The topic of love is rather complicated. While popular romance media often shows it to be a one plus one situation, it’s not always the case. Sometimes there are third parties or even fourth parties. There are also arranged marriages wherein two individuals are forced to marry each other. Sometimes that does result in love, but most of the time it results in a chaotic situation. That kind of confusing setup is the topic of this review. I Want to be a Wall tackles a rather interesting setup wherein a newlywed couple faces their emotions in an unorthodox manner. Here’s our review of I Want to be a Wall Volume 1.

Discussion Time

I Want to be a Wall shows the married life of a gay man and an asexual woman. Clearly, Yuriko and Gakurouta’s married life is nothing like one would expect from a typical married couple. Their relationship is already a curious one at first glance, but it gets further complicated (yet eye-opening) when you learn that Yuriko is an avid fan of Boys Love stories and that Gakurouta has an unrequited love toward his childhood friend.

1. Surprisingly Light Drama

Given the manga’s premise, we expected it to be heavy on the drama. After all, the mangaka has intentionally – we believe – made Yuriko and Gakurouta’s set up extremely complicated. However, the manga is actually very light on the drama, and it’s very much spaced out throughout the volume. Most of the drama involves Yuriko and Gakurouta’s past, and it’s in no way uninteresting, as the flashbacks mostly show the two characters’ times of confusion.

2. Characters That are Impossible to Hate

Yuriko and Gakurouta are both very lovable characters. They may have married each other out of convenience, but they are genuinely doing their best to support each other. They don’t treat each other as objects to further their own goals and are trying to actually make their marriage work. By that, we mean that they are not trying to make themselves or the other fall in love but they want to coexist as a married couple in the long run. That’s something we can’t help but find really charming and adorable.

The other characters in the manga, which are Gakurouta’s childhood friend and Yuriko’s friend, are also very lovable individuals. They are obviously not perfect, but their unfavorable behaviors can easily be excused as youthful ignorance. Well, this is at least true for the characters featured in the first volume of the series.

3. Unforced Presentation of POVs

What’s really lovely about the execution of Gakurouta and Yuriko’s characters is that everything is stated very matter of factly. The mangaka isn’t making the readers pity them. They are simply shown as humans with rather complicated life stories due to their gender and sexuality, which is something a lot of individuals may empathize with. Nonetheless, reading their interactions is like watching a short stream. There is no demand to take sides. There is no demand to do anything. Enjoy their story, and it’s up to the readers to feel or do whatever they want to do next.

Final Thoughts

I Want to be a Wall offers a great read for everybody regardless of their gender. It’s a mellow drama with bits of comedy sprinkled on top of it. The characters are absolutely adorable, and there’s really nothing we hate about it. Hopefully, future volumes of the series keep up the standard and vibe.

Do you think you’ll be picking this title for your next read? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below!

Writer

Author: Christian Markle

I am a copywriter, proofreader, and editor. I love watching anime, reading manga, and writing my own stories. Watch out in the future as you may see one of my works one day. Manga and anime were big parts of my childhood. I grew up watching Yu Yu Hakusho, Slam Dunk, One Piece, and Dragon Ball Z. Those were probably one of the happiest and most carefree days of my life. In fact, most of my values are probably molded by manga. No, that's not an exaggeration.

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