A Vacation With the Ponytailed Tanning Boy

Every year, Kouhei goes and visits his grandma and cousin living in the countryside for summer vacation. However, this year is a little different. Kei, the young tanned shota cousin, has grown out his hair and put it in a ponytail, a simple change that produces some incredible results. Kei's affection towards his "nii-chan" is amplified now that he looks more feminine, leading to some budding feelings between both characters. Primarily aimed at shota and yaoi fans, but works as a more palatable version for those not used to the themes and genres. Although, there's a decent amount of shota fanservice in it, if thatmakes or breaks it for you. Story - 8 The story is a simple one that works in conjunction with the life of the countryside, everything from playing around in the river, tests of courage, and fireworks festivals. These everyday experiences help amplify the bits of romance and the wholesome moments. It's a good balance of "Aww, that's cute," into "Oh my... *heart thump*" Art - 8 The art is surprisingly good. Some of the more notable highlights in the art department are Kei's silky hair and Kei's sickingly sweet-looking faces he makes. One of the challenges in making this manga appealing to readers is trying to make a shota look really cute while also retaining that boyishness innocence and presenting that through facial and body expressions, which the art does a great job of doing. Character - 8 Kei is the main focus of the series as the tanned ponytail-toting shota who is heavily attached to Kouhei, primarily due to him being a single kid and looking up to him as a brother. However, even though he likes to tease Kouhei and mess around with him, he desperately seeks attention from him through headpats, lap pillows, and maybe even something a little more...? Kouhei is the other main character, a college student who comes to visit his grandma and Kei every year. With Kei sporting a ponytail, Kouhei grows more aware of his existence and develops an internal struggle with his potential feelings for his cousin while trying to retain his usual methods of being a loving older brother figure for him. Enjoyment - 9 I surprisingly enjoyed it. At 4 volumes, it's not a long read, nor does it ever feel like it any part takes too long. The many wholesome moments mixed with the cute faces Kei makes was diabetes-inducing, keeping me smiling many times along the journey.