skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Story and Art by Hinako TakanagaPublished in the US by TokyoPop Blu
Slugline: Emotional stunted guys are apparently irresistible. Jinnai has been working in a fabric shop for years so when the manager retires, he thinks he is a shoe-in for the position. Unfortunately the owner's son takes over as the manager instead of him Reiichiro gladly admits that he has a lot of learn from him. As Reiichiro relies on Jinnai to guide him in running the store they grow closer together and become friends. Reiichiro asks Jinnai for advice for all sorts of issues including his emotional life, making Jinnai to realize his jealousy of Reiichiro's romantic entanglements. When the opportunity arises, Jinnai makes his move to awaken Reiichiro to his own and Jinnai's feelings.While the back cover text says that this is a sequel to You Will Fall in Love it is more of an intersecting story, with characters from that manga as supporting and background characters in this one. But other than connection, there is not much here that is any different from every otheryaoi manga. There is a very masculine lead who is aggressive in the relationship and a more passive character that lets the other declare his love first and even initiate physical intimacy over their own initial objections. If this was a traditional heterosexual relationship very few people would say that it was healthy or even attractive. The only attractive aspect of the manga is the art.You Will Drown in Love is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
- Ferdinand
By Temari MatsumotoPublished in the US by Blu
Slugline: Not much whispering or meaningful conversations here.This is an anthology of yaoi romances that focuses on their start. There are two multipart stories, the first one showing two friends in school that are so close that rumors begin that they are dating. Apparently that is that is need to date and then quickly move into a physical relationship. The other story, which ends the volume, concerns with a young heir of a vast fortune and the bodyguard that has protected him since he was a boy, and their bond that turns into something more. In addition there are several single chapter stories sandwiched between the two longer stories in the volume.In the first story of the manga there is about as much passion as one could find in a church bake sale. The characters begin a relationship simply because other people suggest it there is no drive on the part of the characters that suggest they find it good for anything other physical release. The final story has an unbalanced power relationships that just scream wrongness and exploitation to me. The relationships that seem somewhat balanced between the partners and have some emotion attached are the stand alone stories but it is not enough to overcome the damage that the two longer stories inflict on the volume.The Loudest Whisper, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
- Ferdinand
By Temari Matsumoto
Published in the U.S. by Blu
Slugline: More yaoi about confused, lonely boys falling prey… um, I mean, finding true love.“Just My Luck” is a three-part story and the remainder of the volume is shorter yaoi stories. The main story has its interesting elements, involving Asahi’s bad luck and an anti-jinxing kiss, but does not have time to do much with them while filling out a standard-issue series of events involving a mildly competitive friend and a few past mysteries. “Mechanism of Love”, one of the short stories, also has some interesting elements and gets in more character work even though it’s shorter.But on the whole there’s nothing exceptional about this volume. All the tops have gigantic shoulders and creepily long fingers. All the bottoms are waifish, lonely, and some have memory problems.
Just My Luck is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.-Miranda
by Fumi YoshinagaPublished in the U.S. by Blu
Slugline: What I said before about short yaoi stories feeling rushed or contrived? Here's and exception that proves the rule.
Can't brain much today, I have the dumb. Luckily, this author puts out consistently decent stuff, so I can easily recommend it even though one of the short stories also appears in Lovers in the Night.
Truly Kindly is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
- Miranda
Story by Shinobu Gotoh, art by Kazumi Ohya
Published in the U.S. by Blu
Slugline: A complete yaoi romance in one volume, not too long, not too short. It's just right...
...because short stories end up feeling either contrived or rushed, and the usual multi-volume manga romance drags on and on. This is a fairly gentle pursuit romance where the pursue-ee is hiding a past trauma -- but since this is a complete story, the trauma is actually admitted to, accepted and the victim begins the healing process. It's nice to see that done in a way that doesn't generate further trauma for purposes of extending the series.
If this format continues in later volumes, it could make for a solid series in the boy-romance world. The sex is softcore and there are some mild twists but no large deviations from the genre template. Anyone wanting to corrupt a friend into the yaoi world could certainly use this as a good example -- if they don't like this, they won't like any of it.
June Pride, Takumi-kun Series, v.1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
- Miranda
By Tarako Kotobuki
Published in the U.S. by Blu
Slugline: Monkeys and leopards and bears, oh my! Let's get it on!
Norio turns out to be a special critter in a previously unknown world of spirit-critters and he spends most of his time freaking out amusingly while various giant-shouldered guys hit on him. It comes down to two guys, quickly, and my one complaint is that the guy who's trying to be nice about seducing Norio is obviously losing out to the one who's being an ass about it. I've never bought the whole "jerks are sexier than nice guys" thing, personally.
But for a yaoi, this story contains an unusual amount of world-building to explain these alternatively evolved human-animal-spirit beings amung us -- which I like, because porn deserves just as much effort as any other story, in my opinion. It goes a long way toward making the "must breed! don't care if it's male!" situation feel less contrived. Plus, it's a good excuse for people to turn into animals.
There's a parallel story about another romance in development, one that will take more work and may be more interesting in the long run. In the meantime, everyone's fantasizing about hot, non-explicit monkey sex (kinda literally) and I'm sure we'll get around to the real thing eventually.
Love Pistols, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
- Miranda
by Fumi Yoshinaga
Published in the U.S. by Blu
Slugline: There's just something about frilly shirts and yaoi, isn't there...
Like Yoshinaga's Gerard & Jaques, this collection of short stories is set in Revolution-era France and involves a master and butler relationship. Of the two, I would say Lovers in the Night is more developed and rings true -- the repartee is wittier, there's good back story, and even if Antoine is sometimes clueless as only a pampered aristocrat can be, he isn't nasty.
Set partly in Versaille and partly in German exile, there is a slight attempt at tension over Antoine and Claude's feelings for each other, but it's not like there's any real doubt. As a slice of "upstairs-downstairs" life, it never really addresses the differences between server and served. The story glides mainly on dialog, character, and a bit of porn (which is much better integrated into the story here than it was in Gerard & Jaques.)
Lovers in the Night is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
- Miranda
by Hirotaka Kisaragi
Published in the U.S. by Blu
Slugline: Angels and demons renounce their allegiances in favor of being human -- and maybe a little boy-love somewhere down the line.
Since this title is published by Blu, I'm assuming there will be some boy-love in the later volumes, but right now it's strictly early relationship drama. Karasu, an angel, and Shirasagi, a demon, both have their fallings-out with the entire angel/demon bureaucracy and declare their independence. And then, for whatever reason, there are two chapters of an entirely different story at the end of the volume.
I have no problem with most of the wild variations on Western mythology and Christianity that turn up in manga -- it's just that some of them are so far off base that the author is only confusing me by using familiar names. Innocent Bird takes some liberties with angelic mythology (I'd call gay romance a bit of a liberty) and puts its characters in some interesting situations. Shirasagi has not only given up being a demon, he's gone through seminary. And Karasu doesn't just talk back to his superiors, he cuts a deal with a devil to rescue his friend.
The filler story is quite good, and I like the clean artwork and messy blood spatters. Though these angels have the same problem as most winged people in manga: from the amount of feathers flying around, they must be constantly molting, the poor things.
Innocent Bird is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
- Miranda
by You Higuri and Spray
Published in the U.S. by Blu
Dishonorable Mention
Even by my slightly lower porn standards, this is a flop -- main character's a Mary Sue, everyone's perfect, the plot drowns in tearful gratitude, the bad guys exist only to create hurt/comfort scene, and it's just generally boring.
- Miranda
by Shungiku Nakamura
Published in the U.S. by Blu
Slugline: College student Misaki falls for famous author Akihiko and Hiroki falls for Nowaki. Caution: explicit gay porn.
This is a story in two parts, and Akihiko seems to be the only connection -- Hiroki had a thing for Aki, but it's not clear if this is parallel to Misaki's story or not. Maybe it doesn't matter. The transition threw me for a loop since I kept confusing Hiroki with Misaki's brother.
I'm not a big fan of romance stories, partly because there seem to be a set number of ways for the relationship to develop and one of them involves what would normally be prosecutable cases of sexual assault. That would be the style featured in Misaki and Akihiko's half of the volume. The theory that the ends not only justify the means but somehow make it more "romantic" has never sat well with me. Hiroki and Nowaki's relationship reads more easily, after an initial case of home invasion.
Both stories contain well developed characters with heartaches and fears and a life outside their porn, but the plot focuses solely on getting two guys in bed with each other. Along the way, some funny moments and snarking kept the drama from getting too thick. The art is all right -- the guys are prone to having gigantic shoulders, though, and too-small heads -- and the sex is explicit without being hardcore, obviously drawn within the bounds of Japan's censorship laws...
- Miranda
by Fumi Yoshinaga
Published in the U.S. by Blu
Slugline: Poverty-stricken aristocrat boy becomes a servant of a gay bourgeois in pre-Revolution France. Caution: explicit gay porn.
Someone needs to mention to Asian writers that selling one's children has never been an acceptable way to pay debts in Europe. Maybe you'd send them away as apprentices, or let them take indentured servitude to pay for a boat ride to the Colonies -- and both of those may be a lot like slavery -- but in theory they'd get an education out of it and finish their service with a clean slate.
In any case, this is an okay yaoi romance of the we'll-fight-till-we're-crazy-about-each-other variety. These aren't my favorite -- I'm the sort who dislikes the people I fight with -- but it's a well established romance genre.
Gerard is, of course, well-read in Enlightenment philosophers under his gruff persona and has been burned by women in the past. Jacques rings a bit truer in personality to me: a sheltered kid thrown out in the real world, but he's making an honest effort to learn and adapt. Everyone else is a one-trick pony.
There is not actually very much porn in this volume, to the point that what scenes there are feel gratuitous. I'm sure this will change in further volumes.
- Miranda
