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December 19, 2025
I read this immediately after 修学旅行で仲良くないグループに入りました, so it does suffer greatly in comparison to that book. Ibuki is a loner bookworm with rather shitty friends and a sibling he seemingly spoils but who doesn’t bear the same affection for him.
The development of Ibuki’s character, such as it is, is attributable solely to the romantic relationship. Love changed him, such as it is – or at least, that’s what the author would like us to see. It’s not out of the question of course that love could and would be life-changing – come on, youths feel emotions intensely – but the way Seo/Ibuki is framed feels like I’m supposed to see this as HEA, and that’s … bro, they’re teens. Not that a high school relationship is immediately doomed, but the possibility of it persisting into the future is low.
My main issue is how Ibuki is framed. He is constantly sexual harassed – and, get this, he is blamed for this by his friends and his brother. That’s right, he’s the victim and he gets blamed by the very people who are supposed to support him. Fine, that happens. The problem is that Azami couldn’t pull off the denouement/resolution to this, because it’s too fucking heavy. This is supposed to be a fun, light-hearted BL novel about to youths who decide that fake dating is somehow a reasonable solution to their problems. It isn’t, and that’s where the fun is supposed to begin.
Instead, we are forced to endure scenes of Ibuki being sexually harassed, and we aren’t given any kind of justice. Fuck me, Seo has to be the one to point out to Hinata, Ibuki’s idiot younger brother, that blaming his older brother for his sexual harassment is not fucking cool. Hinata only said sorry ONCE – after his girlfriend called him out. Yes, Ibuki was not cool with this because it was his personal circumstance being discussed – but he’s also convinced himself that getting hit on (AND SH’ED!!!) “can’t be helped.” (?????!!!)
The author then feebly tries to salvage Hinata by trying to make out like he has a ブラコン. What? Where? When? Not once did the author show that Hinata had even a hint of ブラコン. You’d think someone with “ブラコン” would be a bit more protective when his brother mentioned upsetting instances of SH – hell, Ibuki was stalked at his job. Azami doesn’t want to address the ramifications of such treatment – the SH is just a tool to garner “sympathy” and create a situation where Ibuki would agree to this “fake dating” situation.
But the thing is, you do not need such a deep reason for fake dating. Make it a joke. Make it a bet. Hell, Seo just wanting to avoid girls is reason enough.
Bro definitely misunderstood the assignment, which is fake dating until neither is sure the dating is fake. But the clincher is that Seo and Ibuki didn’t even date. They had lunch together at school. The one (!!) date they were supposed to have on Christmas Eve (not that these heathens actually celebrate Christmas, just the commerciality and consumerism of it all, that’s right I’m getting on my soapbox because I hate this book) got called off because Ibuki “dumped” Seo. BRUHHH.
The development of Ibuki’s character, such as it is, is attributable solely to the romantic relationship. Love changed him, such as it is – or at least, that’s what the author would like us to see. It’s not out of the question of course that love could and would be life-changing – come on, youths feel emotions intensely – but the way Seo/Ibuki is framed feels like I’m supposed to see this as HEA, and that’s … bro, they’re teens. Not that a high school relationship is immediately doomed, but the possibility of it persisting into the future is low.
My main issue is how Ibuki is framed. He is constantly sexual harassed – and, get this, he is blamed for this by his friends and his brother. That’s right, he’s the victim and he gets blamed by the very people who are supposed to support him. Fine, that happens. The problem is that Azami couldn’t pull off the denouement/resolution to this, because it’s too fucking heavy. This is supposed to be a fun, light-hearted BL novel about to youths who decide that fake dating is somehow a reasonable solution to their problems. It isn’t, and that’s where the fun is supposed to begin.
Instead, we are forced to endure scenes of Ibuki being sexually harassed, and we aren’t given any kind of justice. Fuck me, Seo has to be the one to point out to Hinata, Ibuki’s idiot younger brother, that blaming his older brother for his sexual harassment is not fucking cool. Hinata only said sorry ONCE – after his girlfriend called him out. Yes, Ibuki was not cool with this because it was his personal circumstance being discussed – but he’s also convinced himself that getting hit on (AND SH’ED!!!) “can’t be helped.” (?????!!!)
The author then feebly tries to salvage Hinata by trying to make out like he has a ブラコン. What? Where? When? Not once did the author show that Hinata had even a hint of ブラコン. You’d think someone with “ブラコン” would be a bit more protective when his brother mentioned upsetting instances of SH – hell, Ibuki was stalked at his job. Azami doesn’t want to address the ramifications of such treatment – the SH is just a tool to garner “sympathy” and create a situation where Ibuki would agree to this “fake dating” situation.
But the thing is, you do not need such a deep reason for fake dating. Make it a joke. Make it a bet. Hell, Seo just wanting to avoid girls is reason enough.
Bro definitely misunderstood the assignment, which is fake dating until neither is sure the dating is fake. But the clincher is that Seo and Ibuki didn’t even date. They had lunch together at school. The one (!!) date they were supposed to have on Christmas Eve (not that these heathens actually celebrate Christmas, just the commerciality and consumerism of it all, that’s right I’m getting on my soapbox because I hate this book) got called off because Ibuki “dumped” Seo. BRUHHH.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 of 1 review