Miyamoto Ran is a senior editor at Suigetsu Publishing House. He is brash, rude, at times uncouth, and very unlike what most people expect of Japanese people. Kamada Eizo, on the other hand, was well-brought up; he’s polite, considerate, and moral. These two couldn’t be more opposite. Their lives collide when Ran’s boss, Konishi Kisuke, brings Eizo into his publishing stable as an author of web-fiction, with Ran to be his lead editor. The two instantly clash, and it appears they may never get along. However, Ran’s ambition and Eizo’s need to escape from his overbearing mother’s plans for him cause them to relent and work together. Along the way, unexpected feelings develop between them. Can they get Eizo’s webfiction published in time without killing or falling in love with each other? Read Byrd Koto’s Our Funny Love Story to find out.

Hate turning into love is a popular trope in Japanese boy-love (BL) series, and Byrd Koto handles this exceptionally well. Our Funny Love Story is book one of two, and while the author hints at a happy ending by the end of book two, there’s a lot of story to get through before then. There is much depth to this novel. There are issues of self-worth, growing up an orphan, divorce, helicopter parenting, broken dreams, sexual and workplace harassment, and first love. Ran and Eizo are characters with exceptional depth, and a joy to read as their layers are revealed. I’m looking forward to seeing this novel and its sequel as a Netflix series; it fits the genre perfectly. Fans of BL stories will appreciate this book, as will anyone with an interest in the publishing industry. However, this novel is for a mature audience due to its adult themes and language.

Our Funny Love Story by Byrd Koto follows a young, charming web novelist, named Kamada Eizo, and a tightly wound editor, named Miyamoto Ran, who met through a misdelivered package and are forced into close collaboration under professional pressure. What begins as mutual irritation, which was shaped by clashing personalities, bruised egos, and unspoken fear, slowly turns into an uneasy partnership. As the two men draw closer, each of them is forced to deal with the parts of himself he chooses to keep hidden: his inadequacy, his pain, his desperation. See how honesty and reluctant affection will build from enmity into connection and love, while effortlessly intertwining sharp wit with deeply emotional moments of rediscovery.

Byrd Koto's Resistance Book One: Our Funny Love Story is not your average, simple romance. It deviates from the typical clichés and feeds on psychological and romantic tension. Every step towards Eizo and Ran’s uncertain and tumultuous connection is weighted with vulnerability and uncertainty, and this palpable tension is a feast to my romantic heart. The enemies-to-lovers dynamic between the two works because it feels rooted in who the characters are and revolves around what they went through, and is not used as another plot convenience. Add to that were the witty back-and-forth conversations between the couple, but what really resonated with me were the quiet times, the pauses, and the vulnerability they tried not to show. Koto’s writing excels in emotional complexity and creating a mouth-watering buildup, and I am already heavily invested in seeing how this duet goes. Great work!