Beyond My Touch

Well, I’ve just finished packing and hopefully I haven’t forgotten anything important.  I’m so disorganized this year.  arg.  I suppose the thing to look forward to is Friday morning when I have two weeks of vacation staring me in the face.  Ahhh…

I don’t normally say this, but thank goodness there was hardly any new manga this week!  Christmas shopping had to take priority, but I hate leaving stuff behind.  There were only a few titles to choose from and I ended up buying just one, which was Beyond My Touch (rating is 16+).  Too bad it seems to be a standalone volume.  Of the manga I’ve bought in the past month or so, this is one of the top three.  It’s so sweet!  And the art shifts between cute and beautiful, my two favorite styles.  Yeah, I like manga better if it’s pretty.  Sorry.

Three of the five parts in the story are about a boy named Mizuno who is being haunted by his dead classmate Mamoru.  Mamoru has become a ghost to deal with his unfinished business.  His only regret?  Not kissing Mizuno before he died.  There is a big contrast between the two characters – Mamoru is outgoing, friendly and cheerful and Mizuno is a broody, detached boy who slowly comes to realize through his interactions with Mamoru just how lonely his life really is.  Will he grant Mamoru’s only wish, or is he willing to take the chance that he’ll be left alone again? 

I spent a lot of time thinking “awwww” while reading this.  (I was on the bus while reading it, otherwise it would have been a verbal “awwww”)  Watching Mizuno slowly working through his feelings and opening himself up to life and love was very entertaining.

There are two other short stories called Cool Lips and Recipe that aren’t quite as good (of course, they only got one part each as opposed to the three parts to Beyond My Touch) but are still worthy reads.  Cool Lips is similar in tone to Beyond My Touch (the roles between the loner and the outgoing guy are a bit reversed in this one), but Recipe was pretty different.  It has a young chef who is obsessed with baking sweets for his childhood friend and can’t figure out why said friend isn’t as impressed with his baked goods as all of their other classmates.  He will continue to bake until “…Minoru falls for Takashi’s sweets.”  heh.

That’s probably it until after the new year.  I’m going to miss the new stuff coming out next week, and the usual Boxing Week sale.  The guys at the comic store said they’d put aside some sale stuff for me until I got back if it stays in stock, though.  They rock.  Now I just have to figure out what I want… heh heh heh…

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and have a safe and happy New Year.