Love on the Horizon Volume 1 Review
I know this crush… can’t go anywhere… but I really do like him. Nagi
Art student Nagi Kitagawa wakes up in the same bed as his next-door neighbour and senpai Yu Yamasaki. Yu drank too much at the folk club get-together and Nagi managed to get him back to his apartment, only for Yu to fall soundly asleep with his arms wrapped around him. Next morning, Nagi makes himself scarce before Yu wakes up. He’s come to realize that he’s crushing on his popular, good-looking senpai but is way too shy to act on his feelings.
Love on the Horizon © Machi Yamashita/Kodansha Ltd.
Then Nagi locks himself out of his apartment and while he’s waiting in the cold for the locksmith to come, Yu comes home and invites him in. Yu offers him the use of his bath, pot noodles and the chance to watch a series together. It’s all very congenial and Nagi feels very much at home, so much so that he falls asleep. This friendly neighbourly relationship is all fine… until they’re out with the club members and Yu again drinks too much, leading to Nagi taking him home. Yu again pulls Nagi down onto the bed with him without – it seems – waking up. Nagi’s tired and the temptation to stay and sleep over is too great and Yu doesn’t seem to want to let go of him anyway. But when Yu (still seemingly asleep) kisses him, Nagi flees. Is Yu completely oblivious? Or does he really like Nagi too – but only acts on his feelings when he’s too drunk to remember the next day?
Love on the Horizon © Machi Yamashita/Kodansha Ltd.
Love on the Horizon is Machi Yamashita’s first published manga and charms the reader with a sweet tale of two university students who are neighbours first of all and then gradually fall for each other. The mangaka has a clean and attractive graphic style which is shown to good effect by Kodansha’s trade paperback edition; their way of depicting the characters is a little reminiscent of the BL manga art of Minta Suzumara (Golden Sparkle and I Didn’t Mean to Fall in Love) and Ogeretsu Tanaka (Yarichin Bitch Club and Escape Journey). The multi-panelled cover art also brings to mind Etsuko’s Joy; all these are good inspirations for a mangaka and this observation is in no way intended to detract from the enjoyment of the reader as Love on the Horizon is very much its own thing as well.
Even though it has an Older Teen rating, there are no explicit scenes and it feels ‘wholesome’. While this is not a criticism, there is always a slight danger that wholesome can slide into bland. Love on the Horizon just about stays on the right side of blandness by showing us the insecurity both young men experience when wondering if the other feels the same way about them that they do. Interestingly, there are no worries expressed about coming out or identifying as gay. It would be so good to think that this isn’t too much of an issue in Japan any more, although I suspect that’s not the case. Perhaps in the second volume (due out in May) more clouds will gather to give the following chapters some drama and test the nascent relationship (although introducing drama for the wrong reasons can tip a feelgood story too much the other way so I’d better be careful what I’ve wished for!).
The translation for Kodansha is by Leo McDonagh who adds two useful translation pages as well at the end; the lettering is expertly done by Nicole Roderick and helps to convey the story without ever getting in the way. The trade paperback edition showcases the mangaka’s art really well; there are no colour pages but the matte art on the cover is elegant and stylish.
If you’re looking for a restorative read, a healing slice-of-life BL story in which the angst levels are low and the main protagonists are sympathetically portrayed, this is one to choose.
Our review copy from Kodansha was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.
