3 Reasons You’ll Love Therapy Game by Hinohara Meguru

With the release of Therapy Game Restart Volume 5 in Japan we thought it was only right to showcase this manga for the month of July. Therapy Game is possibly one of our top yaoi manga of all time and here are three reasons why you should read it too!

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Review

Therapy Game is a very typical BL with lots of tropes and a simple storyline, however, that doesn’t mean it isn’t good! I would personally add this to my top 10 manga of all time and here is why.

Why You’ll Love the Therapy Game Manga

1. Compelling and interesting characters that enhance the simple plot effectively
2. LGBT issues are highlighted throughout the manga in a very realistic way, which is something that’s not usually mentioned within Japanese manga. The way Hinohara mentions LGBT issues within Japan (and by extension the world) is incredibly realistic. This is further highlighted in the sequel Therapy Game Restart.
3. Stunning art and a spice level that absolutely elevates the whole story. It’s not labelled explicit for no reason!

Art

We’re going to cover art first since that’s the area I appreciate most in a visual format like manga. If the art is bad, no matter how good the story, it’s difficult for me to read.

There is no denying that the art in Therapy Game is top tier! I mean just look at how beautiful the covers are! With strong line work and artful use of various screen tones and masterful use of white space Hinohara Meguru really captures your attention. Every panel is made to draw your attention to where it needs to be and her use of page-turn-ability makes it so that we are absolutely in love with her style.

Something I have noticed upon re-reading this manga, is that Hinohara rarely, if ever, uses photo bashing or 3D techniques used in other manga, most notably in Korean Manhwa but not uncommon in modern Japanese manga either. Much of Hinohara’s work is hand drawn and that makes things feel incredibly cohesive and there is no jerking around with the style between photo realism and drawing.

The expressions are masterfully done! I mean look at Minato’s chibi form, used for comic relief but gives us a perfect investment in his thoughts and feelings without needing to use a single word. Shizuma’s overall appearance is also much nicer and more detailed in Therapy Game compared to its predecessor Secret XXX.

If you are a connoisseur of the spicy side, you may also appreciate the extremely explicit uncensored nature of this manga which… listen, I’ve never thought of dicks as pretty but somehow she’s made them look pretty?

One thing I really appreciate in Hinohara’s work is how she uses the animals around Shizuma to enhance and offset his expressions to elevate them and more them even more apparent to the reader. Also, how is it fair that you can be that good at drawing both people and animals?

Story

Next let’s take a look at the story. I’m going to do my best not to spoil too much of the manga, so that you will enjoy reading it, but this will not be without spoilers, so be aware before continuing to read this review!

This is a story that’s quite simple and full of tropes but it’s not a bad thing! Tropes exist for a reason and whilst people will complain, I certainly won’t. Not when they’re combined with compelling, well written characters. The story starts with the typical ‘I woke up in an unfamiliar bed with an unfamiliar person and I’m practically naked’ trope stemming from a drunken one night stand after heartbreak. Whilst Shizuma, the red haired amnesiac, is confused and surprised to find himself in a hotel with a man no less, Minato is feeling cheeky and tries to coax him back to bed.

Here we enter our first red and green flag war. Minato is not happy to hear Shizuma say no and tries to push him down demanding Shizuma take responsibility. Red flag. 🚩 Shizuma, however, teaches Minato about the importance of consent, which is absolutely not something we’re used to seeing in Asian BL media. Green Flag! Shizuma is also very vocal offering some foreshadowing when he tells Minato that ‘if he keeps this up, he’ll lose the ones he could have had’.

Due to multiple circumstances the boys are pushed together once again and end up spending an extended amount of time together and falling in love. This is where I feel the story is a little bit frustrating because they get together very quickly.

The story of Therapy Game takes place within a mere few days, Shizuma is declaring his love for Minato and Minato, who previously declared he’d never fall in love and he didn’t need anyone in his life, also feels things? Love at first sight is not uncommon in media but this feels a little forced, especially when we’re dealing with circumstances from a newly awakened bisexual and a very emotionally broken man. However, it is typical within the genre, you only have so many chapters to tell your story in a two volume tankoban, so I won’t deduct points for it, but just be aware, the timeline is a little unrealistic.

Despite the unrealistic timeline, I think the story is presented very well and has many features that left me feeling satisfied upon reading it. The build up was good, the climax of the story was navigated well and the resolution felt like it concluded in a way that, if there wasn’t a sequel it would be a great stand alone story. Thankfully for us, there is a sequel and, in my opinion, it’s even better than the original two volumes we were given.

You can read the sequel, Therapy Game Restart's review here

Characters

Let’s move on to talk about the characters because I think this is a really strong argument for why Therapy Game is such an amazing manga. The contrasts between the characters and their relationships work so well together than it’s difficult to not fall in love with them.

Honestly, Shizuma, throughout this whole story, is a walking green flag. We see him stand up for LGBTQ rights to his friends who are slightly homophobic towards Minato. His transition into realising his bisexuality is also more of an after thought than making it a big deal or, worse, making it that he’s 100% straight except for Minato.

Shizuma is also incredibly caring and we can see this by how he treats his ex-girlfriend as well as how he treats Minato with kindness and patience to teach him about love and how to receive and give it appropriately. He feels deeply and is very quick to give love and trust to those he thinks deserves it, often to his own detriment. He also may have a slight white knight syndrome.

I feel like Shizuma is what every person wants in their life. Caring, understanding, patient, rarely gets mad or shows aggressive anger and always thinks of his significant other. He’s a very giving person and an attentive service top. He’s quick to admit when he was wrong and apologises freely but sincerely. He had a happy childhood, a supportive family and a house full of animals. He’s a vet in training, loves animals and stands up for his morals. Shizuma’s character is there to serve the ‘perfect man for a broken being’ trope.

Speaking of Minato, this man has ISSUES^(tm). He’s basically the opposite of Shizuma where he’s quite selfish, he gets caught up in his own head a lot, he’s easily goaded into stupid decisions and he’s quite insecure for a confident asshole. Whilst he’s confident in his own sexuality he’s very aware of how that sexuality impacts his daily life and how it would impact others around him or those involved with him.

He’s incredibly hard working, and that shows throughout the manga but he’s also quite conniving, always wanting more and using any means necessary to prove he’s right. Whilst this can be attributed to his tragic backstory^(TM) it’s still not the best look. It’s clear that he craves attention and love, but he won’t allow himself to obtain that love as he’s actually quite scared of it.

Minato is what I’d call a well written but flawed character and whilst I generally don’t have any issues with this, Shizuma is too good for him.

What Therapy Game does incredibly well is showing how these two character types can compliment each other, but also how it can hurt if you allow yourself to get caught up within your own head.

Rating

I thought long and hard about this rating, whilst it’s one of my personal top 10 manga, do I want to give it a 5* rating? Well, upon my re-read… no. It’s close. But it’s not perfect.

Overall Rating

As I said before, this is one of my all time favourite manga, and I didn’t want that to cloud my judgement. When I re-read it with an analytical lens, some things did stick out to me like the fast pace and the red flags, which is why I couldn’t give it a full 5 star rating. I also think that Therapy Game Restart is a notch above this.

However, this is still an incredibly compelling story with a lot of positive elements despite the dark themes and I don’t want to downplay the feelings I felt upon my initial read of it. Therefore, I will give it a solid 4.5/5.

Spiciness Level

From a rating of vanilla to kink shame worthy, this is a solid 3.5 chillies. Why? It’s uncensored and very hot under the collar. I really love the way that Hinohara portrays sex scenes in Therapy Game, but it’s not kink shame level. I’ve read far spicier.

Fluffiness Level

From gritty to tooth rotting I’d say this is also a solid 3.5 on the fluffiness scale. You get to see Minato experience some firsts as well as Shizuma, but it does deal with some really dark themes. The couple is fluffy, but it’s not quite on the tooth rotting level of Secret XXX.

Number of Red Flags

Okay ho boy. Therapy Game is something that does have trigger warnings and should be read with a little caution. Minato himself has some red flags and the story does deal with themes of obsession, infidelity (not between the main couple), homophobia, child abuse and suicide. Remember that tragic backstory I mentioned? it really does deserve the label of tragic. However, between the actual couple there aren’t really many red flags after the initial set up of the bet. These are also all but negated during the sequel.

Conclusion

Therapy Game is a story that I would recommend to people. I think it has a simple plot that is enhanced by the characterisation present and the relationship web within the manga. The themes of LGBT experiences and rights are what I feel sets this manga a part from others that either don’t talk about it or fetishise it and it’s very real to the current state of LGBT experience in Japan at the current time. The art is masterful and I would spend all day just staring at it if I could. Well, actually I do since I have a few acrylic standees from the series dotted around my apartment. (^_^)