Kauzhiko Mishima presents several stories in The First Stage of Love, beginning with one of those student-teacher things: Nanase is caught smoking on the roof by his teacher, Yui-sensei. Yui says he hates for his kisses to taste like smoke, and gives Nanase a demonstration -- all things considered, probably not the best strategy to use if you want to stay uninvolved. A later story, "Chocoloate Truffle," follows up with the next stage of Nanase's newly-conceived campaign to win Yui's affections.
"Worries of the Future" is a little vignette about Mitsuzuka, at the ripe old age of 25, freaking out about aging. His long-time lover, Kobayashi, finally persuades him that all is not lost. "His, Her, and My Relationship" is another study in the dangers of drawing conclusions without adequate input: It seems as though Seta is avoiding Murakami after their first night together; not only that, he seems to be flirting with one of the women at work, Takahashi, who in turn informs Maurakami that she's getting married and will be changing her name to Seta. Murakami freaks out, even though Seta has reassured him that he loves him.
The main story tells of the somewhat singular courtship of Kikuchi, a bookstore clerk, and Kaji, one of his regular customers. The second part includes the almost-required misunderstandings and the first argument. Needless to say, all is resolved.
The following story, "Wait Weight Wait," is about Naoki Uehara, a chubby boy, who received his first love confession from Hiroyuki Mori, who says "I like fat kids." Uehara overreacts and goes on a diet, turning himself into a slender cutie. Mori confesses again, this time that he love Uehara no matter how much he weighs. Uehara finally realizes that he loves Mori, too, although he'll avoid getting fat in the future: when he was thin, Mori said he was "cute."
These are all fairly light fare -- no great dramas, no soul-searching, no cliffhangers -- but they are all charming stories. I didn't care for "Wait Weight Wait" so much, because I found it repetitive and fairly pointless. The others, though, made up for it.
Mishima's graphic style is, as might be expected, quite open and clean, and characters are quite expressive, as well as being very appealing. One thing I noticed: the faces she creates seem made for smiles. Every time one of her characters smiled, I found myself smiling, too.
Another from Juné.
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