Honey Sour Flavor by Nomoto Nagina

I think I decided to try this one out because it was listed as sports yaoi.  There was a time when the combination of those two things would make me chortle a “ha, ha, as IF!” But, then along came “Free! Iwatobi Swim Club” and, of course, “Yuri on Ice.”  So, sure, skeevy coach hits on college-age track-and-field star, why not?

Bonus leg fetish!

Honey Sour Flavor is also one of those that claims to have five chapters, but, in reality, is an anthology that includes two other stories: “Sparkling Sugar” and “Caramel Line.”

SPOILERS

.

.

.

“Honey Sour Flavor” is… well, honestly, it’s boring.  I’m kind of shocked that Nagina-sensei found three chapters worth of things to say about this relationship.  Imai is being sexually harassed by Coach Hayashida because he’s cute and has nice legs.

Yep.

That’s kind of it.

I guess we find out that an injury cut Coach Hayashida’s athletic career short and there’s some back and forth about whether Imai is appreciated for more than just his legs, but… yeah, kind of a snooze fest.  I mean, maybe it’s briefly exciting when it seems like maybe their relationship might become a team scandal, but then it doesn’t so… meh.

The sex is all slightly off-stage, too.

“Sparkling Sugar” is a slightly more amusing story. Mogi is a klutzy salaryman who tends to literally walk into walls.  One time, he bangs into the automatic doors and his office’s security guard, Nakaura Keita, helps him up.  This is kind of their cute-meet, except Mogi is annoyed because Keita is laughing at him.  The real, extended cute-meet happens when Mogi realizes he dropped his wallet, and Keita waited all night to return it to him.

But then… then all the chemistry fades.  They start going out to dinner a lot.  Yay? Sure, except Mogi is kind of holding back because he’s… kind of just that sort, and he’d had a bad break-up.

“Caramel Line” is a story of long-distance love, which could have been interesting, because there was a lot of set-up for sort of classic sit-com comedy, only it’s a lot of our hero not getting around to telling his lover the things he should.

I don’t know. Maybe my standards are too high.  I mean, obviously I read them all the way through, so they were entertaining enough. The art was similarly passable , but not stand out. At least the yaoi hands were kept at a minimum.

Meanwhile, I’m still reading the vampire/science fiction manhua “Blood Bank.” They’re up to chapter 45 novel. It’s still a very fascinating story, we’re getting Eric/One’s backstory finally.  The art in that one remains very striking and evocative.  I feel very COLD reading the scenes outside.