Our Dreams at Dusk

I will admit I've put off reading this series just because I'd seen it was another highschool gay coming of age story, which are plentiful and usually not terribly interesting to me, however my friend Isaac who has good taste also recommended it to me and only a couple of days later I find the whole series at my library! So with luck on my side I finally read all of it today and omg, I see why everyone recommends it now I loved it. Between the series beautiful art and visuals as well as how realistically and interestingly all the characters are written I was entranced from start to finish. I think one of the reasons this series grabbed me while others fell flat was how grounded the portrayals of not only our lgbt cast but also the levels of acceptance of the various other characters, it isn't gaytopia and outside of their safety pocket of the Cat Clutter center they all live fairly discreet lives for their own safety and comfort. I personally also enjoyed how the manga was positive towards not really knowing or needing to label your identity, that not having it all sorted out was okay and it's best to go at your own pace, it was really refreshing to see. Also I'd be doing this series a disservice if I didn't mention the beautiful visual metaphors the series employs, and Yuhki Kamatani's already gorgeous artwork brings every one of these scenes to life amazingly. My favorite character was Tchaiko, I found the story of him and his husband incredibly touching and also I'm just weak for gay old men in general so I loved him most. Overall I recommend this series to anyone looking for a good contemperary lgbt series though I will give a content warning for mentions of suicide as well as homophobia.