Ranked #67

Doushitemo Furetakunai (Manga)

Doushitemo Furetakunai is really a diamond in the rough. With its simple but effective art style, engaging characters, and bittersweet romance, it is truly one-of-a-kind.

Yoneda Kou's art is a feast for the eyes. Elegantly uncomplicated, it excellently portrays the characters' emotions with innocent sincerity. Yoneda avoids many of the tired artistic cliches so rampant in this genre; her characters struggle through their problems without the copiously over-flowing uke tears, without the angry seme suddenly turning into a vicious rapist, without any of the contrived scenarios added solely for dramatic effect that one usually finds in yaoi manga. The seriousness of the art and the notable lack of sight-gags and chibis really helps to set a dramatic tone from the very first glance. Yoneda's artistic style lends itself to a subtle and believable story - exactly what Doushitemo Furetakunai is.

The simplicity of the art allows Yoneda's characters to stand on their own merits and makes them more believable as regular guys who happen to fall in love. Although they are attractive, the characters are not the standard perfect, stunningly beautiful super-models. Rather, they come off as seriously normal people. The 'beauty mark' on Shima's chin is a good example, as well as a refreshing change of pace; it's not often that a mangaka in this genre includes even such a small detail in her character designs. Even something as seemingly insignificant as a mole on a character's face can have a marvelous effect on the overall realism of the entire work, and Yoneda uses this to her advantage.

Yoneda's characters aren't just visually believable, though. Their personalities and the tone of the entire story are realistic to a degree that most yaoi manga doesn't manage to achieve. The characters' issues, and the way they deal with them, are surprisingly adult and completely relatable. Further, watching all the characters interact with each other can draw the reader in, making her feel as though she is actually there with them. This sense of immersion intensifies the realism and relatability in a way that is much more commonly seen in long, multi-volume drama series than in a five-chapter yaoi manga. That is the main reason why Doushitemo Furetakunai stands out among its peers - it has more depth and soul to it than most stories in its genre. It truly feels as though Yoneda cherishes the story and puts a lot of effort into writing it, which makes reading it much more engaging.

The romance and sexuality are also quite notable in the sense that they straddle a delicate line; the line between, on one hand, the type of romance in a story for which love is a secondary theme and, on the other, the type found in typical yaoi manga where love comes first and everything else just serves as a prop to provide context for the love story. It is obvious that Doushitemo Furetakunai's main theme is the building relationship between the two main characters, but Yoneda's story-telling style allows the development of the relationship to happen in a way that seems natural and unhurried, despite the fact that it happens in only a few chapters.

The sexuality itself is beautifully done. Although sometimes a harder or more raunchy type of sexuality is preferred, it's nice to see a manga in which the sexuality is tasteful, natural, and realistic. A reader who is expecting typical yaoi fare may be disappointed - the sex is mostly implied; the scenes are short and nothing is actually shown that one couldn't view in front of one's friends. The lack of hard-core sex doesn't diminish the impact of the characters' sexuality, though. On the contrary, the way the sex scenes are presented highlights the way the characters feel for each other, and no slurping or squishing sound effects are needed to keep the scenes feeling sensual and sexy. Falling somewhere between shounen-ai and soft-core yaoi, the sexuality makes up for its lack of vividness by being alluring and sweet.

My one complaint in Doushitemo Furetakunai is that Yoneda does rely on a common theme - "the curious straight man falls for the hesitant gay man" story has been done many times already - but still she manages to make it stand out somehow. Some suspension of disbelief is required to justify why a straight man wouldn't question himself more upon falling for another man, but the fact that the straight man in question tends to be open and nonjudgmental allows this point to slip quietly under the radar without too much consideration. Ultimately the situation is questionable but still believable - one could see it happening in reality, even if it isn't a common occurrence.

All things considered, Doushitemo Furetakunai is an excellent series and a perfect diversion from the usual yaoi manga fare. The simplicity and sweetness of the art and storytelling contrast wonderfully with the complexity of the main characters and their relationship. The unhurried, calm pacing leaves one with a feeling of zen, even while impatiently awaiting the next turn in the story. This is definitely a good read for anyone who enjoys bittersweet romance stories with light sensuality and an easy-going plot. read more