s feelings are only hinted at.
Hiroi
Hiroi was my least favorite of the characters, but he was quite interesting especially in how his feelings changed over time. He was the main piece driving the relationship dynamic question. He has always asked himself why relationships between three people don’t work out. Even though he is the one who wanted this relationship in the first place he is actually the most shook up about it.
The main reason why he was my least favorite is that he is pushy and selfish. He wants polyamorous relationships because he wants them. He does sexual things without asking, and gives demands to both Mine and Take. Even so, he does redeem himself in that he does apologize for his selfish actions and few times, and it is apparent that he does care for both of them.
Mine
I found it a bit humorous that Mine dislikes Take so much because “he is in the way,” even though Take (at least in the beginning) doesn’t do anything to really make him hate him. In the beginning he is just engaging in the relationship to please Hiroi just like Mine is. The only thing I can think of it him being blinded by love, because honestly he should be mad at Hiroi if anyone.
Very Spoilery Section (aka: me rambling):
Take
I love how complicated Take’s feelings are! He never puts a word to them or even fully act on them. He wants to kiss Mine, but most times he kisses Hiroi instead. The question is does he do this because he doesn’t want to make Hiroi jealous, he doesn’t want Mine to know he has such desire, or because he doesn’t want to give into the desires? God I want to know!
I really liked the explanation about how he always just accepted whatever Hiroi gave him without wanting anything for himself. That gives so much emphasis onto these feelings that he has for Mine. It also gives a reason for why he is reluctant to give in to the feelings and to name them.
Take has some negative points though. Sometimes he is as selfish as Hiroi. He asks if he can cum on Mine’s face and goes ahead and does it before getting an answer.
Hiroi
It is one thing for Hiroi to tell Mine that he has to have sex with Take, but why does he have to pretend to be lovey-dovey giving greeting kisses?
Hiroi is further selfish when not only does he double penetrate Mine without asking he also says “It’s fine. It doesn’t hurt” to him when he asks him to pull out. Really, Hiroi? How do you know if it hurts or not??
To be fair he should have explained that he wanted a polyamorous relationship at the start, but he doesn’t. He even has sex with Mine and claims him as his before telling him this news.
I like how his character develops, though. With his past girlfriend he didn’t care if she started to like Take more than him, but with Mine he doesn’t want this. He even comes to realize that this feeling that he has is why polyamorous relationships don’t work. Even so he can’t bring himself to give up on either of them.
Other
As I stated earlier, I liked the art for the most part. My biggest problem with it was that it was sometimes difficult to tell the difference between saliva and cum. But I guess that’s not a big deal…
I didn’t like that Mine always seemed to have the shorter straw. He was forced into the uke position and constantly shown sucking them off while he never got the favor in return.
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