Let me say it upfront: I'm a huge Greece/Japan fangirl (big surprise there, huh?) who has a hard time imagining Japan with anyone else (with the possible exception of America), and England/Japan in particular is just one of those ships I can't quite get into even when I try. That said, this fic is one of the very few England/Japan works, if not the only one, that halfway convinced me of the potential for genuine more-than-friends sparks between these two. Both characters are characterized well (i.e. no BastardBoyfriend!England or PassiveUke!Japan here), their interactions have a subtle depth and warmth to them that the usual "we both like tea and kinky sex" or "we're just Lonely Together" fare lacks, and their potentially-more-than-friends relationship never feels forced or artificial. And hey, if someone like me with obvious shipping biases was able to enjoy this fic in spite of them, that should bode well for others inclined toward liking this ship in the first place. (Also, I felt kinda guilty for all the Greece/Japan recs on here and wanted to even out the score a bit.)
FanficRecs Comment by Solandra
Let me say it upfront: I'm a huge Greece/Japan fangirl (big surprise there, huh?) who has a hard time imagining Japan with anyone else (with the possible exception of America), and England/Japan in particular is just one of those ships I can't quite get into even when I try. That said, this fic is one of the very few England/Japan works, if not the only one, that halfway convinced me of the potential for genuine more-than-friends sparks between these two. Both characters are characterized well (i.e. no BastardBoyfriend!England or PassiveUke!Japan here), their interactions have a subtle depth and warmth to them that the usual "we both like tea and kinky sex" or "we're just Lonely Together" fare lacks, and their potentially-more-than-friends relationship never feels forced or artificial. And hey, if someone like me with obvious shipping biases was able to enjoy this fic in spite of them, that should bode well for others inclined toward liking this ship in the first place. (Also, I felt kinda guilty for all the Greece/Japan recs on here and wanted to even out the score a bit.)