Alright, folks. Let's take a look at this masterpiece of a smut fest. I .... well I will be the first to admit I'm a sucker for a good story paired with fantastic smut and art. So I'll give some feedback on Anata wa Iyarashii Hito.
Art & Design - 10 - Just 10. The art for this is exceptionally detailed and planned out, and nothing felt over-done or under-done. This had the feeling of the OG 90s manga but with the new age art style. The artist was able to perfectly portray emotions without going down the overly female-esq characters (side note that the artist loves eyelashes to the extreme, however). Showing tenderness on a masculine face is probably harder to do since we don't see it often. I appreciate little things like that.
Characters & Story - 9 - This is a more masculine cast, but not at the Bara level. So going into the characters we have a bit of a rougher feel from them, but the story is delivered in a way that it still feels more tender/soft (as we are used to seeing with BL manga). There is solid character development and the pacing is steady. For context, there is a touch of BDSM/power play involved in the relationship, so we see one of the main characters have a side to him you would not expect but the author delivers this fluctuating personality perfectly.
Overall Takeaway - This became an instant favorite because of the more masculine cast with the detailed art. This doesn't feel half-assed and it really is a solid 10 for me (perhaps bias for the fetishized themes). For such a short story I am very surprised by how well the main characters are written and drawn. The detail and carefulness shows.
Recommended. Cheers and have a good day!
