Almost Crying

Almost Crying is a collection of short stories of yaoi, but it covers the actual boy's love in itself but not anything else. There's the energetic boy who's full of love, the moody boy who's not certain of his feelings and then the dramatic kiss at the end.

Takahashi's art style is highly unique and all of the uke boys look like they're 10 years old, as do the semes sometimes. She draws two types of boys: cute ukes with blonde hair and the seme with black. Of course that is not the only types but the most used in these stories.

The characters' heads threaten to crush the rest of their bodies. But if their heads weren't so big, how could they hold those eyes, exaggerated for maximum adorableness? This book will probably interest many fans such as fans of cosplay or other such strange oddities compiled into these stories.

The main story and the reason for the title of Almost Crying is the story of Gaku and Aoi. One day as young children Aoi and Hajime are walking home from school they see a boy with a sign that reads "Please adopt me". All he has is a backpack full of clothes and boots that say his name is Gaku. Both Aoi and Hajime want to adopt him but in the end Aoi gets him.

Ten years later, Gaku has grown into a cute boy without any memory of his adoption. Aoi and Gaku are close siblings but Aoi finds that he has feelings for his "brother". Hajime is in love with Aoi but sees the only one he will love is Gaku, so keeps this in mind and backs off.

Aoi and Gaku are hesitant to tell each other how they feel. Fearing one has only platonic love for the other. It's sweet to see how their love blossoms, even if it's for a short while.

Almost Crying is a cute title no one should pass up. It gives many hints as to what the boys are doing at the end. (Even though they're only about 15.) All the stories will make you go "AWWWW!" and always be close to tears.