Mike Flanagan is the world's most gracious man. Reading this has been such a moment of sweetness in this time of times. Also, love watching straight people slowly but surely unlearning their homophobi (at least from the safe distance of the page). ( )

The second volume of this omnibus knocks it out of the park. In the first volume, I had wondered why the story focused so much on Yaichi. Here, it becomes clear that the strategy of focusing on the thoughts that people have as they begin to learn about and encounter LGBT people works. Yaichi's continuing arc is relatable and understandable as he explores both the source of his tensions around Mike and reevaluates they way that he treated Ryoji. The culmination of this maturation is Yaichi's willingness to stand up for Mike and Kana, and his final ability to learn about Ryoji's life in Canada. I still wonder what Mike must be feeling inside, but what he displays is an incredibly admirable unflappability that will bear him in good stead. Kana and Natsuki round out the story and make it apparent that this is not just about Mike and Yaichi, but about the family they are building together. I was really hoping for a cute epilogue where they visit Canada, but I guess there's always something to keep waiting for. Read this for a touching, happy, beautiful conclusion to the story. ( )

I enjoyed this volume a lot more than volume 1, but they're both pretty good. A very sweet, heart-warming story. Still not the biggest fan of the art, but it grew on me a little, and it's definitely more of a 'I'm not that into bara' art than that the art is necessarily bad. Overall, good read. ( )

Yaichi finds himself mourning for his twin brother, Ryoji, and coming to terms with his brother's gay identity when his Canadian husband, Mike Flanagan, comes for a visit to Japan. Yaichi is raising his daughter, Kana, as a single dad and finds that's she's instantly accepting of her uncle while he has more complicated feelings.

This slice-of-life manga explores the way Japanese culture treats - or perhaps more accurately, ignores - the LGBTQ community, primarily through Yaichi's working through his own complicated feelings about his brother and brother-in-law and how he navigates parenting Kana. The manga-ka is an out gay man, and through this story, he reveals the ways in which both Japanese and North American culture can accept, ignore or harm. The art is realistic, and I didn't have any trouble following the panels from right to left, though it's been awhile since I've read a manga besides a reread of Fruits Basket. I especially enjoyed how some panels would show what Yaichi actually wanted to say through a thought bubble, and then what he actually did. Though there are sad moments, it's a heartwarming read of acceptance and one I would recommend. ( )

Mike is a Canadian man who’s husband Ryoji has passed away. They had plans to visit Japan one day so that Ryoji could mend his relationship with his twin brother Yaichi. They never had the chance to do that together, so Mike decides to take the trip alone.

In the beginning, Yaichi, who is a single father, is very reserved and battles with his homophobic attitudes, but his manners won’t allow him to turn Mike away. His young daughter Kana takes to Mike right away and doesn’t have any trouble accepting Mike as his uncle. Through volumes 1 and 2, Yaichi comes to realize that his own homophobic attitudes are based on nothing but culturally accepted prejudices, and that he is fully capable of figuring out what’s actually right on his own. He’s helped in coming to grips with his own attitudes through conversations with his daughter, his ex-wife Natsuki, and of course Mike.

Mike, on the other hand, gets to finally meet his husband’s family and to mend some fences on Ryoji’s behalf. He also gets to work through some of his grief, and gains new family members for himself.

This book takes a relatively light approach to really heavy topics, and is a decent, age appropriate guide book that gently teaches you in how to rid yourself of being a homophobic jerk. What really got to me, as is often the case, was the parts about grief, and regret. How you don’t want to leave for tomorrow the rifts that you could mend today, because sometimes tomorrow comes too late.

My five star rating is based on how sweet this was, as well as how hard I cried reading certain parts. The art style is also very lovely. ( )