🏝️ Umibe no Étranger

This was one of my favorite discoveries. When I found it, I had just come out of stories with heavy, toxic plots, but reading this one was like a detox for my soul. It's simply adorable, and I think it portrays a relationship in a very pure but also realistic way; it's light, funny and also full of cute little cats.

On a small island off the coast of Japan, Shun Hashimoto, a young gay man who dreams of being a writer, has a crush on a mysterious boy named Mio Chibana, who always sits on the same bench facing the beach. Shun works up the courage to talk to Mio, but their first meeting is a disaster, it's almost painful to watch. Still, the two end up having a strange connection that makes Mio look for Shun the next day, and after that they grow closer and closer.

But suddenly Mio has to leave the island, because he's a minor with no legal guardian, having recently been orphaned. So he ends up leaving, and Shun loses contact with him.

Then, 3 years later, Mio, now an adult, returns to the island, determined to win back the connection with his beloved that time had taken away.

It's very cute, the story is sweet, has twists, is light and doesn't cling to that cliché of the super feminine, submissive uke and the big, dominant seme. In fact, the manga's erotic scenes are handled in a very realistic and gentle way; I'd say it's not ideal for anyone who wants something very erotic or frantic...

I highly recommend it! The manga is short and delightful to read. It even got a film adaptation in 2020, and the print edition of the manga can also be bought online. And there's also a sequel, called Haruzake no Étranger, which focuses on the couple's adult-life dilemmas.