Read it on Renta!:
Look at Me. by Momose An
Japanese Title:
俺を見て。
Ore wo Mite.
Links:
Momose An Twitter
Doodle Twitter
Momose An Pixiv
When I heard we’d be getting a Momose An title on the site, I was personally ecstatic. I’m not sure how well-known she is in the West, but Momose An is currently an incredibly popular BL mangaka in Japan. She has two smash-hit, long-running series, Naka Made Aishite (Yuzuriha, my love… I use your LINE stamps every day…) and Osananajimi ja Gaman Dekinai, and her series Shitasaki kara Koi was highly influential for the cakeverse genre. I haven’t seen much fanfare for her overseas, and from what I can tell none of her other stories have been licensed.
Look at Me. is actually one of Momose An’s earliest titles. Published in 2017, you can tell she was still coming into her art style at the time, as this is quite different from the angular and boyish characters she currently draws—but the essence of her style still remains (particularly when she draws the side-views of characters). The art is softer and rounder, but still equally a joy to look at.
The story of Look at Me. centers around childhood friends Kyosuke and Saku. Saku was beautiful from birth, with a gentle and feminine face, so Kyosuke initially mistook him for a girl. Most people, in fact, mistook him for a girl—and were often disappointed to find he wasn’t. Not Kyosuke, though—young and blunt, Kyosuke didn’t care one way or another if Saku was male or female. But unfortunately, Kyosuke was too young to save Saku from an adolescence of trauma, isolation, and loneliness.
While Saku is tutoring Kyosuke for his college exams, accidentally seeing Saku kissing another man and then seeing his back covered in hickies, Kyosuke decides he can’t take it anymore and confesses his love to Saku. And while Saku originally accepts and tries to foster a relationship with Kyosuke, he suddenly rejects him before they can consummate their love and their emotions can grow any deeper.
Running into Saku years later in university, Kyosuke is hopeful to reconnect and fix whatever went wrong in their past. Unfortunately, while Saku is equally drawn to Kyosuke, he has years of baggage to work through that he doesn’t want weighing Kyosuke down, keeps him at an arm’s length.
Thus starts the game of cat-and-mouse between Kyosuke and Saku. Saku wants to let Kyosuke in, wants to be known and seen and accepted for who he is, but has lived a life that’s led him to think he no longer deserves it. But Kyosuke won’t give up—no matter how long it takes and no matter how many chance encounters he has to rely on, he’ll win over Saku eventually.
This book is definitely light on ero, and heavy on plot. The focus is almost entirely on the push and pull of Saku and Kyosuke’s feelings. There is some mild ero content, but this isn’t really a manga I’d recommend if that’s specifically what you’re seeking.
On the surface this manga may have a very simple storyline: childhood friends with unrequited feelings yearn for each other as adults. But I think Momose An handled Saku’s character particularly well. Due to trauma around his childhood and adolescence, he carries a lot of shame for his feminine face and for being a man, especially in a society where even gay men are pressured to still settle down with a woman at the end of the day. After a life of being taken advantage of by adults and never being seen for who he really is, as a young adult himself he’s no longer confident he can choose happiness.
Kyosuke, on the other hand, has more “shonen manga protag” vibes—he cares significantly less about shame or gender or sex or anything like that. All he knows if that he loves Saku, and he wants to be special to Saku, and he’ll do whatever he has to in order to make that a reality.
I admittedly didn’t even expect to get as dragged into the plot of this manga as I did, but after a while I had to understand Saku, why he acted the way he did, why he kept refusing Kyosuke’s love, and if he would ever be able to find happiness. One unfortunate thing, however, is that the translation isn’t complete yet. 😢 So the big payoff chapter isn’t on Renta! quite yet. But it’s coming!! I’m not sure when, since this translation is by a partner and not by us, but it’s coming!!! *personally cheated and read the Japanese version…*
I’m hoping Momose An is another artist whose content we can eventually bring into the overseas market more and more. While I feel the Western BL market is more into dudely, manly, buff dudes, I know there still has to be a market for her really cute boys. I can’t be alone here, come on. Where are my fellow fans of pretty boys at?
I’m not sure where this would rank on Sou’s scale, but I give it a Momose An/10. Highly recommend! Plus, if this one sells well, maybe we can bring over more of her other stuff in the future. 🙏
rentaBLog 