Twenty-year-old Kouta works at a local guest house, and when a new part-timer joins the staff, he's mortified to learn it's someone he never thought he'd see again--his junior high classmate, Chizuru. Not only do these two share a past, they've shared a kiss, albeit one that only happened because of a "punishment game."

Thanks to that, Kouta assumes Chizuru wants nothing to do with him. Yet the moment these two former classmates are alone together, Chizuru kisses Kouta again, then confesses he took the job just to be with him! Is this another cruel prank, or a chance to start over?

Follow That Kiss has story by and art by EI TOZAKI. English translation is done by Amber Tamosaitis, lettering by Ray Steeves, with an adaptation by Casper Kazor. Published by Seven Seas Entertainment (October 20, 2026). Rated M.

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

You know those books where you suspect you maybe liked it a bit more than you should? This is one of them. Follow That Kiss is a perfectly harmless, very sweet single-volume story about two young men finding each other after a six-year gap. It's got a warm heart and a gooey center and a few lovely messages about how only you get to decide what's right and wrong for yourself. It's also clearly the work of a manga creator who hasn't quite gotten their feet under them yet and is trying to do a bit too much in a single volume, resulting in a story that's very nice, but not necessarily very good.

The plot's inciting incident happened when Chizuru and Kouta were fourteen, second years in middle school. As the punishment for losing an unspecified game, the boys have to kiss, something Kouta is emphatically not comfortable with – probably because he knows that once he kisses another boy, he won't be able to hide his attraction to boys anymore. Chizuru, on the other hand, just goes for it, and the moment turns out to be pivotal for him as well: as the child of an acrimonious divorce, he's struggling to feel like he exists and is worth anything. That he could make Kouta react tells him that he's allowed to continue living. But then he moves out of town with his dad and they don't see each other again until Chizuru shows up at Kouta's place of work when they're both twenty.

The driving force of the plot is Kouta's internalized homophobia. He feels like it's not okay for him to be gay (although he doesn't seem to have an issue with other people being queer), and that's informed his entire life. He runs from romance and remembers his kiss with Chizuru with shame. He's stunned and frightened when Chizuru charges back into his life, demanding his attention and making it clear just how much he likes him. Chizuru spends most of the volume trying to break through Kouta's shell, and in his defense, he is fairly respectful about it. (Fairly. He still makes some very off comments, like being jealous of the mosquitos because he wanted to “suck Kouta dry.”) When they finally get together, it's a cathartic moment for both of them: Chizuru gets the guy he's been pining for and Kouta gets the same, plus the understanding that there's nothing wrong with being in love with another man. They're happy, and that's all that actually matters.

In two volumes, with space to breathe and develop, this could have been an excellent story. In one volume it's still pretty great, but it feels condensed. I'd still say it's worth reading (and if you don't care for sex scenes, just skip the bonus; the rest is very clean), and I hope to see more and longer works from this creator in the future.

Bolts
Rating:

I think this book is a perfect example of how a single unfortunate circumstance can make someone feel guilty over their entire sexual identity. I am someone in my thirties and I am still overthinking really dumb or silly things that I did when I was ten. This book follows a twenty-year-old named who feels undeserving of love because he cried after being forced to kiss another boy in his class, and that sounds like a nightmarish ordeal that I deeply empathize with. What's impressive, though, is that this type of trauma is treated with a significant degree of care and kindness. The irony is that the biggest source of support came from the very person that Kouta was forced to kiss in the first place.

People will go out of their way to justify themselves being undeserving of love. Even though I didn't end up relating to the very hyper specific scenario that the two leads were in, there's something about the specific word choices of the dialogue, the way the characters look at each other and the way that things are internalized that made me feel incredibly empathetic. I had such a strong visceral reaction to certain scenes and how relatable those more general feelings were portrayed. I think everybody understands or can relate to the idea of feeling guilty about just being alive. The fact that this trauma is not only the basis for the two leads to have more serious conversations about themselves, but it also allows the two a chance to develop their romance. This is a story all about physical touch and connection whether it's a simple kiss or a full on sex scene. Please give it a read if you have the time because I think there's a lot here that's just asking to be talked about.