The Disability Book Archive

[ID: A book cover. The title “I Hear the Sunspot” is written in the centre in large, curved caps. The author’s name “Yuki Fumino” is directly below this, to the left, in smaller black writing. In the lower right hand corner, the publisher’s name “One Peace Books” is written in smaller, stacked white caps. The background art shows two young men on some steps under greens trees. The man on the right has dark hair and is sat on the stairs, the man on the left has light hair and is walking down to him. /end]

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Content Warning:

• Ableism
• Bullying
• Medical Content
• Fatphobia
• Classism

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Summary:

Because of a hearing disability, Kohei is often misunderstood and has trouble integrating into life on campus, so he learns to keep his distance. That is until he meets the outspoken and cheerful Taichi. He tells Kohei that his hearing loss is not his fault. Taichi’s words cut through Kohei’s usual defense mechanisms and open his heart. More than friends, less than lovers, their relationship changes Kohei forever.

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Notes:

This is the first volume in the ひだまりが聴こえる | I Hear the Sunspot series.

A live action film adaptation of this book was released on June 24th 2017.

There is a kindle edition.

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Archivist Comments:

I always like to research any genres or conventions that I include on these entries, even if I’m already vaguely familiar with them, just to make sure I’m as correct as I can be when I write about them. And that’s how I spent forty minutes researching BL manga.

I remember when this series was everywhere. When I was first getting into manga and anime, this was one that cropped up every now and then. I never read it, but it was quite popular.

Apparently, Fumino was inspired to write about a character living with a hearing disability after her experiences with hearing impaired friends and acquaintances. I also read that she visited a sign language school.

Now, I know that this is BL and it was tagged as romance, but I have seen a couple of reviews for this first volume that say the relationship between the characters is ultimately a bit ambiguous. And also because of that, I’m not entirely sure on the LGBT rep. People have referred to as “gay” and people have said it’s “queer”. I’ve tagged it both.

This series is also still ongoing, with the 7th volume having been released April 23rd 2023.

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