Natsume Isaku: Ginger Honey

The good news is that I loved this. It was funny and cute and Mineru is adorable and Seto is hot 80% of the time and good looking the other 20. And that was good for my heart. Also, I got to check in on Sensei and Yoshino who were just as lovey dovey as they were in Devil’s Honey. I got the exact feeling I expect to get from from her work; the feeling that keeps me going back for more.

The bad news is, well, first, there isn’t enough Seto and Mineru. The majority of their story involved Yoshino and, by association, Sensei. Second, there was too much Sensei and Yoshino. I know this sounds like the first one, but what I’m referring to with this is that, in addition to the main character’s story being built around the relationship of two other characters, all but one of the extras was focused on the secondary characters. Third, although Seto and Mineru are only two years apart, the difference between their maturity and experience level often seems five times that. And that makes me uncomfortable.

And last, although I had similar reservations with Devil’s Honey because of how I feel about student/teacher relationships in general, the extras for this volume did nothing to mitigate that and everything to pinpoint why I was not totally put off by it. And that is because rather than the aggressor being the usual pushy bratty younger seme (which does nothing but get under my skin), it was a happy-go-lucky, flirtatious, and sometimes sulky younger uke (which is very close to a dynamic that, though I’m not entirely fond of, was something that I wanted to see, particularly in a teacher/student relationship). A failing on my part for not really noticing that all the countless times I read Devil’s Honey.

Oh, and the main story seemed a bit rushed. I’m sure if there was less Sensei and Yoshino, that wouldn’t be the case.

So, what? Should I mention that I’ve read it several times already?I don’t know. It’s a good story, I love it, but I can’t ignore all the issues I have with it. Should I also mention that I don’t understand the title? I think I’m missing out on a pun regard the word ginger.

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