Megane Collection: The Bespectacled Gentlemen Anthology (Volume I)

Megane Collection: The Bespectacled Gentlemen Anthology (Volume I)

Story and Art by Shin Kawamaru

English-language edition published by Shogakukan Asia Pte. Ltd. (2014)

Still fresh from simping over William Sloan in My Nerdy Valentine, I decided to continue exposing myself to an overload of geeky guys through this manga, which pays special tribute to the megane type. Megane literally means eyeglasses in Japanese, and a megane character in Japanese manga / anime refers to the bespectacled heartthrobs of the story (and I repeat, HEARTTHROBS. Megane does not refer to the awkward social outcast type of character who happens to wear glasses).

“Everyone falls for those glasses. When he puts them on, his appeal increases by thirty percent...” – Taeko Eguchi (in love with Mitsuru Sakuragi the bespectacled pastry chef / Chapter 1, Part 3)

This anthology contains short (love) stories featuring nine different men who were all, as you guessed it, bespectacled! The men have different personalities and different career backgrounds too: there was the bespectacled shoujo manga artist, the bespectacled pastry chef, the bespectacled chief of information systems division of a company, the bespectacled photographer and his bespectacled assistant, the bespectacled photocopy machine support staff, the bespectacled freelance writer, the bespectacled part-time delivery man, and last but not least the bespectacled chief of the accounting division. The book features sweetie love stories that can make any megane-guy lovers melt and squeal, “Kyaaaa!!!”

My favourite guy in this anthology must be the bespectacled photocopy machine support staff, Yasunari Sakurai 😍. I think he is the handsomest among the nine men featured, and I also enjoyed his love story the most ❤. Once a month, he went to service the photocopier at XX Liquor Ltd., a liquor company where Minayo Kinoshita worked in the admin department. Minayo had a crush on Sakurai and was just about to confess when some other female staff of the company spotted Sakurai and invited him to join a mixer party (goukon) that night. Sakurai, who had thought that Minayo will also be attending the goukon, agreed to join – much to Minayo’s chagrin. When Sakurai found that Minayo was not amongst the party attendees, he left the party earlier. The next day he came to XX Liquor Ltd. again to resume servicing the copier machine, but Minayo gave him the cold shoulders. Being a straightforward guy, Sakurai inquired why Minayo did not attend the goukon last night, and she burst into a fit. When Sakurai admitted that he had agreed to join the party because he thought she will be there, Minayo was left speechless. And then it became clear that both of them had been harbouring some special feelings towards one another...

At the sight of Sakurai-san, I also went “Kyaaaa!!!” ❤❤❤

I also liked the story of Miyuki Kanno and her bespectacled delivery guy, Taishi Hidaka. Actually, I identified with Miyuki a lot, thus the reason I found it sweet that she eventually met someone to keep her company. Miyuki loved collecting miniatures (me too!) and she had been ordering miniatures online and creating a dollhouse out of her purchases from the company House of Nyan (which looks very much like the Sylvanian Families. I have those too!) She never noticed the delivery guy until she was forced by a friend to join a goukon where she met a kindly bespectacled guy who, later on, walked her home. She missed out asking his name, and she did felt a slight regret at not being able to communicate more with him.

“I like being by myself. But there are times... when I do get lonely...” – Miyuki Kanno

I can actually feel Miyuki’s sentiment deeply *sniffle*.

When the usual courier guy came to Miyuki’s doorstep the following day to deliver another package from the House of Nyan, then only Miyuki realized that the delivery guy was the same as the mysterious guy from the goukon whom she had missed! Taishi Hidaka had been delivering her House of Nyan parcels so much that he remembered Miyuki and had also taken an interest in the dollhouse she had been building.

Megane Collection (Volume I) is a light read which can be flipped through anytime you need a dose of relaxation (or a dose of bespectacled eye candies!). The mangaka had also dedicated a few pages in between chapters for a short fact file of each of the nine megane guys, and a profile of their glasses too (whether it’s metal frame, celluloid, full-rimmed or half-rimmed, as well as the colour / pattern of their glasses). It's just awesome! 😍