Reviews

May 21, 2021
“Looking for a note taker”

Words as simple as these can easily impact someone's life. "I Hear the Sunspot" tells the story of two college students who meet by chance yet end up closely intertwined in each other’s lives. While doing so, the story explores themes of isolation, self-regard, happiness, and social anxiety.

The dynamic between the reserved, hard-of-hearing Kouhei and the lively and vibrant Taichi is endearing. Kouhei is easily misunderstood by most people so he finds comfort in Taichi, who is fond of Kouhei’s good-natured personality. While the presentation of many themes is subtle, the manga is realistic and easy to follow. The characters don’t harp on typical shounen ai tropes, they feel human and layered. It’s not often that we get tasteful portrayals of characters with disabilities, especially queer ones. Nonetheless, "I Hear the Sunspot" doesn’t get overly wrapped up in identity and representation for the sake of it. The characters have meaningful interactions with each other and their identities affect them without making their entire struggles about disability or queerness.

Although some of the themes are serious, the manga still manages to remain quite light-hearted. Every theme is dissected a little but not excessively. Instead, when events happen the characters mull over certain actions, talk them through, or move on. There’s a very quotidian aspect to the story-telling without being redundant or boring, this adds to the creation of nuanced and grounded livelihoods for our cast of characters. It feels like they’re real people rather than idealized versions of people.

Story: 8/10
As mentioned earlier, the story feels down-to-earth and realistic without being boring. It’s relatable and still manages to further the plot in an intentional way.

Art: 8/10
Since this is my first manga review and one of the first manga series I’ve read I didn’t really know what to expect in terms of artwork. I don’t have a clear barometer for manga art but it seemed quite good to me.

Character: 9/10
The characters really shine in this manga. As I mentioned earlier I find them to be endearing yet grounded in reality. They’re not without flaws and they have their own battles irrespective of the world around them. On top of that, their identities aren’t the reason that they exist which I appreciate, they’re not just vehicles of representation.

Enjoyment: 8/10
I really enjoyed this manga!
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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