Some manga I buy and then discard. Others I buy and consider keeping ("Wow, that was good!") but ultimately discard as failing to retain my interest the second time around.
And some I keep, even when the manga seems--on the surface--like many others.
Intriguing Secrets by Rize Shinba may seem standard fare: two young men in high school meet by accident (they run into each other in the hallway, causing paint to get on a teacher's tie, so they are assigned to weed an area outside together--they later buy a cheaper tie for the teacher).
One used to be a musician but damage to his ears now precludes that activity. The other is an artist. Neither seems to be entirely sure what he thinks of the other. The usual "I'm sure he doesn't feel the same way" doubts occur; the usual fear that the other--Mizue, in this case, the "class clown"--is merely teasing. A rather cute scene occurs when Umehara insists on sewing a button back on Mizue's shirt--poorly but he insists on doing it (see panels below).
So what makes this story stand out?
1. It is notably free of angst.
The "startling" revelations are delivered quietly. They aren't meant to cause angst, simply to deepen knowledge. The secrets aren't all that profound--or, at least, while they may be profound to the protagonists, they don't demand intervention or anything more serious.
High school love matches are not unlike vampire stories--although the original was one vampire, its descendants all demand a mafia-size small town to accompany the protagonists everywhere. The "scoobies" are very distracting.
In comparison, although Mizue and Umehara have friends and teachers and classmates, the story isn't about those other people, thank you very much. They don't get in the way of the protagonists.
3. It resolves in a clever way that uses material in the manga.
Confession is a big deal in Japanese literature. It can exist separate from the plot. In this case, rather like Patrick McGoohan's Columbo plots, the confession takes advantage of the setting and character development. It corresponds to prior actions.
Intriguing Secrets never fails to please.
