Japanese title: め～てるの気持ち
Synonyms: Maternal Feelings (Maybe?), Maetel’s Feelings or even Love Laughs at Locksmiths.
Author: Oku Hiroya
Chapters: 28
Volumes: 3
Genres: Adult, Drama, Mature, Romance, Seinen
Serialisation: Young Jump 06-07
Plot Summary: Koizumi Shintarou is 30 years old, a virgin, and has isolated himself in his room for 15 years. He has become a burden on his father, Koizumi Yasujirou. One day, Shintarou makes a proposition that if Yasujirou gets a girlfriend, Shintarou will come out of his room. It turns out that Yasujirou has already made a girlfriend, a young beautiful woman, Yoshinaga Haruka, who is with Yasujirou for her own personal reasons.Yasujirou and Haruka decide to get married, but Yasujirou dies on their honeymoon. Now Haruka decides to take care of Shintarou, and so this weird “mother and son” are now living together. – MangaUpdates
I’ll just stick with the romaji name for this one, no one can seem to agree on a proper translation.
Me~Teru no Kimochi is a relatively short, hidden gem of a manga by the well-known author Oku Hiroya. More well-known as the long time author of Gantz, a manga which I am currently reading, and am quite fond of. Me~Teru is short enough to read in a single sitting and deals with hikikomori as a subject. The main character is an extreme example of a shut in who, since his mother’s death 15 years ago, has locked himself away in his room without once setting foot outside.
When his father dies from cancer his new mother-in-law, a beautiful 22-year-old girl moves in to take care of him out of devotion to his father. The plot summary sounds like the perfect set-up for a questionable hentai or ecchi manga, but do not be put off. The girl is sweet and attractive, and the manga works out to be a very heartfelt romance and drama. There IS a single sex scene in volume 3 but the scene itself was not particularly explicit and it did serve a purpose, additionally, the manga barely showed a single hint of ecchiness up to this point.
The premise for this manga is fairly simple; the reclusive man is slowly helped out of his shell and into a more normal way of life by the beautiful, sweet and caring girl, and eventually becomes happy. The story is a little out there, certainly, in that it is unbelievable that a young and beautiful girl like that would marry an old man and go on to take care of his 30 year son, and the author certainly left his own personality stamped on it, but the struggles of the main character can really be understood and felt. I really empathised with the main character. Whilst I myself am not (strictly speaking in all manner of the word) a hikikomori, I often struggle with the same kind of deprecating thoughts.
Of course, Me~Teru No Kimochi was created by the author of Gantz and the single sex scene in the final volume should have been expected. It did however feel like a slightly unfortunate turn, the beautiful innocence the story portrayed to that point just seemed to crumble, but it felt necessary for the story to move forward. Additionally the ending felt a little rushed, but again with only 28 chapters to work with I think it was unavoidable. It did leave me wondering whether this series got the attention it deserved with the mangaka working on Gantz at the same time, but despite that, the ending, and consequently the manga felt very satisfying as a whole.
The artwork is very appealing. Ain't Haruka pretty?
The artwork is definitely appealing, Haruka is drawn particularly beautifully, and it is easy to see why Shintarou fell for her. I particularly enjoyed the way her eyes and hair were drawn. Now, I do not believe that everyone would enjoy this manga. I feel that women would probably not enjoy it, and that neither would properly socially adept males, but, if like me you can relate with the main character, you will certainly find it involving. Additionally, if you are a fan of Gantz, I feel that you should probably check it out.
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