Katakoi Lamp

Ok so to get it out of the way, the production quality of the book is on par with other tokyopop releases. It's good quality and looks nice on a bookshelf. the page quality is fine and the contrast of the ink is nice and defined.Now for the story though, which I feel honestly falls a bit short. It's definitely written to be a fluffy one-shot, right down to the pink color palate of the exterior designs. One big problem though: The main character really comes across as extremely self absorbed and frustrating. The story progresses very much as you'd expect: Kazuto runs a coffee shop and has a huge crush on a customer, Jun. Kazuto struggles to find a way to tell Jun he likes him, and antics ensue. That's all well and good, pretty par for the course for BL fluff, but the problem comes with the side characters. Kazuto has a friend named Shinjo who is a model. It' revealed about halfway through that Shinjo actually has a massive crush on Kazuto when he confesses to him. Kazuto responds by immediately turning him down, which is totally fine. But then he turns around and gets mad at Shinjo for wanting some time to himself to process being rejected, and even implies that Shinjo is selfish for needing time alone for a while, and continues asking for his help to get closer to Jun. Kazuto seriously has to be the most selfish aloof protagonist I've seen in a fluff BL yet. It wouldn't be a problem if he wasn't the character I'm supposed to be rooting for; but instead he is, and I can't stand him honestly.There's also a female character named Hisahara who works with Kazuto at the cafe, and who Jun has a crush on at the beginning of the story. She only seems to exist as the "Maybe Jun is straight?" plot device, and we don't ever really learn much about her.The book hints at the fact that there might even be a love quadrangle with how everyone seems to be crushing on each other, which honestly would have been interesting to see play out. But instead the story just ties the two main characters together and forgets about Shinjo and Hisahara entirely; which I always hate seeing in manga, ESPECIALLY romance manga. When something that's primarily character driven forgets about half of it's characters, it makes me think that either this story got rushed to meet a deadline, or that the story itself never got fully realized before being made.You might have noticed how I haven't talked about Jun yet. That's because honestly there's not much to say about him. He's a cliche "shy uke" character with very little personality other than "he's shy and pretty". His job is to make big wide eyes and be amazed by everything, then get shy and reserved as soon as Kazuto hints at anything. If you've read ANY BL manga ever, he is basically like every other uke character you've ever seen.This one might be alright for people who collect BL, and it's pretty inoffensive. There's no really dark themes to speak of here apart from unrequited love that never really sees any sort of closure. I just really don't recommend it though just because honestly, I don't think the plot was very fully realized and I feel like I'm only getting half the story. If there ended up being a spinoff dealing with the side characters that explained more about the other characters, then I'd probably have a better opinion of it. As a standalone story though, I think it falls short.

Really liked it! Cute, sweet story about 2 sweet guys falling in love. Jun and Kazuto are cute and they have a little terrible getting together but its worth it in the end. I enjoyed it.

Cute art and an easy to follow story. It simple, warm, and fluffy. I would like more of a conclusion for the friend, though.

I’d say this particular BL manga falls right in that “middle-ground” area. It’s extremely predictable and generally very true to all the typical BL tropes, with the possible exception of the main character/seme. I find him somewhat notable and unique for being so especially blind and self-centered regarding what’s going on around him.There are clear positives though, such as the art which is very clean, professional, and pleasant to look at. There’s also nothing remotely controversial or rape-y in terms of dubious consent - which I’m sad to say is often worth noting in just about ANY volume of yaoi manga, even the ones that appear to be totally light and fluffy based on the packaging and description.Another review mentioned how off-putting the main character/seme is, and I have to agree with that sentiment. Although I have to admit that I found it almost amusing what an utterly self-absorbed, self-centered jerk he was. If this were a multi-volume series it might be problematic, but I think it’s fine for a one-off.

I can’t wait to read it, it looks so cuteeeee

Katakoi Lamp is a simple and focused BL using the coffee shop prompt that shippers love to use. Focused with its small cast of four characters, every chapter centers on the main relationship making for a story where nothing feels rushed (well except for the lewd). I like this setup as most single volume BL usually only dedicate three or so chapters to the cover couple leaving the rest of the volume for one shots that are often hit or miss. In any case, I consider Katakoi Lamp to be a simple story because, using its prompt, it is easily a story that feels like a writers first BL (it isn’t). I say this only because the lewd scenes are rather condensed and basic, also, they don’t even get undressed even in the hot springs, so…yeah. The writer, humble of course, says there is room for improvement, but they liked the story, and so did I.That said, I will probably always remember this story as the straight main character falls for the straight guy that is crushing on him, or actually not, is packed with really cute moments. Miss Understanding is here and ever present and makes for some great moments. And lastly, the story is full of heart. I’m a sucker for pretend dates and I loved that the most.Otherwise, definitely check this out if you want to smile and feel warm inside from the cute characters and their cute friendship.

I wouldn’t say you should by this for your kid. It’s definitely not for kids. But the mature scenes are tastefully done without it being awkward to read even when you’re alone.

It's not the first manga from TOKYOPOP that has this same issue. The live area, margins, trim size, and bleed are AWFUL. It is very hard to read some of the texts because I feel like if I try to open it more, it will break. And I'm opening it as much as I can without damaging the manga. Try to compare it with the pictures of Seven Days and you'll notice the big difference. TOKYOPOP seriously needs to fix this problem because the same thing happened with Replay.

I really liked this manga.I certainly recommend it, the illustrations, the characters, everything.The story is awesome and cute.

Achei divertido e fofo, preferia aque seguisse o que o protagonista achou que era mas o drama nem pode se chamar de drama, então gostei.

I bought the manga as second hand from Amazon with a moderate cover damage that I fixed myself easily with some tape, so if you are doubting about buying secondhand manga you need to know it's really easy to fix.Now the manga review.The story is easy to follow with a beautiful art. The characters surprised me for good becasu they are not a cliché and like I always review, I like when relationship between character is treated like a normal relationship and not something "forbidden". The story is really cute with more than just a kiss at the end.If you are new in BL manga I would recommend this for sure, and if you are a regular BL reader like me I recommend you this as well :)

Beautiful cover and detail, the only problem I have is it has a dent at the bottom but it is not very noticeable.I love the cover though very cute!Haven't read yet but existed!

I read this manga not in paper version, but I was amazed at how cute and respectable it is. I recommend it for those who are passionate about bl stories like me.