Manga Review | A Strange & Mystifying Story by Tsuta Suzuki

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Aki's family is cursed, specifically on his mother's side. Unfortunately, the curse isn't limited to his mother's side. His father, who married in, suffered from the same affliction and ended up with the same fate as Aki's mother and many other family members over the years: death. The only one left is Aki's grandfather, who is frail and sick, just like all of his family members who passed before him. In his final moments, Aki's grandfather tells Aki about someone who can help him survive the curse but doesn't provide much more information before he passes.

On his own, Aki is doing his best to get through life but grows frail as he is struck with an incurable disease he attributes to the curse. After passing out and being unable to return to work, Aki is desperate to keep himself alive and beat the curse. As he is on the cusp of succumbing to the curse, he follows his grandfather's advice and finds a bone hidden away. Disheartened by the useless discovery, Aki is ready to accept his fate when he gets blood on the bone, causing it to grow and expand with more bones, flesh, muscles, and skin until it takes the form of a half-man, half-god.

As it turns out, Aki's family acquired a guardian deity. The reason Aki's grandfather was able to live to old age is that this guardian deity helped consume the curse, prolonging his life. Aki can hardly believe it until the deity reaches into his body and pulls out a part of the curse, providing instant relief. Unfortunately, the best way for this deity to find the curse is to be intimate with the person. Now that Aki has completed the contract by giving the deity a name, Setsu, he has to suffer through the uncomfortable touch to keep himself alive. Even as he continues to claim he dislikes it all, he finds himself looking forward to the pleasure he can receive from Setsu. Once Setsu isn't needed anymore, he'll turn back into bone. Once the curse is cured, can Aki return to a life without Setsu?

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Manga Review | A Stomachful of Secret Delights by Tsutako Tsurusawa

Title: A Stomachful of Secret Delights



This is the sequel to Saving My Favorite For Last.

Melo suffers from intense anxiety. His anxiety is so strong that he suffers from chronic hematuria, which puts his health on a major decline. The reason for his anxiety? It could be anything, but the main culprit is his lover, Noris. They'd been together for as long as Melo could remember, having been since their families were close. From the moment Melo saw Noris eat his food with a smile on his face, Melo made it his mission to marry Noris.

So far, so good, until Melo catches Noris smiling at his new coworker. Melo has never had competition before, having thoroughly monopolized all of Noris's affection for himself. Melo's anxiety has reached a fever pitch with a few new suitors hanging around. Not even his meds can stave away the stress anymore, and with the increased pressure, so follows the steep decline of his health. Will Melo be able to keep his one love to himself, or will he die before he even gets the chance?

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Manga Review | Mr. Mini Mart by Junko

Title: Mr. Mini Mart



Nakaba has become a NEET. He dropped out of school due to intense bullying and has spent every day at home ever since. He would be in right now, but the thought of returning to that situation is too much to bear. But being stuck in his room for the rest of his life is neither feasible nor ideal. So when the opportunity to work at a relative's comes up, he takes this chance to get back out into the world and start a new life for himself.

Unfortunately, it isn't all that simple. His coworker, Yamai, is a big tough guy, and even though they are close in age, Nakaba can't help feeling intimidated by him. Nakaba also can't help hating him, even just a little bit. That is until he catches Yamai saving a kitten in a busy street. Yamai smiles so gently and tucks the kitten into his jacket. Nakaba isn't sure he's looking at the same person. Now that he knows that prickly exterior is hiding a much softer inside, Nakaba wants to get to know this sweet Yamai. But will getting close to another person lead him to a devastating end like his school life had?

There's only one way to find out.

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Manhwa Review | Trap? Trap! by Ichika

Title: Trap? Trap!



Baekyeon hasn't left his apartment for years. After being bullied, harassed, and assaulted throughout , Baekyeon developed an intense fear of people and the outside world. Thankfully, with his writing talent, he has supported himself while working from within the confines of his home as an adult novel writer. Unfortunately, under the imposing and obsessive eye of his editor, Soohyun, Baekyeon has no motivation to leave, clean, or do anything beyond writing.

That is until he finds some unexpected guests living among the refuse that has slowly built up around him: cockroaches. There is nothing in this world that Baekyeon hates more than bugs. Unable to do anything until his uninvited guests are evicted from his home, Baekyeon begs Soohyun to call an exterminator. Begrudgingly, Soohyun does, but that means Baekyeon will have to face his greatest fear: a stranger in his home.

Thankfully, the exterminator who comes over is Junghyuk, a kind and extroverted man who just happens to be Baekyeon's type. Maybe strangers aren't so bad after all.

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Manhwa Review | Home Alone Together by Shin Yuri

Title: Home Alone Together



Junwoo is a hikikomori – a young adult who has become a recluse. For the past five years, since graduating and after the death of his parents, he has holed himself up in his childhood home, where he spends his days in idle existence. The only thing he has to look forward to is the occasional visit from his neighbor Hanbit, a guy he's had a crush on since he was a kid. Otherwise, his days are filled with severe loneliness and the self-loathing he hasn't been able to shake.

One day, Hanbit comes by, implying that he might be moving in with Junwoo. This lights a fire under Junwoo, and he immediately assumes this is his chance to win over Hanbit. However, when Hanbit comes over, he brings along a stranger: Wooyeon. It turns out that Hanbit isn't planning to move in. On the contrary, he is moving away to be with his longtime girlfriend. However, in fear of Junwoo being left alone unsupervised, Hanbit has the great idea that Wooyeon should move in with Junwoo.

Neither Junwoo nor Wooyeon seems jazzed about the idea, but both seem compelled to go along with it because of their affection for Hanbit. So begins the awkward orbiting the two have as they live together. Despite their disdain for each other's company, slowly but surely, they grow to tolerate one another. And soon, that tolerance evolves into something more, something neither of them expected it would be. But these two have a lot of old wounds that threaten the peace they have created with each other. Will they be able to move forward, or are they destined to drown amid their surging trauma?

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