My Summer of You [2025-Oct-12]

Date: August 2025

Format: Manga, BL

Original Release: 2016

Volumes: 1


Assessment:

Really strong start that stays good for a while before totally dropping off at the end. This is a story about a boy whose classmate confesses his love for him, which isn't exactly requited, before the two spend a summer together visiting shooting locations from some of their favourite movies.
The first half is really cute, and I like how it starts with the confession and lets that be a constant background noise for the rest of the story. The pair have great chemistry, and it feels very believable. I love how neither character is upset by the confession or the rejection, it's really sweet and contributes to a very genuine feeling of mutual respect and admiration.
Unfortunately after the halfway point it gets extremely contrived, falling into two of my least favourite tropes. The story becomes a victim of overexplanation, providing convoluted reasons for characters having certain feelings and acting certain ways. It cheapens the entire romance, and is totally unnecessary as the pairs' feeling for one another already felt very organic and self-evident from the start.

Art:

Really cute if a little plain. There's a nice attention to detail in the backgrounds and anatomy, I particularly like how necks are drawn, and the expressions are really adorable. Both of the main characters look a little samey, having almost identical hair, but they feel distinct enough overall.