Product Description: For beach bum Horyu, it's more than the surf that's up. He has just confessed his undying love to timid and quiet Shouin, and though Shouin feels the same, he is reluctant to return Horyu's affections. Unknown to Horyu, Shouin already has his heart broken and is - as the saying goes - once bitten twice shy. It looks like Horyu will wipe out on this one, unless he can convince Shouin that he won't ever go through the same heartache twice. Meanwhile, in the second half of the book, Osaka-born Takehiko is tirelessly pursuing reserved art teacher Momose. But Momose has a terrible secret... he has a very weak heart and setting their relationship to a more physical level could mean the death of him. In this case, could not showing your love be the ultimate expression of it?
It's pretty good... When I first read this book, I honestly felt nothing towards this series at all. Actually, the side story about a sickly man who isn't able to have a physical relationship with his lover really moved me! That's usually not the greatest sign when the side story is more touching than the main one. I mean, I liked the characters and the art was so beautiful, but it just didn't love it. It's one of those yaoi mangas that seem perfect in the summary, but just somehow lacks and doesn't grab you emotionally. I read it again and I cared a little more, but it still wasn't the feeling that I was expecting. I mean, it was good, but Our Everlasting just held my hand when I wanted it to pick me up and spin me around. But maybe I just had too high of expectations going into it.
Another Rape-Romance! Ho hum! (Review of full two-part series) Book 1 had some good character stuff, but Book 2 betrays the hard won trust of the shy hero, not to mention the reader. The One Star rating is for the series as a whole. However, the plotless nature of the story means that you don't HAVE to buy Book 2 if you don't want to. So in fairness to Book 1, I gave a two-star rating.
The story is essentially a series of little vignettes, mostly character rather than plot driven. And initially I thought the characters had charm. Horyu is a surfing beach bum and carefree womanizer. His friend Shouin is painfully shy and timid, but confesses his love anyway. Horyu falls hard, but Shouin's painful inhibitions and fears of making himself emotionally vulnerable could kill the relationship. There is an ongoing struggle between Shouin's tendency to clam up emotionally under pressure, and Horyu's tendency to temper and frustration in response. While I DO like plots as a rule, in THIS case I though just ditching the "plot" and focusing on day-to-day character/relationship stuff seemed like a pretty good idea. It made things more interesting, affecting, and human. But it also makes the volume 2 developments that much worse.
Warning signs in Book 1 include Horyu's surprise at himself for his own forbearance with his shy beloved, implying that he has been used to pushing himself on his girlfriends. The second story has a certain dumb charm which made me want to like it, but it also has a scene where a passionate Osakan youth won't take "No" for an answer from his heart-patient boyfriend until "No" turns into "Ack, I'm dying!" But I read Book 2 anyway and . . .
SPOILERS for BOOK 2 now!
. . . it turns out that Horyu is also an Osakan (uh oh), so what ELSE should he do but rape his pencil-wristed lover in a jealous snit. Anyway, after the rape, Shouin goes ahead and confesses that he HAD been with another man before they met, and rapist-Horyu magnanimously forgive his victim. The rape is apparently considered to be "wrong" in the way that a guy yelling at his wife after a tough day at the office is "wrong", quickly forgiven and forgotten, and all her fault anyway somehow. Whatever. To be honest, I couldn't go on reading after that. A quick flip-through showed them dealing with ordinary relationship stuff, moving on from college into careers, etc.
"Content" is R-Rated movie stuff, and the rape is between-panels. The most explicit sexual detail is in the Student/Teacher story in Book 1, and that's what in the olden days was termed "solitary vice". The art is not great, but was expressive of the characters. As with many DMP titles, the translation totally ticked me off until I found other things to be ticked off about. Shouin refers to an older student as "Mr.", for example, which was creepy since the older student was coming on to him, but I wish that's all I had to complain about.
If you want a good character driven romance, or if you read volume 1 and liked it, but don't much care for volume 2, I strongly recommend the Korean manwha NOT SO BAD by E. Hae. Like this it is a two-parter, and focuses on relationship dynamics rather than plot contrivances. But it has better writing and art, stronger characters, a moral center, and no filler side stories. And yelling at somebody after a tough day is actually taken far more seriously, and has more serious consequences, than is the case with actual forcible rape here.
One of the best yaoi romances out there! My friends and I all agree: this manga is outstanding! Well-developed dialogue and plot make for a truly heartwarming story! I know if I ever feel depressed, all I have to do is look through Our Everlasting and I instantly get that warm fuzzy feeling inside that can only come from a great romance such as this!
Highly recommended to all romantics out there!
Bought it along with vol. 2 on a whim Just as I said I bought this on a whim. I flipped through the book and Horyu caught my eye. The stories seems disconnected at first but as I read on they aren't. The events are just that...events in the life of two bishonen. The side stories are nice also. It's got just enough angst to keep you interested but not enough to depress you. The thing I really liked was the love between Horyu and Shouin and how their relationship developed throughout the two volumes. I think anyone looking for a boys love story will enjoy this.
This is a sweet Story I loved this story. There were parts to the story from both characters that the reader can really relate to. Its a beautiful story of not wanting to be alone and finding a love that accomadates that desire.
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