Is history destined to repeat itself? (Yen Press blurb)

Salaryman Ibuki ‘Soba-kun’ Doi has woken up as his high-school self after the shock of seeing on-line that his unrequited high-school crush, Mikami Baba, had got married in the States to another man. Mikami and his family went to America after his older sister Mikoto was murdered by Tanaka, a neighbour. Ibuki has carried his unresolved feelings ever since – so to find himself with the chance to make changes and maybe find happiness is not to be missed. Having told Mikami that he’s come back from the future to try to save his sister’s life, they work together to protect her – and as the fateful day passes and nothing untoward happens, Ibuki realizes with relief that they’ve managed to change the timeline. Mikami kisses Ibuki and asks, “Do you want to try a serious relationship?”

But then Mikami begins to distance himself from Ibuki again and Ibuki is plunged into despair. He’s tried so hard with this second chance to get closer to Mikami, only to have him say, “Soba-kun, I think we should spend a little less time together” before disappearing on him for three days. Has he got cold feet?

Thanks to the ever-helpful on-line resource Baka-Updates, I’ve learned since reviewing Volume 1 of I’m Here, Beside You that TEA natsuno is Korean, also creating BL webtoons under the name teaxl. I  hoped I could share a more appreciative review of the second volume of this BL which – at first sight – has a lot going for it; those covers are eye-catching and well-drawn. But as I read on, I realized that the mangaka had not thought through the SF elements of the story before launching in. The epilogue was the last straw for me – but other readers may well find it less troublesome (but maybe not less creepy?) than I did. If a story is going to hinge on sending your viewpoint character back in time from adulthood to high school, you really need to have worked out the implications and complications of such a move. If his actions cause the timeline he came from to alter (in this case, the sister of his crush is not murdered by their neighbour) then there usually have to be other knock-on effects.

In manga like Erased by Kei Sanbe, the mechanics of the timeslip are handled in a more believable way – and, of course, in what’s possibly the most complicated timeslip franchise Steins;Gate, Okarin is constantly haunted by the real-life results of his time travelling. But Ibuki is not Okabe Rintaro – and this story wants to be about second chances. So what happens when a certain Noah appears, visiting from the States, and Ibuki recognizes him as Mikami’s husband back in their original timeline? What have I done? Ibuki wonders, as that friendship will not now, it seems, lead to love and a lifetime commitment? Again, the mangaka’s solution is not a convincing one. The story isn’t set up to deal with the outcomes of saving Mikami’s sister’s life and this meeting just leads to some more distracting soul-searching by Ibuki who spends too much time worrying about stuff. And so it goes on…

Then there’s the conversations. It’s never a good sign when as a reader you can sense the author putting words into their characters’ mouths to make something happen in the plot and that happens too often here. A skilful author will create scenes in which the dialogue flows naturally and we learn about the characters from the way they interact. The ending feels contrived and odd. The two-page illustrated afterword from TEA Natsuno cites all kind of difficult interruptions to the completion of this manga, from power outages to the deaths of her cats and, while feeling much sympathy for her, it might explain the vagaries and inconsistencies of plot and characterization.

Translation is again by Leighann Harvey and flows well, as expected, from this experienced BL translator and all is clearly conveyed by Elena Pizarro Lanzas’s lettering for Yen Press.

On the BL front, there’s a Parental Advisory warning on the cover, although the single sex scene is not explicit and is consensual. It’s quite realistic in that it doesn’t go as well as both might have hoped for their first time together – and that’s one of the few plus points in this volume. But overall, it’s disappointing that the attractive art is not conveying a stronger, more convincing story – and the powerful hook at the beginning of Book 1 turns out to be the best moment in the manga, after which everything never quite comes together.

Our review copy was supplied by Yen Press.