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Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

yaoi/boys' love

BL Bookrack: Totally Captivated, MMF Edition

August 10, 2013 by MJ and Michelle Smith 1 Comment

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MJ: Back in the spring of 2010, I undertook a digital marathon read of Totally Captivated, a Korean boys’ love series by Hajin Yoo, in preparation for a review of its final volume, which was soon to be released in print by its North American publisher, NETCOMICS. It was an intense 48 hours, to be sure, and at the time, I enjoyed the series so much that this quote from my review turned up on the back of that print volume: “In its early volumes, Totally Captivated was smart, sexy, and fabulously dramatic. Now at the end of its final volume, it has also grown into an unexpectedly satisfying love story, rivaling the best of its genre.”

Since we love Korean manhwa in general (and BL manhwa in particular), for our contribution to the BL Manga Moveable Feast, Michelle suggested that we devote a column to Totally Captivated. I was excited by the idea, but a little worried that I might not love the series as much after so much time (and so much BL), and in some ways my worry was justified. Having been a relative newcomer to both manga and manhwa back then, it’s only natural that my tastes would have evolved, even over the course of just three years. Fortunately, the things I loved most about Totally Captivated have endured, and I can ultimately stand by the quote above.

So what is Totally Captivated? Since I’ve always found summarizing a story’s premise to be the most difficult part of a review (no, seriously), I’ll let my 2010 self do the heavy lifting:

Ewon Jung is a 23-year-old scholarship student in Seoul, whose curiosity over whether or not it is possible to have great sex without love (“It was possible.”) leads him to cheat on his boyfriend, Jiho.

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Devastated and yearning for revenge, Jiho persuades his new boyfriend, a small-time loan shark named Mookyul Eun, to force Ewon into service at his office where he is expected to run errands, clean, and balance the books, all without payment. Unfortunately for Jiho, Mookyul soon develops an interest in Ewon, and it isn’t long before Jiho ends up shunted aside once again. Mookyul is controlling and occasionally violent, and Ewon is far from a pushover, but they eventually reach a mutually beneficial arrangement and begin living together. Things do not continue peacefully for long, however, as Ewon becomes aware that he is falling harder for Mookyul than he intended and experiences his first real taste of jealousy. Though the story’s premise initially seems contrived, its real function is to provide a stylish, humorous background to what is essentially a very moving story about two deeply damaged men learning how to love.

Care to add to that summary, Michelle?

MICHELLE: Man, am I ever glad to see you say that your worry was justified, because up to volume four I was a bit fretful that I wasn’t enjoying the series as much as I had hoped to. Happily, that did change.

I don’t think I have anything in particular to add to the summary other than the fact that it takes these guys a long time to figure out where they’re coming from, and there are a lot of scenes (especially in volumes three and four) where you wonder, “Why on earth does Ewon stay with Mookyul?!” It’s like the stereotypical sadistic seme turned up to eleven. It’s only later that you start to gain some insight into why Mookyul is behaving like he is, so it’s definitely worth it to persevere even when you’re disgusted by him.

MJ: I was re-reading my full review of volume six, and I see that I’d mentioned there how hard it was to continue to root for the relationship during a few of the middle volumes, and that’s definitely what I found even harder to deal with this time around. Yet I had a similar reaction by the end as I’d had originally—that once we knew enough about both of them to understand why they were who they were, it was actually a really romantic story. I don’t know that any other story with such a controlling love interest has managed to redeem itself with me to that extent, which makes Totally Captivated special, indeed.

The thing that makes this really work, in my opinion, is Ewon, because he’s such a consistent character all the way through, and even if we don’t understand everything about his past from the beginning, everything we learn as we go slots right into Ewon as we know him. From the beginning, he avoids commitment and real emotional connection, he’s absolutely clear with himself about what he’s willing to put up with and what he’s not, and he’ll find a way to extract himself from a situation he can’t tolerate, one way or another (I think this is why I was able to stomach him staying with Mookyul during their worst times—because when he’s done with something, he actually does leave).

But most of all, something that I think is made very clear is that (and I think this answers your question), with all that emotional avoidance in mind, the reason Ewon gets together with Mookyul, and even the reason he stays with him for a long time, is that he finds him incredibly attractive. Mookyul is exactly Ewon’s kind of hot, and he’s pretty honest with himself about the fact that this is a highly motivating factor for him, even to the end.

MICHELLE: Yeah, I know Ewon has essentially regarded Mookyul as his dream guy since middle school, but still… No matter how attractive a guy, I wouldn’t endure what Ewon endures! That said, he does also mention at one point that, because of what happened between them in the past—young Ewon pledged to wait for delinquent Mookyul to return to school, and though he did wait, his adult self forgot all about it, when to Mookyul it became a sustaining memory—he feels somewhat responsible for how messed up Mookyul has turned out. So that’s part of it, as well.

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The big turning point for me came in volume four, when Ewon’s friends pressure him to invite Mookyul out to drink with them, and it all goes horribly wrong. I loved seeing how concerned Ewon’s friends are with how controlling his new lover is, and I love the argument that results when Ewon and Mookyul get back home. “All I wanted was to introduce you to my friends. Just like other normal people get to do!”

I feel like this was the point where we realize that this isn’t going to just be some standard BL romance, but an in-depth character study. From here on out, we start to realize that Mookyul may actually be pretty clueless, despite how suave he seems to be. He has no idea how to be in a real relationship, and he’s going about it the wrong way because he can tell that Ewon is just looking for that thing that’s going to give him an excuse to bolt.

MJ: I love that volume four argument as well (and I actually adore pretty much all of Ewon’s school friends whom we meet during the series, but I expect we’ll talk about a few of them in-depth later), and the fact that Ewon never just takes any of Mookyul’s crap—there’s always a fight.

As I was reading your response, though, it also occurred to me that I think Mookyul’s bad behavior is maybe even part of why Ewon is willing to be involved with him, because he is always looking for an excuse to bolt. And since Mookyul is providing those excuses on a pretty much daily basis, it keeps that escape route always open for Ewon. Unlike with Jiho, a genuinely sweet, devoted guy whom Ewon couldn’t help but feel guilty for betraying, Mookyul is someone he could betray almost out of a sense of righteousness. Who could ever blame him for stepping out on Mookyul? He’s practically asking for it, right? And Ewon actually does this at one point early on in their relationship (more than once, if you consider his behavior with Dohoon). In a twisted way, a jerk like Mookyul is the perfect match for someone who always has one foot out the door, and that’s Ewon all over.

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MICHELLE: I can see that. I want to be clear, though, that I’m not putting responsibility for Mookyul’s horribly controlling ways on Ewon’s inability to commit. Because Mookyul really does and says some horrible things, from threatening to kill Ewon a couple of times to forcing himself on Ewon in volume four just after that argument in which it seems like he’s beginning to see the light, to concealing the fact that he’s in a sexual relationship with “Chairman Lee,” the father figure in his life, when his declarations of love had persuaded Ewon that it was safe to give his heart—that one, precious possession that he clung to when he had nothing else—to Mookyul.

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MJ: I should be clear that I’m not, either. Mookyul is 100% responsible for every shitty thing he says and does to Ewon. Ewon’s only responsible for his decision to stay with him (which, even then, I’d probably still lay on Mookyul, given all the threats he makes, if Ewon hadn’t made it perfectly clear time and again that he’s totally capable of leaving when he wants to—and does at least twice over the course of the series), and that’s where I see his inability to commit coming into play. I’m saying that Mookyul’s abusive behavior is is attractive in some way to Ewon because it makes it easier for him to avoid dealing with his real feelings. But that doesn’t erase the fact that Mookyul’s behavior is abusive.

In fact, I’d say Mookyul is unbelievably lucky—much more than he deserves to be—in that he’s managed to find someone (Ewon) who, over time, is willing to wade through all his abuse and teach him how to be a person. I think it might make me angry that he gets to have that, actually, if Ewon didn’t ultimately get something he really needs out of the relationship. The fact that Yoo is able to write all this in a way I can stomach at all is pretty incredible.

MICHELLE: Yes, I agree with that completely.

It’s only in the second half of the series that we start to see that Mookyul is actually pretty desparate to keep the people he cares about from leaving him. He’s jealous of any other guy Ewon talks to, and attempts to restrict his behavior, and yet also continues to sleep with Chairman Lee because he can’t just toss aside his own “father,” to whom he owes so much. Because he’s compartmentalized those two parts of his life, it’s almost like he can’t even see that sleeping with Lee qualifies as cheating on Ewon, which is something guaranteed to drive him away.

MJ: And, you know, I have so little sympathy for cheaters (it’s a thing), you think I’d have at least a moment of satisfaction when Ewon gets a taste of his own medicine (after all, the first thing we see Ewon do in the series is cheat on Jiho), but Ewon’s so genuinely distraught when he realizes that his pain over the discovery of Mookyul and Chairman Lee’s relationship is the same pain he’s inflicted on Jiho… I couldn’t even get there. And oh, Ewon’s pain. Yoo writes this perfectly, because it isn’t just pain Ewon feels, but also the humiliation of discovering that he’d been essentially made a fool—that he’d stood by, smiling, while Mookyul was cheating on him in the next room. Ewon’s sickening reaction and his remorse towards Jiho… it’s all written with such emotional truth.

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MICHELLE: Exactly! What I really loved about all of this is that it honestly, genuinely shocked me. We’re so conditioned by romantic fiction of all kinds to believe the behaviorally challenged (seriously, I tried out and rejected ten adjectives here) hero when he claims that his beloved is the only one for him that I totally did believe it when Mookyul said so. It never even occurred to me that Yoo would let him be lying. But, of course, in reality people lie all the time, and they hurt each other like this all the time. It’s a complication to Ewon and Mookyul’s relationship that I can love deeply because it is realistic and not just some genre trope.

MJ: Yes! And actually, there is a ton of lying in this series, perpetrated by characters we care about—in fact, Ewon does more of it than anyone. He lies frequently, sometimes to save himself from grief (or serious harm), sometimes to save someone else, and sometimes just because it’s easy to do and it makes a potentially complicated situation less complicated for him. And because he’s our POV character, we know about all of it.

MICHELLE: I love that, even though he’s our POV character, Yoo still lets him do some pretty shitty things. Like when he leaves Mookyul’s place and goes straight to Dohoon, the friend he knows has a thing for him, and proceeds to sleep with him. Poor Dohoon thinks that Ewon has chosen him at last, but it turns out not to be the case. Ewon’s just distracting himself from his
pain.

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MJ: Help! I’m torn between two emphatic responses!

First, yes, I so agree with what you’ve said here. I love the fact that Ewon is not always a good guy, at least when it comes to the way he treats his romantic and/or sexual partners (and in Dohoon’s case, his romantically-interested friends). Which isn’t to say that he’s an anti-hero by any means. He’s a protagonist you can’t help but love. It’s just that he’s a mess in a lot of ways, and one of the ways in which that manifests himself is in the way he takes advantage of his attractiveness to other men.

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But what I maybe love even more is the way his circle of friends feels like the real thing, in all the best and worst ways. Dohoon is a fantastic character (one of my favorites in the series, actually), but more than that, I know that guy. Not necessarily in the most obvious sense—I don’t have many close friends from wealthy, connected families—but that friend, that long-time friend with whom one has weird sexual tension that is maybe mostly one-sided, but you’d do anything for each other no matter what shit is going down… I know that guy. And Ewon’s whole circle feels like that. They drink together, they date, they break up, they sometimes hate each other, but mostly love each other to bits. They can hurt and use each other and ultimately be forgiven. Those are friends I know and love. And though Ewon’s friends are sort of in the periphery of this story, they are fully realized all the same.

MICHELLE: I find I’m partial to a guy whose name I don’t know, so I’ll just call him the Peacemaker. He’s the one in the scene with Mookyul and Ewon’s friends who is trying to smooth things out, reinterpreting what other people are saying in order to foster understanding and avoid unpleasantness. I mean, he’s just a bit character, really, and we already can tell so much about him by how he acts in that situation.

MJ: I know that guy, too! I think I used to be that guy!

MICHELLE: I pretty much am that guy!

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MJ: I think you’ve articulated something here, too, that is key to the success of this series. The fact that Yoo creates a character like the Peacemaker, whose name we don’t even know, but who is so immediately familiar and fully fleshed-out for us in his tiny role—that’s exactly what she does throughout the series, and she kind of does it on the sly. Particularly early on, before we start getting into the meat of Ewon and Mookyul’s histories (which takes a while, partly because Ewon avoids thinking about his past and because he lies so often), Totally Captivated is a deceptively light read. It’s over-the-top and genuinely funny (I’d forgotten, really, how funny it is), and on the surface it appears to be pretty much just a stylish romp. But Yoo is so skillful with things like characterization, that before you know it, you’re hooked into something much deeper, and you’re not even sure how you go there.

MICHELLE: And the story is just well constructed in general. The most significant action takes the form of conversations (or arguments), which I liked, but there’s also the storyline about the power struggle within Chairman Lee’s organization, and I thought that was handled quite well. There’s not too much of the gangster stuff to make it boring, but it ties together reasonably well and impacts our leads in significant ways.

MJ: Yeah, gangster stuff is not usually something I’m extremely interested in, but not only does it support the main romantic story in various ways, especially in terms of dealing with Mookyul’s relationship with Chairman Lee (which did not play out as I expected!), but the day-to-day stuff in the office of a loan shark actually provided some of my favorite moments in the series! Obviously the main relationship is developing in that office, but I also really love the way Ewon makes a place for himself with Mookyul’s underlings, and the way they all support him. There’s a scene somewhat early on in which Ewon is studying in the office and though he’s already asked everyone if they needed coffee, Mookyul fails to ask for any until later on. When he then does ask for coffee, his guys basically reprimand him, “You should have raised your hand when he asked.” It’s such a heartwarming little moment.

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Then, of course, there’s all the stuff with Byungsoo Yoo, which is so interesting. He’s an underling working for Mookyul, who gets kicked out early on for embezzling from the organization—a feat he clumsily accomplishes by convincing Ewon to let him temporarily take over the office bookkeeping (it had originally been his job before it was Ewon’s) while Ewon is busy with schoolwork. There are a whole slew of things I love about Byungsoo’s story, though not for his sake, but rather for what his story reveals about both Ewon and Mookyul over the course of the series.

First, during the scene in which he asks to take over the bookkeeping, Byungsoo makes a homophobic remark to Ewon, and Ewon’s reaction is so much exactly who he is. He doesn’t try to defend himself (why should he have to defend his existance to anyone, especially a guy like that?) or engage him on the subject at all, he just quietly writes him off as a person.

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Then later, as the increasingly clueless Byungsoo walks away, spouting promises to buy him a drink, Ewon just gives him the finger. “I don’t want some stinking homophobe to buy me a drink.” It’s just Ewon all over. He’s totally comfortable with himself and his sexuality, and anyone who’s not simply isn’t worth his concern. And yet, still, when the shit inevitably hits the fan, Ewon throws himself to the lions (Mookyul) in order to save Byungsoo from a grisly death. Which, incidentally, ends up being a surprisingly hilarious moment, in the way that Yoo creates hilarious moments.

TC-homophobe3MICHELLE: I think that was our first inkling, too, that Ewon isn’t going to necessarily be completely honest about everything. Because he didn’t ever really confess that he pretty much knew that the guy was going to embezzle, only that he wanted to take over the accounting and Ewon let him.

MJ: Yes, you’re right. This is our first really clear glimpse of Ewon’s lying for self-preservation, something that happens a lot, and which I don’t even totally disapprove of, I find, which is interesting for me as a reader.

Then, later, when Byungsoo re-enters the story, it’s Mookyul we end up learning things about—namely that he’s smarter and more forgiving than I had realized, though it all seems so obvious once it’s out there.

MICHELLE: We start to see new facets of Mookyul once he’s given up everything for Ewon. It’s like he can relax at last because Ewon has come back to him. There’s a great scene early in volume six just after they’ve been reunited when he is still clearly himself and yet exudes a completely different vibe, saying, “It’s strange… I have nothing left now. But I’m happy.”

MJ: This brings up something that’s a point of discomfort for me in the series, and that definitely bothered me more on my second read than it had originally. Both Ewon and Mookyul have epic abandonment issues that make them each who they are, and it all feels very real. It rings true, even during the most super-dramatic portions of the series. Mookyul needs to control and Ewon needs to detach—this is how they’ve each learned to cope. Obviously each character’s behavior is destructive to himself and his relationships, and we watch that happening, over and over. Nobody, including Mookyul, Ewon, and the author thinks this behavior is healthy. It just is what it is.

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Where I feel uncomfortable is where they ultimately end up, but I wonder if that’s just because it pings my own issues. By the end, they’ve each finally accepted that the other *isn’t going to leave* and that’s a huge relief for them both. They can worry about losing each other to outside forces, but they’re also there to keep each other safe from those things. And I really appreciate that this intense universe of two, which is so often just written as a super-romantic vision of controlling, over-protective behavior, is instead here a mutual coping mechanism that can help these two seriously damaged men build a happy life together—one happier than either of them ever hoped to find. It’s brilliant, actually. Yoo has taken an overused, unhealthy romantic cliche and turned it into something understandable and actually not creepy.

But a little bit? I’m still creeped.

MICHELLE: I’d say I’m more concerned than creeped. It’s just not healthy to be so dependent on another person that you declare “I won’t be able to breathe without you.” But, as you said, it’s understandable given what they’ve gone through. I hope that, with time and maturity, they’ll be able to achieve the ability to function separately as need be while retaining a feeling of certainty about their relationship.

MJ: The other thing that bothers me is that I worry that Ewon doesn’t get his way often enough in the bedroom, and this also was a bigger issue for me on my second read. Now, I’m not even talking about the non-con early on. The power dynamic is seriously screwed up in the beginning, and even though Ewon proves he can get out of situations he doesn’t want to be in, it’s still clear that he sometimes goes through with things he doesn’t want just because it’s easier, which isn’t the same as actual consent. This is a problem, and though it’s handled in a more complex manner here than in a lot of BL, it’s still yucky.

But what I’m talking about here is just their general bedroom dynamic. Ewon finds Mookyul to be pretty impossibly sexy, and clearly wants to sleep with him, so that’s not the issue. The issue is that they always have sex the way Mookyul wants to have it, and I never get the feeling that this is really okay with Ewon.

Yoo tackles the whole seme/uke (if we’re talking Japanese BL tropes), top/bottom business in a way that feels more authentic than what we usually see (I’m not saying it is authentic—how would I know?—just that it reads like it is, so I’m able to buy in), but where it works well in her scenes with Ewon and Dohoon (both exclusively “pitchers” who aren’t particularly interested in experimentation, which leads to verbal sparring), the arrangement between Ewon and Mookyul (also two “pitchers”) just reads as perpetually unsatisfying for Ewon. I’m unhappy with this state of affairs, and Ewon should be, too.

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MICHELLE: I wondered a bit about that myself. I think Ewon only makes one complaint about that aspect of their relationship, and it’s not followed up on. But after he leaves Mookyul and goes on his sex-as-distraction spree, he starts off by being “catcher” for Dohoon. I’m not sure what he does with those other guys, but I kind of thought maybe he realized he liked it after all. I do note here that this title is rated 16+, so we don’t get any kind of intimate details of bedroom relations, for which I’m grateful.

And I wonder how flexible Mookyul is in that department. When Ewon discovers that Mookyul and Lee are sleeping together, he implies that Mookyul is the catcher in that scenario and Mookyul doesn’t deny it, but doesn’t confirm it, either.

MJ: Hmmmmm, perhaps you’re right. I suppose my overall reaction is based on a sense that we mostly see Ewon just exhausted from sex with Mookyul, rather than basking in the afterglow. So I kind of felt that he never really liked it as much as he could. And when he goes to Dohoon, it’s out of a pretty destructive kind of need, so I’m not convinced he actually wants the sex then either, but rather just to be wanted, which is something Dohoon can easily deliver (unfortunately for Dohoon). I mean, Ewon’s a guy who clearly likes sex, but I’m not sure that particular spree is representative of his healthiest impulses.

Speaking of Chairman Lee… wow. There are very few characters I hate more than Chairman Lee, between the semi-incestuous (and definitely abusive) relationship with his “son,” to his downright *mean* behavior with Ewon, he enraged me more often than anyone else in the series, with a healthy side of SKEEVE. Though, true to form, Yoo managed to surprise me with him in the end.

MICHELLE: While majorly, majorly icky, I still found Chairman Lee pretty fascinating. Yoo could’ve easily turned him into a mustache-twirling villain, but he never feels like that at all.

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MJ: Yeah, he’s significantly less that kind of villain than, say, Papa Dino in Banana Fish. Fortunately, he’s also never portrayed as actually sympathetic, which I don’t think I could stomach. But he is a more fully-formed character than your average sexual abuser might be, and that at least makes it easier to understand Mookyul’s extreme loyalty. And this makes it feel that much more profound when he actually does cut Lee out of his life in order to be with Ewon, too. As twisted as Mookyul’s relationship is with Lee, I think they actually love each other. It’s just that this love is constantly compromised by Lee having established a deeply inappropriate sexual relationship with Mookyul.

And speaking of twisted relationships… oh, Jiho. Poor Jiho. Want to talk about him a bit?

MICHELLE: Sure! I actually grew to like him quite a lot. I like that he was still able to care about Ewon, despite everything that happened, and felt close enough to challenge him on some of his bad behavior. I think this may be another case of someone finding love and security—Jiho eventually acquires a sweet and adoring boyfriend—and then being able to move past some of their past hangups.

MJ: I was surprised to end up liking Jiho as much as I did, even though he was initially wronged by Ewon. I thought his revenge (or what I interpreted as simple revenge at the time) was disproportionate to the crime. But he absolutely won me over, and actually his friendship with Ewon is one of my favorites in the series. It’s one of those times where I think maybe they just got it wrong the first time around, and they were always meant to be friends. I love watching the two of them care for each other, which they do over and over. And Jiho’s little declaration of independence is possibly the cutest thing ever.

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And here’s another area where Yoo just really gets it right. When Ewon is going through his self-destructive sex spree, Jiho can’t help but care, and he kind of scolds himself for worrying about who Ewon is sleeping with when he’s got his own awesome boyfriend to care about now. And that’s exactly what would happen. It’s not like we stop caring about people who wrong us… if we did, they wouldn’t have been able to hurt us in the first place. So Jiho can’t help but care.

MICHELLE: And, of course, there’s that great moment above when Ewon is able to apologize to Jiho for the pain he caused, finally knowing what it feels like to be betrayed by the one to whom you’ve given your heart. I think we’re back to the “Ewon has great friends” point again. :) But actually, Mookyul has some loyal friends, too. Especially Sangchul, who’s his right-hand man in many ways.

MJ: You’re right, of course! I mean, technically Mookyul’s friends are kinda paid to be on his side, but it’s obvious that their loyalty to him is real. And later, when Mookyul really needs them, they come through, particularly Sangchul and, surprisingly, Byungsoo.

MICHELLE: I guess we are Friend Fangirls for this series. They provide a good deal of the humor, too.

MJ: It’s true, they do. Like the entire section where the the boys in the office are trying to cover up the fact that Ewon’s in hiding after having accidentally broken an important vase? That whole thing is hilarious, from start to finish.

Heh, I was going through the books to pick out some of my favorite bits of humor, and there are just so many! Humor is so much a part of the fabric of Yoo’s storytelling, I get the feeling that she’s barely trying; humor just happens. Sure, sometimes she takes the time to go all chibi-like to punctuate the humor (and her chibis are freaking adorable, I have to say). But so often it’s just part of the drama. I mean, there are are, in the middle of a life-or-death scene, and somehow there’s nothing funnier than Ewon suddenly exclaiming, “The crazy fucker that tried to grab your sac in elementary school was me!”

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MICHELLE: I thought it was a good sign when I snickered on, like, page three. That “It was possible.” line is just so well-timed.

MJ: Heh, yes, it really is. I suppose this is what you get when an author is just plain funny herself, rather than trying to make jokes. She can’t help but endow her protagonist with the same natural comic timing she has. And the same self-deprectating humor, too.

TC-doujinshiWe get to see that directly aimed at Yoo, even, from time to time, during occasional breaks in the fourth wall. One of my favorite instances of this is in volume two, before Ewon is sexually or romantically involved with Mookyul, and he’s gossiping about Mookyul’s relationship to Chairman Lee with Sangchul. “Hajin Yoo says she’s gonna elaborate on the relationship between Mookyul and the big boss in a doujinshi,” says Sangchul. Ewon responds, “How can you trust what that lazy-ass says?” at which point he is punched in the eye by the text bubble.

MICHELLE: Hee. I’d forgotten that bit.

So, are we basically saying that Totally Captivated has it all (save for gratuitous sex scenes)? Good points, bad points, humor, romance, well-developed characters, and loads of profanity?

MJ: And eyes! I love the heavily-lined, detailed eyes we see in so much female-aimed manhwa. Yoo totally delivers on the eyes.

But yes, I guess that’s what we’re saying. Now that you’ve laid it all out there like that, it makes me want more.

MICHELLE: Alas, this appears to be Yoo’s only work released in English. It looks like she did follow through with writing a few doujinshi based on the series, though—including one featuring Ewon’s fourteen-year-old little sister.

MJ: I procrastinated on picking up the volumes that NETCOMICS printed (they were awfully spendy) and they sold out long ago. Though, given the 18+ rating, I suppose none of these is the little sister story. Sad.

MICHELLE: I actually had no idea they’d printed any of the doujinshi!

MJ: I still have some hope for a manhwa resurgence over here, and given how much I’ve enjoyed most of the Korean BL I’ve read, more of that (and more of Hajin Yoo) is absolutely on my wish list.

MICHELLE: Mine, too!


All images © Hajin Yoo, English text © NETCOMICS. This article was written for the 801 Manga Moveable Feast. Check out Otaku Champloo for more!


More full-series discussions with MJ & Michelle:

Moon Child | Fullmetal Alchemist | Paradise Kiss
The “Color of…” Trilogy | One Thousand and One Nights | Please Save My Earth
Princess Knight | Fruits Basket | Chocolat
Wild Adapter (with guest David Welsh) | Tokyo Babylon (with guest Danielle Leigh)

Full-series multi-guest roundtables: Hikaru no Go | Banana Fish | Basara | Gerard & Jacques | Flower of Life

Filed Under: BL BOOKRACK Tagged With: Manga Moveable Feast, manhwa, MMF, totally captivated, yaoi/boys' love

Fannish News & Links

August 6, 2013 by MJ 4 Comments

I’m feeling very fannish these days, with so much going on in the manga blogosphere (and related circles) that pings those particular sensibilities. And when I’m feeling fannish, I want to link. So here’s a little linkblogging with a decidedly fannish hue.

sparklermag-issue02c_saturated-422x543First, I have to make some noise about the recent launch of Sparkler Monthly, a new, online magazine featuring original English-language fiction aimed at “girls and women aged 15-30, or anyone interested in the rough ballpark of Female Gaze.”

There are a number of reasons why this publication should be of interest to manga fans, not the least of which being that its publisher, Chromatic Press, boasts an editorial staff helmed by industry veterans Lillian Diaz-Przybyl, Lianne Sentar, and Rebecca Scoble. It’s no coincidence that one of the magazine’s headlining series is the continuation of Off*Beat, a particularly tragic casualty of TOKYOPOP’s ill-fated OEL manga initiative, originally edited by Diaz-Przybyl (you can read my review of Off*Beat‘s long-awaited 13th chapter here). From format to content, Sparkler Monthly is heavily modeled on Japanese-style popular fiction including manga, light novels, and Drama CDs.

Of even deeper interest to me, however, are these women’s fandom roots, evident everywhere, from their general sensibilities to their submission guidelines, which specifically include fanworks as legitimate elements of an online portfolio. Having come out of fandom myself, I’m keenly aware of both its incredible wealth of talent and its raw passion for fiction, the likes of which I’ve rarely experienced outside fandom circles. On a very basic level, Chromatic Press is My People, and that’s an undeniable draw.

The inaugural issue of Sparkler Monthly is free to read right now. Paid members have access to downloads (in multiple formats) of all new chapters in the magazine and other premium content—including online access to previous chapters of older series like Off*Beat. Though the free online reader is slick and works well, high-quality PDFs have me already feeling grateful that I decided to spring for a paid membership. The newest chapter of Off*Beat looks pretty great on my iPad.

801mmfIn other fannish news, Khursten Santos is currently hosting the BL Manga Moveable Feast at her blog, Otaku Champloo. Khursten is a truly excellent MMF host, and she’s posted a large number of wonderful articles herself in addition to other Feast contributions. Some of my particular favorites include a look at the BL “New Wave” (From the looks of it, “New Wave” means “BL MJlikes.” Who knew?) and this countdown of 40 artists she deems part of “The Fujoshi Bible.” She also addresses the question of “BL” vs. “yaoi,” which I personally found quite enlightening.

I’ve always struggled a bit to reconcile my roots in slash fandom with my current interest in BL manga, as my early experiences with BL were dramatically opposed to the sensibilities I’d developed over the course of my fandom participation. But I’m glad I stuck with the genre, because it’s so much richer than I originally thought. Khursten’s Feast is particularly compelling, not just because she’s so knowledgable (she is), but also because she thoroughly embraces the genre as a whole. She’s a true fan, and that’s what makes the MMF really work, in my opinion.

Whether you’re a BL fan or not, you should be following Otaku Champloo this week. She’ll undoubtedly have something to teach you about the genre.

Michelle and I will be posting our (somewhat unorthodox) contribution later this week, so keep an eye out for that, too!

Silver_spoon_mangaLastly, manga fans everywhere rejoice as Deb Aoki (formerly of About.com) returns to the blogosphere with her own new website Manga Comics Manga. The site launched last month, offering the same deep industry knowledge and journalism chops Deb displayed throughout her years at About.com, but in a much less restrictive format.

Why is this news making me feel fannish? Well, it’s Deb who made me aware of a recent French interview with Hiromu Arakawa, author of Fullmetal Alchemist. And if you’re not aware of my intense love for Fullmetal Alchemist, you’re most likely a newcomer to Manga Bookshelf. Even as I’ve become less and less interested in shounen manga over the years, Fullmetal Alchemist remains an enduring favorite. It made my top ten list just a couple of years ago, and spawned a piece of jewelry that I still wear every day. Fullmetal Alchemist. It’s a thing.

In the interview, Arakawa talks about Fullmetal Alchemist, of course, and also her newest series Silver Spoon, currently running in Shogakukan’s Shonen Sunday, which sits higher on my personal license request list than nearly anything (topped maybe by Yumi Tamura’s 7 SEEDS or Fumi Yoshinaga’s What Did You Eat Yesterday?). Whatever journalistic restraint I may have acquired over the past few years (little though that may be), my feelings for Arakawa’s storytelling are undeniably fannish, as fierce and passionate as anything I ever felt during my active years on LiveJournal and its many successors. I’m a Hiromu Arakawa fangirl, and that’s the simple truth of it.

You can find a link to the full, translated interview at Manga Comics Manga. Thanks, Deb, for the heads up!

One of the things I love most about running Manga Bookshelf, is that it allows me to be both a critic and a fan, without having to draw clear lines between the two. But there’s no denying that, this week, I’ve mostly been a fan.

What’s been making you feel fannish lately?

Filed Under: Link Blogging, UNSHELVED Tagged With: fullmetal alchemist, off*beat, yaoi/boys' love

BL Bookrack: June 2013

June 15, 2013 by MJ and Michelle Smith 1 Comment

Welcome to the June installment of BL Bookrack! This month, MJand Michelle take a look at two debut series from SuBLime Manga, Blue Morning and Sleeping Moon. In Brief: Help! God of Love and KINE IN! (DMG).



bluemorning1Blue Morning, Vol. 1 | By Shoko Hidaka | SuBLime | Rated M (Mature) – One word that I keep seeing used regarding Blue Morning is “psychological,” and much as I would like to say something new about the work, this label really is inescapable.

Akihito Kuze is the son of a viscount, but spent the early years of his childhood living away from Tokyo with his sickly mother. When his parents die six months apart, ten-year-old Akihito inherits the title and moves to the Kuze estate, where everything is capably managed by a cold young man named Tomoyuki Katsuragi. Akihito is instantly in awe of Katsuragi, but the latter shows the child neither warmth nor sympathy, but instead piles on the studies and repeatedly informs Akihito that he must be perfect in order to carry on the Kuze line. Akihito does his best to comply, and, as he grows, eventually develops an obsession to make Katsuragi notice and approve of him.

There’s a lot of really complicated and interesting character work going on here. Akihito’s early fascination with Katsuragi makes sense, given that he seemingly lived his early life mostly among women, as does the eventual evolution of his feelings. Katsuragi’s treatment of the boy makes sense, as well, once readers learn how the man came to be in the Kuze household in the first place, and the lengths to which he went to emulate his former master, while Akihito is going about, being his own person without a care. My one complaint is that a conversation about Katsuragi’s true parentage doesn’t make much sense, but perhaps it was meant to be cryptic and will be clarified in future volumes.

Complex, dark, and a bit twisted, Blue Morning is the best BL I’ve read so far this year. And, as if that weren’t reason enough to celebrate, this is a continuing series, with volume two due out in August!

– Review by Michelle Smith



sleepingmoon1Sleeping Moon, Vol. 1 | By Kano Miyamoto | Published by SuBLime | Rated Mature – Akihiko’s life has been long haunted by a curse said to kill his family’s male descendants at an early age. Though his own father unsuccessfully attempted to escape his fate by leaving home, the curse brings Akihiko, now nearing thirty, back to his roots to search for answers.

Using his research in comparative religion as an excuse to visit his family’s ancestral home, Akihiko is confronted both by the awakening of his inherited paranormal abilities and the awakening of his heart, as he finds himself drawn to two very different men. The first of these is Ren, Akihiko’s free-spirited but lonely cousin who shares his ability to see ghosts and other supernatural beings. The second is Eitaro, a young man living 100 years in the past, whom Akihiko visits in his dreams, and who bears a striking physical resemblance to Ren.

The premise I just described could so easily be the worst kind of supernatural romance, filled with overblown psychic powers and cross-generational mistaken identity. Fortunately, in Miyamoto-sensei’s capable hands, it is instead the best kind.

Akihiko’s reception in his family’s home is the kind one encounters only in stories of old, well-to-do families—an odd mix of unquestioned acceptance and extreme discomfort. That, together with his supernaturally-based connection to his cousin reminds me of nothing more than Mary Stewart’s Touch Not the Cat, a favorite novel from my teens.

This sort of strained (but undeniable) intimacy between people who’ve met only at distant family functions creates an immediate sense of history and makes relationships that spring up too quickly feel somehow perfectly natural—a decided advantage in this kind of romance. In particular, Ren’s desperate need to connect with someone, anyone, who shares his fate feels urgent and genuine, helping to ground the series despite its supernatural premise. Miyamoto’s artwork is a highlight as well, nicely capturing the sense of both past and present haunting Akihiko’s every move.

The second (and last) volume of this series is due out in September, and I admit I’m quite anxious for its arrival. Highly recommended.

– Review by MJ


In Brief:


helpHelp! God of Love | By Tsukiko Kurebayashi | Digital Manga Guild | Rated Mature (18+) – One of the great things about the Digital Manga Guild is that it’s in a position to make available a lot of manga that would otherwise never see any kind of English release. This has resulted in the discovery of hidden gems like Climb On To My Shoulders, and expanded the English-language catalogues of talented authors like est em (KINE IN!) and Keiko Kinoshita (You & Tonight). Unfortunately, there are untranslated manga that would be better left alone. This is one of those manga. Between its ultra-contrived melodrama and underdeveloped relationships, Help! God of Love is one of the most poorly constructed BL manga I’ve read to date, a circumstance not at all helped by its occasionally awkward English adaptation. Not recommended. – MJ


kineinKINE IN! | By est em | Digital Manga Guild | Rated Young adult (16+) – I’m always up for anything by est em, and even though the first thing I read by her—Seduce Me After the Show—remains my favorite, there is always something worthwhile to be found in her other works. I’ll admit that my faith was a little shaken by the opening chapters of KINE IN!, which revolve around a high school love triangle, but est em returns to form with the unrelated short stories that round out the volume. My particular favorites are “The Scenery of That Summer,” which is about a pair of step-brothers that meet for the first time for a funeral, and “The Salvia and the Barber,” in which a pair of sixty-year-olds decide to live together as family. Both stories are poignant and offer only a suggestion of romantic feeling. In fact, this entire volume is very chaste indeed, probably due to a recurring theme of love postponed. Definitely recommended. – Michelle Smith


Review copies provided by the publishers.

Disclosure: MJ is currently under contract with Digital Manga Publishing’s Digital Manga Guild, as necessitated for her ongoing report Inside the DMG. Any compensation earned by MJin her role as an editor with the DMG will be donated to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Other recent BL reviews from MJ & Michelle: Blue Morning (SuBLime)

Filed Under: BL BOOKRACK Tagged With: blue morning, help! god of love, KINE IN!, sleeping moon, yaoi/boys' love

Bookshelf Briefs 5/13/13

May 13, 2013 by Anna N, MJ and Sean Gaffney 3 Comments

It’s all Viz, all the time this week, as Anna, MJ, and Sean look at recent releases from Viz’s various imprints, including Shonen Jump, Shojo Beat, and SuBLime Manga.


07-ghost407-Ghost, Vol. 4 | By Yuki Amemiya and Yukino Ichihara | Viz Media – A ton of stuff happens in this volume. Confrontations with the Barsburg Empire! Teito loses the source of his mystical power and gets back his memories! There’s a crazy final exam as everybody tries to become a Bishop! Teito cements his bonds with new friend Hakuren and the mysterious priest Frau as he begins to progress on his journey to fully understand his power and what it means to be a long-lost prince of the Raggs kingdom. Truthfully, I wasn’t following all the action all that closely because I was so distracted by all the billowing robes and mystical bolts of energy. After the first four volumes of the series, it seems like Teito is set up for the next phase of his adventure, and I’m curious to find out what will happen next. – Anna N

bakuman 19Bakuman, Vol. 19 | By Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata | Viz Media – As this series finally reaches its penultimate volume, I’m stunned to reveal that it’s finally hooked me on its ridiculous primary romance and I’ve officially been reduced to a blubbering pile of goo. Now that something is truly threatening Mashiro and Azuki’s happiness, it seems that I’m suddenly, hugely invested in seeing their dreams come true. As a jaded reader, this kind of pisses me off, but I can’t deny that it’s also significantly enhanced my enjoyment of the series’ building climax. It helps, of course, that the romantic subplot has become overtly entwined with the characters’ professional success, which I’ve been invested in from the start. Who knew that such an over-the-top romantic setup could provide this kind of emotional payoff? Well done, Ohba and Obata. Still recommended. – MJ

bluemorning1Blue Morning, Vol. 1 | by Shoko Hidaka | SuBLime Manga – Sean described this series’ premise as “Black Butler with the fantasy removed and the BL actually consummated,” which isn’t entirely wrong, in that it’s a BL story involving a butler with no supernatural elements. Fortunately, that’s where the comparison ends. This story about a young viscount left in the care of his late father’s mysteriously devoted butler is an angst-heavy, emotionally dense study of 19th century classism, with a dark, romantic undercurrent that’s more Les Liaisons dangereuses than Black Butler. Teen viscount Akihito’s unrequited feelings for his butler/mentor Katsuragi make way for the series’ obligatory sex scenes, but it’s their ongoing power struggle over Akihito’s political future that really pushes the story forward. A new multi-volume BL drama is always worth a look, and Blue Morning makes a strong showing from the start. Recommended. – MJ

dengeki12Dengeki Daisy, Vol. 12 | By Kyousuke Motomi | Viz Media – One of the many things that impresses me about Dengeki Daisy is that it hasn’t abandoned its comedy roots even as the plot gets more serious. The first chapter in particular has a marvelous Titanic parody that’s only topped by Teru’s performance as a ‘scorned woman’. That said, the plot is getting darker and more serious. We knew that the guy who kidnapped Rena last time was a small-time villain, but he does lead us to a man who may be the ‘final boss’… one who not only manages to give Kurosaki a major freak out, but almost drives a wedge between our heroes with just a few well-placed words. All that plus we get romance (in a shoujo manga? Gasp!), as Teru and Kurosaki edge ever closer together without actually getting there. One of the most addicting manga currently on the market. – Sean Gaffney

otomen15Otomen, Vol. 15 | By Aya Kanno | Viz Media – This probably has the least Asuka of any of the volumes we’ve seen to date – indeed, Ryo appears more than he does! The first half of this volume wraps up Tonomine’s storyline, and once again emphasizes the core message of ‘be true to yourself even if it makes you ‘girly’ that every volume of this manga has had. (I note the moment those dresses came out, I thought “And Ryo will get a tux.” And I was right.) The second half has a summer festival, and features Yamato, who’s still self-conscious about his cute face and personality, which is not helped by spending most of the festival with Ryo, who is pure coolness in a female package. I’m not certain the cliffhanger ending of the volume will amount to anything, but that’s mainly as Otomen is still light froth. There’s tons of things wrong with it, but I still enjoy it immensely. – Sean Gaffney

Otomen, Vol. 15 | By Aya Kanno | Viz Media – I stopped buying this series regularly because I kept feeling frustrated that it never really explored the interesting aspect of people subverting gender roles in a more in-depth way. Still, it is fun to check in on Otomen now and then. Make-up artist Tonominie confronts his father’s political legacy and gets some resolution about finally being able to live for his own dream instead of fulfilling his family’s expectations. Ryo is one of my favorite characters in the series, so I was happy to see the last half of the book focused on her unique blend of oblivious coolness as she decimates every single (manly) challenge at a festival in an attempt to help Yamato with his own image issues. – Anna N

Filed Under: Bookshelf Briefs Tagged With: 07 Ghost, bakuman, blue morning, Dengeki Daisy, otomen, yaoi/boys' love

My Week in Manga, Episode 8

February 10, 2013 by MJ Leave a Comment

MJshares what she’s reading this week, including a look at volume five of Hotaru Odagiri’s The Betrayal Knows My Name. In other news, she really needs a haircut.

Manga this week:
Knights of Sidonia, Vol. 1 (Vertical, Inc.)
BTOOOM!, Vol. 1 (Yen Press)
The Betrayal Knows My Name, Vol. 5 (Yen Press)
Awkward Silence, Vols. 2-3 (SuBLime Manga)
His Favorite, Vols. 2-3 (SuBLime Manga)

Links:
Off the Shelf: Explosions, Missions, & Mecha
Manga Bookshelf Book Club: The Betrayal Knows My Name

Edited by MJ
Music (“Stickybee,” “20/20,” “Stars Collide,” & “Swansong”) by Josh Woodward

Filed Under: My Week in Manga Tagged With: awkward silence, btooom!, his favorite, knights of sidonia, the betrayal knows my name, yaoi/boys' love

BL Bookrack: The Heart of Thomas

January 19, 2013 by MJ and Michelle Smith 7 Comments

heartofthomasMICHELLE: Thanks for joining us for the first BL Bookrack column of the new year. This time we’re doing something a bit different and devoting this month’s column to Moto Hagio’s The Heart of Thomas, which is one of the most historically significant works influencing the boys’ love genre in Japan, and the most historically significant one currently available in print in English.

But, y’know, I feel like bestowing this weighty mantle upon the work could overshadow the fact that it’s very dramatic, emotional, and romantic. It seems best to me to take it on its own terms.

MJ: I agree, Michelle—which isn’t to say that The Heart of Thomas doesn’t earn its historical weightiness! Its influence is significant for good reason. But perhaps what I found most striking about it is just how much it has to offer without any knowledge of its significance at all. And though understanding its context is important and worthy discussion, there are plenty of critics on hand to do just that. Here in our column, I’m personally more interested in discussing it… well, as itself. If that makes sense.

MICHELLE: My thoughts exactly!

I suppose we ought to start with a summary, which is gonna be a toughie, but here goes…

The Heart of Thomas begins with the suicide of thirteen-year-old Thomas Werner. In love with his classmate, Juli, Thomas sees this act as a way to “bring him back to life.” The two had been classmates at a German boarding school called Schlotterbach, and we meet Juli on the morning the students have reconvened after Easter vacation, where news of Thomas’ death spreads quickly. After a letter from Thomas lets Juli know the death was not an accident, he’s plunged into turmoil, which only worsens when a transfer student named Erich—who bears a strong physical resemblance to Thomas, though with a much pricklier personality—arrives on the scene.

(click images to enlarge)

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The three primary characters—in addition to Juli and Erich, there’s also Oskar, Juli’s roommate—have all been broken in some way, and the story revolves around their intertwining relationships and the secrets each keeps hidden. Each one is complex, and each one becomes completely beloved to the reader by the end.

MJ: I think for a story like this, that’s a perfectly good summary! And by “a story like this,” I mean a story that is almost entirely focused on its characters’ feelings and their relationships to each other—and themselves—with very little investment in plot, outside of a few significant events. That these few events are almost entirely deaths (including Thomas’ opening suicide) and other tragedies might make the book sound rather melodramatic, and I suppose on the surface it is. But in the story’s boarding school setting, this is somehow completely appropriate. In this highly structured environment, largely removed from their families and the rest of the outside world, the boys at Schlotterbach thrive on those big moments—the few sensational events that make their way in from the world—and without enough of those, they must create whatever else they can on their own.

MICHELLE: In his introduction, translator Matt Thorn writes that Hagio at one point had attempted to remake the series with female characters (to appeal to female readers), but found pressure to make things more realistic and plausible and it just didn’t work. There had to be a feeling of “other” about the characters and the setting in order for her to be able to tell the story she wanted. And once I read the manga, I had to agree that it would not have worked otherwise.

Too, while on the surface it might seem/be melodramatic, when you get down to it… it’s really all about Juli’s ability to accept forgiveness and forgive himself. And that’s not melodramatic at all.

MJ: Also, the idea that the story’s emphasis on dramatic events makes it unrealistic I think deliberately ignores what it is to be an adolescent. Even teens and pre-teens who go to regular, modern public schools essentially live in their own society that is very much separate from the rest of the world, and it’s a society that is, frankly, terrifying. I think adults often willfully forget this (and who can blame them?) but it’s true. The public tragedies are real (one of my high school teachers killed himself in the middle of our senior year—and doesn’t everyone have some kind of tragic story like this that affected their entire school?) and the private ones are even more so. Regardless of the precise circumstances, is Juli’s struggle to accept himself as a whole person really alien to any teen?

MICHELLE: Now you’re making me remember the public tragedies of my youth, some of which I’d forgotten about!

This seems like a good time to focus on Juli for a bit, since he’s really quite interesting. We don’t get all the details, but Juli’s German mother seems to have married a German citizen of Greek heritage. Juli looks a lot like his father and his unusual black hair generates a lot of commentary, from admiring classmates to his hateful grandmother, who still clings to ideals about German purity. (I did wonder what year this was supposed to be, but I believe West Germany is referenced at one point, so it’s got to be after 1949 and, thus, World War II.)

IMG_0248

Grandma also bears a grudge because she had to take on the debts left behind when Juli’s father passed away. This fills Juli with the desire to change her attitude by becoming as successful as possible and paying her back. To this end, he attempts to become the perfect student. And for a while, he does quite well. He’s admired, he’s loved by Thomas, he loves Thomas in return, but there’s a darkness in him that leads him to accept the invitation of a creepy older student to meet him in a certain room on campus. The secret of what went on there is the last to be revealed in the story, so I won’t divulge it here, but the end result is that he’s utterly filled with self-loathing and cannot accept that Thomas really means it when he says that he loves him and coldly rejects him in public.

Oskar alone among the students knows what has happened, and has been assigned to share a room with Juli and watch over him. He’s therefore privy to the facade Juli struggles so hard to maintain and the cracks that form when Juli learns that Thomas sacrificed his angelic self for him. It takes a long time before Erich’s emotional frankness and Oskar’s example of forgiveness combine to allow him to finally admit the truth of his love for Thomas and to understand that Thomas would forgive him anything. Now he can forgive himself.

IMG_0230

MJ: Related to this, I have to just make a comment here regarding Thomas vs. Erich, because while Erich’s ability to express his feelings openly is part of what ultimately saves Juli from his own self-loathing, Thomas was just as open about his feelings with Juli—yet his way of trying to save Juli I think only broke him more. In the end, I think it’s Erich’s rebellious, combative nature that makes the difference. After Juli’s horrible experience, he can’t believe that Thomas would love him, and he feels the same disbelief about Erich’s open confessions of love. But where Thomas’ solution was to sacrifice himself, Erich’s is to fight (and fight hard), and it’s this that finally gets through to Juli.

I bring this up specifically because this is a column about BL, and there’s a (much-deserved) stigma around older works involving same-sex relationships that end in suicide. But (aside from the fact that this story actually begins with the suicide) where The Heart of Thomas really stands out here is that, from my perspective, it views that kind of sacrifice as… well, ultimately pointless. Throughout the story, even to the end when Oskar persuades Erich to remain at school rather than retreating to his stepfather’s house, Hagio makes it clear that running away is not the answer. We’re given the romantic option of viewing Thomas’ sacrifice as beautiful and selfless, but we’re clearly shown that Erich’s instinct to fight against that sacrifice is the way to really bring Juli back to life.

MICHELLE: Very well said! I also wonder if part of it is that Erich, playing the part of Thomas surrogate (a role which he tries hard to escape, but which might actually help Juli in the end) represents someone who can love Juli and not be hurt by the sins and darkness Juli is burdened by. Erich is strong, smart, and feisty. He believes in love and in God, and despite his pretty looks, he’s not fragile but instead resilient. That’s why, in the end, Juli can confess what happened to Erich and yet feel absolved, in a way, by Thomas.

MJ: Speaking of that connection, there’s a fairly creepy scene late in the manga where Erich has been invited to visit Thomas’ family whom he discovers wish to adopt him. Erich wisely declines the Werners’ offer to become a stand-in for their dead son, but afterwards he regrets turning down the opportunity to see Thomas’ old room as he discovers more and more the feelings and philosophies they shared in common. It’s an important realization, because it’s this that allows Erich to put aside his resentment towards Thomas for looking so much like him and dragging him into so much drama, in order to be able to help Juli, and also himself. Understanding that the emotional honesty that made fitting in at Schlotterbach so difficult could actually be an asset I think is pretty huge for Erich.

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MICHELLE: Definitely. In general, it’s a treat watching Erich mature over the course of the series. Another important moment comes when his mother passes away and he suddenly and viciously regrets his own selfishness in opposing her marriage. It would’ve made her happy, but he clung to her and held her back. Later, when he’s able to finally see the good in his stepfather and accept a home with him, it’s a very touching moment. Knowing he has this secure future (where he’s wanted for himself, not for any resemblance to Thomas) gives him the strength to not only commit more fully to studying at school, but to be forthcoming with his feelings for Juli.

MJ: I agree, it’s a real treat watching him grow up, especially as early on he seems the least likely character to be helping anyone else heal.

So, let’s talk about Oskar a bit. He’s actually my favorite character in the book, probably because he’s the least like me. Heh. Oskar is a terrible student who smokes, skips class, and is generally considered to be a screw-up, but he’s also utterly confident, incredibly insightful and fantastic in a crisis. He’s the guy you want in your corner because you know he can handle anything life throws at him with elegant competence, up to and including things like discovering that his father murdered his mother (or that he’s not actually his father at all). If I wrote Heart of Thomas fanfiction, it would all be about Oskar.

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MICHELLE: Oskar is my favorite too, and became so pretty much immediately. He’s just got this air of… languid sorrow about him. He reminds me of someone from Fruits Basket, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Maybe it’s Momiji. He’s popular and has charisma to spare, but he’s also known tremendous family grief. When he came to the school (around age ten, I think), he’s described as having grown-up eyes and speaking with grown-up words. He’d seen and experienced so much that he was really no longer on the same level as his classmates. Recognizing the “difference” in Juli was something that drew them together.

Did you know that Hagio actually wrote a one-shot about Oskar’s life prior to entering school? It’s called “Houmonsha.” Hope we get that in English at some point!

MJ: I did not! Oh, how I want to read that!

I can see the Momiji comparison (especially older Momiji—Oskar is by no means cuddly), though I’d also suggest that I think Oskar is the most overtly sexualized of the main characters in the story. Hagio writes him and (especially) draws him as a sexual being, with an attractive swagger and abundant bangs, and I’m pretty sure he even gets the most action of anyone in the story (which has, overall, not much action by modern BL standards). While both Thomas’ and Erich’s love for Juli is portrayed in a very pure, innocent light, Oskar’s feelings are allowed to display a bit more ambiguity, and though nothing actually sexual ever happens between them (despite a rumor spread at one point by a jealous younger student), he’s the only one of all Juli’s admirers with whom one could imagine that it might.

MICHELLE: I hadn’t thought about that before in those terms, but maybe some of that sensuality is what I was picking up on with the term “languid.” It also probably has something to do with being a year older than the others; he’s also interested in girls (well, at least enough to flirt with the ones in town) where some of the others aren’t yet.

Talking about the action or lack thereof… are there really any honest-to-goodness on-the-lips kisses in this series that are not brought on by anger or extortion? Ante witnesses Oskar performing mouth-to-mouth and names a kiss as the price for his silence, Erich wrangles a kiss from Juli later, too, and comments upon its bitterness. The only real kiss Juli ever bestows is one on Erich’s cheek right at the very end of the series.

MJ: The closest I can remember to anything like that is actually not on the lips. There’s a really interesting moment on the day that Oskar takes Erich in to town to learn about girls. The two get into some heated discussion about Thomas that ends with Oskar warmly embracing Erich, kissing him, and holding him in a way that really does not feel platonic while comparing Thomas to Amor, the god of love. It’s a strangely intimate little moment.

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Modern BL, of course, tends to include much, much more sexual content than can be found in The Heart of Thomas, but very little of it can hold a candle to Hagio’s work when it comes to musing on the value of love.

MICHELLE: Oh yes, I’d forgotten about that moment. If you were to write an epilogue starring Oskar, what do you think the chances are of he and Erich ultimately ending up together? For Erich, it’d mean another important relationship in his life that began on the basis of a shared love for someone else, but it seems at least possible to me.

MJ: Yeah, actually, that’s the likeliest actual couple in the story as far as I’m concerned, though I’d see it as something a ways in the future, for sure. I might write some sort of awkward future meeting between Oskar and Juli, after Juli has left seminary, but for romance? I’d go Oskar/Erich all the way. In a way, I think the relationship you describe is the one they already sort of have, and what’s kind of surprising about it, is that it feels healthier than one might expect. During that final scene where Oskar is convincing Erich to stay with him (and all of them) at school, there’s an unexpected sense of joy on the page—unexpected by me, anyway. Juli’s leaving, but it’s not the end of the world for anyone, including Oskar and Erich, and that sort of real optimism about their futures without him just took me by surprise. It was kind of awesome, really.

MICHELLE: I felt that, too. It is a new beginning, for everyone involved. You know, it was probably very wise of Hagio to never write a sequel wherein Oskar and Erich do get together—I mean, there must have been some sort of fan demand for this!—because she might’ve had to address the “what happens when school ends?” question. Now we can simply imagine them together instead of knowing they ended up moving on and marrying, et cetera, however poignant that may be.

MJ: Yes, given the time and place, Oskar and Erich’s story as a couple probably ends much less romantically than we’d like. We’re better off with fanfiction, I’m guessing. Which I now want to write. Oops?

Speaking of joy, I feel like we need to spend at least a few minutes here just talking about Hagio’s artwork because… oh, the glory of her artwork! You know I’m a sucker for classic shoujo in general, but Heart of Thomas is just exquisite in every way.

MICHELLE: It really is, and I definitely kept thinking throughout, “Oh, I bet MJlikes this page!”

There were quite a few pages I liked and made note of along the way. Page 157, with that top panel of the memory of Thomas haunting Juli and then in panel three morphing into Erich. Page 201, a color page wherein Juli looks dapper and elegant and Erich looks a little Bohemian or something with his interesting cross-legged pose. Page 241, where Thomas’ outline dominates the page while Juli narrates about how loving Thomas filled him with terror…. I could go on and on.

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MJ: Yes, yes! What’s hardest here is trying to choose! I have particular love for a sequence early on—which I almost hate to bring up, because I know the panels leading into it are a source of pain for Matt Thorn, who surely loves this book more than anyone—but there’s an incredible scene on pages 29-31, in which Juli is dreaming about Thomas throwing himself off the bridge into his arms, that is just spectacularly eerie and expressive. Hagio’s emotional imagery is so clear throughout—she truly shows us her characters’ hearts through the artwork.

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MICHELLE: I also really admired that, even though you’ve got all these kids in identical uniforms, some of whom have similar hairstyles, I was still never confused as to who I was looking at. (This also goes for Erich and Thomas, who share the same face!) And she didn’t achieve this distinction through wild appearances—though a couple of the older boys do look very unique—but just sheer drawing technique.

MJ: Yes, she pours so much characterization into body language and facial expression! It’s exactly the sort of work I long to point out to manga detractors who complain about big-eyed generic illustrations, in part because the characters indeed do have big eyes, which Hagio uses to great advantage. I could look at this book forever, and it’s possible I might.

In case it isn’t obvious to anyone reading this, I loved this manga with my whole heart. And I’ll admit that’s not exactly what I expected. I expected to find it visually beautiful and worthy as a classic, but I also expected it to be very dated and I thought the story might not appeal to my tastes as a modern fan. Instead, I found it to be both beautiful and emotionally resonant to an extent I’ve rarely experienced—especially in BL manga. This is a book I’d wholeheartedly recommend to any comics fan, without reservation. It’s an absolute treasure.

MICHELLE: After experiencing some disappointment with the story of Princess Knight, another historically significant work whose English release I had long desired, I was a little worried myself, but I needn’t have been. The Heart of Thomas was even better than I’d hoped. I hope it does well for Fantagraphics!

MJ: I hope so, too! Thank you, Moto Hagio, Matt Thorn, and Fantagraphics, for giving us the opportunity to read this gorgeous work.


All images copyright 2007 Moto Hagio, new edition copyright 2012 Fantagraphics Books, Inc.

More full-series discussions with MJ & Michelle:

Moon Child | Fullmetal Alchemist | Paradise Kiss | Tokyo Babylon (with guest Danielle Leigh)
The “Color of…” Trilogy | One Thousand and One Nights | Please Save My Earth
Princess Knight | Fruits Basket | Wild Adapter (with guest David Welsh) | Chocolat

Full-series multi-guest roundtables: Hikaru no Go | Banana Fish | Gerard & Jacques | Flower of Life

Filed Under: BL BOOKRACK Tagged With: fantagraphics, matt thorn, moto hagio, the heart of thomas, yaoi/boys' love

Off the Shelf: Strobe Edge, Umineko, Apple Blossoms

November 24, 2012 by MJ and Michelle Smith 7 Comments

MJ: Well, hello, Michelle! Happy Thanksgiving! And other expressions of holiday cheer!

MICHELLE: And the same to you! At this present moment, I am looking forward to a turkey sandwich in my future!

MJ: That sounds delicious! Have any manga to talk about while you munch away?

MICHELLE: Mochiron desu! I’ll start with the debut of Umineko: When They Cry, the latest license from Ryukishi07, who also created Higurashi: When They Cry.

Although I have read a couple of Higurashi side arcs, I still have yet to read the main series. When initial reviews for the first volume were positive, I actually checked it out in the store, but was turned off by the “byoing” sound effects accompanying a female character’s bosoms and returned the book to the shelf. After enjoying the side arcs, I did go back and collect a few volumes but I missed my chance to follow it from the beginning, which was why I wanted to give Umineko a chance. I almost didn’t make it, because the title is front-loaded with even more boob-centric shenanigans.

The story begins in October 1986. Members of the Ushiromiya family are gathering at Rokkenjima island for their annual reunion. Our protagonist is 18-year-old Battler, who has been estranged from the family for six years, so he’s seeing some of his cousins for the first time in while. In short order, he proposes performing an exam on a cousin his own age to see how much she’s grown, coerces a nine-year-old cousin to promise that she’ll grow up to “be a graceful lady and let me touch your boobs whenever I want,” and very nearly goes through with groping a ridiculously well-endowed servant who’s in no position to fend him off. He claims that he is joking around and just trying to provoke a reaction, but not surprisingly, none of the girls is amused.

Though Battler’s boob fixation pops up a few more times, the story thankfully begins to focus on the weird behavior of the family patriarch and the legend of a witch who is reportedly the source of the family fortune. While Battler’s parents squabble over their inheritance, his grandfather concludes his contract with the witch, freeing her to select members of the family as sacrifices, which she does in grisly fashion. Meanwhile, an epitaph accompanying a portrait of the witch provides instructions by which the deaths may be reserved. By the end of the volume, a nicely creepy atmosphere has been achieved.

All in all, though, the mystery is just intriguing enough to bring me back a second time. I don’t like the art. I don’t like Battler. I don’t like the nine-year-old cousin, Maria, who has a verbal tic that causes her to say “uuu” all the time. (Seriously, there’s one panel where her dialogue reads, “Uuu, uuu, uuu!! Uuu, uuu!! Uuu, uuu!! Uuu, uuu, uuu!!”) I don’t mean to insult readers who enjoy moe and fanservice, but it’s personally really difficult for me to endure them.

MJ: Wow… you know, I just don’t know if I have it in me to put up with the fanservice and the moe “uuu”-ing, even for a good mystery. Have I just become old and jaded?

MICHELLE: I don’t think so. It’s probably more a matter of “Life’s too short to read things I don’t like!” And honestly, I’m not sure this is even going to be a good mystery. I just kind of want to see what happens next. It’s entirely possible I’ll give up on it before the end.

Anyway, what have you been reading this week?

MJ: Well, after all the fantastic comments and feedback we received on last week’s BL Bookrack: Best of 2012, I found myself with a growing list of titles I felt I should try—particularly from SuBLime, which has been a tough imprint for me so far in terms of finding books I like. I decided to check out the first of these, Toko Kawai’s The Scent of Apple Blossoms, and this turned out to be a very good choice for me. As soon as I finished the first volume, I purchased the other two and gobbled them up whole.

You covered the series’ premise nicely in your review earlier this year, so I won’t go over it too thoroughly here. In short, Japanese-American Haruna works for a liquor seller in Japan. Part of his job includes trying to persuade local brewers to sell their products to his company to be sold in their shops and restaurants. While visiting an especially cranky brewer, he falls in love at first site with the master brewer’s grandson, Nakagawa. The first volume mainly consists of Haruna trying to wear down the master brewer while also pursuing his seemingly unrequited feelings for Nakagawa, but this is BL, so you know he’s going to succeed in his romantic adventures by the end.

The plot here is hardly the point, however. This story is incredibly, incredibly sweet, yet somehow never fluffy, and the relationships—even the protagonist’s generally unbelievable seduction of a straight man—feel natural and never rushed. Haruna’s American forthrightness is genuinely charming, and it’s easy to see why reserved Nakagawa would be both confounded and fascinated by it. Situations that might normally read as relentless non-con are magically saved by a combination of Nakagawa’s badass demeanor and Haruna’s straightforwardness and unwillingness to make a move without permission. And even the loathed (by me anyway) seme/uke thing is written in a way that feels weirdly natural.

The first volume brings the couple together just as expected, and at this point many writers would have to fabricate unbelievable conflicts just to keep the story going. But Haruna and Nakagawa’s vastly different personalities lend themselves to frequent bumps in the road that actually read as genuine. A favorite section of mine involves an ex-boyfriend of Haruna’s coming to town. This causes some of the conflict you might imagine—serious Nakagawa isn’t happy about the way easygoing Haruna keeps in touch with his exes, which leaves Haruna to figure out how to handle it all without lying to anyone—but Kawai refuses to make these characters into rigid stereotypes, so everything plays out with the kind of real emotional give-and-take you would expect to see in actual life. As a result, what could easily have read as pure melodrama is instead a thoughtful take on the nuances of friendships and romantic relationships, and learning to communicate honestly with one’s partner—only a lot more charming and fun than that sounds!

As a bonus, I also learned a lot about sake, and it really made me want to buy some. Is that a good thing? I’m going to decide that it is.

MICHELLE: I’m so glad that you liked this! I actually haven’t read the other two volumes yet, so you’ve inspired me to check them out.

If you’re interested in more Toko Kawai, I really liked CUT, Café Latte Rhapsody, and In the Walnut. I’m also really intrigued by Just Around the Corner, but I haven’t managed to read it yet.

I guess this amount of gushing means I’m a Toko Kawai fangirl!

MJ: I suspect I will be soon as well!

So, our mutual read comes from VIZ this week. Want to do the introductory honors?

MICHELLE: Sure!

Strobe Edge is a shoujo series from Shueisha—ten volumes total, originally serialized in Betsuma—that covers the well-trod terrain of a high school girl experiencing first love. Ninako Kinoshita is earnest and innocent, and though she joins her friends in admiring school heartthrob Ren Ichinose, she mostly thinks of it as a way to pass the time. When she actually has a chance to talk to Ren, however, and realizes how sweet and awkward he is in his effort to replace a cell phone charm he accidentally stepped on, she begins to feel closer to him. Up to this point, Ninako’s been content to accept the opinions of others as true—a shopkeeper says an apple is delicious, so it must be; my friends tell me what I feel for my friend Daiki is love, so it must be—but now she’s beginning to think for herself. What is it that she’s feeling for Ren?

It would be easy to label this as generic shoujo, and I really can’t claim that it’s forging new territory, but I found the characters to be likable and sympathetic. It’s total comfort-read material, more in the vein of a Kimi ni Todoke than a Black Bird (for which I am profoundly grateful!).

MJ: My experience with this book was fairly mixed, I’ll admit. About twenty pages in or so, I remember thinking (and actually saying out loud to the others in the room), “I’m so bored.” That was my initial reaction to Strobe Edge. “I’m so bored.” Yet, weirdly, even though that impression did not honestly change much over the course of the volume, by the time I reached its romantic cliffhanger ending, I felt extremely anxious to know what happens next.

And I think this may all come down to the likeableness of the story’s characters, as you mention. Despite the fact that I had difficulty getting invested in yet another high school crush, there were some characters I really felt for, and eventually this even included the story’s heroine, Ninako, though I’d had trouble connecting with her in the beginning. In particular, though, I felt immense sympathy for Daiki, who doesn’t have any confusion over what he feels for Ninako, yet is the one most being left out in the cold. And while I generally found Ninako’s endless waffling and naiveté over what “love” is—not that this isn’t a question all humans wrestle with, but man, how does a girl get to be in high school without having been saturated in the concept through books, TV, even advertisements, for heaven’s sake—she at least knows enough to stop stringing Daiki along after figuring it out.

MICHELLE: Yes, I really liked that about her, too. I guess it’s more of the “making up her own mind” progress, wherein she just instinctively knows that going out with Daiki while continuing to like Ren would be completely unfair. Speaking of unfair, I think Ren’s somewhat in the wrong for showing excessive kindness to Ninako while he already had a girlfriend, but he probably liked having the chance to connect with someone instead of remaining merely an object of distant adoration, so it’s hard to fault him, either.

Suffice it to say, I join you in your anxiety to know what happens next. There are a few wrinkles by the end that at least suggest the series will not tread the predictable path, but even if it does do that, I’d probably still enjoy it.

MJ: I suppose I probably will, too! Despite my early ambivalence, I clearly care at this point. Such is the nature of shoujo addiction.

Filed Under: OFF THE SHELF Tagged With: Strobe Edge, the scent of apple blossoms, umineko: when they cry, yaoi/boys' love

BL Bookrack: October 2012

October 28, 2012 by MJ and Michelle Smith 3 Comments

Welcome to the October installment of BL Bookrack! This month, Michelle takes a look at the debut volume of Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love from SuBLime, while MJchecks out My Dear Prince at JManga. In Brief: Hitorijime Boyfriend (JManga) and est em’s ULTRAS (DMG).



Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love, Vols. 1-2 | By Yaya Sakuragi | Published by SuBLime | Rated Mature – I’ve confessed before that I tend to judge BL by its cover, and I must admit that had I not previously read and enjoyed something by Yaya Sakuragi, I would’ve passed on Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love. Unfortunately, however, this isn’t one of those times where the cover belies the contents. What you see is, in fact, exactly what you get. This manga is all about a shrimpy teenager repeatedly pushing his feelings on his older, tsundere neighbor.

The story begins when seventeen-year-old Ao Sawanoi has a wet dream about Ryomei Kosaka, his neighbor, older-brother figure, and priest of the nearby Shinto shrine. Ao proceeds to openly discuss this occurrence with several people, including Ryomei himself, and then becomes obsessed with making the dream a reality. He pesters Ryomei quite a lot, and eventually snags a kiss, which convinces him that he is in love. Ryomei puts up some token resistance, but when Ao takes his rejection too much to heart and ceases his daily visits to the shrine, Ryomei ends up seeking him out and encouraging his feelings. (There are two volumes yet to go of this series, so as of the end of volume two, the guys are not yet a couple.)

Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love is another of those BL titles that isn’t outright bad, but it’s pretty generic. (I think I am going to start keeping a tally of how often I see that gross, obligatory panel in which a “sexy” string of spittle connects the tongues of the two leads in a BL manga.) I don’t like Ao—he’s vacuous and immature—and I don’t understand why Ryomei would be interested in him. I also don’t get why Ryomei’s friend is encouraging the relationship, but then again, this is the same guy who lets his second-grade daughter man a convenience store alone and has her cook meals for guests when it’s her bedtime.

Most likely I am taking this too seriously, but with so much BL manga now available, there are much better things to read.

– Review by Michelle Smith



My Dear Prince | By Fumi Tomoe | Published by JManga/Libre Publishing | Rated Mature – Shinta and Tsukasa (whose name can also be pronounced “Prince”) have been dating for a while—in secret, according to the adamant Shinta. The reality is that their whole class knows about them and would do practically anything to keep them together, if only to help out their beloved Prince. Tsukasa (who initiated the relationship) worries constantly that Shinta doesn’t really want to be with him, and Shinta worries constantly that Tsukasa will find out that he’s a “pervert,” but no matter their troubles, there’s a sense from the start that everything will always be okay.

If this sounds like a story with too little conflict to be engaging, that’s definitely a concern. Yet somehow, despite its overly rosy view of teenaged romance, there’s a freshness and adorableness about My Dear Prince that saves it from becoming a total snore. Tsukasa’s spells of paranoia feel mostly warranted, and thus avoid falling completely into either melodrama or camp. In fact, they’re actually quite endearing, which keeps the overall tone light. Meanwhile, Shinta’s worries feel authentic to the trials of adolescent sexuality without ever becoming creepy or pushing him into overbearing seme territory. Mostly, though, what really carries this fluffy little story along is the genuine charm of it all. No matter how unrealistic the boys’ story seems, it’s undeniably pleasant to read.

Like so many BL one-shots, My Dear Prince is only a few chapters long, leaving the rest of the volume to be filled in with several short manga—often of lesser quality. Tomoe’s shorts are a little better than most, mainly due to the same charm she brings to the title story. Even the creepiest of the bunch, “Happy Bride Project,” about a delinquent high school student who strives to become the perfect “bride” after his teacher requests his hand in marriage, is almost saved (I repeat, “almost.”) from its potentially skeevy premise and hideous devotion to traditional gender roles by the power of a cute puppy:

As you see in this panel, Tomoe’s artwork is clear and cute, and that carries over into the volume as a whole, even on a philosophical level. Problems are easily understood and solved, people are adorable—inside and out, and happiness is as accessible as a cute little puppy.

My Dear Prince is no masterpiece, and there’s no denying that amidst a stronger lineup, it would hardly make an impression. But sometimes a bit of good-natured fluff is enough to win the day.

– Review by MJ


In Brief:

Hitorijime Boyfriend | By Memeco Arii | Published by JManga/Ichijinsha | Rated Mature – Back in elementary school, Kensuke parted with BFF Hasekura on painful terms. Reunited now in high school, Kensuke has a second chance to rekindle their friendship, but “friendship” may not be what Hasekura has in mind. Such is the premise of Hitorijime Boyfriend. Sounds unoriginal but potentially cute, right? Sadly, “potential” is really all it’s got. Though best-friends-turned-lovers is one of my favorite romantic fantasy scenarios, even that can’t survive the book’s relentless non-con or a clumsy English adaptation that becomes less and less readable as the story goes on. JManga has had an increasingly strong track record with BL since first launch. Unfortunately, Hitorijime Boyfriend goes against the trend. Not recommended. – MJ

ULTRAS | By est em | Digital Manga Guild | Rated Mature – Ordinarily, I’m not a huge fan of BL anthologies, but the format really shows off est em’s gift for swiftly establishing her characters, enabled by her distinctive, economical, and expressive artistic style. The title story, about a pair of Spaniards who are as passionate about soccer (though for opposing teams) as they are for each other, is more than a love story, it’s a lesson in both tolerance and pursuing what you want despite what others may think. Although this is the best story in the collection, the others are pretty interesting, too. My favorite is probably “Say Hello to Mr. Smith,” which involves a conman, a pickpocket, and a monkey. I hope that someday est em decides to tackle a multi-volume work—it’s awesome to contemplate what greatness might ensue! – Michelle Smith


Review copies provided by the publishers.

Disclosure: MJ is currently under contract with Digital Manga Publishing’s Digital Manga Guild, as necessitated for her ongoing report Inside the DMG. Any compensation earned by MJin her role as an editor with the DMG will be donated to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Filed Under: BL BOOKRACK Tagged With: yaoi/boys' love

BL Bookrack: August 2012

August 23, 2012 by MJ and Michelle Smith 14 Comments

Welcome to the August installment of BL Bookrack! This month, Michelle takes a look at Flutter from Juné Manga and the debut volume of Punch Up! from SuBLime, while MJchecks out the first two volumes of Setona Mizushiro’s Dousei Ai at JManga. In Brief: Awkward Silence (SuBLime), Honeydew Syndrome, Vol. 2 (New Shoe), My Boyfriend the Mad Dog (DMG), and Starting With a Kiss, Vol. 1 (SuBLime).



Dousei Ai, Vols. 1-2 | By Setona Mizushiro | Published by Libre Publishing Co., Ltd./JManga | Rated Mature – When innocent middle-schooler Tsubaki tells his classmate Kaoru that he loves him, he is completely unprepared for the consequences of his words. Devastated by Kaoru’s violent rejection, Tsubaki begins to withdraw from his other friends and, as he reaches high school, enters into a sexual relationship with a male teacher in order to ease his growing sense of isolation. As graduation approaches, Tsubaki becomes anxious to get out of the increasingly one-sided relationship with his teacher. But when he tries to break up, the teacher reacts by dramatically outing him to his family—sending Tsubaki running to Tokyo to escape his parents’ visible pain and disapproval.

If the entire series was Tsubaki’s alone, his poignant tale would be more than enough to keep me hooked. But its second chapter makes it immediately clear that Mizushiro has much bigger plans, as she introduces the series’ second protagonist, Koutarou.

Having mainly been raised by his kind, domestically-inclined older brother, Koutarou is a fairly manipulative, smart-ass kid who privately prides himself on being able to “beat” his brother at anything. When his brother brings home a girlfriend for the first time, it seems he’s finally bested Koutarou at something, but the girl sneaks into Koutarou’s bed during the night, providing Koutarou with both the loss of his virginity and proof that he’s still on top (so to speak). Things take a downward turn, however, when Koutarou’s brother announces that he’ll be marrying the girlfriend, who is pregnant with a child he believes must be his. Wracked with guilt and self-loathing, Koutarou falls into a pattern of loveless one-night-stands with any women (and later, men—which eventually establishes itself as his preference) who express interest, all the while keeping up appearances as the guy who’s got it all together.

That was probably more summary than I’ve ever included in a single review in my entire career as a manga critic, but in those two paragraphs you will find evidence of both the best (and worst) things about Dousei Ai. In the category of “best,” well… wow. This is no casual one-shot or simplistic BL romance. Setona Mizushiro has carefully crafted a complex emotional drama with some of the best-written characterization I’ve ever seen in this genre and a long game that is pretty obviously going to offer up significant payoff for the reader. I mean, going into this it’s clear that we’re in for a killer of a ride, along the lines of something like Sooyeon Won’s manhwa epic Let Dai, only better—much, much better. Both Tsubaki and Koutarou are rich, genuinely fascinating characters, who somehow manage to remain sympathetic even as they fall into their individual patterns of using others in order to get by with their own pain. And as the second volume wraps up it becomes clear that the main cast will continue to grow as the series goes on. I can’t wait. Seriously, I can’t.

On the downside—and perhaps at least partially due to the era in which this was originally released—Mizushiro puts a lot of work into making sure we know just how broken her protagonists are, which wouldn’t be a problem if she didn’t also hint at their personal trauma being at least partly responsible for their sexuality. I’m giving her a pass on this so far, since it hasn’t been stated outright from an authorial point of view, but it is the one small bruise on this otherwise deliciously epic treat. And while I’ve heard the series’ old-school ’90s artwork (it began serialization in 1996) described as “ugly,” it satisfies my admittedly-retro tastes with near-perfection.

If you’ve got a hankering for lighthearted comedy or sweet romance, this series is emphatically not the ticket. But for my part, Dousei Ai may be the BL epic I’ve long been waiting for. Highly recommended.

– Review by MJ



Flutter | By Momoko Tenzen | Juné | Rated Mature – Sometimes I’m tempted to write a review that simply says, “This is really good. Go read it.” Flutter is just such a case, but I suppose I ought to present at least some evidence in its favor.

Masahiro Asada works in the sales division of a company. Although straight, he’s transfixed every morning by the sight of a beautiful male coworker, Ryosuke Mizuki, who is so impeccably dressed and put together that he almost doesn’t seem human. When a project brings them together, Asada gets to know Mizuki—and his all-too-human flaws, sorrows, and weaknesses—and finds himself even more attracted.

There are so many things to recommend this manga. The atmosphere is sort of… elegant and languid, which suits mysterious Mizuki well and makes an earnest everydude like Asada stand out all the more. The growing friendship between the men is believable—and they’re both completely professional adults, I might add—as is Mizuki’s wary reaction when Asada confesses his feelings. Mizuki’s been hurt before, and is concerned he might be tempted to just use Asada to make his ex jealous.

It’s lovely and complicated, and when the guys do finally get together physically it’s wonderfully awkward. I’m always a little embarrassed when BL lets us get to know the guys well before they start getting intimate, because then it feels like we’re spying on something we shouldn’t be seeing. Thankfully, the love scene fades to black before this becomes an issue.

Ultimately, Flutter is the best BL oneshot I’ve read in a long time. This is really good. Go read it.

– Review by Michelle Smith


Punch Up!, Vol. 1 | By Shiuko Kano | Published by SuBLime Manga | Rated Mature – Shiuko Kano has had a lot of manga published in America, but somehow, despite owning several volumes, I’ve never managed to read any of her work until this first volume of Punch Up!, which is itself a spinoff of Play Boy Blues.

The concept is pretty simple: Maki Motoharu is a gay architect with a lively appreciation for attractive men. When he learns that his lost cat has been found and cared for by Ohki Kouta, a construction worker helping to build his latest project, and that Kouta has quarreled with his landlord because of that, he offers the younger man a place to stay. Kouta soon realizes that Motoharu’s fancy digs (and cat) are woefully neglected, and ends up bonding with the cat (Nyanta) far more than her owner ever had.

Pretty soon Kouta’s concern for Nyanta translates to concern for Motoharu, and they hook up. What’s interesting about their relationship is that it’s not sweet at all. This isn’t some dreamy romance manga. Motoharu is pretty much a crappy person, but not in an over-the-top villainous kind of way. Kouta realizes this, bemoaning his own lousy taste in men, and has no expectations that their relationship is going to last. And somehow… this seems to give the story a lot of potential to go in various soapy directions while seeming at least a little more realistic than the thoughtful/adorable BL to which I typically gravitate.

Though a lot more explicit than I usually prefer, and tonally different as well, Punch Up! has at least intrigued me enough to check out the next volume, though I don’t see it becoming a permanent fixture in my collection.

– Review by Michelle Smith


In Brief:

Awkward Silence, Vol. 1 | By Hinako Takanaga | Published by SuBLime Manga | Rated Mature – With his impassive face, Satoru Tono has always had trouble expressing his feelings. He can’t even visibly convey his happy surprise when Keigo Tamiya, a popular athlete and object of Satoru’s long-time crush, asks him out. Various obstacles and misunderstandings ensue—drama over a lost cell phone charm, jealousy over a flirtatious female transfer student, and a persistent sempai with an eye for Satoru— but the boys reaffirm their affections as needed and engage in end-of-chapter “romping” with predictable regularity. If you’re thinking, “Gee, that sounds pretty generic,” you’re absolutely right. It’s not actively bad, so I might have read a second volume if the series had ended there, but it looks like it’s up to four volumes in Japan and still ongoing! I am, quite frankly, astounded that Takanaga was able to extract that much material from this tired premise. – Michelle Smith

Honeydew Syndrome, Vol. 2 | By New Shoe | Rated Teen – With Metis and Josh’s relationship well in hand, volume two of this charming BL comic turns the camera on quiet, easygoing Jay and his growing interest in Metis’ caustic friend Charles, as well as a few other members of Metis’ idiosyncratic social sphere. Though this can feel a bit choppy as a volume, the individual stories are just as engaging as the first half of the series, and perhaps more so in places—evidence of this team’s growth over the course of the series. The print version of this webcomic also includes a a terrific prose story about Jay and Charles that offers up some essential character notes on both of them and is not to be missed. Still recommended. – MJ

My Boyfriend, The Mad Dog | By Sanae Rokuya | Digital Manga Guild – Akae is an eccentric mangaka who expects his assistants to, er, “assist” with more than just artwork. Honma is a highly sought-after freelancer with ample talent for the job. If this sounds like the introduction to a little mindless porn, you’d only be partly right. Though their story is far from deep, there is some fairly nuanced characterization here, especially in Honma, who refuses to be cast as simply the blushing uke. Unfortunately, the volume’s second couple—an aspiring artist who hasn’t learned the word “no,” and his (apparently) desperate editor—is pretty cringe-worthy throughout. If you don’t enjoy persistent non-con, proceed with caution.– MJ

Starting with a Kiss, Vol. 1 | By Youka Nitta | SuBLime Manga | Rated Mature – As a fan of multi-volume BL, I’m usually pretty anxious to try out anything with a volume number in its title, though results are frequently negative or mixed at best. Starting with a Kiss falls squarely into the latter category, with its mix of confusing narrative and comically rushed romance alongside some genuinely interesting characterization. Though Youka Nitta’s yakuza are intriguing, her jumps between past and present read as awkward rather than illuminating. Furthermore, her plentiful sex scenes are hampered by unbelievable relationships that seem to form in the blink of an eye. Fortunately, with multi-volume series, there’s always hope for next time. Not yet recommended. – MJ


Review copies of most titles provided by the publishers.

Disclosure: MJ is currently under contract with Digital Manga Publishing’s Digital Manga Guild, as necessitated for her ongoing report Inside the DMG. Any compensation earned by MJin her role as an editor with the DMG will be donated to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Filed Under: BL BOOKRACK Tagged With: yaoi/boys' love

BL Bookrack: June 2012

June 23, 2012 by MJ and Michelle Smith 7 Comments

Welcome to the June installment of BL Bookrack! This month, Michelle takes a look at Honey Darling, a rare print release from SuBLime Manga, while MJchecks out Juné’s recent reprinting of fan favorite Only the Ring Finger Knows. In Brief: Kaoru Kun from the Digital Manga Guild, and an early look at The Young Protectors from Yaoi 911.



Honey Darling | By Norikazu Akira | Published by SuBLime | Rated Mature – In a word, Honey Darling is “adorable.” So adorable, in fact, that I am perfectly willing to forget the few minor quibbles I have with it.

Chihiro Takahashi is a young man “just drifting through life.” He doesn’t have any goals or aspirations, and he’s never had a serious relationship. When he happens past an abandoned kitten, however, he can’t just ignore her, and ends up becoming a well-intentioned, if uninformed, pet owner. When the kitty (Shiro) develops a cold, a frantic Chihiro takes to the streets where he conveniently runs into Daisuke Kumazawa, gruff but kind veterinarian. Kumazawa gives Chihiro a stern lecture about the responsibilities of pet ownership, and after Chihiro tears up at the enormity of his error, offers him a job as a live-in housekeeper, saying, “You’d be like… my wife.”

I was fully prepared for Chihiro to be incompetent at the tasks assigned, but he actually does a good job and works hard. Over time, he decides that he’d like to become a veterinary nurse. And really, it’s the amount of weight given to this plot point that really makes me love Honey Darling. Sure, a romance is slowly developing between Chihiro and Kumazawa, but the story reads like the main point of it all is Chihiro finding a place where he belongs, and discovering something to be passionate about. And that will always, always be my favorite plot ever, no matter how many times I read it.

There’s no crazy, out-of-left-field drama in Honey Darling. Sure, it’s not the most realistic thing ever, but it’s sweet and cute and cheery. I’m not fond of Daisuke referring to menial labor as the wifely role, true, and the character designs are a little bland, but I enjoyed this oneshot very much and honestly wish there were more of it.

– Review by Michelle Smith



Only the Ring Finger Knows | By Satoru Kannagi & Hotaru Odagiri | Published by Juné | Rated YA – What makes a romance story work? This was the question most on my mind as I breathlessly finished Only the Ring Finger Knows, a sort of neo-classic BL manga (based on a popular light novel series) which was originally released in English in 2004—three full years before I began reading manga, and long before I started reading in the boys’ love genre. It’s been out of print for some time, but with the final volume of the light novel series due for release this fall, DMP has reprinted the manga, allowing latecomers like me to finally join the party. And what a lovely party it is.

The setup is typical of standard high school romance. There’s a fad sweeping through Wataru’s high school, in which students indicate their relationship status by the placement of (sometimes matching) rings on their fingers. Various configurations indicate friendship, availability, or (of course) love. When Wataru discovers that his own ring (bought on a whim) matches that of a popular upperclassman, Yuichi Kazuki, the situation is primarily annoying, as every girl in school wants to know where he got his ring. Furthermore, Kazuki himself is inexplicably hostile to Wataru, though he seems to be kind to everyone else.

Of course this is BL, so we know that all signs point to love, but as with all romance, the story’s success depends on its execution, and here’s where my opening question comes up again. What makes a romance story work? I’ve stated many criteria in the past, including compelling characters, believable relationship development, emotional truth, blah blah blah, but what is it really that makes the difference between a perfectly pleasant tale of romance and the kind that sweeps us away completely, filling our hearts with joy and a sweet, sweet anxiety that lingers long after we’ve turned the last page?

I tend to be a big-picture thinker, but in this case, I suspect that the devil is in the details. Within this questionably original setup, it’s the little things that matter. The tilt of a chin, a hurried glance, the tentative movement of a hand—these are the details that accent the story’s most significant emotional beats. With these perfect details, the tension between Wataru and Kazuki is thick and volatile from the start, far ahead of Wataru’s own understanding of what’s happening in his own heart and mind. The combination of intense interest and awkwardness between the two main characters seems so real, to continue reading almost feels like an intrusion. It’s painfully delicate and honestly breathtaking in a way that only romance can be, and to a great extent, it’s reminded me why I like the genre so much in the first place.

Satoru Kannagi’s original light novel is no longer in print in English, but as much as I’d like to read it, I must admit that Hotaru Odagiri’s expressive artwork does so much of the heavy lifting here, it’s difficult to imagine the story playing out so gracefully in prose. If, like me, you missed Only the Ring Finger Knows the first time around, don’t let this reprinting pass you by. Joyfully recommended.

– Review by MJ


In Brief:

Kaoru Kun | By Suguro Chayamachi | Digital Manga Guild | Rated YA – Most regular readers of Manga Bookshelf are by now pretty familiar with my personal tastes in BL, including a penchant for what I once described as “quiet/ideosyncratic character studies.” Kaoru Kun fits that description to a T, while also proving that this alone is not enough—or perhaps that not enough is not enough. The volume starts strong as mangaka Suguro Chayamichi introduces Kaoru, an abused, neglected child desperately searching for affection wherever he can find it. Later chapters check in with Kaoru as his life improves and he learns to let his naturally gentle nature heal the wounds of others. Unfortunately, just three chapters in, Chayamachi (or her publisher) drops the ball, abandoning the character we’ve learned to care so much for in favor of several unrelated stories that fail to fill the gap left by his absence. Though the result is ultimately unsatisfying, Kaoru’s unfinished story is still worth reading. Hesitantly recommended. – MJ

The Young Protectors | By Alex Woolfson, Adam DeKraker, & Veronica Gandini | Yaoi 911 – Probably the greatest weakness in Alex Woolfson’s otherwise terrific sci-fi webcomic Artifice is the author’s decision to shortchange his characters’ relationship development in order to get to the juicy bits. In his new comic, The Young Protectors, Woolfson accelerates this further by putting one of those bits right up front, but perhaps with better results. As the series opens, a young superhero is caught emerging from his first trip to a gay bar by a hunky supervillain, leading fairly quickly into a semi-coerced makeout session that *just* manages to avoid feeling unforgiveably creepy by the fact that it reads more like the boy’s fantasy than anything else. In another author’s hands, starting with that kind of hormone-heavy fantasy might read like an intro to plotless porn, but in this case it seems likely that we’re in for something deeper, and perhaps by getting some of this out of the way from the get-go, Woolfson will feel at leisure to take more time with the good stuff. I’m optimistic, and you should be too. Check it out. – MJ


Review copies provided by the publishers.

Disclosure: MJ is currently under contract with Digital Manga Publishing’s Digital Manga Guild, as necessitated for her ongoing report Inside the DMG. Any compensation earned by MJin her role as an editor with the DMG will be donated to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Other recent BL reviews from MJ & Michelle: Honey Darling (SuBLime)

Filed Under: BL BOOKRACK Tagged With: honey darling, only the ring finger knows, the young protectors, yaoi/boys' love

BL Bookrack: May 2012

May 28, 2012 by MJ and Michelle Smith 7 Comments

Welcome to the May installment of BL Bookrack! This month, Michelle takes a look at est em’s Apartments of Calle Feliz (JManga) and the first volume of The Scent of Apple Blossoms (SuBLime), while MJchecks out western BL webcomic Honeydew Syndrome. In Brief: Doukyusei from JManga, and My Sweet Home from the Digital Manga Guild.



Apartments of Calle Feliz | By est em | Published by JManga – It seems that every time I turn around I am thanking JManga for something these days, and this quirky set of interconnected short stories from est em can now be added to the list!

Life’s not going well for aspiring novelist Luca. His editor is dissatisfied with his work, and he’s just been kicked out of his home because his boyfriend found a new guy. When he responds to a flyer advertising a room for rent, he ends up living with the landlord, Javi, instead. Luca’s intrigued by Javi, but keeps telling himself not to care about him, because it seems obvious that Javi has ousted a past lover from his apartment and Luca knows what that feels like.

Still, Javi is an inspiration, and his suggestion that Luca write stories with happy endings for the tenants of the apartment building—located on Calle Feliz (or “happy street”)—results in the tales included here. Residents include Dino and Salvator (a fashion designer and his nudist recluse boyfriend), Noe and the Twins (a man unable to decide which of a pair of twins he prefers), Matias and Pepe (a boy who reminds a puppetmaker of his lost love), and Jose and Eva (a hard-of-hearing guy and a crossdresser with a bunch of noisy roommates). A story about Javi and Luca and Javi’s past rounds out the collection.

The stories themselves are generally fun and charming—though I was disappointed that the Jose and Eva story seemed to end so abruptly—but what’s even more intriguing is wondering how much of this actually happened and how much is Luca’s imagination. Did Pepe’s lover really return to him? Did the designer and the nudist resolve their problems and live happily ever after? It’s nice to imagine they did, but est em floats the possibility that maybe things didn’t actually turn out so well, which is a narrative trick I just love.

This may not be as dramatic a collection as something like Seduce Me After the Show or Red Blinds the Foolish, but it is definitely worth reading all the same.

– Review by Michelle Smith



Honeydew Syndrome, Vol. 1 | By New Shoe | Rated Teen – A while back, I got an e-mail asking if I’d be willing to take a look at a North American comic called Two Keys from the creative team New Shoe (Chloe Chan and Aliena Shoemaker). I agreed. Included in the package when it arrived was the first print volume of the duo’s older BL webcomic Honeydew Syndrome, which immediately stole my attention with its sparse, melancholy cover art and manga-influenced character designs. I couldn’t help but read it, and though its promising first impression was marred somewhat by a small rash of typos and lettering mishaps, the truth is, I found myself rushing to my computer the moment I finished in order to read the rest (and I’ve just purchased volume two, which promises a bonus chapter and some prose stories). It’s just that charming.

So here’s the setup: High school student and emo-in-denial Metis (yes, like Athena’s mother, for those of you who are into Greek mythology) accidentally witnesses popular jock Josh being dumped by his cheerleader girlfriend, which somehow lands him in the way of Josh’s angry fist. To make things worse, he then gets paired up with Josh for a major school project. Though Metis is initially afraid for his well-being, fear soon turns to anger as he realizes that Josh has no idea who he even is, let alone that he recently punched him. Since this is BL, we know that teen angst and misunderstanding ultimately lead to love, but in romance, of course, it’s all about the journey, and this one is pretty delightful all-around.

Though romance is definitely the destination, what makes this series’ journey so worthwhile is its focus on friendship—specifically that between Metis and his collection of outsider friends, and especially his long-time best friend, Charles. Metis and Charles, with their impenetrable universe of two, embody all the best parts of teenage outcast friendship, including all the conversational shorthand, unspoken loyalty, and weirdly casual sexual tension that so often comes with the package. Other standouts include quietly colorful Jay and witheringly honest Sarah (who appears in later chapters).

New Shoe’s artwork lacks polish (at least in this early work), but it’s also unfailingly expressive, and the visual storytelling is solid. The characters’ emotional trajectory is crystal clear, panel-to-panel, even in the artwork’s most uneven moments. If I had the opportunity to register only one complaint regarding Honeydew Syndrome, it would be that there simply is not enough of it. The series ended abruptly in 2009 amid discontent on the part of both fans and creators, as evidenced by comments posted to its fan community at the time. But whatever controversy the series once generated, the existing work is well worth reading.

With its character-driven approach and thoughtful storytelling, Honeydew Syndrome holds its own alongside my small collection of Japanese and Korean favorites. Recommended.

– Review by MJ



The Scent of Apple Blossoms, Vol. 1 | By Toko Kawai | Published by SuBLime – I have yet to meet a Toko Kawai manga I didn’t like, and The Scent of Apple Blossoms proves to be no exception.

Born in America, salesman Haruna Mutsuki is a little more uninhibited than most, and when he meets the intriguing grandson of a sake brewery master during the course of business, he’s pretty forthright with his interest. The grandsom, known for most of the volume only as Nakagawa, presents a cold demeanor, but proves to be kindly in certain situations. I swear, never has the act of remaining sober so as to drive someone else home had so much sweet, romantic significance.

While this is definitely a romance, Kawai gives the story space to breathe and allows her characters ample time and opportunity to establish their personalities. While Haruna looks like the stereotypical uke, for example, and requires a bit of nursing on several occasions, he’s actually a pretty confident guy who’s very capable at his work. Nakagawa, meanwhile, is a ringer for the stereotypical gruff but sweet type who will come around eventually, but he’s actually got some legitimate reasons for shying away from Haruna’s romantic advances.

When the two eventaully get together (not really a spoiler in this sort of story), it’s a big leap for both of them that Kawai’s storytelling has allowed readers to really understand and appreciate. Although I get the sense that she was fine where the story ended in this first volume, The Scent of Apple Blossoms is actually a continuing series. The third volume was just released in Japan earlier this month, and though SuBLime’s digital release calendar doesn’t show volume two yet, I am hoping the wait won’t be too long.

– Review by Michelle Smith


In Brief:

Doukyusei | By Asumiko Nakamura | JManga | Rated Teen Plus – As far as I’m concerned, when it comes to romance, the more awkward the better, and that goes double if the characters are teens. Fortunately, Doukyusei gets this exactly right, and really so much more. Emotionally offbeat in the vein of Rihito Takarai & Venio Tachibana’s Seven Days series (but without the contrived setup), Asumiko Nakamura delicately explores the awkwardness of first love with a kind of frank delicacy, aided greatly by her unique art style and gangly character designs. The story’s themes and school-based situations may be standard genre fare, but Nakamura’s storytelling is decidedly not. Highly recommended. – MJ

My Sweet Home | By Kai Nanase | Digital Manga Guild | Rated Mature – This BL one-shot about a young real estate agent who finds himself showing luxurious apartments to an ex-lover sounds promising to start. (Adults with jobs? Check. Workplace awkwardness? Check.) Unfortunately, the book’s summary is its highlight, leading quickly to rushed, unsatisfying romance, incoherent plotting, and artwork so generic that only the change in main character names really distinguishes the book’s title story from the shorter one-shots that follow. Digital Manga Guild localizing team Kaedama Translations does their job, but there’s only so much that can be done with a clunker like My Sweet Home. With so much BL manga now flooding the market by way of the DMG, mediocre fare like this holds very little appeal. – MJ


Review copies provided by the publishers.

Disclosure: MJ is currently under contract with Digital Manga Publishing’s Digital Manga Guild, as necessitated for her ongoing report Inside the DMG. Any compensation earned by MJin her role as an editor with the DMG will be donated to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Other recent BL reviews at Manga Bookshelf: Apartments of Calle Feliz (JManga), Working Kentauros (JManga), Devil’s Honey (Sublime), The Boyfriend Next Door (Digital Manga Guild)

Filed Under: BL BOOKRACK Tagged With: yaoi/boys' love

Claiming our BL biases

March 29, 2012 by MJ 33 Comments

Last week, a reader commented to express concern that my work with DMP’s Digital Manga Guild for Inside the DMG might result in a bias towards their releases when reviewing for BL Bookrack. Whereas I feel that I’ve taken steps to avoid bias or misrepresentation (all earnings are going to the CBLDF as stated since the beginning, and I’ve been completely up front about my participation), it’s certainly up to each reader to choose how she (or he) wants to interpret my reviews, based on that disclosure.

But even if I feel absolutely comfortable that I’m critiquing DMP and/or DMG releases with a fair mind (and I do) it would be incorrect to say that I have no biases when it comes to BL. I most certainly do have biases, and they’re pretty freaking obvious in all of my reviews. It’s just that they’re more about content than whose logo is on the spine.

Like most fans of romance (BL or otherwise) I have very specific tastes, some of which may make or break a title with me. I’ve outlined my deal breakers pretty thoroughly in the past, so I won’t repeat it all now. In a way, it’s these biases/tastes that, in part, make my reviews (or anyone’s) valuable. Since there is no truly objective way to evaluate or talk about fiction, it’s our individual backgrounds and tastes that make multiple reviews of the same book worthwhile. Readers who share my general tastes (for instance), especially my most specific peculiarities, will have that in mind as they read my reviews—and this goes for readers who don’t share them as well. Both our similarities and differences with other people help to guide us to what we’ll most identify with or enjoy.

So, to take this conversation in a positive direction, I thought I’d take a moment to list the BL titles I’ve read over the past few years that have best conformed to my specific tastes since I began reviewing BL manga and manhwa. These are titles that have my biases written all over them. They are, quite simply, my favorites. Take that as you will!

Wild Adapter (Kazuya Minekura, Tokyopop)
Ichigenme… The The First Class is Civil Law (Fumi Yoshinaga, 801 Media)
The Moon and the Sandals (Fumi Yoshinaga, Juné)
Future Lovers (Saika Kunieda, Deux Press)
U Don’t Know Me (Rakun, Netcomics)
Red Blinds the Foolish (est em, Deux Press)
Age Called Blue (est em, Netcomics)
One Thousand and One Nights (Jeon JinSeok & Han SeungHee, Yen Press)
Totally Captivated (Hajin Yoo, Netcomics)
Roureville (E. Hae, Netcomics)
Color (Eiki Eiki & Taishi Zaou, DokiDoki)
Kiss Blue (Keiko Kinoshita, Juné)
Seven Days (Rihito Takarai & Venio Tachiban, Juné)
A Liar in Love (Kiyo Ueda, Juné)
Only Serious About You (Kai Asou, Juné)
You & Tonight (Keiko Kinoshita, Digital Manga Guild)
About Love (Narise Konohara, Juné)
My Darling Kitten Hair (Haruko Kumota, JManga/Libre Publishing)

Looking at this list, I’d identify my tastes as these: I like long, plotty series or quiet/ideosyncratic character studies much more than anything that falls in-between. I like Fumi Yoshinaga, Keiko Kinoshita, and est em. I like Korean BL (man do I like Korean BL—somebody please license more!). I don’t really care if the stories have sex, but I definitely want romance and/or intense emotional intimacy. I like emotional messiness and complication. I care more about the development of a relationship than I do its consummation. I don’t require realism, except when it comes to emotional truth (The Way to Heaven really almost made this list). I like (though can’t always get) stories where at least one character actually identifies as gay. Other books that (inexplicably) came very close to making this list include Deeply Loving a Maniac (801 Media) and Oku-san’s Daily Fantasies (SuBLime).

If you share my biases, I recommend you check out these titles. And I promise you let you know when I find more, no matter who has published them.

And now I put it to you: Readers, what are your BL biases? What makes a story work (or not) for you and what titles have most closely fit the bill?


Disclosure: MJ is currently under contract with Digital Manga Publishing’s Digital Manga Guild, as necessitated for her ongoing report Inside the DMG. Any compensation earned by MJin her role as an editor with the DMG will be donated to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Juné, 801 Media, DokiDoki and Digital Manga Guild are all imprints produced by Digital Manga Publishing.

Filed Under: UNSHELVED Tagged With: yaoi/boys' love

Apple censors still targeting LGBTQ content?

March 1, 2012 by MJ 23 Comments

In June of 2010, Apple’s policies for adult content in the iOS App Store received a lot of attention in the comics press after Tom Bouden’s all-male graphic novel adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest was rejected from the store for its very mild sexual content, while similarly non-explicit heterosexual content seemed to be flying through just fine. Though Apple eventually agreed to accept a censored version of Bouden’s comic, Prism Comics founder Charles “Zan” Christensen gave voice to the thought on everyone’s mind at the time in his article, “iPad Publishing No Savior for Small Press, LGBT Comics Creators” at the company’s website. And though, just a year later, Apple seemed to throw its arms open wide to Christensen’s LGBT imprint Northwest Press by accepting several of Northwest’s comics into its iBooks store, publishers and fans have remained skeptical.

American manga publishers learned their lessons early on. In 2008, Yaoi Press founder Yamila Abraham—an early proponent of digital distribution—worked with a company called Fika Publishing to create apps for their comics, which feature male-male relationships. “They knew Apple had tight policies so we first attempted to get our tamest title accepted, Zesty,” Abraham told me in an e-mail this week. “There is no gay sex in Zesty. The gayest thing is two guys kissing. The School Library Journal even rated it grades 10 and up,” she said. “Apple flat out rejected it and refused to tell us why so we could modify it for a resubmission. To me it said they aren’t anti-porn, they’re anti-gay. I was extremely bitter over this.”

Given Apple’s track record, most manga publishers haven’t even tried. Of yuri publisher ALC Publishing, founder Erica Friedman says, “… we have not ever considered releasing any ALC Publishing books by iTunes. When we last published a book, Apple wasn’t the monster distributor it is now—print was still the favored distribution. Right now, I am so enraged and disgusted by Apple’s censorship—especially of LGBTQ material—that I do not consider them a viable distributor of our material.”

Jennifer LeBlanc, editor of VIZ Media‘s new BL imprint SuBLime Manga (whose titles are largely digital-only), when asked why they had not followed their parent company to the iOS platform replied simply, “Because of Apple’s strict content policy, we have no plans for developing an iOS app at this time.”

Then came Digital Manga Publishing. Most well-known for their extensive line of BL manga—ranging anywhere from sweet, chaste romances to racy adult fare—DMP announced their launch on the iPad just last November. When I reviewed their app in January, DMP’s iPad catalogue was fairly robust, populated mostly by titles from their various BL imprints, DokiDoki, Juné, 801 Media, and the fan-localized Digital Manga Guild.

On February 2nd, DMP broadcast the following message to their followers on Twitter, “Sad day, yaoi fans. Unfortunately we’ve been asked to remove our yaoi titles from our iPad app soon. Get them while you still can!”

Further inquiry revealed that the removal was, indeed, for mature content, though whether the mandate applies to all of DMP’s BL titles (and if not, which ones?) remains vague. DMP representative Kelly Orita told me that she hasn’t “been given the OK to mention which specific titles caused problems.” She said that they’d been contacted previously about removing certain pages from their titles, “… but I don’t know how far along we were in that process before they asked us to remove entire books. Internally we’ve been working in batches to take down books with explicit content—we have to take down the content, get Apple to OK the removal, then hear back from them in regards to further developments.”

When asked about the app’s rating, Orita replied, “We did provide a 17+ rating for the app, and while I can’t double check to confirm at the moment I am fairly positive all explicit books had warnings as well.”

Though at the time of this writing, BL titles still remain in DMP’s iPad store, it is unclear how many may be removed before this process is over, when the removal will be complete, or what which titles may still be available by the end. Without that information, of course, it’s difficult to determine whether Apple’s policies are being applied unfairly towards DMP’s same-sex content. Still, I did a little poking around in some popular comics apps to see what kind of content Apple apparently deems appropriate.

My first stop was DC Comics, whose mainstream, non-adult-rated app offered me volume one of Catwoman from their New 52 lineup. Here are a few screencaps taken on my iPad of the final scene in issue #1, where Catwoman meets up with Batman for a passionate sexual encounter.

(click images to enlarge – read left-to-right)

Here’s the most explicit scene from Rihito Takarai and Venio Tachibana’s two-volume Seven Days (Monday-Thursday & Friday-Sunday) series, currently available from the DMP app.

(click images to enlarge – read right-to-left)

Certainly, many of DMP’s BL titles do contain more explicit scenes, including various stages of nudity. To see if this kind of content was being censored in comics with heterosexual couples, I popped over to the 17+ Comixology app, where I was able to download issue #57 of Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra, published by DC’s grown-up imprint, Vertigo. Here are a few iPad screencaps from an early scene in that issue:

(click images to enlarge – warning: full nudity)

Given the content allowed here, it’s difficult to imagine where DMP has gone wrong, or what kind of content they could be offering that would be inappropriate in a 17+ app.

Meanwhile, fans of DMP’s BL comics looking to read them on their iPads have at an alternative in Amazon’s Kindle app, though the difference in quality is fairly brutal.

The downsides of reading DMP manga on the Kindle app are, as I understand it, pretty much the same as reading on the Kindle itself. First, though Japanese comics read from right-to-left, the Kindle app only allows page-turning from left-to-right, making for a somewhat unintuitive experience for manga readers, who must still read pages and panels in the Japanese configuration. This issue is minor, however, compared to the disparity in image quality.

Here is a page from Keiko Kinoshita’s Kiss Blue, as viewed in DMP’s iPad app (full size):

Here is the same page from the Kindle version (full size):

The iPad version is crisp, clear, and easy to read, while smaller (and especially hand-written) text requires a lot of squinting when reading from the Kindle app. This issue becomes even more pronounced when taking advantage of the apps’ two-page spreads. Two page spreads accentuate the issue with page-order as well, as you’ll note that the Kindle’s two-page spread requires that the pages be followed from left-to-right, while the content still reads right-to-left.

DMP App version (click image to enlarge to full-size):

Kindle App version (click image to enlarge to full-size):

Both apps offer the ability to zoom in on any portion of the page, but not only is the DMP app’s interface far more intuitive (zooming in and out on the DMP app is accomplished with a double-click, while the Kindle app requires the two-finger pinch-and-spread, after which the reader must tap an “X” to close out of the enlarged section), its image quality blows the Kindle app out of the water.

DMP App version (click image to enlarge to full-size):

Kindle App version (click image to enlarge to full-size):

As you can see, while the Kindle app serves as a semi-tolerable stop-gap for iPad users, the prospect of losing access to these comics in the DMP app’s superior format is a significant blow for the publisher’s fans.

Manga Bookshelf will report further information as it’s available, including names of specific titles that have been targeted for removal, and any response from Apple who, at the time of this writing, have yet to respond to a request for comment.


Disclosure: MJ is currently under contract with DMP’s Digital Manga Guild, as necessitated for her ongoing report Inside the DMG. All compensation earned by MJin her capacity as subcontractor will be donated to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. MJ is also a long-time Apple customer.

Seven Days: Friday-Sunday © Venio Tachibana/Rihito Takari. All rights reserved. English translation © 2011 by DIGITAL MANGA, Inc./TAIYO TOSHO CO., LTD. KISS BLUE © KEIKO KINOSHITA. All rights reserved. English translation © 2008 by DIGITAL MANGA, Inc./TAIYO TOSHO CO., LTD.

Filed Under: FEATURES & REVIEWS, NEWS Tagged With: apple, Digital Manga, iPad, yaoi/boys' love

BL Bookrack: February 2012

February 18, 2012 by MJ and Michelle Smith 11 Comments

Welcome to the February installment of BL Bookrack! This month, MJand Michelle take a look at two offerings from SuBLime Manga, VIZ Media’s new BL imprint, The Bed of My Dear King and Oku-San’s Daily Fantasies, as well as Rainy Day Love from the Digital Manga Guild. In Brief: volume two of Only Serious About You from Digital Manga Publishing’s Juné imprint, and volume one of Love Pistols from SuBLime.


The Bed of My Dear King | By Sakae Kusama | SuBLime Manga | Rated M (Mature) – This is my first SuBLime title—one of the first batch of digital-only releases, in fact. It appealed to me because it was described as “a suite of emotionally resonant, romantic stories.” Plus, the description included the words “unexpected” and “poignant.” So, does The Bed of My Dear King deliver on its claims? Well, mostly. Although, instead of “emotionally resonant” and “romantic,” the first words I’d use to describe the stories herein would be “quirky” and “memorable.”

The title story is about an electrician named Koga who visits the isolated mountain home of an initially surly sculptor to make a repair. The sculptor, who eventually reveals that his name is Takashi Tohno, gets a little more friendly and helpful as Koga attempts to get to the root of the problem, and when a sudden snow storm traps them together, a bit of booze leads to a “let me feel you up for my art” kind of encounter. I love Kusama’s use of big panels to evoke the wide open spaces around Tohno’s home, and though the pair decide to date pretty durn swiftly, the result is still an unforgettable story.

“Cherry” is about Ueno, an overachieving student council member who only slows down once his glasses get broken, and Tama, a boy who’s friendly to everyone in class but treats Ueno more formally than the rest. Ueno’s near-blind state results in a terribly cute “I’ll take you home by bike” scene and a promise that they can kiss or something after the school festival. You wouldn’t think a bike scene would make a story stand out so much from its BL compatriots, but it does.

The third and final story, “Flowers,” is the weakest of the three. Kumon, a runner, is curious about Ozu, his classmate. Rumors begin swirling that Ozu has impregnated a girl, and when Kumon asks him about it, Ozu trades the details for gradually escalating intimacy. This story has the potential to deal with some weighty issues, but doesn’t delve too deeply, and the ending is just kind of dumb. Kusama writes in her notes that these stories were serialized at different times, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this was an earlier effort.

All in all, this is an intriguing collection of stories and I’m glad I read it.

– Review by Michelle Smith


Oku-San’s Daily Fantasies| By Noboru Takatsuki | SuBLime Manga | Rated M (Mature) – I’ll be honest, here. Looking over the list of SuBLime Manga’s debut offerings, my initial reaction was one of disappointment. As a BL reader whose preferences lean towards thoughtful, carefully-developed romance and long-form storytelling, it was depressing to note that the imprint’s first few titles seemed to fall mainly into the categories of short stories, fluffy comedy, and gratuitous smut. Oku-San’s Daily Fantasies could be described as all three, but to a far more satisfying end than I ever would have imagined.

Oku is a bored office drone, whose single joy in life is fantasizing about Sudo, a local delivery man from a popular shipping company. In order to see Sudo as often as possible, Oku constantly orders things online, each time fantasizing about what might happen when his dream man arrives to deliver the package. Eventually, his orders extend to porn videos and sex toys, which he soon discovers are being sold to him by the company his neighbor works for. Once this discovery has been made, the neighbor, Yokoshima, drops by often, interrupting Oku’s fantasies with overly-exuberant friendliness and requests to try out new products. Though Oku initially finds this annoying, little by little, he finds himself warming up to Yokoshima. But can a real relationship ever live up to Oku’s fantasies?

There are a number of reasons why this manga really works, not the least of which is the fact that Oku’s (often hilarious) fantasies provide the opportunity for the author to include a whole lot of deliberately over-the-top, porno-rific sex scenes that actually serve the story. While even in the most serious romantic tales, sex sequences have a tendency to get in the way of the storytelling more than anything else, here they are actually a significant aspect of Oku’s character development, and even help to forward the plot. Even more surprising, is mangaka Noboru Takatsuki’s ability to write sexually-charged comedy that is actually funny, which is not something I generally associate with humorous BL manga. Takatsuki’s artwork is a highlight as well, serving the story’s comedy and erotica with equal skill.

Though SuBLime may not yet be satisfying my desire for epic, nuanced BL romance, they’ve managed to win me over with this charming bit of humorous smut. Surprisingly recommended.

– Review by MJ


Rainy Day Love | By Satomi Konno | Digital Manga Guild | Rated M (Mature)- One rainy day, Yuta Yoshizawa is working at his family’s senbei shop when Shizuno stops by. Graceful and handsome, Shizuno was a first-year member of the shogi club when Yuta was in his third year, and soon they’ve rekindled their friendship. In the blink of an eye, Yuta confesses his feelings, whereupon Shizuno reveals that he’s been in love with Yuta since sixth grade. After a brief interlude, during which these lovebirds realize that they don’t actually know each other at all, they start focusing their thoughts on consummating their relationship.

It’s not that Rainy Day Love is bad, really. It’s just really superficial. This is what I get for routinely judging BL by its covers—and this is a really nice one—but I somehow expected, from the title, more of a melancholy story. Instead, this is fast-paced and a little frivolous, with love confessions that are so abrupt and unconvincing that they made me go “Pfft!” and many scenes where super-deformed characters have dialogue like “Eep!” There is nothing wrong with a romance being silly—and there’s certainly something to be said for a story that doesn’t take its own drama seriously—but there’s nothing really compelling about it, either.

After Yuta and Shizuno manage to get it on, their story ends and the volume is rounded out with a couple tales about Yuta’s brother, Shoichi, and his friend Seigo, who’s been in love with him since elementary school. There’s really not much to recommend this, either, honestly. I guess if you like comedic BL about horndogs, then you might like Rainy Day Love. If you like more serious BL, like I do, then you’re probably going to be bored and disappointed.

– Review by Michelle Smith


In Brief:

Only Serious About You, Vol. 2 | By Kai Asou | Digital Manga Publishing | Rated YA (16+) – If volume one of Kai Asou’s Only Serious About You impressed me with its ability to craft a real, moving love story out of well-worn genre clichés, what’s most impressive about its second volume is its ability to make me forget that they were ever clichés to begin with. Though this volume’s primary conflict is divorced dad Oosawa’s struggle to maintain custody of his young daughter, the deeper issue here is his decision to accept his feelings for former playboy Yoshioka, and come out as his lover. Though the “only gay for you” syndrome is one of the genre’s least appealing tropes, here, it barely reads as a trope at all. On the negative side, Oosawa’s custody battle is resolved a tad too easily, but this is not nearly enough to sink a title this strong. Enthusiastically recommended. – MJ

Love Pistols | By Tarako Kotobuki | SuBLime Manga | Rated M (Mature) – Among the first four titles offered up by SuBLime Manga, Love Pistols would appear to be the closest to “my kind of BL,” at least on the surface. It’s a steamy, dramatic romance, told in multiple volumes (seven and counting), with some pretty complicated world-building and supernatural themes. Unfortunately so far, it’s also got a dull, controlling love interest, stunningly unappealing sex scenes, and just enough exposition to drown in. And while the tragic rarity of multi-volume BL ensures that I’ll give this series at least one more chance to win me over, there’s no denying the fact that reading its first volume was a distressingly unpleasant chore. Better luck next time, Love Pistols? Let’s hope so. – MJ


Review copies provided by the publishers. Cover art: The Bed of My Dear King © Sakae Kusama 2011, Oku-san’s Daily Fantasies © Noboru Takatsuki 2011, Love Pistols © Tarako Kotobuki 2004

Disclosure: MJ is currently under contract with Digital Manga Publishing’s Digital Manga Guild, as necessitated for her ongoing report Inside the DMG. Any compensation earned by MJin her role as an editor with the DMG will be donated to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Other recent BL reviews from MJ & Michelle: I Love You, Chief Clerk! (JManga); Only Serious About You, Vol. 2 (Juné).

Filed Under: BL BOOKRACK Tagged With: digital manga guild, digital manga publishing, Juné, love pistols, oku-san's daily fantasies, only serious about you, rainy day love, SuBLime, the bed of my dear king, yaoi/boys' love

BL Bookrack: December 2011

December 22, 2011 by MJ 8 Comments

Welcome to the year’s final installment of BL Bookrack! This month, MJand Michelle take a look at two offerings from the Digital Manga Guild, Climb On To My Shoulders and The Rule of Standing on Tiptoe, as well as Pet On Duty from JManga.


Climb On To My Shoulders | By Yuhki Takada | Digital Manga Guild | Rated T (13+) – Teen computer programmers Trey and Paul want to make a splash with their tic-tac-toe program, but a chance meeting with wheeler-dealer MJcatapults their hobby to a new (questionably stable) level. Can their budding business (or their longtime friendship) survive MJ’s “help”?

This title represents very well the greatest advantage to the Digital Manga Guild, at least for readers. Though it’s probably one of the most interesting and unique BL titles translated into English to date, it’s not difficult to see why Climb On To My Shoulders might have been an unlikely choice for traditional licensing. On one hand, so few of the genre’s usual tropes are present in this book, it’s almost inevitable that it will fall short of some fans’ expectations. And while the absence of those precise elements would doubtlessly make the book more appealing to others, there is one tricky issue that may turn those readers off as well. In the end, it’s hard to say exactly who this story’s audience is, though there’s a lot to recommend it.

While 1960s high school computer nerds may not seem like obvious BL fodder, Climb On To My Shoulders proves they emphatically are, as long as you’re on board for more bromance than sex. As its “Teen” rating suggests, this manga offers virtually no sexual content, but it also steers clear of the syrupy hearts ‘n’ flowers that often accompany teen-rated BL fare.

Unresolved sexual tension and socially-awkward adolescent male bonding are what you’ll get here, written with a level of insightful nuance that sets my UST-loving heart a-flutter. The only caveat here, is that 9th-grader Trey is drawn to resemble a curly-haired elementary schooler (so much so, that it’s part of the plot), inserting a serious element of squick into what would otherwise be one of the best comedic teen love triangles to ever hit the (virtual) shelves.

Frankly, though, the squick is worth it. While pondering Trey’s burgeoning crush on MJ(and Paul’s long-standing devotion to Trey) may be genuinely discomfiting alongside Takada’s cutie-pie artwork, this book is far too compelling and quirky to miss. Thanks, DMG, for making this kind of oddball release possible. I hope to see many more like it. – Review by MJ


Pet on Duty | By Nase Yamato | JManga | Rated Mature (18+) – When twenty-something Mizuki loses his job (and subsequently, his housing), he turns to his older brother for help. Unfortunately, all his brother has to offer is a covert existence in his company’s dormitory which doesn’t allow guests. Reduced to life as a forbidden housepet, Mizuki finds himself drifting (much like a real-life cat) towards the dorm’s least friendly resident, his brother’s roommate, Kudou.

Released in print by the now-defunct Boysenberry Books, Pet on Duty represents one of the manga community’s greatest hopes for digital publisher JManga—the license rescue. Though the book is available on the Kindle by way of its Japanese publisher, Libre Shuppan, JManga’s platform makes it once again widely available to new readers.

Is Pet on Duty worth rescuing? My verdict: probably.

There’s nothing special or unusual here, and the book’s house cat metaphor gets old fast (nothing cements an unbalanced seme/uke relationship like the insinuation that the uke is actually a pet). But Mizuki’s relationship with Kudou is genuinely sweet, and the author takes care to avoid the questionably-consensual sex that so often pervades these kinds of titles by consistently making “pet” Mizuki the aggressor in all sexual situations. And though there’s little going on outside of the story’s primary romance, that tends to be a plus in a single-volume manga, where so many authors bite off more than they can chew.

Nase Yamato’s artwork is sweetly expressive, with a mix of reality and fantasy elements that work together surprisingly well. She spends a lot of time on detail around her character’s eyes, giving them a level of real-life shading and contour one rarely encounters in quick-fix romance manga, while also maintaining a kind of doll-like beauty that anchors them firmly in a fantasy space. It’s an effective combination, and it suits her story well.

Though Pet on Duty is far from original, it’s a decidedly enjoyable one-shot, suitable for most fans of the genre. – Review by MJ


The Rule of Standing on Tiptoe | By Puku Okuyama | Digital Manga Guild | Rated YA (16+) – Having enjoyed Okuyama’s short story collection Warning! Whispers of Love, I was eager to try The Rule of Standing on Tiptoe, a volume-long one-shot nicely translated/adapted by the DMG group Cynical Pink.

This is the story of a mismatched pair of high-school boys: small and hyper Kosuke—who earns the nickname “Ham-chan” (hamster) through a combination of looks, behavior, and an alternate reading of a character in his name—and tall and popular-with-girls Raku, who has wearied of standing out due to his ethnicity (he’s only half-Japanese) and is therefore disguising himself with hair dye and black contact lenses. They become close friends and, actually, the entirety of the book is basically their interaction as friends up until the moment they decide to become something more, complete with many comedic episodes (many of which are actually funny) and a supporting cast of quirky classmates that put me in mind of Flower of Life, even though they can’t really rival that group for sheer awesomeness.

Overall, the story is very cute and innocent—there’s really no reason this couldn’t qualify for a Teen (13+) rating, though perhaps 16+ is as low as one can currently go for a love story involving two boys. There are a few things about it that could’ve been better, though. The emphasis on comedy frequently calls for Kosuke to behave in an antic and rather immature way, making it difficult to see him as someone who is mature enough to embark upon a relationship. Perhaps it is this lack of romantic tension between the leads that forces Okuyama to employ the old oops-I-tripped-and-fell-on-you maneuver multiple times in order to get her characters to consider smooching one another.

Neither of these issues prevents me from recommending the manga, however, and I think it would probably make an excellent “gateway manga” for anyone interested in BL but averse to explicit content. – Review by Michelle Smith


Review copies provided by the publisher.

Disclosure: MJ is currently under contract with Digital Manga Publishing’s Digital Manga Guild, as necessitated for her ongoing report Inside the DMG. Any compensation earned by MJin her role as an editor with the DMG will be donated to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Filed Under: BL BOOKRACK, FEATURES Tagged With: climb on to my shoulders, digital manga guild, JManga, pet on duty, the rule of standing on tiptoe, yaoi/boys' love

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