▪	RELEASED BY:		DIGITAL MANGA PUBLISHING
		▪	AUTHOR / ART:		HYOUTA FUJIYAMA
		▪	FORMAT:		JAPANESE / BW
		▪	PAGES:		200
		▪	RATING:		M
		▪	RELEASE DATE:		08/22/2007
		▪	REVIEW DATE:		09/10/2007
		▪	REVIEWED BY:		HOLLY ELLINGWOOD

From the creator of Lover’s Flat, Sunflower, and Spell comes a series about the trials and tribulations of boys at an all boys school where the majority of the population is gay. That proves troublesome for straight guy Nanase who is constantly sought after by his fellow male classmates. To help him out, his friend Heiji offers to pretend to be his boyfriend in order to quell the tides of ardent desire washing Nanase’s way. He agrees. But before he knows it, part of him is falling into his friend’s caring eyes and inviting smile and those kisses seem to be leaving Nanase flustered. There may be something there that wasn’t there before in Ordinary Crush!

Nanase will have his hands full trying to figure out what he wants from Heiji. As the two grow closer, so too does the interest of a couple of crushing fans who will work together to split the “are-they-aren’t-they-a-couple”  apart. Underhanded tactics and misunderstandings occur. Will the romance between Nanase and Heiji end before it ever had a chance to truly begin?

This fun yaoi romance holds nothing too angst ridden. It proves to be an enjoyable and undemanding romantic dramedy about the handsome young men at an all male school where the population is primarily gay. Curiously enough, there are no truly villainous characters in the story. The “bad boys” who are out to break the couple apart have a surprisingly sympathetic side to each of them. It adds in that drop of melodrama to give a bit of a soap opera twist to the story.

This manga also has a smattering of bonus short stories that cover the various romantic hook ups and near misses of the diverse secondary characters in Ordinary Crush, with one stand out exception. The story “Automatic Smile” is about a man and his handsome robot. Although this is not outright yaoi, it does deal with a complex emotional relationship between man and a machine that seems either all too human – or not human enough. All the stories dealing with the secondary characters are fun and interesting with some bittersweet moments lightly peppered in the mix. You could almost treat them like a series of epilogues on what happens with who after the main couple’s story ends.

You can also count on the same appealing art that Hyouta Fujiyama’s other books hold. Appealing, explicit without being overly graphic, Freefall Romance has a romantic tale bolstered by solid art and engaging characters.

IN SUMMARY:
The all-boys school romantic entanglements of Ordinary Crush are sure to appeal to fans of Gakuen Heaven and Princess Princess.