Call Me Daddy: Shizuku Kunichi’s “Dad, My Lover”

Japanese title:
ダッドマイラバー

This last father’s day, I asked on Twitter which kind of BL dads our readers prefer, and sugar daddies—referred to in Japan as パパ活 (papa katsu)—got a pretty lukewarm response. Which I guess is understandable, since there’s actually not a lot of BL about sugar daddies. It’s truly an untapped market. If you look up the tag on Chill Chill, even, there are only twelve (!?) hits.

Which is one of the reasons I got really excited when I found Shizuku Kunichi’s “Dad, My Lover.” Full disclosure: I actually read this three years ago when it was originally released in Japanese. One look at the cover sitting on the bookstore shelf, adorned with Shizuku Kunichi’s stunning art with Makoto’s adorable twink face and lopsided pink hair, was all it took for me to know this was going to be one of THOSE manga—you know, the ones where for some reason they just hit all the right buttons and you find yourself rereading them every six months? That’s not just me, right?

So when I saw we got the translated version of the manga via one of our partners, you bet your sweet ass I was going to take advantage and push this book with all my might. So here I am, doing just that. Pushing this book. Directly into your arms. Imagine me with a creepy, crazed look in my eyes as I take your hands in mine and then gently but firmly place this book into them. (Or, in this case, the JPEGs…)

Dad, My Lover is about sweet, innocent (beautiful cinnamon roll too good for this world, too pure) gay university student Makoto. In university on a scholarship with no extra support from his parents, when Makoto loses his arcade job he’s absolutely screwed. He’s living on his friend Ryota’s couch when Ryota, desperate to get Makoto to move out, recommends sugar dating. Makoto, without thinking too much about it (sweetie… baby… please…) agrees and joins a sugaring app. From there, he’s contacted by a man who calls himself “Sako.”

This man—full name Keitaro Sako—is handsome, wealthy, and capable, and the second Makoto arrives at his apartment… Keitaro asks him to do the laundry. Wondering if this is some kind of “newlywed” play where he’s asked to set the mood by doing some chores, Makoto obliges. But then he’s asked to clean the living room, take out the trash, and wash the bathtub. Finally, Makoto takes the lead—worried that Keitaro was turned off by his age and inexperience and was hoping for someone more bold—and, straddling his daddy’s lap, is promptly rejected.

Keitaro, it turns out, never intended to take on a sugar baby. He isn’t even gay. He signed up for the app in a drunken stupor, thinking it was a cleaning service. The only reason he specifically contacted Makoto was because he’d feel more comfortable with a male regularly coming into his home, and Makoto said he could cook. But, while the circumstances for meeting were a bit awkward, Keitaro asks Makoto to stay on as his housekeeper regardless.

The only problem is that Makoto is sincerely attracted to Keitaro. Keitaro is incredibly and handsome and kind, after all. But Keitaro’s entire life revolves around work (one of the reasons his previous wife left him), and he doesn’t seem emotionally or mentally capable of much else—as much as he finds himself drawn to Makoto’s sincerity. If Makoto stays around long enough, will Keitaro actually let him into his life?

I love this manga. The thing is, it’s relatively simple—at only a volume, it revolves almost wholly around the relationship between Keitaro and Makoto without going too much into their backgrounds or personal stories. But it has some story beats that just punch me straight in the heart every time.

For instance, when they finally get intimate and Makoto is so happy and giddy to have had his first sexual experience with such a handsome and wonderful guy, and then, as part of their contract… Keitaro hands him an envelope of cash. I know this is such a cliché in stories about prostitution and such, but it wrecks me every time. Seeing that sad look on my perfect little Makoto’s face? HORRIBLE.

Because, you see, I really really really love Makoto. He is my beautiful little angel. There’s a part where Keitaro admits that he feels Makoto was actually seeking a sugar relationship not just for the money, but because he wanted the companionship, and I just. Babyyyy. 😭😭 The fact that he didn’t even think twice about the possible dangers of “selling” his companionship to a stranger… Thank god Keitaro (and Ryota) are there to protect Makoto because he’s perhaps a tad too naïve.

At one point he admits to himself that he’ll “be fine with any kind of relationship” if it means staying by Keitaro’s side, and it absolutely destroys me to see him actively suppressing his feelings and anxieties because Keitaro’s own issues post-divorce initially prevent him from being open about his own thoughts and feelings.

Protect Makoto and his dorky lopsided hair and giant turtlenecks at all cost.

While Keitaro is obviously not Makoto’s actual dad, this manga is also perfect for anyone with a low-key daddy kink. After they take those first steps toward a physical relationship (pushing Makoto from housekeeper to actual sugar baby), to keep at least some semblance of… uhh… professionalism (??) Makoto continues to call Keitaro “daddy” through many of the earlier ero scenes. Call me a gross old man, but I kind of love it. All the while, the push and pull between Makoto’s desperation for connection and Keitaro’s unwillingness to take that last step that would make their feelings mutual is just… /CHEF’S KISS

That aside, even, the ero scenes are really nice. Shizuku Kunichi’s sense of anatomy is really lovely, which leads to a lot of creative and appealing positioning and poses. There’s one scene where Keitaro just lies down on Makoto while they’re making love, and you can feel the weight of their bodies in that moment. The scenes themselves rely more on eroticism rather than hardcore imagery, so it’s perfect for those who like their ero more gentle, emotional, and atmospheric.

The linework is also really soft and thin and expressive, which really fits the mood of the story (and makes Makoto look even more angelic…). Plus, I really enjoy the use of screentone—it’s used mostly for emphasis, and thus really draws your eye to the small details and adds atmosphere to panels. Shizuku Kunichi’s art is just wonderful.

tl;dr: I love this manga SO MUCH. It’s a mix of so many things I personally love in a BL—a beautiful uke who I’m personally madly in love with and would give my life for, stunning artwork with really strong anatomy (those hands tho aaaaaa), a story that has just the right amount of bittersweet and ero with a great happy ending. The relationship between Makoto and Keitaro still has a lot of growing left to do by the end, but it’s fun to just imagine what they have in their future.

In closing, I really hope there will be more sugar daddy BL in the future—especially after reading this. I kind of need it. But even if this was the only sugar daddy BL in existence, I’d still be satisfied. If you’re interested in such a theme, I can’t recommend it enough. Very cute, very sweet, very sexy. 10/10, would read again about 100 more times.