Don't Call Me Daddy
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Average rating4
Long before the events of Don’t Call Me Dirty, Hanao Kaji and Ryuuji Mita were close friends...
When Ryuuji is left to raise his son Shouji as a single father, Hanao steps up to help him out. At first, their family life is happy and content, but Hanao's true feelings for Ryuuji become more and more difficult for him to ignore. The pressure of staying closeted eventually becomes too much to bear; Hanao leaves, choosing to run from his feelings and his fears of somehow “messing up” Shouji’s life when he starts getting teased at school for having two dads.
Years later, when he comes home to care for his aging father and ends up advising Shouji on his blossoming relationship with Hama, Hanao realizes it's time to face his own past… and his future.
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2 primary books#2 in Don't Call Me Dirty
Don't Call Me Dirty is a 2-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2020 with contributions by Gorou Kanbe.
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Art: 3½Plot: 4
Characters: 4Overall rating: 4
Click here for my review of vol 1 [b:Don't Call Me Dirty|48888144|Don't Call Me Dirty|Gorou Kanbe|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1575831918l/48888144.SY75.jpg|74276045] !
Vol 2, or perhaps better labelled as the spin-off of vol 1, focuses on Shouji's dad, Ryuuji, and his childhood friend, Hanao. The story follows closely the timeline set in Don't Call Me Dirty, which is nice, and shows how the two “dads” of the story overcome their insecurities to be together.
When Shouji was born, Ryuuji had no clue what to do so he relied on his best friend's help in raising the child. Hanao stayed with them and took care of Shouji until the age of 6, when Shouji started displaying signs that he was gay. Frightened that Shouji was being influenced by the adults in his life, Hanao decided to leave the household–and his love–behind in favour of a career in a law firm. Fast forward 20 years, Hanao and Ryuuji are reunited, but Hanao's old feelings for his friend are too much to bear, causing a fresh rift to open up between the friends.
This volume did a lot of things really well. It dealt with the topic of unrequited love in a poignant way, it presented an older couple at the centre of the narrative, and it showed how perceptions of oneself are entirely based upon the opinions of society. Hanao struggled most of his life with his feelings for his friend because of the social stigma attached to loving someone of the same sex, as well as his fear of losing his friendship all together should his friend be suddenly revolted by him.
Hanao's perception is entirely built up through a six-year-old child's innocent outlook on life. When Shouji tells his school friends that Hanao and his dad are “married” and that they all “play together and eat together,” this triggers Hanao's fears that what Shouji sees in him will be seen by the outside world. Even though he loves and cares for Shouji, he cannot stand to see himself reflected in the boy and laid bare in front of the society he lives in.
The manga does a great job of showing this tug and pull of Hanao's feelings and the result of his eventual admission is both satisfying and a relief. After everything that Ryuuji and Hanao have been through, they definitely deserve their HEA.
If you liked the first volume, then you should definitely read this one too. Even though we don't see Hama in this one, past and present Shouji make up for it in how he helps Hanao (and his dad) in becoming more honest with himself.
