Courting Étranger

I have always had a hard time finding wholesome hentai manga to read. In particular, hentai manga that revolve around two people genuinely in love with each other are unfortunately rather difficult to find. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike harem in hentai at all. After all, most hentai, regardless of the medium, consist of a harem of some sort. I wouldn't even enjoy hentai if I actually disliked harem. However, heartwarming romance between two characters is something that I prefer a lot more, and this is exactly why I found Kyuuai Étranger so enjoyable and refreshing. Kyuuai Étranger is a collection of various shortindividual stories, all of which are created by Homunculus. It consists of 12 chapters in total. Each chapter, except for the last, focuses on the romantic and erotic relationship of two characters, mostly high school students and young adults. The final chapter titled "After Color Story" contains a few coloured pages featuring some of the previous stories. All the stories of Kyuuai Étranger, despite being lewd and erotic, are genuinely wholesome and sweet (albeit one is a little weird). Romance is an essential part of all the stories, and it is blended beautifully with eroticism, something which most hentai lack as it is not an easy task to do at all. The characters of the manga are very appealing, every single one of them. You can easily tell that they genuinely love each other, or at least have sincere feelings for each other, which makes you actually care about them as a couple. This makes all of the stories of the manga immensely heartwarming, and thus very delightful to read. Of course, not all the stories are equally entertaining, but each of them has its own charms. Starting from "Karada Omoi" to "Yes, My Darling", every one of the stories has a distinct plot, and they are actually executed really well. Out of all, I enjoyed "Koi Musubi Kitan" (Love Knot Tale) the most, with "Ibara no Atelier" (Studio of Thorns) coming in second. Note that I will be dedicating an entire section to Love Knot Tale now, because it definitely deserves one. The story of Love Knot Tale follows Kuragano and Tokiwa, two high school students that feel extreme sexual urges whenever they see each other—or even just by hearing each other's voice. Wanting to avoid further physical interactions in attempt to solve their predicament, the two exchange their contact numbers and decide that they will always inform the other of their location. Luck doesn't seem to be on their side, though, as Kuragano and Tokiwa frequently get into unexpected encounters and constantly struggle to resist their lust. So what do they do now? Lots of fucking, of course. What else would they do? Hentai premises are usually rather dull and uninteresting, but this one sure isn't. What really makes Kohi Musubi Kitan so good though, is the amazing chemistry of our main characters, Kuragano and Tokiwa, who are both really charming and likeable. All of their interactions, not just including sexual intercourses but also regular conversations and banters, are legitimately entertaining. I was extremely bummed out after finding out that the entire story is around only 25 pages long. I would kill to read a full-length manga revolving around these two. The art of Homunculus is one of the best aspects of Kyuuai Etranger. All the characters drawn by him, regardless of whether they are male or female, look very attractive (especially the girls, who are legitimately one of the most beautiful characters I have seen in anime and manga). And of course, the sex scenes are amazing. Almost every sex scene is drawn with a lot of care and involves a lot of romance, which is one of the reasons why I found them so seductive. Since the entirety of Kyuuai Étranger is serialized over the span of 6 years, the art of the manga actually slightly develops chapter by chapter. The drawings are great right from the beginning, but they become even better by the end. One of the specialities of Homunculus is his expertise at coloring. Colored pages in manga mostly aren't that good since a lot of manga artists aren't great at coloring. Homunculus, however, is very skilled in that department as well. The first and last chapters of Kyuuai Étranger are drawn in full color and look amazing thanks to his incredible skills. Without any exaggeration, I think it is unfortunate that few people know about Kyuuai Étranger. It is an exceptional find in the hentai genre that deserves far more attention. If you are looking for an erotic manga that is full of wholesome stories and likeable characters coupled with beautiful art, this one should be right up your alley.