Life. Caminando Contigo
Life and BL are like an emotional roller coaster.
The older I get, the more I crave stories where we follow people throughout different periods of their lives. In Life. Caminando Contigo (translated: Life on the Line) by Miya Tokokura we follow a sunshine boy with a child-like imagination and the serious boy who needs to loosen up a little. The spark between these two is undeniable in this story of opposites attract, but this story’s plot will take you on an emotional journey that deviates from the white line where our two leads first meet as teenagers.
Japanese Title: Life Senjou no Bokura
Genre: Boys love, romance, drama
Age Rating: Adults 18+
Publisher: Planeta Cómic (language Spain Spanish)
Status: Complete with 1 volume
Synopsis:
One random morning on the way to school, Nishi find himself on a tightrope avoiding the dangerous sea filled with hungry sharks, while Itou is avoiding falling down to meet his death on sharp ice crystals. When the two boys bump into each other, Itou decides that together they will be able to save each other’s lives and continue onwards walking on the line that takes them to school and back home. In reality, the two high school boys just have a crazy imagination but after meeting one another on the sidewalk they keep looking forward to their adventures on the white line.
The two boys meet who are opposites eventually fall in love with each other and we follow them as they tackle on adulthood. Every decade of their life throws them a series of challenges and triumphs, but in their 30’s they face pressures to conform to societal pressures since gay marriage is not on the line in Japan. Despite society wanting to keep these two apart, they know that their love is pure and something worth pursuing even though society won’t recognize their union.
Favorite Things:
Great pacing: This is a one-shot that follows our male couple from their teenage years up until their elderly years. While I wish the one-shot was longer for selfish reasons, the chapters themselves didn’t feel rushed in my opinion and added so much to the plot.
Nishi: He is such a ray of sunshine and balances not only the story very well but also the relationship with Itou. He is so incredibly loving and optimistic, which is exactly what coldhearted Itou needed in his life. I found myself rooting for his happiness throughout the story.
Notable Things:
Realistic: I love how this story did touch on how taboo gay marriage is seen in Japan. Itou’s need to conform to society in order to advance at work wasn’t a decision that he made lightly. He thought this would set himself and Nishi up for a better future despite his heart wanting to keep exploring life with Nishi.
Emotional: If you’re someone who cries easily, please have some tissues on hand when reading this. This story truly takes you through an emotional journey, you’ll celebrate their wins and cry when life is cruel. I had such a good cry while reading this.
Rating: ★★★★★ / 5
When it comes to one-shots, BL does them better than any other genre. This was such a beautiful one-shot from beginning to end and it’s one that I wish I could read for the first time again. I did see that this series inspired a j-drama which is available on Viki, so I’ll have to check it out soon when I’m in the mood to cry. Hoping an English publisher like Seven Seas prints this in English because it’s such an incredible read. If you were a fan of Our Dining Table, then you’ll love Life Senjou no Bokura.
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