Rating: 4.5 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Aoi and Sato have been together for years. Yet as close as they are, some problems are still too personal to share. In point of fact, Aoi, whose career as a voice actor necessarily relies upon his vocal cords, has been struggling with throat irritation. But when Sato asks about it, Aoi insists the growing discomfort and difficulty with speaking is merely a head cold. Sato wants to help and has no problems offering time and support to his boyfriend. What Sato doesn’t know, however, is that this is more than just a problem with his throat to Aoi. Aoi sees his voice as his identity and it was his voice that gave him a means to support himself and stay off the streets after his parents disowned him when Aoi came out as gay.
Sato is trying his best to be the family Aoi needs, but it’s hard when Aoi doesn’t share his fears. Nevertheless, when Aoi elects to have surgery for his vocal cord problems, Sato sets out formalizing his and Aoi’s relationship—no mean feat in a country that offers no state-sanctioned status for same-sex couples. Going through the act of legally tying their lives together gets Sato wondering if and how he can reinforce his commitment to Aoi beyond a last will and testament. And just when the time seems ripe to pop the question, Aoi’s estranged parents sail back into Aoi’s life in the most unbelievable way.
Year Three is what seems like the final installment in Tasukada’s Would It Be Okay To Love You series. I chose this for the Diverse Books Week challenge because it features Japanese characters and is set in contemporary Japan. The back matter in Tasukada’s book expounds upon Sato and Aoi’s struggle to find a way to formalize their commitment to each other with respect to the law. Based on my own experiences in and studies about Japan, I feel like Tasukada captures the insufferable reality faced by same-sex couples in Japan. (Note: In early 2019, the Japanese supreme court heard arguments from same-sex couples hoping to marry, but the court decided to uphold the status quo: civil unions are enough. NB: Civil unions are granted by municipalities, but not all municipalities offer them and such unions are not recognized as such outside the granting municipality. Bonus fact: There is no federal level of government, so unless or until the civil code changes or is reinterpreted, same-sex couples are stuck.)
Overall, I found this a pretty satisfying read with our established couple. The rhythms of Sato and Aoi’s “opposites attract” relationship are well described on page. The men often share banter based on their respective lives (Aoi as a fan of and voice actor for “boys love” media; Sato as a fan of and accountant for an anime studio that produces giant robot programs). I thought the way Aoi downplays his throat issues and obsesses over the *possibility* of losing what he views as his only means of employment created some angst. As a reader privy to both Aoi’s and Sato’s thoughts, I had a lot of sympathy for Sato. He just wants to be there for his boyfriend, but Aoi isn’t confiding any of his fears with Sato…not about the nature of his throat trouble, or how Aoi is loathe to lose his employment and be made to rely upon Sato financially. This aspect of the story rather made it feel like Aoi was more of the main star and rendered Sato more of a side character to me. The bulk of Sato’s scenes are shared with Aoi and all Sato’s scenes seem to be directly related to the issues Aoi’s addressing in the book.
That said, Sato does get to be the focus of a delightful scene about comeuppance. And we, the reader, do see Sato grapple on page with the fact that Aoi isn’t being straightforward with him. Plus, there are a couple cute/hot love scenes that help reinforce these two as a committed couple, and, of course, Sato mulling over the marriage question a time or thee. These tidbits help keep Sato close to the action, even if he’s not front and center for a lot of it. Still, the story as a whole feels much more Aoi oriented than I, personally, would have liked.
If you are a fan of the series or interested in a contemporary story set in a decidedly non-Western setting, I cannot recommend this book (or the whole series) highly enough. Having watched Sato and Aoi’s slow burn romance develop this into a life-long commitment to one another has been truly satisfying.
This review is part of our Reading Challenge Month for Diverse Books Week! Leave a relevant comment below and you will be entered to win one of six $20 NineStar Press gift cards from the fabulous folks at NineStar Press! Commenters will also be entered to win one of our three amazing Grand Prize book bundles. You can get more information on our Challenge Month here (including all the contest rules) and more details on Diverse Books Week here.
I have the first book, but I haven’t read it yet. At a time when a lot of books feel the same, this one certainly looks different. I’ll have to unearth it.
If nothing else, I think the settings and at least Aoi’s job (voice actor) set the series apart from other contemporary romances. It also grapples with the legal/social issues (especially the legal aspect in this last book) about being in a same-sex relationship in Japan.
I have the first one too, good to know it’s a satisfying series!
Yup! And for me, it was a pretty quick read. I thought the author captures a very specific slice of contemporary Japan extremely well.
I read the first book in this series; I may have read it for last year’s challenge. While I found it a pleasant read, I wasn’t driven to continue. Thanks for your review, Camille; it’s nice to hear this couple is still going strong.
I’m sorry to hear it didn’t completely enthrall you, but I’m happy you gave it a shot! The series overall is a great offering for people who like longer series that showcases an established relationship…but I can see how the slice-of-life approach may not be everyone’s cup of tea.
Thank you for the review. Read the first one, think I have the second one and haven’t gotten to it yet. It’s nice to know the series has a pleasant ending =)
One nice thing about this series for me was that I didn’t have to worry about recalling details in earlier books to enjoy later books. Yes, the events build on each other, but it’s not like you really have to pull specific names out of your memory.
I hope you read the second and third books! The story of Aoi and Sato is just sweet and seeing them finally make it as official as possible was great 🙂
I haven’t read anything in this series but sounds kind of interesting.
I highly recommend it for anyone interested in a contemporary story about two men falling in love in Tokyo!
I have a couple of Tasukada’s books, including the first of this series but I haven’t started them yet. I’m looking forward to them, though. Established couples series are a favorite of mine. Thank you, Camille.
This is a great established couple. I think Tasukada avoids a lot of drama other authors might exploit more. For example, although sometimes the main characters feel their differences (e.g Aoi being a rising star in the very hot profession of voice actors and Sato being an accountant), once they get together, there’s not a lot of strife about what “league” these guys are in. For me, that lets the story focus on the events that impact them (like how Sato coming out to his family could be hard for Aoi, or in this book, what major surgery means for a same-sex couple in conservative Japan).
I hope you get the chance to start the series soon!
Thank you so much for the review, Sammy. This story sounds really good. Can it be read as a standalone? Because I have not read any book in this series so far…
I haven’t read these so Camille can answer better, but this series follows the same couple throughout, so my instinct would be start with the earlier books. Here is a link to the full series of reviews if you want to check them out:
Hello, Susana!
I would definitely suggest at least reading the first book (Year One) before any of the others. The first book especially is set up by month, but all the books are told in chronological order. The emotions and the ways the characters reason/react to their situations is largely driven by elements established and explored in the previous books.
Basically, I think readers will “get more” out of reading the series in order rather than jumping in on book 3.
I’ve read the first in the series. I liked it. This reminds me of an article I read a while back about the housing issues gay couples encounter in Japan. Ill be sure to continue this series soon
I’m glad you liked a book that I clearly adore. I think Tasukada does a good job describing the situation without devolving into attacks…which I think is also a way of highlighting the differences between the gay rights movements in America and what we see in Japan.
Regardless, Sato and Aoi’s story is a great read and if you like established characters or have any interest in or knowledge of contemporary Japan, I think this whole series is pretty great.
The first one was free on Amazon so that’s why I got it, but I actually haven’t read it yet. I need to go and find it to see what I think. Thanks.
I hope you do pick it up! I really enjoyed it and thought the depiction of contemporary Japan and the two characters (and from vastly different home and professional lives) was a great mix to a slice-of-life kind of story.
I’ve read the first book of this series. I thought it was good written and for sure very accurate regarding the japanese culture but the characters didn’t hold my interest so I stopped with this series. But this is just my opinion. There are for sure a lot of readers who loved these books!
I’m glad you gave it a shot! With this last book especially, I think I can see where you find the characters a bit less than riveting…even in my review, I pointed out how Sato feels a little bit, well, decorative. But for me, I was invested from the get go!