Fumino. Volume 1 Cover Art, I Hear the Sunspot: Four Seasons, One Peace Books.
I Hear the Sunspot – Information
Author of Story: Yuki Fumino
Chapter Count: 8 volumes
Status: Ongoing
Content Warnings
These content warnings do not reflect the contents of the review below, only the literary work itself.
- Bullying
- Ableism
- Loss of loved ones
- Stalking
- Homophobia
Spoiler Disclaimer
This recommendation post may contain small plot spoilers for review purposes. Any major spoilers are hidden by default and are able to be revealed via click or tap.
I Hear the Sunspot – Plot Summary
Happy pride month, everyone!╰(*´︶`*)╯♡ To kick things off this June, I wanted to review this super sweet BL series called I Hear the Sunspot.
This manga follows a boy named Taichi Sagawa, a college student who doesn’t have much money and therefore always works random jobs in order to get by.
One day he takes a clumsy fall and ends up meeting a guy named Kohei Sugihara, a fellow student who’s hard of hearing.
Kohei was eating alone, but offers his lunchbox to Taichi after seeing how clearly interested in it he was.
Despite Kohei’s reputation for being an unlikable guy, Taichi decides to take a job as his notetaker (meaning he takes notes during lectures for Kohei) after seeing Kohei’s personality for himself. Anyone who shares their food must be kind, right?
Although this sort of job is typically volunteer work, Kohei brings Taichi a lunch in exchange for notes each day. With this agreement, these two college boys develop a unique bond—one that has its own share of obstacles!
This manga started as a single-volume story that was extended to have sequel stories—but this means the titles can be a bit confusing, so here is the correct order for you:
I Hear the Sunspot, I Hear the Sunspot: Theory of Happiness, I Hear the Sunspot: Limit (3 volumes) and then I Hear the Sunspot: Four Seasons (3+ volumes, ongoing).
Why You Should Read I Hear the Sunspot
Plot:
The plot of this series is already very cute at the start, but it slowly develops into something more meaningful and emotional.
To be honest, I thought this story would flow smoothly, but it actually portrays some interesting conflict between the two boys and their community as a whole that feels very realistic and believable.
This manga interestingly portrays the worlds between those who can hear, are hard-of-hearing, and who are deaf—and how bridging the gap between your experiences can often be difficult. Understanding each other can take a lot of effort from both sides, and many people don’t agree on how this effort should be split.
Fumino. Volume 3 Cover Art, I Hear the Sunspot: Four Seasons, One Peace Books.
I Hear the Sunspot does a really nice job of portraying these struggles from all sides of the equation.
For example, some characters like Taichi dream of reaching an ideal world where everyone can share spaces and communicate easily, but he quickly learns that his approach to this ideal may not always be successful; nor does everyone want to be a part of it.
I really love how the story starts by showing Kohei’s struggles—being unable to fit into conversations or connect with people—and then sort of switches to Taichi discovering how difficult it can be to bridge that communication gap from his side of things, too.
It really brings together two perspectives that are like two sides of the same coin.
While this manga does spotlight many authentic experiences of hard of hearing individuals, it also showcases a very sweet romance between two these characters who actually have very different personalities.
Despite the characters’ differences, the romance in this lovely series develops very naturally, and although the manga has multiple sequel stories, things still flow pretty well. I’m thankful for all these sequels, as they really help showcase the romance more and more!
The story starts out full of tension, yearning, and some level of dramatic misunderstandings; its a story with a heavy focus on the struggles of communication, so this is to be expected. I personally felt that this was very exciting and fun to read, as it captured that dramatic slow burn romance effect.
Kohei and Taichi have to understand each other before they can solidify a proper relationship, so the drama takes some time to settle. But later on the romance becomes more passionate and exciting, as the characters finally overcome the emotional obstacles to their relationship and now get to focus on falling more in love!
However, this opens up new challenges for the two, as they both approach romance a bit differently and feel the need to hide their relationship from others.
I will say though that while this story touches upon important topics like the experience of disabled individuals and the struggles the main couple experience as a gay couple in Japan, it doesn’t solely focus on these things.
We see the characters pull through many other trials of friendship, self acceptance, entering the workplace, navigating non-romantic relationships, and finding a place where you belong.
Through all of these topics, I Hear the Sunspot portrays a lot of very genuine human interactions and experiences, oftentimes showing the opinions or actions of people that are less idealized; which brings a more realistic touch to the story overall.
I really enjoyed all of these different aspects of the plot… they all blend together to create a well-rounded and exciting story!
Characters:
There are a lot of great characters in this series! I Hear the Sunspot does an amazing job at creating interesting characters that have a realistic blend of flaws and good points. However, for the sake of this review, I’ll be focusing on the main two characters.
I feel like we get a lot of focus on Taichi in this series, so let’s start with him. He is a very fun, open-book character who’s loud, friendly, a bit rambunctious, and always hungry.
Taichi says what he thinks without holding back, and can be a little irresponsible at times.
Regardless, he’s a very nice person who has a knack for understanding others more than he even understands himself. Sometimes, he cares a bit too much for others, and often dives deeper into other people’s business than what is considered normal. However, this ability to read people’s feelings is what helps him befriend Kohei!
Taichi also serves as a comedic element for the series, as he is a little dense, takes action without thinking, and is often clumsy.
Kohei on the other hand is much more reserved, but not necessarily on purpose. After having people give up on talking to him so often or judge his personality without even getting to know him, he’s resorted to simply not making friends.
He’s actually the opposite of Taichi in that he cares for others to the point that he begins to neglect himself. It was too difficult to speak to others, so he decided to just deal with being alone.
However, he seems to open up more after befriending Taichi. Taichi’s glowing positivity and righteousness sort of helped show a new side of the world that Kohei had yet to see. Unfortunately, although he takes a liking to Taichi quickly, this relationship seems to reveal new struggles for Kohei.
His character deals with a lot of internal conflict, and therefore has a lot of growing to do as a person. I really like how I Hear the Sunspot portrays the different nuances of effective communication, as Kohei has to learn to accept and love himself before he can truly start to create connections with others.
These two characters help each other grow and experience life in a lot of different ways, and it makes this series all the more wholesome and heartfelt.
Art:
To be honest, I wasn’t a fan of Kohei’s design at the beginning of the story. I liked all the other aspects of the art; especially the sort of messy look it had occasionally. But Kohei’s character just stood out in a sort of weird way that I can’t explain.
But I enjoyed the story regardless, so of course I continued reading anyway!
Much to my surprise, Kohei’s design takes a pleasant turn for the better by the second volume (Theory of Happiness). Actually, I’d say it improved as soon as Kohei got a haircut. I really didn’t like his long-haired design.
But I really liked the art a lot more in volume two and beyond. The characters look very different, but I’d say it was a good change.
Fumino. Volume 2 Cover Art, I Hear the Sunspot: Limit, One Peace Books.
Outside of that small issue, I actually enjoyed the art style of I Hear the Sunspot overall. I really love the way the author draws the characters when they experience a lot of emotion. Their eyes and tears look messy, and I really like that.
They also look super cute during romantic moments—Kohei and Taichi begin to have a variety of new expressions as they deepen their relationship! (≧▽≦)
Contrasting with how I felt at the beginning of the story, I’ve started to like Kohei more and more in the newer volumes… it’s hard to believe how different he looks and acts in the most recent sequel compared to the first volume!
Anyway, if you start the series and feel iffy about the designs at first like I did, give it a chance at least into volume two. I personally think the two main characters’ designs slowly become more and more true to their personalities as the series progresses, and I’m really happy with how they’ve turned out!
Any Cons?
I don’t really have many cons for this series. It’s engaging, romantic, and doesn’t really have many annoying tropes. One of the few tropes I really didn’t enjoy in I Hear the Sunspot was the return of an ex-girlfriend.
I will also say that some individuals might find the slow burn romance frustrating. These characters have a really great love story, but it takes some time to reach the more exciting developments. Be patient and stick it through—it’s worth it, I promise!
In that same vein, there is a miscommunication arc, but I feel like it was sort of necessary for this story. The characters have to figure out how to bridge their personal differences, and so I didn’t dislike the miscommunication found in this series.
I will admit that I often found myself putting my guard up when it came to new characters, as they are commonly introduced for the sake of drama and misunderstandings, but I later found myself not hating those characters as they didn’t really interfere how I expected. Give them a chance!
However, I know many people really dislike miscommunication tropes no matter the case, so take this as your warning.
Final Thoughts
I Hear the Sunspot is truly a beautiful BL series that captures a meaningful story and realistic romance. It portrays romance and life through a very down-to-earth sort of lens, showcasing both the ups and the downs without hesitation.
This manga shines light on a lot of different societal issues and the nuances of those issues through intricate relationships, experiences, and day-to-day interactions.
Despite it having a lot of serious topics, the manga still feels positive and wholesome, so I highly recommend it to anyone wanting a heartwarming read. The romance in this series is so exciting and sweet, so don’t miss out!
Disclaimer: Any volume covers or official promotional images used for this blog are for illustrative purposes only, are not owned by me, and are under ownership of the artist or publisher.
Images Credit: Fumino, Yuki. I Hear the Sunspot, One Peace Books, 2017.
