The Little Bird Sleeps by the Sea
Will Yuu Minaduki hit it out the park with this BL one shot?
Yuu Minaduki was a mangaka that I loved a few years ago when I first read Sayonara Game, a one shot romance about a younger man who fell for his senpai back when they were both in their high school baseball team. Back when I read that story in 2022, I felt like her beautiful art and storytelling was able to perfectly capture tension and the emotional anguish of falling in love with someone who seems unattainable or not interested in a same sex relationship. Then the sequel Change World happened which ruined the characters that I had once enjoyed. Since 2022 a lot of Yuu Minaduki’s have been published in English but The Little Bird Sleeps by the Sea marks the first English one shot since Sayonara Game so I was hoping that she would be able to hit another home run again with this one.
Genre: BL, drama, romance
Age Rating: Older Teens 16+
Publisher: Tokyopop
Status: Complete, one volume
Synopsis:
After the sudden and tragic death of his sister and parents, Yuichi has stepped up to raise his young nephew, Ayumu. Despite many people doubting if Yuichi was even capable of raising a child, he took it upon himself to care for the only family member he has left. To give Ayumu a chance at a new life, Yuichi relocates to a calm seaside town where he meets the charming owner of the nearby deli which all the women in that town love to visit. While Yuichi is initially intimidated by how confident and handsome Ryo (nicknamed Mr. Deli) is, he has a dark past which leads him to constantly visit the shore to escape.
Together the two men and young boy embark on a journey to work on healing each of their own pain and learn to trust one another.
Favorite Things:
Ayumu: I found the kid to be so adorable. He had such a good heart and allowed both of the male leads to mature throughout the story. Also his little grumpy face was just adorable.
Yuichi: I found him a bit close minded and stubborn in the beginning of the series but he had decent character development in this. I was able to see how much he cared for his nephew and wanted to give him the space for him to be a regular boy.
Things I Disliked:
Ryo: The romantic interest was so unlikable to me! I felt like his character was meant to be more emotionally mature, but I found him so frustrating and childish. When we switch to his perspective, I felt confused. It was like as if I was looking around trying to find a point to him running back to his dangerous male escort life and then returning to the seaside town just as quickly. Even after Yuichi and him get together (spoiler but not really since you see them together on the cover), I don’t know if Ryo was truly sincere with his feelings for Yuichi or Ayumu.
I wish we could have gotten more of Yuichi’s backstory because the little backstory we got were the best parts of the story. I loved being able to see how the tragic passing of his sister and parents affected him. I also wish we could have gotten more of Yuichi praying/speaking to his deceased parents too instead of just seeing him talk to himself.
Lacked Communication: I enjoyed what little heartfelt communication we got in this volume. I really wish that the moment when Ayumu breaks down and wants Yuichi to not be angry with him to have lasted longer. I also really wanted to see Yuichi console Ayumu a bit more and for them to come to a better resolution, but the focus gets turned to Ryo right after that. Even the communication between Yuichi and Ryo just didn’t really hit me very much, it felt like it was lacking heart.
Rating: ★★ / 5
For such a thick volume, I felt like it was missing a lot. I wanted to connect to this story and the characters more. I love BL series that revolve around a new found family similar to Delinquent Daddy and Tender Teacher or Hate Me, but Let Me Stay which I’ve reviewed already. Sadly The Little Bird Sleeps by the Sea just doesn’t measure up to those other series. While it wasn’t terrible, this story had so much potential and it just fell flat for me.
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