The June manga edition keeps the image, but changes the title lettering.

Rated “M” for “Mature Audiences 18+”

Yuka Sarai, a high school girl, loves three men.  There is the arrogant, dark-haired Tatsumi Kuwabara, and the painfully honest basketball player, Suguru Suenobu.  When she meets another basketball player, Orie Nakano, she takes the passionate young man’s virginity.  Tatsumi and Suguru are aware of each other, but when Orie discovers that he shares Yuka with other guys, he feels betrayed.  However, the three young men must come together when they learn that Yuka is dying.

Thirsty for Love is from the manga-ka team of Yukine Honami & Satosumi Takaguchi, creators of the Can’t Win with You! series.  This stand-alone graphic novel is more of a high school drama than it is yaoi manga (manga that features explicit sex between male lovers).  There are a few sex scenes in Thirsty for Love, but they are gentle, even discreet.  The narrative emphasis of Thirsty for Love is about anger, confusion, and grief of losing a love one.  It also deals with issues of betrayal, particularly in the case when the betrayer dies and the wounded party cannot get closure.  Honami’s soft, almost minimalist art – with its evocative figure drawing – hits the right note for this engaging and unusual love story.

B+