Obake Yori Kowai Mono is a psychological thriller BL about a 35+ year old writer for trashy tabloid magazine named Shuuhei and a sl//tty ~20 year old boy who has a paranormal hunting channel with a side gig as a camboy named Nao.
It's 6 (+2 extras) chapters long and has a uniquely distinct artstyle from other BL manga. There's a heavy slightly unsettling atmosphere, Nao is mysterious and doesn't reveal a lot about himself. He's so young yet he's fallen down the hole of doing exhibitionistic cam work, and he's always alone, doesn't go to school.
Shuuhei meets Nao after driving to the location in his current live stream, but he's hesitant about the boy in meetings afterwards. He finds himself accidentally getting into an odd relationship with Nao, not friends, not lovers, but also not strangers.
SPOILERS AREA!! Up to chapter 3
The development of Shuuhei and Nao's relationship from chapter 1 to chapter 3 is really interesting to me? They don't become closer as in lovers, but Shuuhei is visibly more comfortable with Nao's habits. It's hard to tell exactly what they think of each other, especially Nao's opinion of Shuuhei. From what I can tell, Shuuhei finds him to be fascinating and he wants to understand him more, why he's like how he is now, and what Nao wants to do with Shuuhei.
I don't expect for their relationship to turn into a proper romantic one, I think the large difference in their mental ages/states could make it a bit difficult for them to function like a normal relationship. I'm not sure if Nao or Shuuhei would be able to handle all of the other one's ups and downs, especially Nao's. Shuuhei has a better grip on reality while Nao just lives however he wants to, and part of that may be from their age gap.
Shuuhei is at the very least 35, but I have a feeling he's closer to 40+
(Chapter 3) Nao is definitely college age (19-early 20s). You can tell from his design, his mindset and how Shuuhei speaks to him.
What else.. The way Nao mixes fear and pleasure is fun, it's not something I see a lot in BL. He gets off on being scared or worried, a lot of his live streams are him doing naughty things in public spaces. The fear of being caught. The first time he discovered this side of him was after he was trapped in a bathroom stall by himself, he was m///bating as a way to stop himself from being afraid but it ended up just mixing the two feelings.
Unrelated to the paragraph above. Nao is seen crossdressing twice so far, both in chapter 2 and 3. I like how casual he is about it, and in chapter 3, Shuuhei is very blunt about his interest in Nao while he's crossdressing. I think we get a little bit more information on Shuuhei in this chapter. He's got a laidback attitude towards life, including attraction and sex appeal. He lives his life however he wants to as well, but not in the same way as Nao.
Instead, while he's chained down to his job, he lets himself do whatever he pleases in other areas. He's lived life long enough that he doesn't have a strong opinion on his tastes, actions, or future. This can be both a good and bad trait, since it can skew his approach to illegal acts too.
Obake Yori Kowai Mono really is two different types of weirdos happen to meet and create a strange relationship, and I love it. I don't mind waiting another year for the next translated chapter, just gives me more time to savor it.
NO WAY ONE OTHER PERSON WHO'S A FAN OF OBAKE YORI KOWAI MONO??
No wayyy. Hello, I adore this manga but there's hardly any fans... I own the manga physically and am praying every day for an English release. Thank you for checking out my page ><
I've forgotten to use this account, oops. I've only made one review lol
I do want to write a review on KasuRich by Gojiai and one for 16647 by Xiaohe Shaonian Kawa. Also will consider writing my thoughts on Kawaii Kimi: Bijin na Osananajimi to Heibon na Boku (manga) by Riyuma Kana and Yomayoi since it's one of my favorites.
Hope to have time and motivation to write for something besides Obake Yori Kowai Mono ><
