Stalemate · review
Been a while since the last time I actually read this. WOOOO BOY Now THIS is a full taste of BL romanticization goggles LOL. The first pair is a combination of all things problematic in BL. It's an age gap relationship between an adult with a minor (with the minor not even graduating just yet) that's also incest between the uncle and the nephew. That is a LOT, and the taboo is 100% the point. Readers hella beware. With that being said, I actually appreciate that the story doesn't pull its punches and jumps with both feet. And I do think it's a testament of the story'squality that a story as red flag as this can feel THIS fluffy.
I still cannot say it's GOOD though. Even if we discount the morality issue, the story is objectively underwritten. The narrative serves only as a vehicle to deliver taboo age gap incest content, and THEN it also chose to portray this story as a wistful narrative with quiet moments and fluffy gestures.
The end result is that both main characters are mostly undeveloped, and that undermines the entire taboo aspect of the narrative. Yes, the uncle is handsome in a rugged ossan way. Yes, the uke has a crush to his uncle, but there's little to no depth beyond that. I didn't even really feel the uncle's acceptance beyond that he's simply touched by his nephew's yearning. There's not much personality in the characters.
The second and third story are less problematic, and also much more straightforward. Nothing particularly special, but they are cute and well-paced.