Skip to main content

Living For Tomorrow

Review

Living For Tomorrow

Tasuku Mizuochi is at the top of his martial arts class and arrogant about it to boot. His best friend, Ryouta Oono, just can’t seem to beat him. Tasuku has been hard on Ryouta ever since they were small children. Tasuku’s mother died when he was young, and Ryouta was there for him. Because of this incident, Tasuku found that his feelings for Ryouta grew over time. He comes down hard on Ryouta as a way to hide his emotions and keep himself from losing control.
 
One night, while watching television, Tasuku hears about a group of people who all seem to have had their lives improved by an “ageman” named Yuuko, a woman with the power to bring men luck. When Tasuku realizes that all of these people were talking about his deceased mother Yuuko, he starts to wonder if he has inherited any of her skills.
 
The only problem is that the rest of the town seems to have had the same idea! Now everyone is out to date or sleep with Tasuku in hopes that doing so will bring them good luck. Unsure if he even has any powers, Tasuku decides to take a risk and confess his feelings to Ryouta; his logic being that if he dates Ryouta that he will be able to bring him good fortune to make him happy.
 
Ryouta is unsure about how to handle his friend’s advances. Should he say no? Would it be taking advantage of him? And why does he feel oddly compelled to enjoy them?
 
Living for Tomorrow does have some graphic sexual situations, but it easily refrains from becoming anything gratuitous and trashy. In the end, the themes are about friendship, trust, and the female fantasy of young men opening up to each other. Because the main characters are still in their early high-school years, the ideal readers for this series would be females in their late teens and early 20s.
 
The book lacks a bit of realism when it comes to the portrayal of young teen boys. The dialogue feels a bit too clean, and the boys far too understanding and mature. On the other hand, this is a yaoi manga. It’s meant to play toward women’s fantasies, where men are more understanding and emotional. Better yet, neither of the main characters are particular stereotypes or extremes. Living for Tomorrow adds just a touch of magic that makes it one yaoi that makes it worth following.

Reviewed by Courtney Kraft on July 10, 2012

Living For Tomorrow
by Taishi Zaou