What's It About?

Fashion student Chiaki dreams of seeing his designs on the runway, worn by none other than Ai—the charismatic male model who changed his life. When a prestigious competition promises to make that dream come true, Chiaki is fired up to win. But his hopes are dashed when he's paired with the clumsy and unfashionable Enaga for the project. One fateful night, after a run-in with some delinquents, Chiaki is unexpectedly saved by his idol Ai. Even more shocking, Ai seductively offers to teach him how to have fun at night…

Caught between the alluring, mysterious model he worships and a clumsy, rough-around-the-edges classmate who can't seem to stay out of trouble (but may be hiding a surprising secret), Chiaki faces a heart-pounding, pure boy's love dilemma that will turn his world upside down!

PUNKS TRIANGLE has art and story by Yuho Okita. English translation by Kat Skarbinec and lettering by Neal Formy. Published by Seven Seas (April 15, 2025). Rated M.

---

Is It Worth Reading?

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

Love triangles are tricky things, and honestly, not my favorite romance plot. But PUNKS TRIANGLE at least is trying something mildly different – Chiaki is in a love triangle with both his idol Ai and Ai's true self, Ayumu Enaga. Of course, Chiaki has no clue about it – he's been worshipping Ai ever since he first saw him walk the runway at a fashion show, and while he enjoys hanging out with Ayumu, he doesn't connect the two men. Instead, the angst is all on Ai/Ayumu's side as he tries to figure out how to tell the other man that he's in love with his secret without ruining everything.

This adds a bit of depth to an otherwise pretty rote story. Chiaki has legitimate baggage around being lied to, something he shares with Ai fairly early on: his parents hid the disastrous state of their marriage from him until one day his mom just left. Since then, Chiaki's had an aversion to liars, and although he doesn't necessarily say it, we can extrapolate that his closed-off attitude towards others is a direct result of it. He's fixated on Ai and designing clothes in his punk aesthetic to the exclusion of almost everything else, even getting the same piercings that Ai has to feel closer to him. It's clear that Ai himself isn't entirely comfortable with how much Chiaki worships him – not only does he worry about his chances as plain old Ayumu, but it also looks like Chiaki has built up an image of him that will be impossible to live up to. The “lie” may be the stated issue, but the real one is how attached Chiaki is to what's essentially a fictional persona.

The romance itself is generally handled pretty well. Chiaki's naivete is largely believable, and Ayumu's internal conflict keeps being shoved out of the way by how much he cares about Chiaki, so it's not as if he isn't actively trying to make things work; he's just giddy to be able to spend time with the other man. There are some elements I don't love, like Chiaki being induced to smoke because Ai offers him a cigarette, but as the book goes on, Ai dials it down a bit and focuses more on making sure that Chiaki is comfortable with everything they do. The art's punk look is very nice, and there's a solidity to the way bodies are drawn that I like. The pages are a bit too busy, but once you get used to it, they read well.

PUNKS TRIANGLE will likely be a higher score for you if love triangles are your preferred trope. But even if they aren't, this is still a good book, especially if you enjoy a punk aesthetic.

---

Lauren Orsini
Rating:

Mistaken identity love triangle—but make it fashion. Fashion student Chiaki simply can't choose between two handsome hunks, because unbeknownst to him, they're both the same person, except sometimes he's wearing a wig. Set against the backdrop of a punk fashion show (safety pins, plaid fabric, and all), this is a wish-fulfillment story about a fan meeting his idol by chance and having that idol conveniently fall for him. Combined with the necessary deceit that a mistaken identity plot requires, this romance can be described either as quirky or mean-spirited, depending on how seriously you take its far-fetched concept. Also, readers who have an aversion to needles will want to skip the intimate navel piercing scene.

Chiaki has always fanboyed over celebrity model Ai, famous for strutting the runway in punk fashion. Chiaki is such a big fan that he's made it his life's mission to become a fashion designer and create clothes that Ai will someday model. Conveniently, his fashion school has just launched a design competition. The grand prize? Ai will model the winning look. However, Chiaki is the pinnacle of “I'm not here to make friends,” so he's not ready to learn that it's a partner project. Even worse, his partner is Enaga, the worst student in his class, who can barely sew a stitch without needing a band-aid afterward. I won't insult your intelligence: readers will quickly discover that Ai and Enaga are the same. But Chiaki isn't so smart, leading to a tricky situation. At school, Chiaki is moody and combative. During a chance encounter with Ai, he's blushy and flustered. By the time he opens up to Enaga about his fanboy status, he doesn't realize that he's shown all of these different sides of himself to the same person. But to put a dark twist on it, Chiaki has trust issues regarding people deceiving him. What's going to happen when he realizes Ai/Enaga has been lying to him for weeks?

This is a textbook romance manga, so you already know the answer: they find their happy ending. It's a spicy little wrap-up with censored sex. But the story's neat conclusion felt a little artificial to me. Chiaki's childhood wound gets reopened by a new traumatic event with somebody he trusted, but he's able to forget about it immediately because it's what this genre calls for. If you want to see two cute boys with a shared punk aesthetic find love together, that's what you'll get. But it's also a very tropey story that doesn't represent real human emotions.

---

MrAJCosplay
Rating:

There's a fine line between inspiration and attraction. Sometimes we come across people during a difficult time in our lives, and their presence gives us a sense of awe. We're driven to be better because of them, as if we are striving for an impossible goal. But what happens when you end up running into the very thing that inspired you to keep moving forward? That idea is at the heart of this self-contained story.

I was honestly expecting a more sexually charged and intense story between two young men, given the book's style. However, this book doesn't have any sex scenes outside of a bonus chapter at the very end. Most of the story is about a young fashion designer who just happens to come across the person who inspired him to take up punk fashion in the first place. There are a lot of conveniences that allow the story to play out in a specific way, but I can forgive that given how genuine a lot of the emotions are. The punk style is used more for aesthetic rather than as a genuine sense of character introspection, which is a little bit disappointing, as that feels like a missed opportunity. There are moments of subtle physical intimacy and metaphor revolving around little body add-ons like piercings. I thought the story would play more with those elements, but they're all pretty few and far between.

What isn't surface level is the emotional struggle of the two leads. The drama is very believable with this emphasis on keeping secrets and fear of creating genuine connections being at the forefront. Ironic that a story revolving around fashion likes to play with the idea of appearances being deceiving. Both of our leads try to put up fronts or be deceptive in some way to hide how scared they are deep down. But that makes overcoming those hurdles of intimacy all the more rewarding. A strong contender for one of the better boys love stories on this guide that gets my recommendation.