Daiki Iwatobi’s an airplane mechanic for Japan Airways, and he’s dreamed of becoming a completer. Being the one to tell the pilot that everything’s good and to wave to the pilot good-bye as they take off is something he wants to do.
The problem is he isn’t. Daiki’s already failed the test. Now he’s basically stuck doing routine shifts and is settling into being comfortable at his current mechanic role. He also would rather be with one of the ladies, but instead, he just gets dumped, and working when he could be finding a girl continues to haunt him. Meanwhile, the one who has the eyes of all the girls at his job is Rihito “Hawkeye” Takagami, a pilot that’s great in flying people to their destinations. This, alongside how Rihito acts around him, just makes Daiki hate his guts. He never wants to see him again.
…Guess what? He sees him again!
And how often he sees him gets progressively worse. He sees him at his table, sitting with the rest of his co-workers for lunch. He sees him in multiple locations at his job. He then also sees him while doing maintenance, which makes Daiki feel like Rihito’s stalking him. But finally, he gets to see him almost every day — thanks to his actions in the building he’s staying at, he basically owes a favor to the super. This leads to Daiki needing to take a roommate, and that roommate is Rihito.
These two can’t stand each other…so how in the world are they going to connect?
…Yep, you guessed it, it’s all about airplanes and flight! Essentially, their passions.
Conflicting Flight Signs’ tale of love is pretty ordinary, all things considered. But it is good. The first thing that helps is the personalities of each. It’s pretty clear you’ll tolerate Daiki’s love of cursing and/or Rihito’s blunt manner of speaking. Then when they each find a way to relate to each other and their dreams, it’s totally engaging. That’s why when their first major source of trouble occurs, you can’t help but feel it hurts that they’re in their situation. That’s for sure a credit to Munaita for creating a well-crafted romance story.
What does hurt overall is the art. It sometimes is very awkward to look at. Key moments where the two are angry at each other are done well enough, but there are moments (for example, there’s a flashback scene later in the manga where Daiki and the kid he’s surrounded by looks so off proportion-wise) that don’t look great at all. Even the faces sometimes look weird, which takes me out of the moment.
There’s also a one-shot story included in this one which I guess serves as a change-up to the main story. It’s nothing too great. A man ends up (bizarrely, I should add) taking in a dirty looking college student sitting by his apartment door. He’s somehow convinced to take him in, which eventually leads to a reveal that’s equal parts “Why?” and equal parts, “No, seriously, why?” The parts where the dog was drawn in for comedic effect were memorable. The rest? Not so much. Though maybe him washing said college student will impress some people.
Overall (including the one-shot), there are a few things to worry about in Conflicting Flight Signs. However, the story between Rihito and Daiki is really well done. And the fact that the story revolves around airplanes, piloting, etc, is really neat. For those just simply looking for dirtier boys love, this isn’t going to be it. For those just looking for an engaging and emotional love story between two guys, or love in general, you’re gonna want to check this one out.