“Seven days to see what’s in my heart… it’s short, but it’s enough…” or is it? Can a person really fall in love in just one week or is it just long enough for a good dream?
In the story Seven Days written by Tachibana Venio and illustrated by Takarai Rihito, Seryou Touji is one of the popular boys at his school. Every Monday he will agree to go out with the first person to ask him out. However there is a catch. At the end of the week he will tell his partner exactly this:
“I couldn’t fall in love with you, so let’s break up…”
For most girls, ‘one week is long enough for a dream’, but to Touji it is not a game. The truth is each time he seriously hopes to fall in love, but so far it seems to be hopeless. Although will things change when the first person to ask Touji out is none other than his sempai? Yuzuru Shino, a beautiful and talented archer who belongs to the same archery club as Touji. Yuzuru Shino is also a guy. Initially Shino only asks Touji out of jest but to his surprise Touji takes up his offer.
Through these two characters that seem just like a pair of ordinary boys, we experience a whirlwind of emotions as their relationship grows and falters just like in any love story in real life. This is what really separates Seven Days from many other similar themed shounen-ai mangas. Unlike others, it’s simplistic and realistic, merely focusing on telling the story rather than getting carried away with fan-service and yaoi material. Having said that, the story would not have worked half as well had Shino’s character been a girl. There just wouldn’t have been the same awkwardness that gives tension to the manga that draws the audience in.
From an artistic point of view, Takarai Rihito’s unique drawing style is quite distinctive and has an unimaginably captivating quality to it that is easily likeable by most readers. In Seven Days the art has been drawn with much detail and depth, which is rare to see these today. Her drawing style is not the usual “bishie” or super masculine look that is commonly found in shounen-ai or yaoi titles. Nevertheless, the style does suit the story very well.
Overall, Seven Days is an honest and charming story that readers will find exceptionally gratifying. It’s well drawn, well written and has a decent plot that does not stray into fan-service territory. After personally reading Seven Days several times over now, there is no doubt that it is an easy all time favorite for devoted BL-fans as well as those who simply want a good read.
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