This review is spoiler-free.

This review is also part of a series of reviews where I review an LGBTQ+ manga/anime once a day.This is Review 3, released on June 3rd, 2024. ___ Boy Meets Maria aims to be a narrative that is as visceral as possible. Putting aside every other aspect of the manga, it should be understood that its primary goal as a narrative is to make emotions run as high as possible in just one volume. This is very different from the surface level aspects of the story, like morals, themes, and arcs. These are also worth discussing, but it should all be taken in with the understanding that the manga is intended to portray them in the most emotionally intense possible way. This is far from a negative quality, and in the case of Boy Meets Maria, since it is its greatest strength. However, it does lead to some difficulty in discussing and reviewing, which I’ll get into later. But before getting into all of that, there is a lot we need to unpack with Boy Meets Maria.

It’s remarkable how much ground is covered in just one volume, with two satisfying emotionally and thematically meaningful arcs shared by Taiga and Arima, each representing different facets of self-identity, self-confidence, and repressed trauma. It also utilizes the very much important queer aspect of its storytelling to give commentary on the repressive societal expectations of traditional gender roles. All of it ties into the scream of a shockingly coherent intense emotion that just ends up building more and more on itself. This might be one of the most direct examples of “less is more” out there. It is something that is so damn short, yet so perfectly uses its space efficiently. It can so quickly cause major story shifts and heartstopping moments in just a manner of a few pages without much whiplash. The strongest example of this is in Chapter 4, which is the rollercoaster of emotional turmoil.

For me at least, there isn’t really much to complain about. However, if I do have to find one aspect that I am mildly disappointed about, it is that there are barely any double-spreads or full panel pages. These typically emphasize more impactful moments in a manga, and they would be perfect for a manga like this, but they are sadly absent. It's not like the paneling and art isn’t beautiful by itself, because there is never not a dull moment visually. The more abstract diversions in art to for certain moments of internalized emotions. But the lack of double-spreads leads to less emphasis on moments that should be more memorable.

But past all of the surface-level stuff that give the manga a presentably pretty face, there is still a certain difficulty in quantifying something like this. The emotional intensity is pushed to such an extreme that praise of the manga becomes more difficult. Even if the themes of the story are as clear as possible, they can still be obscured through that same emotional intensity. A positive review of something like this is difficult since it’s created to be felt more than anything. And for a review, what is even the point of stating things in words when they can come nowhere close to the emotions that are naturally nebulous.

It’s a lot easier to quantify negative critiques, as it is the manga failing to properly deliver on that visceral quality. Hell, my review has dedicated a whole paragraph to the lack of double-spreads, despite it being a very minor complaint of the manga in the grand scheme of things. However, giving praise becomes infinitely harder because that nebulous emotion is extremely hard to express. The pure scream of intense emotion can be overwhelming to a point of near speechlessness. I know that I’ve tried my best to explain these emotions, but I really feel like any word I say can’t do something like this justice. Just a simple “It was good, I liked it” can’t suffice to describe this quality. There may not even be much point in giving a comprehensive, positive review of Boy Meets Maria because nothing can properly convey the viscerality that it so prides itself on.

So, I want to leave the people reading this with a simple recommendation. Everybody deserves to read it, due to how its short length makes it so accessible. Even people who don’t think they’d like it should probably give this a go. Some will come out a mess and will be able to give a mumbled inkling of their thoughts, and the people who didn’t connect with it can probably give a very direct explanation as to why. But for the person who likes it the most, the complete menagerie of emotions should come with no words at all.

---

Thank you for reading to the end of the review if you did. If you have any criticisms of how this review was made, you are free to message me to critique what I had to say.

Also, please don’t like or dislike the review without reading it.