Anxiety isn't always treated seriously in fiction. That could be because it's unique to everyone who deals with it; even if the same basic things make multiple people anxious, reactions and coping mechanisms will be different. In the case of Sayama, one of the protagonists of Cat's Eye. (One of the boys just discovered the 1980s anime series; this manga series is contemporarily set.) When a girl stands up for him, an embarrassed and confused Sayama lashes out at her, and he decides to start hiding his mouth shortly thereafter – both, it is implied, to cover up the beauty mark and to symbolically keep him from saying anything he might regret.

The story proper begins when Sayama is in high school. By this point, he's firmly established himself as the prickly antisocial guy, slouching his way through the school day in masked solitude. All of that changes, however, when popular classmate Saikawa falls into him and pushes him down some stairs. Sayama is knocked out, and while in the infirmary, Saikawa curiously removes his mask. From that moment on, Saikawa is obsessed with and fascinated by Sayama and becomes determined to get to know him better…whether Sayama likes that or not.

This doesn't make Sayama particularly comfortable, something he's happy to tell Saikawa a lot. This could also be a bit of a deal-breaker for readers because Saikawa is pushing Sayama's buttons in what looks like a fairly deliberate way. He's more concerned about what he wants than what makes Sayama uncomfortable, and he's quick to seize his moment whenever he thinks he's found it. To wit, when he realizes that Sayama is in danger of failing after a disastrous test performance, he swiftly offers to tutor the other boy – and the price for his help is “doing whatever he wants” with Sayama's face. This is where the romance gets going because it becomes clear to us (if not to the boys themselves) that Saikawa is attracted to Sayama. The thought never really occurs to Sayama; although he eventually falls for the other boy, he seems to assume that Saikawa is just messing with him for bizarre purposes.

The thrust of the story is how Saikawa unwittingly helps Sayama to work with and through his anxiety. Sayama never stops wearing his mask completely, but we can see him start to feel more comfortable with adding Saikawa to the short list of people he can interact with without it. Because this is a romance, that realization comes with a lot of kissing, both over and under the mask, but the boys' interactions contribute to it as well. Even if Saikawa never fully understands Sayama's issues, he makes an effort to, culminating in him helping Sayama to apologize to the girl from elementary school, a mental burden that he's been carrying around ever since it happened. More importantly, Saikawa helps Sayama to do that without his mask on, allowing Sayama to truly reset his feelings on the matter. Revealing his face in that moment is integral to him moving on and acknowledging his feelings for Saikawa. If the methods that lead him to that moment aren't perfect, it's at least dubious consent and not non-consent.

The biggest strength of this volume is the way it works with Sayama's anxiety. It's never treated as silly or foolish, nor does Saikawa make fun of him for it; the mask becomes a part of their romantic overtures, with both enjoying the distinction between kissing over it and without it. Saikawa isn't particularly likable as a character, but he's also not repulsive, and he reads as a high schooler just figuring out how feelings work rather than a deliberate jerk. The art is clear and easy on the eyes, and it does well to know when to turn up the heat; as is relatively normal in BL, the sex scene happens as a bonus once the couple is officially established.

Mask Danshi may not be as stunning as some of Animate International's other BL releases, but it's still a good book. It may also improve as it goes on, as the existence of an Mitsuru Sangō's first series, you can see that they're well on their way, and I am interested to see where the story goes from here, although this works as a standalone volume. It's a low-key love story, easy to read, and worth picking up either digitally or in the very nice paperback edition.