This post originally appeared at The Beat.

This heartfelt, emotional boys love oneshot explores themes of healing from trauma, grief, and family both by blood and by choice. A beautiful tearjerker with immersive, atmospheric art by prolific BL creator Yuu Minaduki.

Left devastated after the tragic death of his parents and sister, Yuuichi Tachibana adopts his seven-year-old nephew, Ayumu. Seeking a new beginning, he chooses to move them to a new house with a view of the ocean, hoping for a peaceful setting where they can concentrate on their healing.

There they meet Ryou Kurebayashi, who owns a neighborhood deli, and become regular customers. As Ryou and Yuuichi grow closer, learning about each other’s unfortunately similarly tragic pasts, they begin to support one another ― and Ayumu ― day by day, building a little family of their own by the sea.

Yuichi’s parents and sister died in a car accident, leaving Ayumu, Yuichi’s nephew, behind. Yuichi vows to care for Ayumu like a son and the two move together to a seaside town, where they meet the handsome deli owner Ryo, who has a painful past of his own.

This manga is a heart-wrenching story that focuses on characters who try to resolve their past, their grief, their trauma. There’s much to overcome as Yuichi, Ayumu, and Ryo grow to form a little family.

Ayumu is a bit on the quiet, stoic side. Yuichi works hard for him, but doesn’t know if he’s doing the right thing. Ryo escaped a painful past as the adoptive son to a horrific family, and later as an escort in the big city, and finds himself drawn to Yuichi. Yuichi can’t help but feel drawn to Ryo in turn, and love slowly develops between them despite an initial push-and-pull.

The character development in the manga is a pleasure to see. All three leads change over the course of the story, and this is what allows them to finally come together as a loving unit.

Perhaps some of my favorite scenes are when characters visit the beachside to collect sea glass. It’s a recurring motif in the story, tying Ayumu, Ryo, and Yuichi together.

In one particularly sweet scene where Ryo shares a snippet of his rough past, Yuichi shows his kindness: “The more tumbled about and damaged [sea glass] is, the more valuable it becomes. I’m sure there’s someone out there who thinks of the current you as an absolute treasure.” This statement stuns Ryo. It’s a remarkable thing to tell someone, and while Yuichi didn’t mean it romantically, it’s a romantic gesture.

This boys’ love manga is filled with gems of dialogue like that, and heartrending scenes of emotional depth. I admit I got a little misty-eyed in some places as I pleaded internally for this story to have a happy ending, and I’m so relieved it did.

The pacing is very steady, slower than other BL I’ve read, as the focus is more on character development than plot. There’s also an ebb and flow to the manga where flashbacks alternate with the present story to reveal important information about the characters and how their pasts have shaped them. Each character has some sort of darkness in their lives that haunts them, and the manga moves at a dignified pace to show how Yuichi, Ayumu, and Ryo grow.

With beautiful seascapes and gorgeous characters who express vivid emotions, The Little Bird Sleeps by the Sea is a visual treat. It perfectly communicates the themes and varying tones of the story. If you are looking for more serious fare that will tug at your heartstrings, look no further.

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The Little Bird Sleeps by the Sea is available in digital and print from TOKYOPOP’s LoveLove line. It is available at TOKYOPOP’s website and from a variety of booksellers.