Brilliant Blue Vol. 1 is the story about the blossoming relationship between the straight-laced Shouzo and the light-hearted Nanami. Shouzo never thought he would ever have to return to his small hometown, but an accident leaves his father unable to work. When Shouzo comes home to take over the family business, he is reunited with his former classmate, Nanami. The once chubby Nanami is now a skinny bishounen. His simple, child-like attitude begins to break away the hard shell Shouzo has built around himself. But living in a small town where everybody knows everybody's business, can anything ever develop between the two? Brilliant Blue Vol. 1 is a wonderfully heartwarming story. I loved Shouzo's straight forward attitude paired with Nanami's naivety. Both characters are almost honest to a fault, with Shouzo being highly educated while Nanami is extremely unsophisticated. The story is told mostly from Shouzo's point of view, with snippets from Nanami's side. It has a nice balance of drama coupled with some great humor. Chapter 5 made me laugh out loud, so make sure you read all the way to the end! My only warning is that if you hate a simple (Read: dumb) uke then you may not like it as much. I think Nanami is brilliantly characterized, but that's just me. ^_^ Brilliant Blue Vol. 1 is my favorite yaoi manga in my collection. It is a truly sweet story that I like to read over and over again.

Saemi Yorita brings us a gentle slice of life story to life with characters that feel like neighbours in our hometown. At once familiar, yet not clichéd, she breathes life into the often tired "stupid person gets caught by smart person" scenario so often used in romance manga across the genres. Nanami is far from being an idiot, despite being widely regarded as stupid. Shouzo himself proves this point by tutoring Nanami until he passes his electrician's license. Rather, he is a bit slow to learn some things if written down, but with numbers, diagrams, and hands on things he is more than capable. His gentle naiveté comes from being a smothered youngest child, shielded from life and indulged by his family. Sadly, their belief that this was the right thing to do was reinforced by his lack of academic achievement at school, and his lack of a social life led him to not understand many things before falling into the hands of a predator as despite his age, he was left stranded emotionally in the realm of early adolescence. The friendship between the two men is touching, with the effects having far reaching consequences as it forces Shouzo into putting down roots he meant to plant elsewhere. Coming to realise that he feels responsibility not only for his family but the friends he has there, Shouzo begins to re-evaluate his life and makes a decision that will set his path in life. As for Nanami, being urged towards greater self responsibility while being supported by his good friend sets the stage for his first steps towards true adulthood and wakening maturity. While this is categorized as being a Boy's Love title, bar the predatory incident with the visiting business acquaintance, nothing really happens. Life unfolds naturally here, perfectly reflected in the unpretentious art, and as the volume comes to a close, we come to understand that Nanami is awakening in more ways than one. But will he be able to handle what is happening within himself and how will Shouzo and Nanami's family react? Those are left for later, hopefully to be answered in volume two. I look forward to it. A sample of the first chapter may be read for free over at the publisher's online manga website, Emanga.com.