Rating - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Shy freshman college student Rikiya knows he likes guys, but has never been in a relationship, only able to look on without expressing his feelings. Living on his own for the first time he decides to try and change his life and joins a gay dating site. Everything seems perfect until he finds himself about to be attacked with nowhere to turn yet desperately hoping for help, when a guy crawls through the wall and says, "There's no helping it. What's your wish?"
Konya mo Nemurenai is a supernatural B; manga by Kotetsuko Yamamoto.
I knew that once I read the synopsis I was going to at least enjoy myself a little bit, and I did. My word of advice would be to push past the first chapter, as it is only there to set up the story and it gets much better after that.
Now, let's get into the details.
PLOT
The set-up for the story is pretty simple, but it is something that just works for me. Our main character Rikiya (referred to as Hiriki) connects with someone online and goes to meet them, only to end up kidnapped and almost forced into consensually filming sex. Rikiya, in his desperation to get out of the situation, happens to accidentally summon a very powerful demon with whom he forms a temporary contract. I will always love it when a plot involves some sort of summoning so, attempted sexual assault aside, this was promising to be something really good.
The story mainly follows Hiriki and Endo (and Mark the birdman), as they deal with threats from the demon world in the form of a jealous arranged (ex)fiancé and a cunning brother. There was just enough going on to keep you going. It was not like there was much room for normality to let you get bored, the story built-up tension and changed settings to keep you intrigued.
Speaking of build-up, the world-building I thought was perfect considering that this was only a couple of volumes long. You get to know enough about the magic system and the demon world to carry the story.
Now, there is a sequel/spin-off that I also read called Kimi to More Kara, which mainly follows Verde (the ex-fiance), and Gorou, a friend of Hiriki's. This one I didn't enjoy as much because I felt like it added drama that wasn't very necessary. I would have just liked for it to be Verde and Gorou figuring out their relationship on their own terms without anyone getting in the way.
CHARACTERS
Surprisingly, I found all of the characters to be likeable, and the relationships were healthy too which was a bonus. Starting with Hiriki (Rikiya), he was a pretty sound-minded and determined character. His only iffy moment was that he wanted to keep meeting people online, even after what happened before.
As for Endo, of all things I liked his character design. His appearance and his outfit were something that I found visually appealing (and he has tattoos which is a bonus) and reminded me of the main character from Blue Exorcist. I got a good chuckle out of myself when he started to call Rikiya 'Hiriki' instead, as it meant weakling, and my immediate thought was 'calm down there Bakugou.' If you get it, you get it.
In terms of relationships, as I said before, I was quite happy that Hiriki and Endo developed a healthy relationship with no miscommunication. I did think that Hiriki developed feelings a bit fast for my liking though, as I prefer a bit of a slow-burn, but it is a short manga so I can't really complain. I will say though, Endo is 10,000 years old, so if that kind of age gaps bother you, then this probably isn't for you.
I would have liked to see more of Mark though, as his appearances decreased as you went on.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
It was nice to read a BL manga that had a healthy relationship; it is sadly not as common as you would think it to be. If you are looking for a romance with a supernatural twist, try this out.
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