Name: Our Dreams at Dusk: Shimanami Tasogare
ISBN: 9781642750607

Yuhki Kamatani

The beloved coming-out and coming-of-age manga about a broad LGBT+ community. Not only is high schooler Tasuku Kaname the new kid in town, he is also terrified that he has been outed as gay. Just as he’s contemplating doing the unthinkable, Tasuku meets a mysterious woman who leads him to a group of people dealing with problems not so different from his own. In this realistic, heartfelt depiction of LGBT+ characters from different backgrounds finding their place in the world, a search for inner peace proves to be the most universal experience of all.

Our Dreams at Dusk: Shimanami Tasogare

Marriage. Someday, right? We'll get married someday. But when will 'someday' get here? I want the formalities. Something we can build on, that says we're together forever. 

Uh-oh. This isn't good. Not good at all. This is gonna ruin me. 

i started this at twelve on a school night lying down on my pull-out mattress in the dark - so when i got to tasuke's breakdown i didn't really feel anything but a sharp leg cramp that came from sitting in an awkward position for Way too long. 

but those aren't exactly the right words. maybe i should've started with this - i get something like goosebumps when i feel a surge of emotion. even if i'm not thinking anything or feeling anything in the moment it's there, rolling off my muscles & contracting in waves. that's a little like how i felt reading this manga.

the art style is genuinely so beautiful i took the type to zoom in brightness up to full (no matter if my eyes burnt) to appreciate every single detail. tasuku represented as glass breaking in shards. those full-panel pages with memory after memory and character aft character. characters were so real and so relatable i questioned things i've always thought of but never really brought consciously to the fore. i don't even mind the 'poorly executed ending' either because to me the whole story itself eclipsed whatever egregious flaw people on reddit like to tout about it, and it felt just right to end it where it did. would like to reread this manga one day when i fully come to terms with my sexuality and the person i am :)

i started this at twelve on a school night lying down on my pull-out mattress in the dark - so when i got to tasuke's breakdown i didn't really feel anything but a sharp leg cramp that came from sitting in an awkward position for Way too long. 

but those aren't exactly the right words. maybe i should've started with this - i get something like goosebumps when i feel a surge of emotion. even if i'm not thinking anything or feeling anything in the moment it's there, rolling off my muscles & contracting in waves. that's a little like how i felt reading this manga.

the art style is genuinely so beautiful i took the type to zoom in brightness up to full (no matter if my eyes burnt) to appreciate every single detail. tasuku represented as glass breaking in shards. those full-panel pages with memory after memory and character aft character. characters were so real and so relatable i questioned things i've always thought of but never really brought consciously to the fore. i don't even mind the 'poorly executed ending' either because to me the whole story itself eclipsed whatever egregious flaw people on reddit like to tout about it, and it felt just right to end it where it did. would like to reread this manga one day when i fully come to terms with my sexuality and the person i am :)

Beautiful artwork and storytelling. I will simply never be the same about fish.

Acadia

Mythos

4.5/5 stars


  SPOILERS AHEAD:


 Summary: 
After being outed to his classmates, Tasuku considers committing suicide. As he fears that this will ruin his life. After seeing someone else jump, he rushes towards them only to realize they're completely fine. After following her, he learns that her name is Someone-san. As they reach the top, she says,  "You can tell me anything, I won't listen, though"  This leads to him being able to voice his feelings and deepest fears for the first time. This continues to happen as he meets the rest of the group at the drop-in center.

The story goes on to focus both on Tasuku and Daichi. Daichi is a rather important character as she had a similar attitude to the one Tasuku has. Although she never considered suicide, she did her best to accept what was told to her until she could no longer handle it. Essentially, coming out in her workplace and having to leave her job leaves her with no sense of what to do next. That is, until she met Someone-san, who put her in charge of a project and let her do whatever she wanted. Follow her as she decides what to do with the space and how it became a drop-in center.

Overall, I liked seeing her growth and liked that they didn't just use it for Tasuku's character development. It was rather fast-paced, and I missed the point in some scenes. The art is rather beautiful, and I would recommend it to anyone to read it. Although I would like to say that there could be some scenes that are triggering to people who were afraid or are afraid of coming out. From experience, Tasuku's thoughts are rather accurate in terms of a person who fears the consequences that coming out can bring. From considering offing himself to doing everything in order to deny he is actually gay these all can be triggering. Still, this manga does a great job of showing us the process Tasuku goes through in order to accept himself.

This manga blew my fucking mind oh my god pls read it 

Jude Moon

this is all that i love in manga form 💚

Tilde C

Man, I haven't read manga in so many years.

Our Dreams at Dusk, a more realistic and human representation of LGBT lives in Japan (you know, compared to BL manga and the like), is a sweet and very affirming story so far, despite the plot kicking off with young student Tasuku planning to kill himself after being outed as gay at school. He happens upon a kind of drop-in center inhabited by other queer people, and in particular there's a very sweet and three-dimensional lesbian couple I obviously adored immediately.

Judging just from Vol. 1 there's not a very intricate plot, it's more introspective and about Tasuku's journey learning about how there are other people like him, out and happy and accepted. And it just feels good to read, you know?

My only issue is really how, in this realistic and understated story, right at the beginning there's a bizarre magical element introduced and it doesn't seem to have much symbolic relevance or matter in any real sense, so I still have no clue why it's in there. Maybe it's touched upon in later volumes, but i feel like it might as well have been left out entirely.

Belle Ellrich

This has to be one of the most beautiful manga I've read. Kamatani Yuhki has a beautiful art style, and I found myself being drawn in and taking in each and every small and large detail upon turning to page one.

This manga focuses on Tasuku Kaname, a teen who's still in the closet. He's terrified of being outed, and when his new friends spread a not-so-false rumor about him being gay, he's picked on and ridiculed consistently. Being the new kid isn't easy for him, but being picked on for his sexuality is even worse to him.

I understand a lot of what Tasuku went through in this book. He's terrified of what the people around him will think, and I can resonate with that a lot. Something I wasn't that big of a fan of was how he took out his anger and fear on the people around him. I know this is something that regularly happens in the world, and I've personally seen this happen, but it felt more out of convenience that he acted that way than not.

By the end of this first volume though, I definitely felt like some wrung out ends had been tied up, and I'm excited for what the next volumes will bring.

TRIGGER/CONTENT WARNING(S): Attempted Suicide, Suicidal Thoughts, Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia

ㅤrizki

mariannné

Zita Azlina

Viola Asp Borcher Christensen

Talisa

yousr abu sboulah

A SECRET EXPOSED Tchaiko has always been an enigma, but when he goes to visit his partner in the hospital, his story is finally revealed. Meanwhile, Saki’s biggest secret is thrust out in the open—despite her desperate attempts to keep it under wraps. The emotional final volume of Yuhki Kamatani’s tale of gender, sexuality, and self discovery!

neri

akynn 

allison chen

HELP OR HINDRANCE? Tasuku is starting to feel at home at the drop-in center—just in time for him to help a younger student who also hangs out there. Misora Shuji likes to wear girls’ clothing but is unsure about their gender identity. Will Tasuku’s guidance offer Shuji some clarity or just make things harder?