Aoi Koi by Narazaki Souta

(I had to rewrite this because of some hiccup somewhere. Totes not my fault.)

Let's talk about Blue Love.

Aoi Koi is a two-part comic written by Narazaki Souta. It was published in Magazine Beboy, Feb. and March 2011. Shigemi is a baseball boy who accidentally walks in on an awkward scene, in which a girl was confessing her love to Rio, Shigemi's best friend.


Rio is your archetypical cool guy. He doesn't talk much, which gives him a mysterious air. He's very handsome, and that, with his mysterious air, makes Rio very popular with the girls. The twist: he is also a huge fan of Kamen Rider-style hero shows. Shigemi is the only one who knows about this, and is constantly rolling his eyes at the idea that this cool guy is the also the biggest dork he knows.

Rio turns the girl down, of course (gosh, I wonder why), and instead spends his free time with Shigemi. Shigemi, confused over why Rio rejected the girl, starts to think that Rio needs a girlfriend who understands him and tries to suggest that Rio would have more fun at an upcoming hero live-action show if he took a girl with him.

Rio refuses, saying that he prefers Shigemi's company. Shigemi, however doesn't get it, and he even tries to talk up some fangirls during their 'date' at the live-action show. Rio gets peeved, thinking Shigemi is hitting on someone during their 'date', and they finally put everything on the table.




Because I can't think of a more romantic place for a confession of love than a hero show packed with four- and five-year olds.


In part two, we find out that Shigemi, overwhelmed by Rio's confession, never gave Rio an answer. He also doesn't respond to any of Rio's emails, so Rio goes on the defensive and ignores Shigemi.  Shigemi decides to try to get back on Rio's good graces by trying to win tickets to a special showing of an upcoming Rider movie.

Because love is forcing your siblings to fill out countless postcards, all for the sake of a crush.

Shigemi wins the tickets, of course, and comes to grips with the fact that he likes Rio, too. They reconcile, and even become an official couple, but they don't kiss. Shigemi's still not there yet, but Rio's willing to wait.

Because flustered baseball boys are cute.

I love high school romance plots, and I love that the cool boy is in secretly a hot-blooded fanboy. It's not the first story to have such a character, I'm sure. Higashino You also had a story (also published in Beboy) about a dominant fanboy set in high school, but while Loving a Maniac is otaku fantasy smut, Blue Love is a sweet, fluffy story.

I can't wait for this to be reprinted in tankoubon form.

Next time, I'll talk about Fudanshi Monogatari, written by ..... Narazaki Souta!!! I should really pay more attention to what I read...