After We Gazed at the Starry Sky Volume 3 Review

Subaru (disabled designer) and Tougo (celebrated photographer) have got engaged and are living together in an apartment that’s easy for Subaru to navigate in a wheelchair. Even though Tougo is well known for his nature photography, it’s also well known that he doesn’t like to take pictures of people. So when he suggests to Subaru that they should hold a marriage ceremony with their parents present and have pictures taken to commemorate the event, Subaru is genuinely surprised as well as delighted. But after thinking things over, he decides that he’ll be the one to formally propose to Tougo! Then he goes to see his parents to tell them and asks to see their wedding album (at Akari-chan’s suggestion). His mother shows him and tells him that they were married in Hawaii – and when Subaru tells Tougo this, he goes on to suggest they should also get married in Hawaii. Which is fine with Tougo, as he’ll be finishing his work assignment in America… in three months’ time!

Luckily, Akari has a friend who’s a wedding stylist so, with their help, plans begin to be hastily put in place. But then it turns out that because of Tougo’s work assignment, they won’t be able to travel to Hawaii together. So they agree to meet up over there… however…

This is the third and final volume of the heart-warming Boys’ Love manga by Bisco Kida in which one of the main pair is physically disabled (since birth) and needs a wheelchair to get about. If you enjoyed the first volumes of After We Gazed at the Starry Sky, you won’t be disappointed as the mangaka has kept the same gentle ambience as before. However, I wonder whether the editor and mangaka decided to up the ante by introducing a situation that will make any habitual reader of this kind of relationship story hear all the alarm bells ringing. A couple of decades ago, this kind of incident in manga could have led to a tragic ending. No spoilers here – but it’s a destabilizing episode that could go either way and, of course, as the preceding events are all to do with wedding planning, choosing clothes etc., it’s all the more dramatic and potentially tragic.

What’s especially positive here is the supportive attitude of the parents (Tougo’s father is still alive, although sadly, not his mother) to the relationship between their sons. The portrayal of Subaru’s disability is realistically yet sympathetically done, as before, and the difficulties he encounters – even if they aren’t a significant element of the plot here – are not played down or sugar-coated. There’s also a meaningful and honest conversation between Subaru and his mother in Hawaii as he explains how he feels about his disability that is a moving read. Another plus is the positive way in which the scenes of a sexual nature are portrayed; the volume has an ‘M’ rating but the intimate moments are consensual, believable, and drawn with care (even if there are some censored images which won’t please everyone).

Bisco Kida’s art is as attractive as in the previous volumes, with attention paid to portraying the wild landscapes and starry skies (especially in Okinawa) that reinforce our view of Tougo as a gifted nature photographer. The soft choice of colours on the cover art is echoed in a colour page inside of the couple. The translation for Yen Press is again by Kei Coffman with lettering by Aila Nagamine this time and both work well to convey the story and conversations clearly. This volume (showing a rosy dawn sky on the cover, a neat visual metaphor) makes a satisfying ending to the earlier two volumes.

Our review copy was supplied by the publisher Yen Press.