The story starts out with a voice – bright and clear in a crowded sea of noise. Kouhei, who has a hearing impairment, has trouble hearing others. But he hears Taichi’s voice loud and clear.

Hearing what someone has to say is the first step to being understood, but as Kouhei’s hearing impairment worsens, he quickly realises that true understanding is not always about what is spoken.

Taichi is the first hearing person to take a genuine interest in Kouhei's disability without judgement or pity.

While something more than friendship blossoms between two young men, I Hear The Sunspot is not just a beautiful romance.

It has also been lauded for being an extraordinary social commentary on disability. There are so few BLs that make disability a central theme of the series, let alone present issues in a nuanced way. The beauty of I Hear The Sunspot is in how space is created for others without diminishing the space of others.

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