Three Wolves Mountain

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Here's the thing about this manga: it begins with a screech. That's how it felt! It was like something was grating my brain! I was all, "What happened to Naono sensei!? Give me back my beloved mangaka! I want Renai Nenrei back!"
But I guess she was just testing us to see if we are truly Naono lovers (:D) because by the second chapter it's back to the usual Naono awesomeness of hot (old) men, cute lovers, huge age gaps and adorable comedic situations. Oh, and let's not forget the smutty parts, ha?

The characters really annoyed me at the beginning. I thought Susugi-san was just an ... indifferent hermit who couldn't give one way or another; Jiro came off as flaky and, I don't know, overly young (is that a thing?); and though Tarou was the only one I could stand, he was sort of bland. But I think the best characters are the ones that the writer manages to get us to fall in love with after she made us completely hate them. Which is what this mangaka does with Three Wolves Mountain (cute name).
As the story progresses, we discover Susugi's past, and his true nature. And though he's slightly self-centered, who isn't? it's okay, he feels real. His trauma and story feels real. Tarou isn't as nice and easygoing as he first appeared. Actually, he's kind of dark and violent. And finally, Jiro's innocence is nothing but a mask.

Of course, I found some faults in this manga (I'm such a stick in the mud sometimes). There's a lot of substance, themes and pretty gritty topics all stuffed into 6 chapters. I think she could have turned it into at least 2 volumes.
Also, there's a heterosexual relationship in my BOYS LOVE manga! What's going on here?! Conspiracy! :D The way she added that in is actually pretty sweet.

I really wanted to like this book, but several factors prevented me from doing so.

One: The art style. I really did not like it. I found it drab, hard to look at, and just plain bad. Keep in mind, I am critiquing it based on my own personal preferences; you may like it, even if I don't. However, it felt crudely drawn to me and there was a few instances of hair-covered eyes still showing through clearly, as if their eyes are located on their hair and not in the socket. I hate that.

Two: Jiro. He was whiny, bratty, and always needed saving. He cried ... when he didn't get his way and was extremely clingy. Doomed to be forever overprotected by his extremely weird brother, whose transformation still confuses me to this day.

Three: The plot. It felt rushed. Too rushed. Kind of like when you really, really want to play a game but you have fifteen minutes until you need to go somewhere so you just play in a hurry and then leave the mess out for future-you to clean up, much to future-you's ire. It feels like the mangaka drew with that kind of "I really want to do this but I don't have time so let's do it quickly!" mentality. Everything happened so quickly there was almost no transition between one thing and the next.

Honestly, I was so looking forward to this manga. I found the plot to be promising, I liked the front cover art, but ultimately two good things were let down by a disappointing story.