A mystery has befallen me, dear readers. On Friday I was too excited about the latest Yen Press announcements and couldn’t sleep, so I found myself scrolling through my books on BookWalker until I decided on reading Ai Ou Futari (愛追うふたり) until I settled down enough to sleep. And it was really good (more on this in a minute!)! But I haven’t owned this book very long; I bought it toward the end of April, yet I can’t remember why exactly.
As far as I can see, it wasn’t recommended to me. And although I had read (and enjoyed) Nakamichi Nishima’s Yume no Owari de Machiawase (夢の終わりで待ち合わせ) when it was being serialised in Chara, I had not gone on BookWalker and added all of the mangaka’s things to my wishlist, which is usually how these purchases come about – particularly for works that have been out a while. It doesn’t appear to be licensed by anyone, nor does it have a drama or anime adaptation (another avenue of discovery for me generally). So I am entirely mystified! However it found its way to me, I am very grateful that it did.
Originally published in 2021, Ai Ou Futari follows the story of Kazuki Takasago, who is struggling with his strained relationship with his mother. He still lives at home, and the two have always got along just fine, but recently Kazuki came out as gay, and his mother did not take the news well. He’s been unable to hold a proper conversation with her since, but now he finds himself worried about her since it seems she’s involved in mamakatsu with a man called Keigo Sumiyoshi.
One thing leads to another, and Kazuki ends up confronting them. He becomes sort of friends with Keigo, spurred on by the knowledge that Keigo is also gay and has his own rocky relationship with his family. In fact, it’s Keigo who manages to get Kazuki and his mother to sit down and talk, reaching the conclusion that his mother’s reaction had nothing to do with how Kazuki identified and more the loss of the future she envisioned for him. It was a shock, and she never meant to hurt him the way she did. And I appreciated the raw honesty of how the situation played out. Plus, there’s an interesting contrast here because while Kazuki might be able to mend his relationship, Keigo’s far beyond that point.
This is only a single volume made up of five chapters, which means there’s a bit of a rush to ensure a romance between the boys fits around the themes of family that Nishima is so committed to showcasing. I do wish there had been two volumes, as the relationship feels like it moves a little too fast more out of necessity rather than Keigo or Kazuki being ready for it. But that’s a rather minor issue given how strong a story this was otherwise.
I find it’s rare, especially in single-volume boys’ love, to find them tackling LGBT themes like this. Often the topic of strained relationships with family, friends and so on due to your sexuality isn’t touched upon or is but not meaningfully. Sometimes because these works are fantasy and authors want to depict a world in which being anything other than straight isn’t a problem, and sometimes because the focus is simply on the romantic relationship and not any hardships the cast face in society. Sometimes if a series continues after an initial volume, these themes start appearing because there’s more breathing room.
After finishing this I looked through Nishima’s other works, and a lot of them look similarly thought-provoking. Perhaps not with the same weight, but certainly they look like they have something to say. I wishlisted them in a bid to dive deeper into the mangaka’s catalogue over time, and in the meantime I’ll be looking to get a physical copy of Ai Ou Futari too. I’m still no closer to figuring out how I got around to discovering this in the first place, but I’m grateful all the same.