What do you think about Seven Days?
| For the first time today we have a shounen ai story for our special read - the two volume manga "Seven Days". Story Seiryou is a good-looking first year at high school and very popular amongst the girls. Every Monday he will agree to go out with the first girl to ask him. He will be their boyfriend and concentrate on them for a week, trying to fall in love and on saturday he tells them that he couldn't and they will split up. Yuzuru is also popular with the girls because he looks prince-like and elegant, especially for people who know him as a prodigy of the Kyuudou club. But every time a girl gets to know the personality behind his beautiful face they are disappointed, because his personality and face don't match. One monday Yuzuru meets Seiryou in front of the gate before any of the girls catch hold of him and ... on a whim he asks him out. And now they have one week to fall in love. Review Seven Days is a shounen ai love story from the pen of Tachibana Venio pinned down in manga format by Takarai Rihito. Tachibana has before this already published several bl novels, but while Takarai has done a couple of Novel illustrations, doujinshi art and work on a manga guide book this was her first full manga story publication. Takarai's art is easily recognizable, she very much has her own style, which manages to be light, delicate and confident at once. I thought it beautiful but that's of course a matter of taste. Her characters remind me of fairies, slight, slender, long-limbed with their pointed, upturned noses, dreamy eyes and shy smiles. This style catches the magic of youth very well - both the fun and the pain, which makes it perfect for a story like "Seven Days". I'm very much hoping that she's going to do more shounen ai. <img src="http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o216/Geisha_X/special%20read/Seven_Days_prtr.jpg" border="0" /> I found the plot very interesting, full of promises. A guy who dates because he wants to fall in love. The other boy asking him out on a whim and being surprised to be accepted - but going along with it lightheartedly. We have two straight characters here. Seiryou has been in a painful love relationship before which he wants to overcome by finding a new love - he tries desperately, his weekly dating scheme is no game for him. He really wants to fall in love. Yuzuru is sick of being judged by his looks, he is not the person those pampered girls seem to think he is and he doesn't like being told that he is just a waste of a pretty face. His outside is elegant, stoic, princelike, but inside he's a rather blunt, outspoken person, cheerful one minute but not someone to mingle words. He says the first thing to come to his mind. People say that's a flaw ... until Seiryou who gives himself one week to get to know and fall in love with people exactly because he believes that he couldn't probably tell if someone is his "type" by looking at the face. Now for the first time someone likes Yuzuru for what he really is and likes not only the face and the beautiful kyuudou stance but also what is inside ... the essence of Yuzuru, who yawns with an open mouth and is bad-tempered in the morning. The characters are well thought of and their reactions and behaviour are dead on despite the original plot. The point of view from which the story is told changes between Yuzuru and Seiryou - this gives the reader an advantage because you get to know what they think about each other while the respective other character (especially Yuzuru) stays in the dark about what his partner thinks. This narrative perspective also dampens the aspect of some minor angst that enters the story in form of girls that appear to be an obstacle to the two main characters love. Because you already know what each of them thinks about the other, the angst doesn't really get to any scary levels and does not take away that They give the story credence and believability. I found it very refreshing that nowhere in the story must I read that awfully overused sentence: "But, I'm a guy!". There's no mention of that, these two are intelligent enough to trust each other to know that the other one is aware of the situation they are in. They don't really talk about it. At least not directly ... it comes up a few times more between the lines when they both refer to the fact that no one really believes that they could be going out with each other. Even if it's not explicitly mentioned you get the feeling that they both are fully aware of their situation, know that going out with another boy would likely be considered irregular behaviour by their environment. <img src="http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o216/Geisha_X/special%20read/sevendaysyuzuru.jpg" border="0" /> Seven days is a really sweet love story with two likeable characters. Because it is a shounen ai, it never of course gets fully clarified who of the two really would be the "seme" and who the "uke", but you can make an educated guess based on the appearance and behaviour. In the end it doesn't really matter if I'm right or wrong with my guess as they are equally standing. There's a few kissing scenes, not many really, but they are very well made and manage to convey the emotion that comes with such a situation. There's a couple of heartbeat-sounds in a few scenes as well and a few intense moments of eyes meeting or of bodies getting a bit closer together but every garment and every hand stays where it belongs. I can't deny that being the mind-in-the-gutter person that I am I would have liked to see a bit more and wondered how their relationship would handle it to advance to the next stage. But in the end this sweet romance with relatively innocent kisses (for yaoi standards anyway) suits the story really well, more might have felt out of place. And it's not too bad to leave a few things to the readers imagination now and then. As at this time not all of the manga is translated I pack my thoughts about the ending into a spoiler hide away - even though I will try not to give major plot lines away. <img src="http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o216/Geisha_X/special%20read/sevendayslogo2jpg.png" border="0" /> "Seven Days" was just long enough for me to fall in love with the story and leave me behind sad because I did not want to part from it. If someone ever asked me which manga I wanted to read a follow-up to, "Seven Days" would definitely be amongst those. Original art by Takarai Rihito, Club graphic by Angie, Original Story by Tachibana Venio, Review by Geisha_X. |
Geisha_XDec 1, 2018 4:10 PM
| I love this manga so much. It is so exciting in his own way, weird for a shounen-ai. It is like every tiny moment is packed with so much feelings and possibilities; the art just intesifies this air. And here was probably the only first kiss that I actually remember very well from a BL, it was perfect. I want to read more of it, I even felt tempted to hit the spoiler button...better wait!! |
| It was too sad that I haven't read all of it ;__; I wanted more really, too bad it's not finished scanning. I was right about the picture made by angie! It is cute in every way, it's not frustrating and all considering it's shounen-ai >3>. I have seen a lot of plots that starts their relationship with a witty joke and ends in least expected ways, but this had some sense into it. It just bothers me that they don't have any malicious thoughts about going out with a guy and it's not a bit awkward for them. (And again another great example of the must have opposite hair colors rule) |
| Indeed. Manga was simply EXCELLENT. The art and the story... captivated me in all possible ways :3 And it's anything I wanted to say. |
| This manga is a fairy recent discovery for me. I really like the story and while I'm very much looking forward to the (hopefully happy!) ending, I don't want their story to end either... Thank you for picking it as Special Read, this manga deserves to be more known. |
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| Again, will DEFINITELY check this out and get back. |
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| What can I say, besides that this manga is a masterpiece!!! I absolutely loved it too bad, there are only 2 volumes >.< Well ... I have to admit ... At first I wasn't really motivated to read it, beacause the art design is a complete disaster lol ... But after that ... I kinda liked the title ...Seven days; so I began to read it and at my grand surprise I found myself completely taken by it ... I don't know why but there is something magic about those two, it is not the usual shonen-ai stories we often read, a crush, a word then sex ... lol Frankly speaking it is definitely worth reading, I'll give it 9/10 even though I don't like the art. |
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| i really love this manga!!! XD i love how the story just makes me go so into it.. it was really great at some parts like the part where they kissed at yuzuru's room.. i just like how their eye meets and just go with the flow.. X3 yuzuru is my fav chara.. XD somehow, he reminds me of me.. lol.. a bit straight-forward.. >.<" and yeah.. i wanted to know how it will develop too.. 2 vol just felt so little.. i want it to be at least a 5 vol.. XP |
Queen2408 said: I want to read more of it, I even felt tempted to hit the spoiler button...better wait!! It's not much of a spoiler really, but I don't like to know things before reading so I know where you're coming from. cheropteran said: It was too sad that I haven't read all of it ;__; I wanted more really, too bad it's not finished scanning. I was right about the picture made by angie! It is cute in every way, it's not frustrating and all considering it's shounen-ai >3>. I have seen a lot of plots that starts their relationship with a witty joke and ends in least expected ways, but this had some sense into it. It just bothers me that they don't have any malicious thoughts about going out with a guy and it's not a bit awkward for them. (And again another great example of the must have opposite hair colors rule) Yes, the plot of going out for a joke is not all new, but here it is executed well. Must have opposite hair colour rule? lol. Well it makes sense to better distinguish the characters. That in my opinion is one of the reasons for the appearance of so many eyepatch characters in mangas. Or twins .... if they look alike - give them a reason to look alike, saves time in character design as well. But glad you enjoyed this despite the shounen ai restrictions. Queen_of_spades said: Indeed. Manga was simply EXCELLENT. The art and the story... captivated me in all possible ways :3 And it's anything I wanted to say. Perfection, hmh? I won't argue against it. :) dollie_mixtures said: This manga is a fairy recent discovery for me. I really like the story and while I'm very much looking forward to the (hopefully happy!) ending, I don't want their story to end either... Thank you for picking it as Special Read, this manga deserves to be more known. I thought so too! I'd like to press the mangaka/publisher for a follow-up. Someone on the livejournal site said that they'd like to see an anime made out of this. I wonder if that's within the realms of possibility... there's already a drama cd for each volume so ... maybe there's a tiny spark of hope for an anime? neko11lover said: Again, will DEFINITELY check this out and get back. I'm looking forward to reading your opinion later then! motoko09 said: What can I say, besides that this manga is a masterpiece!!! I absolutely loved it too bad, there are only 2 volumes >.< Well ... I have to admit ... At first I wasn't really motivated to read it, beacause the art design is a complete disaster lol ... But after that ... I kinda liked the title ...Seven days; so I began to read it and at my grand surprise I found myself completely taken by it ... I don't know why but there is something magic about those two, it is not the usual shonen-ai stories we often read, a crush, a word then sex ... lol Frankly speaking it is definitely worth reading, I'll give it 9/10 even though I don't like the art. Oh, you didn't like the art .... when I read it the art stood out a lot - I really like it but it's so outside the usual that I already anticipated that there must be people who would NOT like it. I thought it fitted the story though. Just curious - If you could pick another artist to do this ... whom would you choose to do the art for this story? sakurai93 said: i really love this manga!!! XD i love how the story just makes me go so into it.. it was really great at some parts like the part where they kissed at yuzuru's room.. i just like how their eye meets and just go with the flow.. X3 yuzuru is my fav chara.. XD somehow, he reminds me of me.. lol.. a bit straight-forward.. >.<" and yeah.. i wanted to know how it will develop too.. 2 vol just felt so little.. i want it to be at least a 5 vol.. XP I felt connected to Yuzuru as well - at the very least I have hated all my life when people judged me according to my looks and didn't bother to look deeper. And just like Yuzuru despite not liking that I accepted that it is human nature and probably do that myself. 5 volumes sounds good ... *dream* |
Geisha_X said: Oh, you didn't like the art .... when I read it the art stood out a lot - I really like it but it's so outside the usual that I already anticipated that there must be people who would NOT like it. I thought it fitted the story though. Just curious - If you could pick another artist to do this ... whom would you choose to do the art for this story? mmm ... if I had to pick a mangaka to do the art it would probably be Hanjou Rie or Minase Masara, to me they are the most qualifed suitable ones. [Well I am speaking in the domain of High school relationships] |
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motoko09 said: mmm ... if I had to pick a mangaka to do the art it would probably be Hanjou Rie or Minase Masara, to me they are the most qualifed suitable ones. [Well I am speaking in the domain of High school relationships] Honjou Rie ... yes, an interesting idea even though her style is a lot more earthy in my opinion. It would be interesting to see what another mangaka would make out of the same story. I was thinking Takanaga Hinako, maybe Nakamura Asumiko, Itsuki Kaname (now here's a mangaka I would like to force to make more manly or at least equally standing ukes, her art is really nice, but I find her characters lacking) or Nekota Yonezou (she has a lot of girly ukes, but in her case I still like the stories despite that). Dasha9x said: I think this was interesting by portraiting the idea of judging person by appearance and how different the image we have of somebody can be from who that person really is. I could clearly see how Yuzuru is taking this dating thing only as a joke or game and how he is hurting or unsettling Seryou who noticed that. It seemed to me like such an irony that Yuzuru, who was complaining that people are judging him only by his appearance, is now doing the same with Seryou. So I was actually glad when Yuzuru started to feel insecure and jealous because he started to like him (still not sure whether he is aware of that himself). I am just disappointed by the fact that it was licenced so I am not sure if I will ever read the rest of it and know how it ends. It would be nice if they agreed to use those tickets to the movie that Yuzuru gave to Seryou. Symbolic way how to say that next the week they will be still together. So right now I can't say whether it is a masterpiece or not because I haven't read it all but I definitely liked it and would like to read the rest. Maybe you can find scans of the raw, I think even if you don't read japanese you would be able to get the story. I know the drama cd version is downloadable from aarinfantasy, so maybe they have the raws as well. |
| the manga is really good.. i love the plot of the story, and the characters.. :D.. it's a light romance but it hooked me to finish reading it within 30 mins or so.... hmmmm... i really recommended it to my friends who also love BL mangas.. |
| Wow, this was so incredible...great great manga. I really really want to see more, more story and something a bit more explicit! I didn't quite understand either why Seryou didn't say anything until the end. Maybe it was too difficult for him?? but even so, I thought that he couldn't stand it anymore and was going to burst before Yuzuru. Yesterday I listened to the Drama CD...It was very fitting in my opinion, the seiyus did a great work :D I want more from this mangaka ^^ |
Queen2408 said: Wow, this was so incredible...great great manga. I really really want to see more, more story and something a bit more explicit! I didn't quite understand either why Seryou didn't say anything until the end. Maybe it was too difficult for him?? but even so, I thought that he couldn't stand it anymore and was going to burst before Yuzuru. Yesterday I listened to the Drama CD...It was very fitting in my opinion, the seiyus did a great work :D I want more from this mangaka ^^ I have to agree with the Drama CD, it was nicely made. I want to see more of that mangaka, but I must say that this also made me more curious to see more plots of the author, I wonder what her other stories are like.... |
| I have been putting off reading this until I knew ALL the chapters would be translated... when you did this review and I made the graphics I read a bit and then had to stop (well more like I made myself stop reading), I knew I was going to love this right away and I could NOT wait for, at that time, the last 6 chapters to be translated. I love a great plot and developing characters, I think it would have been good to see a little more action, but I am very content with the romantic nature of the story and I especially loved the artwork! I would also love to see more of both the manga-ka and artist! I am soooo happy someone else took over releasing this series and so much quicker! Now reading Queen mention about the Drama CD, looks like I will have to go and download it ASAP! |
Angie said: I have been putting off reading this until I knew ALL the chapters would be translated... when you did this review and I made the graphics I read a bit and then had to stop (well more like I made myself stop reading), I knew I was going to love this right away and I could NOT wait for, at that time, the last 6 chapters to be translated. I love a great plot and developing characters, I think it would have been good to see a little more action, but I am very content with the romantic nature of the story and I especially loved the artwork! I would also love to see more of both the manga-ka and artist! I am soooo happy someone else took over releasing this series and so much quicker! Now reading Queen mention about the Drama CD, looks like I will have to go and download it ASAP! Hahaha you should! they sound nice, just like I imagined...maybe more Yuzuru than Seryou but anyhow they did well :D. Sigh, this story was so amazingly cute, and so simple! |
| Uhm I found out a novel from this same author around but it hasn't been translated T_T, there is even a drama CD. The name is Kuchibiru de Kowasareru, for those who know Japanese and are interested. |
| it was boring as shit. The characters were so bland I couldn't even keep the track who's who. Please fellow fujos tell me why you still hyping this garbage? |
| For everyone, who liked the manga: I can recommend the drama. The actor, who plays Yuzuru is really good and the actor who plays Seiryou really looks like the characater he is playing. You can find it in the download section at aarinfantasy. |
Geisha_XDec 1, 2018 4:13 PM
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