Written by Satoru Kannagi, the author of Only the Ring Finger Knows, and drawn by Yukine Hoonami, of Desire, this is a better than average shonen-ai story. It is a welcome addition to the lovely shonen-ai collection published by DMP June.

Katsura a teenage boy finds that he has extreme panic attacks when he is in stressful situations, like exams, plays, and competitions. The only person who can calm him down with a hug is his older brother's friend. Since the three were childhood friends, Katsura has been approaching Sou for a hugs in a purely platonic way. However as the three grow older the requests for hugs puts a strain on the friendship between Katsura and Sou as they worry about how others perceive their relationship. This strain gets worse when Katsura is approached by a friend of his in class who has feelings for him and wishes to take Sou's place as the "hug" bearer. While coping with these relationships Katsura also has to cope with being in an archery contest.

The story, while not as good as Only the Ring Finger Knows, is still a very good read. Just like OTRFK, the characters deal with confused feelings and misunderstandings which are also based upon an event that happened in the past. Yukine's drawings are really sweet and she captures the grace of archery (& attractiveness of the archers!) to a great extent. For those who enjoyed OTRFK, Little Butterfly, and Time Lag, this is an ejoyable treat. I will definitely be buying volume 2.

Well, to make a long story short, I was considering giving the manga 2.5 or 3 stars when I finished the actual story. Then came the little bonus story at the end, with the two main characters studying. THAT is the sort of thing which makes me want to lock up my niece AND my nephew until they are thirty-five year old black-belts. It's the sort of thing where the older and (much) larger character says "Oh, you didn't want to? Sorry!" AFTER he is all done, even though the younger character had obviously protested. (He was told to shut up). No actual nudity or intercourse, though, so this is rated okay for sixteen year olds. A cheery thought.

This scene is of course even creepier in context of the preceding story, which I am not going to spoil. The main thing about it is that it contains a PLOT TWIST which is certainly very interesting. Or rather, very potentially interesting. But after some very good initial reactions from everyone, it is not dealt with well, or handled in a way that suggests it might be dealt with well in future volumes. The central relationship retains an ugly unpleasant vibe to it, and the older character remains unlikable, even before the revolting bonus story.

The package is handsome enough, the art is very cool and fluid and without much detail, and laid out so one can easily follow the plot. The archery setting is well utilized. While the older boy, Sou, and his rival are dreary cliches, the characterization of the younger boy and his brother show promise at first, before they lose complete credibility towards the end of the manga.

The writer has collaborated with a different illustrator on ONLY THE RING FINGER KNOWS, which has a simpler but more engaging plot, more emotionally expressive artwork, and which refrains -- in the first volume, at least -- in presenting the sexual abuse of the young as a form of fanservice.

This is a cute story where Katsura is the nieve junior to Sou's brusk senior. Katsura is blissfully unaware almost to the point where you just want to smack him for seeming so incredibly clueless, and Sou is so ...manly stubborn (collected, smoking, and refusing to get wounds treated and taking out his annoyance over the futility of his non-relationship with Katsura on underclassmen in archery) that you just want to lock them into a room until they figure things out. Yamato (Katsura's older brother), while originally seeming rather jealous and over the top in his ambition to be the primary support person for Katsura, eventually settles down into one of the most influential people in the book.

The artwork of Yukine Honami is very airy, and delightfully composed. It works well for this gentler story of Satoru Kannagi. As of now, it doesn't have the emotionally volitile nature of the "Only the Ring Finger Knows", but I'm sure Kannagi-san has more ups and downs planned for Sou and Katsura.