Don't you just love it when you discover little gems when you least expect it? BL Metamorphosis is a short manga about two people bonding over a shared interest, and I'm kind of a huge sucker for stories like that. It's mainly because growing up, I didn't have a lot of friends in school because I was the weird girl who loved anime, manga, and games and wasn't interested in things my peers liked, such as gossiping about boys, makeup, fashion, and so on. Not that there's anything wrong with liking those things, mind you, they just weren't in my wheelhouse. Actually meeting people who shared my passion for anime/manga always made me feel like I had ascended to Nirvana, filling me with so much joy that I'd feel like I was going to explode. But now that I'm adult, that joy has quieted down a bit, but feels no less fulfilling to me, especially since I now have a lot of friends who share my interests, both IRL and online. Having just discovered this manga recently, I'm kinda surprised I didn't read BL Metamorphosis sooner, because it perfectly captures the quiet yet fulfilling joy that people get when they bond over shared interests and fandoms. If this manga had come out when I was a kid, I probably would have ate it up like a wolf.

The story goes as follows: Yuki Ichinoi is a 75-year-old widow who has been content with wiling her days away teaching calligraphy classes, doing housework, and reading. While at the bookstore, she finds herself picking up a BL manga and is strangely fascinated by what she reads. One of the clerks in said bookstore, 17-year-old high school girl Urara Sayama, notices a budding fangirl when she sees one, mainly because she herself is a fan of BL manga, especially the series that Ichinoi starts reading. Gradually, the two of them become friends over their shared love of the series, with Urara teaching her all there is to know about BL manga as a whole, even if Urara is rather shy about expressing her interest. Their newfound friendship takes them in new directions, brightening their lives and enriching their days.

For anyone worried that the BL in the title means that BL will eventually take over the story, don't worry, it doesn't go in that direction. The manga itself is pretty wholesome, and BL Metamorphosis does show some excerpts from the series that Urara and Ichinoi love, and none of said scenes contain any graphic sexual content. BL in itself is more of a catalyst than the whole purpose of the story, and the premise is flexible enough that it can work with pretty much any hobby or passion, be it gardening, architecture, motorcycles, or painting. From a technical standpoint, the artwork in general is pretty nice, and has this casual, airy quality about it, especially the linework, that captures the tranquil, ordinary beauty of the world these characters live in. The backgrounds are well rendered and the characters have down-to-earth designs that are still distinct, so you can still tell who's who a lot of the time. I also appreciate that it actually manages to make Ichinoi look her age. Most mangaka struggle with drawing old people, either making them look like tiny cartoon dwarves or just standard young people with a few stray wrinkles drawn on. Kaori Tsurutani captures all the little details that come with old age, such as the boniness of Ichinoi's fingers and the papery-ness of her skin. Even her posture and body language are good at conveying the slowness of her movement, which is hard to do.

And to nobody's surprise, Ichinoi and Urara absolutely carry the manga on their backs. The duo make such a loveable pair and it's very sweet to watch the two of them grow and change over the course of the manga, whether it be Urara learning to embrace her interests and chase her dreams without shame or Ichinoi's well-intentioned bluntness and excitement upon embracing her new hobby. I could definitely relate to Urara feeling ashamed of her hobbies and feeling ostracized because she doesn't share the same interests as her peers and finding it hard to make friends her own age. When I was a kid and getting deep into anime/manga beyond Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh, I wanted to share my passions with everyone, but kids at school were either put off by it or picked on me afterward. The manga doesn't explain if Urara was bullied for her interests in the past, but it does a great job at conveying her anxiety and indecisiveness over whether she should embrace her authentic self or try to be normal, and her arc is very satisfying without taking the easy way out. Even some members of my immediate family were put off by some of the stuff I consumed, and explaining things didn't always help, so I started becoming more guarded and only shared my interests with those who already knew about it. Even most of the side characters have a surprising amount of depth and personality to them, such as the author of the manga Urara and Ichinoi like, who is surprisingly prominent. The only characters I don't have a good read on are Urara's childhood friend and his girlfriend. Their whole subplot really confused me, mainly because they don't get a lot of time to show what they're like and how or why they come to the decisions they make later on. They're not bad characters or anything, but I wish more could have been done with them and that there had been more clarity in regards to just what their deal is.

If you're someone who prefers your manga to be fast paced, action packed, and more on the loud and comedic side, you're probably not gonna like BL Metamorphosis. The manga takes pride in the fact that its a much quieter take on the premise of fandom. To quote another reviewer, so many manga about fandom are big—they focus on big emotions, big events, on collection and consumption. There's nothing inherently wrong with that if the execution is done well, but I wish more took the route BL Metamorphosis does, on how fandom can sometimes be the simple pleasure of meeting others who share an interest and turning that into friendship. It helps that the manga is pretty short and sweet, complete at 5 volumes, though I kind of wish it had been a bit longer so it could have explored some more things, like Urara's past, more of her male childhood friend, or even what Ichinoi was like back when she was younger and growing up when manga was making waves. That would have been an interesting angle. But nevertheless, I'm happy with BL Metamorphosis as it is. It's a sweet, wholesome, laid-back manga about two people from different points in life bonding over a new hobby and forging a friendship over it, and you know I'm always a sucker for those kinds of stories. And knowing that there's a live-action movie based on this, I kind of want to track it down and watch it. Hey Netflix! Care to stream that?