New year, new manga!

I bought this manga in 2023 at Barnes & Noble, and I finally got around to reading it. Anti-Romance is a story about two men who are “too close to be friends and too attached to be family” as the mangaka Shoko Hidaka states. The entire story follows Suou and Ryou who have been living with each other for six years with their complicated relationship.

*This review has NO Spoilers*

Read more: Anti-Romance Vol 1 Review

I have to say, the slow burn is definitely there, but you can see the love each character has with the other in their own way. It gets a bit muddled because they don’t express it and it gets lost in translation between them. That is until Suou takes a glimpse at Ryou’s laptop and sees the secret Ryou has been typing away at in his room.

Ryou has a very persistent co-worker who has a hunch about their relationship and later confirms it to him directly. Their communication is lacking, to the point where even Suou’s manager even tells him, he sucks at it. They both have ways they admire each other and notice the small things (which I’d hope they would after living with each other for SIX years), they just never speak on it.

So far, it’s a nice, slow read—a slice-of-life read with a hint of romance. If you like slow burns, I think you’ll like this. There are only two volumes of this manga, so I hope some kind of communication happens between the two lovebirds. It looks like the only barrier between them is the awkward gap they’ve put between themselves.

I enjoyed this read and will be grabbing the next volume to follow up!