A white knight’s reward.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Yamada Yuuya
Translation/Adaptation: N/A
What They Say:
Even if they’re impure… these feelings are genuine…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Originally serialized in Comic Bavel from the May 2024 installment, Connecting Bridge is a twenty-two-page story from creator Yamada Yuuya, who has about forty other chapters on the service. This marked my first experience with this particular creator as I was going and doing a little random sampling and wanted to try something different than the round of creators that I follow at this point. Yamada definitely has a lot going for them as there’s a solid enough setup for the story here, some good action in the main part itself, but also some surprising tenderness that has me curious to check out some of their other works.
The premise for this introduces us to a nameless young man who, while walking back to his apartment, comes across a young woman on a small connecting bridge over a stream. He’s surprised as he gets closer that she has suddenly disappeared but apparently had fallen in and he goes to try and save her. It’s not super deep but enough that it could go badly and he manages to get her out. That has her asking to go back to his place to dry off and he can’t help but to agree to it. Of course, her wearing his t-shirt after that and being nearly naked doesn’t hurt either, which is why she’s able to get a pair of handcuffs on him before he realizes it. It’s not so she can rob him or something but just to provide herself with a bit of security as she goes to pay him back with some light sexual pleasure. He’s stuck and unsure of how to respond, though obviously, his body does as well. The result is an odd opening sequence that takes us back and forth a bit before it moves forward fully.
What we get is someone who has little reason to live finding herself a nice guy that she doesn’t mind spending some time with. The two have a kind of stilted series of interactions as they go at it in different ways over the course of an afternoon but there’s some weird tenderness that gets mixed in. He’s moved by what he’s experiencing with her and wants to protect her from things and this is surprising to her as she’s mostly been cast aside by everyone she knows. But this stranger is being very good toward her in obviously physical ways but she gets that real sense of compassion. It plays out well with a bit of mystery toward the end but the varying sexual relations throughout it has an interesting and odd feeling that’s hard to pin down. You can see how it could go bad in a lot of ways but at the same time, there’s a kind of layer of trust being put to play here as well.
In Summary
While their other works won’t be at the top of my list to check out, there’s definitely enough here to make you curious to see what else their works are like. The structure of the story isn’t bad but it’s not my favorite but what helps it is that there’s this kind of real sadness to both of our leads in different ways that come through. Having them find some joy and that it comes through as it does is surprising as there’s some good emotional outlet here. The artwork is solid and the layouts and designs make for a good read as does filling in the rooms and outfits with details that give it some additional heft. It has me curious for more to be sure.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 18+
Released By: FAKKU
Release Date: May 2024
MSRP: FAKKU Subscription
