Tight-rope by Natsume Isaku

Tight-rope by Natsume Isaku was the perfect salve for a crappy day. Most of the manga is about childhood friends normal guy and son of yakuza. It was extremely conventional and not quite as shiny as Natsume-sensei's other works, but still a pleasant read. Son of yakuza is very fixated on normal guy in a romantic but puppy-dog kind of way. Very been there, done that, but what made me smile is that they all speak kansai-ben. Even the banal sounds just a bit better in kansai-ben, I think. The problem is normal guy who is just too...ambivalent about his feelings towards son of yakuza. He totally knows how son of yakuza feels (since son of yakuza doesn't hide his feelings) and wants to be close...but he just doesn't want to take that next step. Even though he knows he's basically torturing the poor son of yakuza. Yes, it's that kind of story.

What was very shiny was the Doushiyoumonaikeredo story included in this volume. I love that couple (and Shimano's dad) SO MUCH.

I'm glad to see Natsume-sensei's art looking better with each volume. The characters have her distinctive look but look more refined.

( some pics and general squeeing )