I Cannot Reach You., Vol. 1

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Sometimes this happens after a long time-gap, sometimes these stories portray the relationship changing while the two are still at school together, as is the case with I Cannot Reach You.

At Anime NYC 2023, Anime News Network had the opportunity to sit down with the voice actor Kazuki Ura, the voice of BLUELOCK's main protagonist Isagi, and Ryoya Arisawa, the producer of the hit sports anime BLUELOCK. But the tone conveyed by the art feels very jarring, and the drama and decided lack of communication drags enough that I'll stay away for now. Really great seller with a very good communication *(I Cannot Reach you does go over the line of consent in one scene but it is very light and treated as a bad thing. There are some indications that we might need to sift through some unnecessary drama before that happens, however, as Yamato’s younger sister also seems to have a crush on Kakeru! The look on Yamato’s mother’s face when she’s trying to keep a positive attitude in front of her children is especially poignant, as is the look on Kakeru’s mother’s face when she goes into labour in the middle of a typical mother-son argument over a missing card and Kakeru is consumed by guilt that it’s all his fault.

I Cannot Reach You winds the clock back in Volume 6 to the time Yamato and Kakeru were in elementary school together – and were the same height! But now they’re older, Yamato is the tall, good-looking ‘prince’ and Kakeru is constantly comparing himself to his more glamorous friend and finding himself wanting. It takes me back to my first love story that wasn’t understood at the time as this series so skillfully is. Thus, when they are alone in a classroom, Kakeru grabs the opportunity to ask Yamato his meddlesome questions. It's a story that effectively combines the slice-of-life, fantasy, and underdog genres in a digestible package.One of the favourite themes of romance manga is that of the childhood friends who go from being friends to lovers. So if you're looking for some good representation of a queer teenager's shenanigans, then I do suggest that you give this a read. Joking aside, this is a fairly conventional BL manga, but one that still managed to captivate and draw me in with its likeable main characters and romantic tension. Cool and collected Yamato isn’t very sociable, but he’s actually a pretty considerate guy and capable of navigating social situations just fine when he has too – he does need Kakeru to push him into them, though.

But what kind of future can such a relationship have when one of the two is more committed than the other – or, as is the case here, is more sure of his own feelings? Amamiya and Fujino, their school friends have huge personalities that fill up a page and Yui is a perfect troll that’s always good for a laugh or to stir things up. So far, I have read four full volumes of I Cannot Rach you so it’s hardly a first impression post anymore.Five volumes in (Volume 6 came out in Japan in June 2022) and readers who’ve been following these two will be wondering, as I’ve been, if this relationship is ever going to progress.