Me~teru no Kimochi

Me~teru's Feelings
め～てるの気持ち (Me~teru no Kimochi)
Genre	Romance
Manga
Written by	Hiroya Oku
Published by	Shueisha
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Weekly Young Jump
Original run	2006 – 2007
Volumes	3
Anime and Manga Portal

Me~teru's Feelings (め～てるの気持ち, Me~teru no Kimochi^?), aka Love Laughs at Locksmiths, is a manga by Hiroya Oku, best known for his creation of the Gantz series. It was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump from 2006 to 2007.

The story concerns a common problem in Japan known as hikikomori, a problem of social reclusiveness.

Koizumi Shintarou is a 30 year old who has been isolated in his room for 15 years. His father, who he blames for his condition, brings him food and manga to read, and tries to encourage him to come out, without success.

When his father gets married, to an extremely beautiful woman, and then soon dies afterward from cancer, the hermit is left to deal with a woman younger than he is, who he is very attracted to, living in his home, and taking care of him.

The title of the series "め〜てるの気持ち" literally means "the feeling of め〜てる" where め〜てる is a non-existing word in Japanese. め〜てる most likely is a reference to the character Maetel in another manga series Galaxy Express 999 who acts as a mother figure to the protagonist of the series. め〜てる could also refer to mater, which is Latin for mother.