What We See so Far - "Awairo Emaki"

Synopsis

Ryuuta is a simple young man who was once attacked by a youkai when he was a child. At the time, he was rescued by a wandering youkai exorcist called Izumo. Following the incident, Izumo must take his leave once more but leaves with a promise to Ryuuta to come back one day and start their own journey together. However, when the two meet again years later, Izumo seems to have no recollection of their promise. This does not deter Ryuuta though as he makes it his goal to stay with him, and they end up traveling together

The Good

It’s a series that has charm, that’s one thing for sure. With its simplistic style, it gives way more to the character interactions and the story development. At three chapters, the story has developed rather nicely and has even inserted some solid mystery. What’s more, it takes a subtle but interesting development for the main characters. Given the shounen-ai tag, it was somewhat expected that there would be antics involving one of the characters liking the other and the other being in denial of their feelings but the series gave a pleasant surprise by taking a different turn with the two’s relationship. It’s not much but it’s somewhat different.

The Bad

Seeing how the story has developed in a short amount of chapters, it’s rather clear that this series would be a relatively short work. Depending on the development of the story, it could either go well or end up lacking in the end. Other than this, the characters are rather typical and the dynamic isn’t highly unique. Other than this, given the simplistic design, there isn’t that much dynamics between scenes and tones. What’s more, the whole “unique hero” is a trope that makes the latter half of the story have some rather predictable points.

Conclusion

The style is simple and the story and characters somewhat typical, but there is a charm to the story and some interesting points to keep the reader invested. Given the simplistic style, however, there isn’t all that much to appreciate visually. The only real thing that makes the story interesting is the development between the main characters and the mystery behind the two’s past.

Rating: 7.5/10