I Hear the Sunspot (ひだまりが聴こえる [Hidamari ga Kikoeru] #1)

daph pink ♡

Rating: really liked it
Kouhei × Taichi
Taichi × Kouhei

I’ve always been on a real boys love kick, so every now and then I read a bl manga just to quench my heart.

I am constantly thinking about what will happen next because there are two more volumes to go and my schedule is so messed up. I am in love with the art , the characters , story , dialogues , everything.

I LOVE THIS SOO MUCH !!🌈❤

So what's it about?

A hearing-impaired college student, and a outgoing and charismatic young man meets by chance on campus and how they explore there friendship and find comfort with each other.

It was a full, heartfelt, sweet-swoon-soft, enjoyed ride! 💞

The romance is much more subtle than you’d usually see in a BL manga and it works well for the more realistic style of the narrative with beautiful, emotive character designs and clean, realistic artwork.💙💜



Fumino beautifully captures emotions of her characters without being overly dramatic, making for a much more relaxed read than I’m used to finding in series dealing with such a heavy subject matter.

Also, I really like one of the main themes/message of the story, which is don't judge someone without trying to understand them first. This is such a good and important message that everyone should put in their hearts, because we judge too quickly and that causes pain and trouble.

Whitney Atkinson

Rating: really liked it
This book was so cute yet meaningful! It has that friendship/relationship dynamic where one person is goofy and loud and the other person is reserved and cynical, so I loved seeing the two main characters interact. I also like that it was a story of budding friendship in which Taichi was sort of an advocate for Kohei and people who romanticized his deafness.

I'm requesting my library buy the rest of this series because I can't wait to see where the story goes.

Reading_ Tamishly

Rating: really liked it
Watched the movie adaptation first. Loved it but the manga is much, much, much better!💫

Carlos Peguer

Rating: really liked it
this comic gave me my gay rights

Dave Schaafsma

Rating: really liked it
I Hear the Sunspot is a one volume manga about Kohei, a hearing impaired guy who gets a note-taker to help him in his classwork. Kohei in exchange gives the note-taker, Taichi, lunch every day, which as it turns out Taichi actually needs.

Kohei is an inner-focused guy, pretty somber, and because of his hearing not very connected with campus life, and Taichi is gregarious and outspoken. This is a story in part about raising consciousness about people with disabilities all around us, but it is far more complex than that, as the two work hard to understand each other and become friends, with a few challenges. If you take your time you can also see that it is a queer romance, but it is so subtle you could actually miss it, a fact I actually appreciated.

The focus is on character. And not much really happens, actually, but I thought it was pretty sweet.
As you can tell from the title, this is more about intense self- reflection than action. With lots of white space to slow down the pacing. I like it just fine and imagine a lot of people might like it.

destiny ♡ howling libraries

Rating: really liked it

I Hear the Sunspot ★★★★★
I Hear the Sunspot: Theory of Happiness ★★★☆☆

I haven't seen a lot of D/deaf representation in fiction in general, much less in manga, and I don't believe I've ever seen any representation at all that follows a character who is currently experiencing their hearing loss increasing over time. While I have an auditory processing disorder, I can't actually speak to the representation shown here, but I can say that from my perspective, I really appreciated some of the things this story touched on, like the way people (especially femme people) like to pity disabled people or feel as though they can "help" that person with their love and attention, or how frustrating it is for many people in Kohei's position to be told "nevermind, it isn't important" instead of the other party simply repeating themselves and allowing Kohei to feel included in the conversation. It was heart-breaking, some of the casual things people said and did that you could see were wearing down Kohei's self-confidence and his desire to be social with anyone aside from his mother and Taichi.

As far as watching the romance slowly bloom between Kohei and Taichi, if this tells you anything about how invested I am, it took me all of 10 seconds between reaching the end of this book and borrowing the ebook for the sequel from the library. 🤣

This book was recommended to me by Ellyn for my 2022 12 Books in 12 Months Recommended by 12 Friends challenge! ♥

✨ Representation: Kohei is deaf; Kohei and Taichi are both queer

✨ Content warnings for: ableism, bullying, poverty, medical testing

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Jananie (thisstoryaintover)

Rating: really liked it
THAT WAS SO WHOLESOME OMG. my fave new couple <3

Kate

Rating: really liked it
5/5stars

I LOVED THIS? LIKE WOW COULD I HAVE PICKED A MORE PERFECT MANGA TO TRY OUT?? this has LGBT rep, deaf rep, so much explanation of the deaf community, and just UGH THIS WAS SO PERFECT.

Also, while I'm NOT apart of the deaf community (i do know sign language and know a lot about it but I'm not apart of it) I have never in my life seen portrayal of tinnitus which I do have chronic tinnitus - which, ya know that ringing you sometimes get in your ears? I get that several times a day, and while I haven't had hearing loss yet, I probably will in the future because of it. But never in my life have I seen any type of media even MENTION it let along portray it and show what its like for the person experiencing it.

This book just had so much good about it. Read if if you're apart of the LGBT community, if you're apart of the deaf community, or if you want to know more about either of them. This was wonderful and I can't WAIT to read the next one

Lauren Lanz

Rating: really liked it
This was such a sweet story about a boy with a hearing disability and a friend he makes despite constantly being misunderstood by others.

This manga brought tears to my eyes and smiles to my face, it was just so lovely! Despite its length, I Hear the Sunspot packs a strong message with really amiable characters to follow along the way!

Yuki Fumino’s art style was wonderful. I found myself really enjoying the way Kohei and Taichi were depicted as characters, as well as the scenery to accompany everything. The whole manga gives of a soft atmosphere, which was great.

I’m definitely looking forward to reading the sequel, as this was such a touching story!

Rowan

Rating: really liked it
I think I'm gonna be emotionally wrecked by the end of this series

Julie

Rating: really liked it
*Reread 8/1/2021*
Rereading because it’s been a while and I still haven’t read Limit 3. This is still so good. I love them so so much. What sweethearts!! It still made me tear up and oof I’m ready to get back into this. What a good series.

*Original Review 4/26/2019*
I loved this!! It's so cute and precious and it made me tear up :') I'm so happy.

Kenny

Rating: really liked it
Finally a kiss … review to follow …now onto part 2

ash ✩‧₊˚

Rating: really liked it
this was so cute and the disability rep was managed to well and the angst made me cry. -1 star cause the ending dragged out a bit but otherwise it was perfect and the art >>>

Stewart Tame

Rating: really liked it
Kohei has a hearing disability, and uses it as an excuse to withdraw from others, until he meets cheerful, outgoing Taichi. They soon strike up a friendship. Or is it something more?

Although this is a Boys Love title, the BL content is fairly mild. In her afterword, Fumino gives the impression that she had initially left that aspect of the story out until her editor reminded her. As it is, it's mild and almost ambiguous enough that I could believe someone could read this story without picking up on that aspect of it at all. Maybe. I think you’d have to be wilfully ignorant to miss it, but I do think it's possible.

Anyway, the focus of the story is more about Kohei slowly coming out of his shell and learning to be more comfortable with his diminished hearing rather than seeing it as a cross to bear. Both young men are fully realized characters, and their friendship is totally believable. This is also one of those rare instances where the entire story is contained in one volume. Yes, that's right: a one volume manga! What will they think of next? This was quite enjoyable. Recommended!

Erica ♋️✨

Rating: really liked it
OMG THIS WAS SO CUTE I LOVED IT ❤️🎉💕