Love's in Sight, vol. 1

 

My Thoughts:

I thought I understood manga, and frankly, manga reminds me of my teen self hanging out at the book stands in Osaka, or as a boy mom and high school teacher, sitting on the floor of our local Barnes and Noble with my teenaged son just reading manga on a Saturday afternoon. What I learned about all the manga reading is that it is a great way to reach our aliterate readers. Aliterate means that readers (in my experience, mostly male readers) know how to read, but they choose not to read, and therefore are "aliterate." By choosing not to read, in its extreme, I mean that they will not even read directions on worksheets and will instead either wait until the teacher gives the directions or just keep asking what they need to do. Either way, I though Ihad seen every manga and there was nothing new.

And then The Way of the House Husband   was given to me by my manga reading son, no longer a teen. The irony is right before the pandemic, he was finishing college in Oregon and working at Barnes and Noble. He is no longer working at Barnes and Noble, but on a little excursion to Powell's in Portland, he quickly book talked this manga.  Fabulous!

So on my quest to find another "new" manga that adds something new to the genre, I have been searching for something different. This manga series, Love's in Sight! may just push the manga envelope enough to excite old and new readers to manga. This book has a bad boy character who realizes that being a high school dropout is cool only until you are too old to be in high school.  He finds that the bad boy scar on his face makes it problematic to actually get a job. He wants to not be a thug, but people don't give him a chance. That is until Yukiko literally runs into him and Morio is in love because she "sees" him through her hands. Since she is visually impaired his look does not scare her and that makes him melt and gush. Her seeing him beyond the outside gives him the confidence to do better for her. It is like Morio could grow up to be the house husband from The Way of the House Husband. 

I like this new look at Asian male masculinity. 

From the Publisher:

Morio Kurokawa is the toughest-looking tough guy around. Yukiko Akaza is a self-possessed girl with a vision impairment attending a school for the blind. The whole city fears Morio, but Yukiko sees the real him—he’s a soft sweetheart who’s just searching for his place in the world!

Mori the Black Panther has won over a hundred fights. He’s beloved by his goons and feared by the public. But now, he faces his biggest challenge yet when he meets Yukiko…and falls in love at first sight! Can Morio outgrow his delinquent roots and turn over a new leaf for his unexpected love?

Publication information:

Author/artist: Uoyama

Publisher: VIZ Media LLC (April 18, 2023)