Hanakoi Tsurane (花恋つらね, translated as "Dance of Love") is a Yaoi manga by Natsume Isaku.
Sougurou is the young heir to a famous family in the Kabuki world. He has a particular interest in Gensuke, another young actor form a Kabuki family that he considers his rival (though Gensuke is none the wiser about it). Their fates cross when, after a bad performance in a play and being poorly reviewed, Gensuke is cast as his co-star.
The manga has been serialized since 2015 in the magazine Dear+.
Tropes
- Anxiety Dreams: Gensuke has a nightmare after seeing Sougurou having a great performance as Taema Hime and being called out for having a boring act by Kumonosuke, a veteran of theater, where Sougurou leaves him for Takeichi.
- Crossover: An extra chapter shows Kaburagi and Onoe from Candy Color Paradox having dinner together and finding Sougurou and Gensuke in what seems to be a date. The two decide to follow them to figure out whether there's a scoop for them to report on, but when they're found out, they make out so it doesn't seem suspicious that they're following them.
- Fanboy: Opposed to what Sougurou thinks, Gensuke is actually a big fan of his, so much so that among the videos he has as reference, he has some commercials Sougurou did as a child actor, and also keeps pictures of multiple presentations he did.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: Sogurou has a tendency to overplay his own importance, and it seems that part of it comes from how easily he goes down if he receives some criticism.
- Nom De Plume: All characters have stage names, and almost exclusively refer to each other as such, even Sougurou and Gensuke when they're off stage.
- Not What It Looks Like: One extra chapter has Gensuke and Sougurou being caught by Chuu-san in a compromising position when they struggled because Gensuke took Sougurou's Orca plush. Sougurou's words about the subject make the situation progressively worse.Sougurou: He's being mean and forcing me! [...] Even though I said no!
Chuu-san: WHAT!? - Tamer and Chaster: This work is much more chaste than Natsume Isaku's other works. Though she was never a particularly explicit author, the couples in her manga tend to have a pretty active sex life and get together pretty quickly, but Sogurou and Gensuke take about three volumes before they actually start dating, and with both being virgins, doing anything further than kissing takes even longer.
- Unknown Rival:
- Sougurou considers Gensuke a sworn rival and the one he wants to best, but Gensuke is simply a big fan of his and considers him something of an inspiration.
- Gensuke is very wary of Takeichi, due to his closeness to Sougurou and his status as a rising star in theater. Takeichi however, is nothing but cordial to him and doesn't see him with the same degree of animosity.
- Pretty Boy: Sougurou is considered a really pretty guy, and even Gensuke's brother, who hates him, has to admit he has a nice face. This seems to be part of the reason why he does female roles in theater.
- The Rival: Kumonosuke considered Juichirou,Gensuke's grandfather, his rival. This was in part due to being constantly compared to him during a time where he started replacing him as Sougurou's grandfather's partner and always being considered not as good as him. Ironically, he always considered this to be one sided, but Gensuke reveals this feeling of rivalry was reciprocated.
- Security Blanket: Sougurou has an Orca plush he got from his grandfather for his first performance, and hugs it to calm down and feel lucky before each performance.
- Shipping: An extra chapter shows that, after Gensuke started posting multiple pictures of Sougurou in his Instagram account, multiple people seem to have started shipping them In-Universe.
- Their First Time: After a failed attempt at having sex after they started dating, Sogurou and Gensuke finally have sex for the first time after a New Year event. Because Sougurou forgets the door open when he sneaks in and out afterwards, Gensuke's brother finds them sleeping together.
- Will They or Won't They?: Unlike most of Isaku's works, Sogurou and Gensuke take a good while until they actually get together. In part because they take some time to realize their feelings, and some more time after Sogurou doubts whether what Gensuke feels for him is love and not just admiration.
