Why “I Hear the Sunspot” is my FAVORITE manga and will be yours too! 

I Hear The Sunspot Vol. 1 by Yuki Fumino is easily one of the most beautiful pieces of literature I have seen. Like just look at this cover. I had to pick it up. It was a must. 

I Hear the Sunspot is a series and although I am only reviewing Vol. 1 today, the series includes:

1. I Hear the Sunspot 
2. I Hear the Sunspot: The Theory of Happiness
3. I Hear the Sunspot: Limit: 1-3

Summary

Because of a hearing disability, Kohei is often misunderstood and has trouble integrating into life on campus, so he learns to keep his distance. That is until he meets the outspoken and cheerful Taichi. He tells Kohei that his hearing loss is not his fault. Taichi’s words cut through Kohei’s usual defense mechanisms and open his heart. More than friends, less than lovers, their relationship changes Kohei forever.

I’ll be going over the following things each with my opinion and ideas!

• The gist of it and an overall view.
• The adaptation where I’ll briefly talk about the live-action film.
• The review and the more technical things.
• The rating which is given to the most important parts.

I finished reading this manga while I took a morning jog and stopped at a picnic table to finish it. I loved it so much and I literally cannot wait to share more of the series and even the adaptation! Now, let’s get on to my I Hear the Sunspot manga review!

The gist of it

The cover embodies the entire feeling of the manga well and really sets the scene. This manga falls in the genre of being incredibly heartwarming and an affectionate slice of life. The setting is with two unique college students and most events are at their college where they are both attending law school.

The two happen to meet one day by a simple accident in a cute and silly way. 

The main character, Taichi, is a broke student constantly in between jobs and trying to simply figure out his life. He is confident, outspoken, and cheerful always. 

He finds a way to break through the wall that Kohei has. Kohei has a hearing disability and because of many misunderstandings with others he finds it better to just isolate himself. He is able to read lips but no one takes the effort to slow down enough to help him or even just repeat the sentence. He sometimes looks down upon himself and struggles communicating with others because of the way they push him to the side.

Taichi doesn’t let this happen though. He tries like no one else will for Kohei and somehow his words easily make it to him despite his hearing. Taichi doesn’t give up on him through anything and doesn’t let him go or recluse away.

The two help each other in different ways constantly and help develop each other more as well. I believe that it’s great how Fumino describes the both of them and deeply delves into their characters easily making them seem real. There’s nothing better than a well developed character.

Kohei sees all the efforts that Taichi puts in for him and in ways can’t find a reason for it. No one had ever been there for him like that before. Both of the boys love each other’s company and want the best for each other. But neither can understand why they need to keep coming back and feel such a strong bond for each other. 

Fumino describes their relationship as “More than friends, less than lovers, their relationship changes Kohei forever.” which I think is the best way to put it. If you’re not necessarily a fan of BL manga I still suggest this be something you read. 

The manga isn’t focused on romance, but just the relationship between the two which I guess can be described as complicated. This manga shows the journey of how the two find themselves and learn new things about how they feel in a great way.

The adaptation

Yes, this manga also has an adaptation! Hidamari ga Kikoeru, or, I Hear the Sunspot is a live-action drama series that includes 12 episodes. I will tell you a bit on what I found and I plan on reviewing each episode of it in the future because just look at this!

You already know it’s going to be a banger, guys. From what I’ve looked at so far, (according to my calculations) the show only has the first episode out which aired on and is available to watch on GagaOOLala!

Only the first episode has been released for free at the moment but new episodes are out every week and here is a cute little I hear the Sunspot release schedule that I will leave for you so you can keep up with this. It also has subtitles for English, Chinese, Thai, and Spanish!

The first episode looks to have roughly the first chapter of the manga and it is, along with the rest, about 30 minutes long.

I’m pretty excited with the look of it because it seems that the actors match pretty well. The entire vibe of the adaptation looks heartwarming and inviting the same as the manga so I believe it will be portrayed very well. These are just my thoughts though, and this post isn’t about the adaptation so if you want to learn more about that you can read it on a new post soon!

Anyways! Back to the manga!

The review

I’m sure you can tell already that I thoroughly enjoyed this manga especially since I’ve stated that it’s my favorite but I’ll still give you a bit more on the breakdown.

The art of the manga is one of my favorite styles I’ve seen. Many styles can be a hit or miss with people but this style has been an inspiration to me personally. Everything is represented with smooth, thin, clean lines that give each of the characters a light and warming effect just from the art alone.

The panels and the setup of the manga are represented very well. Every bit of it flows nicely and you get many great shots. There’s plenty of beautiful imagery throughout that makes me enjoy it all the more.

The entire manga is easy to read and very immersive. Nothing moves too fast or too slow. And it ends with what many of you would want, so no leaving you saddened or upset. The plot is well thought out and the characters are well developed. The storyline has something that you can resonate with and every part of it is realistic.

The rating

My Final rating for I Hear the Sunspot Vol. 1 is of course a good one:

Art : A

Story : A

Execution : A

– – –

Overall : A+, which is 4 out of 4 on the clover, making this a pure lucky find!

A little about the author! 

Here’s a little snippet of information I found about the author Yuki Fumino, from the OnePeaceBooks site!

“Yuki Fumino’s first manga, I Hear the Sunspot, received a great deal of attention upon its publication in 2014, quickly leading to the development of a feature film. She is presently working on the third installment in the series. The exceptional talent on display in her debut project has made her one of the most watched and up-coming manga-ka in the BL world.”

. . .

That’s all I have for you guys today on this but let me know what you think! Have you read it or are you going to read it? And of course, be sure to send me any manga recommendations you think I might like as well, and I’ll be sure to review it! Thanks for reading guys! Cya in the next one! <3