Dear Myself

Teenager Hirofumi wakes up one day and notices that things seem rather strange. His room has been re-arranged, his school uniform is different, and his sister has had a make-over. Or so it would seem. Then comes the revelation that for the past two years he has been living with amnesia and now his memory appears to have returned, only for those two years to promptly disappear instead. Struggling to cope with this he suddenly learns a further fact that his family neglected to mention: in the intervening years he has found love, come out at school and started dating a guy called Daigo. And yet as far as he's concerned he's still a 14 year old boy and is most definitely straight. Oh dear.

I really think that this is a very clever take on the old amnesia plot-line, and I'd recommend buying this manga on the strength of that originality alone. Dear Myself is incredibly cute, especially the way in which Hirofumi deals with the more adult lifestyle he has been propelled into. Sadly I don't think the manga quite lives up to the potential offered by its rather excellent concept (but then nobody's perfect). The main sticking point for me is the way in which Hirofumi's relationship with the enigmatic Daigo is explored. Anyone reading this could probably give a good guess at how the plotline plays out. (Hands up anyone who's read a yaoi where the main couple do not end up as an item. Anyone? Anyone at all?) What I'd say most people expect is the standard "Denial of attraction > Resistance to the idea > Slow discovery" progression. Okay, a good writer will be far more innovative, but that's pretty much how it goes. What happens in Dear Myself is that Hirofumi seems to decide: "Well I was with him before, and now he's my responsibility, so I should stay with him." Which is a bit weird and unromantic as far as I'm concerned.

Despite flaws, the story remains a rewarding read; it is interestingly told, has nice use of flashbacks, and I really do like the portrayal and psychology of Hirofumi. I just wish that we got more signs of the re-developing feelings between the two boys besides Hirofumi getting a pain in his chest when Daigo is sad. On a side note, although this is only a 16+ I do also think that there was a distinct lack of emotional/physical contact between the two. Daigo continually (and rather optimistically) jumps his amnesiac boyfriend, only for Hirofumi to push him off angrily. There was very little tender physicality between the two of them at any point, and I definitely think the manga would have benefited greatly from that in the later stages, even if it was just a bit more hugging.

Like all of Juné's manga this is very nicely produced, even though the front page looks like a badly photocopied image of a very nice colour picture. Why they can't just print it properly is anybody's guess. The artwork as a whole rates a "good" on my own personal scale. The characters are simply drawn in a way that sometimes looks quite childish, but they are still nicely drawn and very cute. Eiki Eiki draws disproportionately large eyes, which are very expressive. So while the artwork is not as beautiful as most of my favourite mangas, it stays expressive, and that helps pull the story along nicely.

Dear Myself comes with flaws, but stands strong despite them and remains unusual and touching. Definitely enjoyable enough to pick up a copy.