Old friends, new relationships. New school, old memories. Coming to a new place is bound to be difficult, but when a creepy person from your past is there too, it’s always about to get complicated. But love is a complicated thing, and may evolve in different and unique ways.
The Two Lions follows Junpei, a new university student who crosses paths with the dark and mysterious Leo. The two become close(ish) friends and they realise they went to the same high school together and how Leo struggled, known as the ‘Demon Lion’. The pair spend more of their time with each other, but there’s something more between them than meets the eye, if only they would be brave enough to tell the other.
I enjoyed that this book was a manga. It’s a format that is becoming more prevalent, but particularly among LGBTQ+ literature, is still widely underutilised when given the extent of traditional structures. This is the second manga I’ve read and I enjoyed this much more than my first. Structured well, with a solid story throughout, this was a fairly enjoyable book.
I liked the relationship between Junpei and Leo, which was developed well as a whole and as the two individuals, making them both relatable. The dynamic between them is treated with the respect it deserves and it is refreshing to get this between a loud and outgoing character, and a darker, mysterious and more reserved figure. You often get these fast-paced relationships between two similar individuals and having something which departs from this is refreshing.
The pacing of this story was okay overall. It was mostly fine, but there were times we sped through a scene to the point of me struggling to understand it, and others where it felt drawn out far beyond what it needs to be. This is mainly seen through the arrival of Leo’s overbearing friends, which didn’t last exceptionally long, but long enough that I was more than finished with this story beat. I think with some pacing updates we would have an ultimately very compelling story, but there is still some progress to be made.
My final slight grievance comes at the relationship between our main characters. I’ve already discussed that I liked the opposites attract dynamic, but the way their relationship progresses feels very slow. Whilst I didn’t want this to be rushed, the two only just kiss by the end of the book, despite being through a lot of very strange and dangerous developments together. I’m not saying that this necessitates the relationship to have gone further, but it’s a lot of risk for our characters given their progress together so I can’t say I was fully on board with its seemingly illogical progression.
The Two Lions is a good attempt at trying something different. I enjoyed the art style, the characterisations and the way the story was told, but I did have some reservations about other elements, including pacing. I think this is worth a read, but it’s not the best manga out there or the most captivating piece of queer literature.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
The Two Lions (ISBN: 978-1-64827-383-4) was published in 2019. A copy is available to borrow from the LGBTQ+ Lending Library in the LGBTQ+ Lounge
