Peak Disaster Gays: Jiro Kawaii’s “We’ll Get Our Happy Ending”

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We’ll Get Our Happy Ending by Jiro Kawaii

Japanese title:
ドラマにならない僕らの話
Dorama ni Naranai Bokura no Hanashi

Links:
Jiro Kawaii Twitter
B. Pilz Twitter (Publisher)

Sometimes you’re just in the mood to hurt a little bit. A little hurt/comfort with yourself, if you will. As a treat. Except the thing that’s going to hurt you this time is a BL manga about sexuality and human relationships between college boys because, at its core, Jiro Kawaii’s We’ll Get Our Happy Ending is about human relationships—about how it’s not necessarily about being gay or bi or straight, but about finding someone you care about, learning to treasure and open up to them, and trusting yourself and your feelings—and the difficult path to cultivating a relationship with someone you love as you move on from the past. So, just how does this wonderful manga handle these themes?

It’s been two years since college senior Wataru broke up with his high school boyfriend, Jin. While he’s dated since the breakup, he still sees Jin as special; while Wataru openly considers himself bisexual, Jin’s the only guy he’s ever truly had feelings for. Nonetheless, when he meets college freshman Soma—who’s openly gay—he thinks he’s found someone he can open up to. Soma, however, has other plans—not taking Wataru’s bisexuality seriously (accusing him of “hopping on the bi trend,” no less) and shutting him down by saying he’s already got a boyfriend and isn’t interested.

Flashforward to a few months later, though, and Soma’s a drunk crying mess in Wataru’s apartment. He says his boyfriend called him and said he’s fallen in love with a girl, and that he doesn’t think he was ever actually gay or bi even though he really does have some sort of feelings for Soma. Soma, crushed, (over-) drinks away his sorrows, and Wataru is left to pick up the pieces. This scene is all too familiar to Wataru, though, who went through the same situation with Jin. So, he’s willing to step in—and they somehow end up making out in Wataru’s bed before Soma finally passes out.

From then on, after they bond over their shared loss of their previous boyfriends to women, Wataru seems to have earned Soma’s trust and they continue to grow ever closer, to the point where the people around them notice they’re now pretty much inseparable. However, there’s a weird tension brewing between them, and when Soma invites himself over to Wataru’s place one night, Wataru accidentally admits he was initially interested in Soma on the day they met before he was shot down. Soma, ashamed of how he initially brushed Wataru off, admits that “it’s not too late” and pulls Wataru in for a kiss.

From then on, their relationship becomes increasingly more sexual and intimate. While Soma has started whispering sweet nothings to Wataru while they have sex, though, they’ve never actually confessed any sort of feelings for each other. Convinced that Soma is still hung up on his feelings for his ex, Wataru continues to hope that maybe Soma is capable of overcoming heartbreak and moving on. But, what if it takes years the same way it did for Wataru?

If I had to name just one thing I truly love about this series, it’s how real it feels. My first introduction to this manga was having someone tell me it’s “biphobic,” but while Soma is initially snippy toward Wataru, as a queer person myself I can understand it was more out of self-preservation than actual malice. One thing about Jiro Kawaii’s manga is that the author is always very careful to make sure you understand why characters are behaving the way they are. Another example of this is the constant lapses in communication between Soma and Wataru—the biggest things the two know about each other are that 1) they’ve had their heart broken in the past by dating guys who left them for women, and 2) they’re both still hung up on and traumatized by that experience. So when they keep talking past each other and making assumptions to preserve their own feelings, it just makes sense. It really makes it feel like you’re reading a story about two people who live full, deep lives.

As such, this is one of those treasured manga for me where I equally love both the seme and uke. Wataru, the bottom, is a really sweet guy. He’s not as outgoing or flamboyant as Soma, but he’s sociable and well-liked and quick to reach out to others, and equally quick to get hurt. Thus, it’s easy to see why he’s constantly drawn to the type of guys who’re loud and rambunctious and confident. It was also refreshing to see a character who’s just openly bi, but not in a “let me educate you on bi people! Bi people like both men and women!” PSA way that’s strangely common in manga. Soma is the other side of the coin—he’s outgoing, whiny, and a little bit self-centered. But it’s really cute—he’s a few years younger than Wataru (Wataru being a college senior, and Soma a freshman) and it shows. He’s not as jaded, is incredibly emotional, and has that volatile mix of obstinate optimism and arrogant confidence you can only find in incredibly young adults who haven’t experienced much of the world yet.

But it’s not just their personalities that clash—while Wataru is bi, Soma is gay. Both of them are tentatively open about their sexuality, but Soma is a bit more outwardly combative about his, as if he’s waiting for judgement and rejection at any moment. Thus, I couldn’t hold it against him when he initially pushed Wataru away and refused to take him seriously.

And that fear of hurt and rejection is what sets up their relationship from the start. Both of them have scars from past relationships, and so while they slowly fall in love with each other, that fear keeps them from being truly honest and open about their feelings—to not only each other, but also to themselves. Thus, the two dance around each other, lashing out and testing the waters constantly. It’s painful in the most human ways watching their reactions toward each other because it feels so real—anyone who’s ever been in a relationship marred by past trauma will be able to easily relate.

tl;dr: this manga is peak Disaster Gays.

Aside from the sheer realness of their relationship and personalities, another thing I absolutely love about this manga is the intimacy of the ero scenes. While they are plenty steamy, don’t get me wrong, there’s just a beauty to them—like they were created not just to titillate the reader, but also to showcase the intimacy between Soma and Wataru. The sex scenes are always really intimate, with lots of light gray tone to make it feel darker and more secluded. The posing and the way they touch each other also really says a lot about their relationship. They pleasure each other, ask a lot of questions, are constantly seeking approval and confirmation if something feels good. All of their sex is extremely consensual. I honestly can’t recommend this manga enough to people who care a lot about consensual sex scenes in BL.

I don’t want to give away too much of the ending, but I’ll just say I cried the first time I read it while I was editing the final files. In the office. Thankfully I don’t think any of my coworkers noticed. This is pure slice-of-life emotional rollercoaster, but the ending is so so so satisfying.

I’m dying to get my hands on the two doujin releases Jiro Kawaii did for J.GARDEN a few years back. Sadly, I wasn’t able to go this year to see if they had any copies left. I need MORE of Wataru and Soma’s story

Anyway, if you read this one and liked it, I highly recommend Jiro Kawaii’s My Cute Teacher. I talked about it a little bit in our Hot For Teacher recommendation post, but it deals with similar issues of sexuality, self-acceptance, trauma, and learning to trust other people. I really love it. I’ve also been meaning to read Century Plant, which is another Jiro Kawaii manga we’ve gotten through one of our partners.

Overall, I think Jiro Kawaii is an artist to keep an eye out for. If you really like BL that’s centered on the characters’ relationships and their emotional world, I hope you consider Jiro Kawaii as one of your go-to mangaka for future reads.