REVIEW: Love on the Horizon Vol 1 | College BL

Tiny interactions bring two neighbors together as they start falling for each other. They have to navigate their friendship while trying not to reveal their secret. But as college students do, they keep growing closer and closer, blurring the lines between friends and something more.

Love on the Horizon by Machi Yamashita and published by Kodansha is the story of two neighbors, college freshman Nagi Kitagawa and upperclassman, Yuu Yamasaki. They meet on a rainy day walking home together and discover they are neighbors. Later, Nagi ends up joining the folk music club Yuu and his friends are a part of.

There are many BLs in college settings so Love on the Horizon isn’t groundbreaking. But what sets it apart is how tender the story feels overall. Nagi and Yuu are both just cutie patooties. I have no other way to describe it.

When Nagi takes a drunk Yuu home and ends up sleeping over, he relishes in the fact that he gets to experience Yuu in this way. It’s innocent enough (Yuu just holds on to him) but it’s just enough of a selfish action on Nagi’s part to keep him satisfied because he believes nothing else can happen with Yuu. On the otherhand, Yuu looks for more ways to hang out with Nagi, not realizing that he wants to monopolize all of Nagi’s time because he’s falling for him.

In the sea of toxic romance stories I like to read (here’s looking at you Firefly Wedding,) I love a sweet, slice-of-lifey story that makes me blush with reckless abandon. Love on the Horizon makes mundane moments extra tender between the two leads, with longing glances and nervous thought bubbles. I also love that there are minimal misunderstandings, no drama, and random love triangles. Just pure love bliss!

Love on the Horizon vol 1 is the perfect mix of leading up to a relationship and then getting to see the couple together. And the best part is that there’s another volume to come!

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Love on the Horizon, Vol 1

Mangaka: Machi Yamashita
Translation: Leo McDonagh
Letterer: Nicole Roderick
Editor: Tiff Joshua, TJ Ferentini

Publisher: Kodansha

Love on the Horizon vol 1 is available now here.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kodansha for an advanced reviewer copy.