Often appears as one of the most popular BL manga on any manga reading sites (if you read yaoi, you’ve probably seen its cover somewhere or another). Still, I’ve avoided reading it for years simply because the cover art doesn’t do much for me nor did the first chapter. (Art 6/10) I want to start by discussing the art because frankly, I am torn. Sometimes the character design and art looks great and I have no complaints, but more often than not it looks awkward. To be more specific, Ayumi (the love interest) struggles with looking like an attractive seme all because of the wayhe is drawn for most of the manga. I know art is subjective, but I think anyone can notice the awkwardness in body proportions. It’s not as bad as some older manga (with the infamous “yaoi hands”), so I found it somewhat easy to overlook, but for those who are pickier when it comes to art style…you’ve been warned.

(Characters 6/10) As for the characters, huge warning for those of you who can’t tolerate any incest in fiction. The incest in question is not as egregious as sibling or parent incest, but the main relationship is between the protagonist, Kotaro, and Ayumi, a distant relative of his mother. Kotaro often refers to Ayumi as an uncle or feels a “brotherly” bond with him.

(Story 5/10) The story was also something that I couldn’t find to like that much. It has a pretty rough start (as I mentioned at the beginning of this review, the first chapter didn’t really make me want to keep reading). Ayumi’s introduction makes him come across as an old creep. Unfortunately, the pair’s first intimate moments are set up by a ridiculously trope-y “oh you’re sick, let me take off your clothes” *wink*wink* kind of scene. I love cheesy tropes, but execution-wise, it just felt rushed. And that brings me to my next warning, there are quite a few non-consensual scenes!
I will say that once I got through the first couple of chapters, I started to enjoy the story. I liked volume 1 much better than volume 2. Volume 2 introduced a whole new set of characters and more conflict. However, at times the conflict felt convoluted (even confusing at times), and I left feeling pretty disappointed with the resolution. Despite that, the ending leaned heavily into sappy fluff, so if you like that sort of thing, I think you’ll be satisfied.

(Enjoyment 7/10) & (Overall 6/10) All in all, I’ve read better. With 33 chapters, it's a decent “longer” read but sadly the story doesn’t really go anywhere interesting. And even with the time to set up angst-y conflicts, the manga totally failed to produce anything that would elicit those sorts of feelings in a reader.

You’ll enjoy Fushidara na Hanatsumi Otoko if you like: age gap, older seme x younger use, crybaby use, housekeeper trope, uncle x nephew relationship, possessive/jealous seme, explicit BL.