If It’s You, I Might Try Falling in Love Volume 1 Review
“You should stop fooling around with older guys… and find yourself someone to love over there, ‘kay?”
Amane is transferring to high school in Enoshima from the city (he’s staying with his granny) and as he sets out to her house, he’s suddenly leapt on by a very large cat. In hot pursuit of Tarusuke (the cat) is a young man who introduces himself as Ryuuji Yamasuge and offers him a meal (his parents run a restaurant) in return for catching the cat. A free meal? Amane is only too pleased to accept the offer – but is exhausted by the long climb to the restaurant although, when they get there, he realizes it affords breathtaking views of the ocean far below. Ryuuji cooks for Amane and Amane is impressed, realizing that Ryuuji is ‘his type’ although he also finds himself thinking, I’d love to take him for a test drive but he’s giving off heterosexual vibes. And when one of those wonderful cliché romance moments occurs as Amane loses his footing on some steps and Ryuuji catches him, it leaves Amane even more impressed and intrigued, wondering how old Ryuuji is and if he’ll see him again.
So when Amane starts to attend high school, he’s surprised to find Ryuuji’s in the same class. The girls are very interested in the glamorous newcomer – but Amane isn’t at all interested in them. He’s known he was gay since middle school where he was rejected by his crush and has never quite recovered. He’s learned to put a brave face on rejection since then by laughing off any suggestion that he might have feelings for anyone. However, there’s no denying that he feels attracted to Ryuuji… but constantly dismisses his feelings, not wanting to admit that he might be smitten. And so he begins to settle into school and gradually gets to know Ryuuji better… until he falls ill and, flattened by a high fever, lies there, feeling sorry for himself but not wanting Ryuuji to see him because, “I look like crap right now.”
Are five chapters (plus a bonus) of a relatively slim volume enough to establish two characters and make the reader care enough about them to want to come back for more? The answer is yes – and this is a charming debut by Maru Kobato with two central characters who are appealing enough to make us intrigued to see where things will go as they get to know each other better. The volume has a Teen rating – and the opening pages in which Amane is depicted chatting with another young man in a hotel room show us (without any graphic details) that he’s been having casual sex with older partners. As to why… well, Amane gradually reveals as the story unfolds, that he’s been badly hurt once and is determined not to fall in love and risk getting hurt again. In some ways, it’s a ‘Town and Country Mouse’ kind of a tale, with Ryuuji the good-hearted, generous island boy intrigued by the slightly exotic good-looking newcomer, Amane.
There’s nothing here that we haven’t seen before in slice-of-life Boys’ Love (or romance in general) but nevertheless, there’s a lightness of touch about Maru Kobato’s depiction of Amane and Ryuuji getting to know each other better that’s refreshing but also rings true. The mangaka’s art is done with a light touch but her characters are expressive and the island of Enoshima is portrayed in an attractive way (some readers will remember it from cult favourite fishing anime tsuritama).
The translation for Yen Press is by Avery Hutley and flows nicely, capturing well the chatter of high-school late teens which is fluently conveyed by the lettering of Elena Pizarro Lanzas (although ‘coinky-dink’ is a new one on me!). There is no colour picture inside, sadly, and no translation notes. The mangaka’s Afterword is divided between the front and back inner covers (presumably it was beneath the dust jacket in the original version).
No date for Volume 2 yet from Yen Press (although Amazon suggests it will be August) but in Japan the series is up to five volumes and ongoing, so lots more to look forward to, especially as the mangaka says in her Afterword, “Thankfully I’ve been able to continue the series long enough… to take my time and slowly nurture their love as it blossoms” which is a good enough promise for me (I also hope we see more of Tarusuke, the cat that first brings the two together!).
Our review copy was supplied by Yen Press.
