If you are looking for a fluffy yaoi story, look elsewhere. If you don’t want to read a yaoi manga that involves a sexual relationship with a female classmate as well as a male then don’t read this manga. If you are looking for a manga with an emotional pull that deals with the emotions of sex, sexuality, coming of age, death and the grieving process then maybe Thirsty for Love is a manga worth reading for you, just keep that box of tissues close by for this one.
Orie Nakano is not sure what he loves more, his classmate Yuka or sex with her. When he finds out he is not the only one in a relationship with Yuka and that his beloved sempai is leaving the basketball team things only continue to get worse as he finds out the kind of girl he is in a relationship with and even perhaps how much emotional turmoil he can really take when he finds out Yuka is on her deathbed. Out of all the manga I have read over the years Thirsty for Love has one of the most realistic stories of death and grieving I have ever read and that is a real strength of this manga. Another is its characters as many of them could have come across as horrible people but as you read on you find out the reason why certain characters act the way they do and grow a real sympathy for all of them, even Yuka which I honestly did not expect on my first read through.
The loss of a loved one is never easy on anyone but when that loss happens at a time in our lives when we are still figuring out who we ourselves are, it can be even harder to understand those emotions. Each of the boys in the story goes through grief in a different way which is awesome to see because the feeling of grief is different for every person. Some people’s emotions reach a boiling point and they explode, others bottle everything up and others they just completely emotionally break down. From love to denial, anger, sadness, acceptance and every single emotion in between the three boys who loved Yuka ultimately find comfort in the one thing they all have in common, their love for her.
For all the praise I have given this manga however, it is not perfect. My biggest complaint I have with this story is the whole second half, especially the final resolution that feels very rushed. I get the feeling this story would have worked better as a two-volume manga instead of one and I found myself wondering if it was originally planned that way with how out of sync the second half feels to the first, it just as I said feels rushed. The character of Orie’s sempai especially feels like a bit of a one-note character compared to the other two boys which is a shame because he did have potential to be a really interesting character but he just keeps spouting the same line to Orie constantly throughout the story’s second half and then has a change of heart that really does not feel earned in the end.
A story of emotional turmoil and ultimately finding a way to just feel normal again after a tragedy Thirsty for Love is a manga I consider an emotional journey that will draw you in and remind us all that at the end of the day we are all nothing more than human and will one day have to face the fear of death; whether that be our own mortality or that of our loved ones and that it is OK to fear and grieve no matter how painful that might be.
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