Yaoi recs
Posted on June 29, 2008
Filed Under yaoi recs |
Since I started reading yaoi manga and have read and liked a considerable number of them, I decided to collect the links to those manga that I liked here.
A couple of things to know:
- I’m ‘omnivorous’, which means I read any genre and will give a go to any plot.
- That includes rape (which happens, like, in every other yaoi manga as the expression of undying love), incest, and shota(con). If you don’t know what that is, go read the corresponding articles in Wikipedia first. Otherwise, mind the genres and warnings, and if you know you don’t like something, simply don’t click the links. It’s not my task to cater to your kinks and squicks.
- If a manga is licensed, I won’t give link to places where to download it. If you want to read it, you’ll have to find it on your own. It’s not that difficult, seeing how many free manga-sharing communities and sites there are. But it would do good to support your favourite mangaka by buying her work!
## means “loved to bits OMG!”
# stands for “liked.”
[] means “rather liked,” on the brink between “liked” and “not my thing.”
If you want to also read my reviews of the yaoi manga I read that I’m not including here (I don’t like every one of them, naturally), go here. Chances are, you’ll like something that wasn’t quite to my tastes.
Manga are sorted
a) By title (Japanese title if it’s known by it better or the English one if the case is opposite)
b) By mangaka (to be added later)
Akanai Tobira (The door to the closed mind) []
Mangaka: Suzuki Tsuta
Scanlation group: Dangerous Pleasure
Status: 1 volume (complete), scanlation ongoing (ch. 3-5 released)
Genre: Yaoi
Warning: NWS
Recced by eromenos_x here
Summary: A book of oneshots (some are two chapters). 3) The Ugly Duckling and the Prince. In high school reserved Tayama paled in comparison to princely Tachibana, even the girl Tayama liked did nothing but talk about him. Now that they’re in the same college Tachibana has latched onto Tayama as his new best friend. Fighting off the Prince’s fan girls is proving to be troublesome, but more worrying are Tayama’s own feelings…
5) It’s Lonely When You’re Cold. Muraoka Takeo has been admiring the beautiful but reserved store clerk for months, but when Takeo finally gets up the nerve to talk to him he finds himself being kissed! When the object of his admiration proves to be more different than Takeo could ever imagine, is there any hope?
Download: here
My notes: Chapters 3 and 4 are the same story, the 1st part of which is told from one guy’s perspective and the second, from the other’s. When one guy is supposed to be good-looking and the other one just ordinary or ugly but they are drawn sort of the same, it makes me go “WTF?” Why should I believe words when there’s drawing? In the opening panels, it’s hard to get who’s saying what but it gets better later. There’s also some confusion in terminology. The guy is called a sadist so I expected some serious pain kink. But it’s dubcon and some rather forceful sex, and the guy doing it is pretty messed up and, yes, rather sadistic. But not S/M, no. Chapter 5 is also interesting.
These manga aren’t very unusual but there’s a nice twist in both of them that makes them easy to remember.
Angel’s Confession []
Mangaka: Naono Bohra
Scanlation: Malariousarea
Genre: Yaoi
Status: complete, Oneshot
Warning: Not Worksafe
Found: asked for nice and loving shota in yaoi_daily_cafe
Summary: Yuuya’s parents are always fighting or out of town. When he gets locked outside on a cold winter’s night, he’s saved by his neighbor Moegi. Soon he’s spending most of his time at his “angel’s” and has fallen in love with him. But how does Moegi feel about him?
Download
My notes: First, a couple of notes on the translation. The opening panel shows a classical POV disruption: “My name is Makise Yuuya, a lively 15 years old” (not to mention bad grammar). The dialogue bubbles sometimes seem to miss things or be rather, let’s say, less comprehensible, not least of all because of jumping from 3d to 1st person. Having said that, the story and drawing are really lovely, hot in places. Not very sophisticated, on any level, but pleasant and exactly like what I wanted when I made this request. I’m going to read more by this mangaka.
MANGA: Antique Bakery (Seiyou Kottou Yougashiten) (2000) #
Mangaka: Yoshinaga Fumi
Genre: Comedy Josei Shounen Ai Slice of Life
Scanlated by: 7:11AM, Beautiful Soup
Status: 4 Volumes (Complete), licensed
Found: recced to me by klynie1 here
Summary: From DMP: A high school crush, a world-class pastry chef, a former middle-weight boxing champion…and a whole lot of cake!
Ono has come a long way since the agonizing day in high school when he confessed his love to handsome Tachibana. Now, some 14 years later Ono, a world-class pastry chef and gay playboy has it all. No man can resist Ono’s charms (or his cooking skills!) but he has just found a new position under a man named Tachibana. Can this be the only man who resisted his charms, and if so, will the man who once snubbed the “magically gay” Ono get his just desserts? And how in the heck did a former middleweight boxing champion wind up as Ono’s cake boy? The series won the 2002 Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo.
ANIME: Antique Bakery []
Directed by Yoshiaki Okumura
Status: Complete, 12 episodes, 30 minutes each
Summary: Antique Bakery is a small bakery that’s run by four handsome men. Tachibana, the owner. Chikage, who was send by Tachibana’s family to watch over his childhood friend. Ono, the “demonically charming” gay master pastry chef. And Kanda, a former boxer and Ono’s apprentice.
DL: all episodes can be found in this post by neko_myka. Episodes 4 and 5 are a bit broken (you can watch about 70% but then it freezes). You can find all the episodes (not broken) at GalAnime.
More about this mangaka can be found in fumi_yoshinaga lj comm. DJs can be found here.
My notes: MANGA this is a VERY DANGEROUS MANGA! It will make you want to eat all sorts of cakes and desserts right away; it can make you go out in search of them! Don’t read it if you are hungry ‘cos you will drool. Also be careful if you tend to put on weight easily or are a suggestible reader. It’s guaranteed to make you pack on a couple more kilos. Even I went and ate a bar of chocolate which happens, like, never. I don’t eat desserts unless they are fruity ‘cos I don’t like sweet things, I only like fruit. But I’m afraid that I’ll be dreaming of cakes tonight.
Also, this manga is a soap. At first, it seems as if it consisted of separate episodes, united only by location and the cast of characters, i.e. Tachibana and his pastry shop. But Yoshinaga Fumi is a bit slier as a storyteller, so past and current events take turn and connect into a bigger picture, with a detective/mystery subplot in the background. The story still remains a soap in and of itself. Which I usually dislike, even strongly, but really enjoyed here. If you look at the genre line above, you’ll see it defined as Shounen Ai but I wouldn’t really call it this. The manga isn’t focused on the love of a gay couple nor does it feature any sex.
Another thing to keep in mind is that this mangaka’s style is an acquired taste. At first it looks almost ugly (what’s with their drill-like eyes and rather peculiar faces); it’s for sure different. So let yourself get used to it ‘cos Yoshinaga Fumi tells an entertaining story. Although she, too, suffers from the terrible yaoi drawing illness called same-face-itus. It takes some effort to learn to tell characters one from another.
I liked all the four main characters. Each of them is lovely and interesting in his own way, especially Tachibana, the owner of the shop who doesn’t like sweets (he has his reasons!) and doesn’t understand anything in cakes. He is really just a big softie behind his grumpy appearance :) But I liked Chikage best. He appears in vol. 2 and is hilarious. He’s slow on the uptake (not to call him a simpleton) and extremely clumsy (think Tonks!); he’s very tall but always forgets it and bangs his head on the door frame. And he’s naive and sweet like a puppy.
Ch 5 vol 1 features one of the most amusing makeovers I’ve seen. The gags at the beginning are also amusing. The shop owner observes a new customer, then makes a detailed description of their life and habits a la Sherlock Holmes. Too bad for him he’s no Sherlock at all. I think vol. 2 is more interesting (and funnier) than vol 1. And on the whole, this is the sort of story that grows on you. By vol. 3 I liked it, and had to read vol. 4 alternately looking at the raws and the file with translation because I wanted to read it no matter what. There are some SPAG errors in the scans but not so many as to make reading unpleasant. Very enjoyable, as for me.
ANIME Now I’ve watched the anime and want to rec it too.
As usual, I didn’t like it at first :D One thing I did like was that it was done in an interesting way, combining real backgrounds with animation. What I didn’t like was that the characters resembled those of the manga only somewhat, in profile more than full-face. I lol at myself ‘cos I remember how I hated Yoshinaga Fumi’s character faces at first and now look how attached to them I have become! But come to think of it, this is the first time I came across an anime where I found the difference in drawing from the manga source visibly noticeable. Ono looks the most like himself, as for me, and Tachibana the least. And Chikage is Chikage whatever you do with him :P
I don’t know how well this anime works if one watches it with ‘fresh’ eyes, meaning if somebody who hasn’t read the manga watches it. So if you are one of those and you give it a go, please share your impressions with me. It seems to me that in comparison to the manga, the anime brings forth the comical side and the detective subplot while losing some fine nuances of characterisation. But maybe I found the detective subplot clearer here ‘cos I had to read vol. 4 of the manga alternately looking at raws and reading the translation in an MSWord file :) On the whole though, I think the anime is pretty adequate to the manga. I enjoyed it, especially, yes, Chikage whom I loved as much here. He’s so awwsome. All things considered, watching this anime was a pleasant experience. It’s neither too plotty and dramatic nor too light and comical but has elements of it all. Neither too long nor too short so it works well as a light-ish distraction for a couple of evenings. Lovely!
Boku dake no Kimi, Kimi dake no Boku []
Mangaka: Naono Bohra
Scanlation Group: Dangerous Pleasure
Genre: Yaoi
Status: Oneshot, complete
Warning: not worksafe
Found: looking for this mangaka’s works
Summary: A selfish young model treats coworkers and lovers badly, but cherishes his honest childhood friend.
Download
My notes: Awww. The story itself is nothing special: a first childhood love that bears fruit when the characters are adult. Big guy crying is cute. I really like this mangaka’s recurring plot of somebody returning to their childhood’s love, their neighbour. It’s a tad naive but nice and sweet. Nicely drawn, too.
More stuff by this mangaka can be found in lj comm naono_bohra or via The Naono Bohra English scanlation database.
Chintsubu (Chinko no Tsubuyaki) []
Mangaka: Yamato Nase
Status: 2 volumes (Completed)
Scanlated by: Nakama
Warning: not worksafe
Genre: Comedy Yaoi
Found: recced to me by jealous_sky here.
Summary: Toride has always loved his cute classmate, Ayase. Somehow, when their school bus crashes at a fertility shrine on a class trip, Toride’s penis gets attached to Ayase’s body (well, of sorts — pj). How do they know? Well the penis can talk, of course. Similar problems beset their classmates, the class brain Iwabuchi and the class playboy, Kamiya. How will the boys deal with this embarrassing situation? Will they ever get the problem resolved?
Download: in manga sharing places while Nakama is down.
My notes: guys, this is crack. Pure, crazy, silly crack. Some lines and panels, like “After that, I new rumor began to spread”, made me laugh. The drawing is cluttered, sometimes to the point that I said out loud that filling every bit of space with drawing isn’t really necessary. But the story is sheer fun. Talking penises, penises possessed by classmates, penises wearing glasses, etc. I don’t know if in my impatience to read it I downloaded an unfinished version or if it doesn’t have a proper ending, but my reading ended on ch. 15 of vol. 2 which was a sort of non-ending. Apart from that, it was lolsome. I can’t say I really liked the story, but I certainly enjoyed reading it.
Covetous You, Insensible Me []
Mangaka: Naono Bohra
Scanlation Group: Dangerous Pleasure, SHI-RAN
Genre: Yaoi
Status: 1 Volume (Complete)
Warning: not worksafe
Found: looking for this mangaka’s works; also Confession is recced to me by trague here
Summary: A collection of oneshots:
1) Covetous You and Insensible Me (Hoshigariana Kimi to Futsutsukana Boku) [SHI-RAN]: Never one to get close to strangers, Kai finds himself helpless in the enchanting gaze of a foreigner…
2) Lost in the Darkness Before Dawn (Gyou An ni Mayou) [Dangerous Pleasure].
3) Confession (Kokuhaku) [SHI-RAN]: Unable to forget the random act of kindness by the wealthy but lonely business man, Matsumi offers to sell his body. Is it really just for money, or is there a greater need at stake?
4) The night he escaped death (Shi ni Zokonai no Yoru) [Dangerous Pleasure]: Prequel of Lost in the Darkness Before Dawn.
5) Sleepless Night (The Night He Escaped Death bonus) [Dangerous Pleasure].
6) Service: Confession bonus [SHI-RAN].
7) Bonds of Blood: Covetous You and Insensible Me bonus [SHI-RAN].
Download: at Shi-ran, at DP
My notes:
#2, 4 (prequel) and the bonus (#5) are historical, with spies and sword fights. And also curling toes and beautifully tattooed arms. There’s some limb loss and gore in the prequel. And nice role reversal in the bonus story.
#1 and its tiny bonus (#7) are a classic NB’s story: an older, insecure uke (much older, even) and a young seme. This time a predator falls in love with his prey.
#3 and #6: is about a middle-aged man and a young boy he helps at a construction work site. It’s lovely.
Pleasant reading on the whole. I liked the Lost in the Darkness Before Dawn storyline (2, 4, 5) best. I really liked how fighting scenes were drawn. Well, and I always like how Naono Bohra draws sex.
A COWARD’S HAPPINESS series (Ikujinashi no Shiawase) []
Mangaka: Naono Bohra
Genre: Yaoi
Status: 1 volume (Complete)
Warning: not worksafe
Found: looking for this mangaka’s works
Summary/scanlation groups/DL:
1) Ikujinashi No Shiawase (A Coward’s Happiness) [Cblue]: The owner of a rice shop, Kawada feeds a poor student, Mori, after he tried to steal food from his shop, saying ‘The duty of a student is to study’; and starts to look after him. But Mori starts harboring deeper feelings towards Kawada, not just gratitude… (by kriptonima)
2) Slave of Love [Datenshi Blue and ALSO Liquid Passion + Countless Time]: (spin-off of ch. 01): Mitsuo is the manager of a host club owned by his cousin, the violent and ruthless Eito. Eito raised Mitsuo from a very young age, but they’ve grown apart, despite still living together. When Mitsuo decides to help a younger coworker quit the business, he runs the risk of making Eito very angry…
3) Revenge of Love [Liquid Passion + Countless Time]: (sequel to ch. 02) The drama continues with a twist.
4) Homemade Vampire [Nakama]: Letting his oversized half-Japanese nephew live with him is one thing, but a man will soon discover that the nephew is keeping a dark secret…
5) Kodomo no Himitsu (A Child’s Secret) [Nakama]: Mori and Kaname are cousins with secrets. Mori is harbouring a crush on his older cousin and is plagued by erotic dreams at night. Kaname, on the other hand, likes to tease Mori by giving him alcohol and ‘playing’ with him after he passes out.
6) A Coward’s Blunder (extra) [Liquid Passion]: Rice shop love continues.
More stuff by this mangaka can be found in lj comm naono_bohra or via The Naono Bohra English scanlation database.
My notes: Story #1: translation: awkward. The story is drawn very pleasantly (as usual) and there are enough details to keep it in your mind after reading, say, stealing the rice or small earthquake, or the very small guy Kawada who is awfully cute and kind. Lots of lovely panels in this one. #2 follows up from one and has the same characters but is about the manager in the host club where Mori works, Mitsuo, and the owner of said club. Advice: read Liquid Passion’s version; the translation is better there. There’s an unusual take on rape, a very cliché thing in yaoi manga: the guy loves being raped, and reflects on it — well, somewhat.
#4, Homemade Vampire — liked. Especially the last panel, with fangs.
#5, Kodomo no Himitsu, is about a countryside guy Mori who came and stayed at his cousin’s place. Cousin, Kana-chan, makes him drink; when drunk, he passes out. Cousin first decides to have a laugh at his expense by making him come and wash his underpants in the mornings but gets addicted and falls in love in the end. Quite lovely, too.
On the whole, not my most favourite of Naono Bohra’s works but quite enjoyable, like most of her manga that I’ve read. If you need something nice and comforting, go for it.
Dakishimetakunai (I Don’t Wanna Hold On You) (2002) []
Mangaka: Naono Bohra
Scanlator: Liquid Passion, Shi-ran
Status: 1 volume (Complete)
Genre: Action Comedy Fantasy Supernatural Yaoi
Rating/warnings: NWS, NC-17
Summary: There are several stories in Dakishimetakunai:
1) Electricity (Denki) - A high school student despairs of ever making friends on account of his appearance scaring everyone off. However, the new transfer student with the unique and ‘electrifying’ physique shows up in time to prove him wrong.
2) I Don’t Wanna Hold On You (Dakishimetakunai) - When middle-aged salaryman Masato is laid off, student Tatsuya hires him to take care of his apartment… and other, more personal services. But when Masato starts to have doubts about accepting Tatsuya’s money, what will Tatsuya do to stop him from leaving?
3) Reason For Desire (Yokubou no Riyuu) - The rich and lonely young businessman gets into a scuffle with a castoff vagrant. He gets a bit more than he bargains for when he takes the man in as live-in housekeeper.
4) Secret Knife (Himitsu no Naifu) - Two solitary people walking similar paths, one an assassin for the yakuza, the other a shinigami, meet and find their way to mutual love and understanding.
5) Rose and Knife (Bara to Naifu) - Sequel to Secret Knife. Yato comes upon an old partner who is bent on “reteaching” him how to be a ruthless killer once again. Kamui, however, will do anything to keep that from happening.
6) Keep Up Your Right! (Migikawa ni wo ki wo tsukero) - I Don’t Wanna Hold On You omake.
DL: here at LP and here at Shi-ran.
My notes: that’s your typical Naono Bohra: a collection of short stories, mostly very cute, kind, and comforting (and drawn to make me coo) with some weird and disturbing stuff thrown in. #1 and #2 are sweet and amusing; in #3, fists are the best way to talk :) The story itself is sort of #2 reversed. #4-5 are very bloody. All in all, not the best of this mangaka’s works, as for me, but still more emotionally involving that many other yaoi manga I’ve read. If you like Naono’s style, go for it. If you haven’t tried her works yet, this is a decent place to start. I simply love her drawing even if the stories are often very similar to each other.
Don’t Say Any More, Darling (Sore wo Ittara Oshimai yo) []
Mangaka : Yoshinaga Fumi
Scanlation group: –
Genre: Drama Josei Sci-fi Shounen Ai Slice of Life Yaoi
Status: 1 Volume (Complete) collection of oneshots; licensed
Warning: NWS
Found: something in the cover attracted my attention when I browsed various yaoi-sharing places
Summary: Kouhei is a doctor at the local university hospital who has lost touch with his high school friend Tadashi. While Kouhei grew up to become a successful young doctor, Tadashi became a jobless, poor-as-dirt, flaming gay writer. But one lonely night, at his wits end, Tadashi sends Kouhei a text message and receives a reply. Of course Tadashi has secretly harbored feelings for Kouhei for a long time. But when he finds out Kouhei is getting set-up for an arranged marriage… (this is for the first chapter only; the other 4 chapters are unrelated)
My notes: Story 1, Don’t Say Any More, Darling: I can’t say I like the drawing, especially the faces with their drill-like tiny eyes. But on the other hand, the drawing is very distinctive and I like that very much! The story is entertaining, especially the ending.
Story 2, My Eternal Sweetheart: a very ill boy who can’t leave their mansion asks his older brother to make a sex android for him. Then another one. And more. Nice twist at the end.
Story 3, Fairyland: “Because humans have become so foolish and indecent, god punished them by erasing them from the Earth.” After a month of wandering through the empty city, a man who somehow survived meets a teenage boy. It’s pretty weird. I can’t say I get it.
Story 4, One may day, is a non-explicit het and I don’t get it either. An older man buries his first wife and meets a woman in a caffee. He marries her but not for long. I can’t see any point to it.
Story 5, (not sure which of them is the title) Solfege: an ageing former piano star has been forgotten by public. He smokes on a bridge every day, and meets a young guy. Again, a nice twist in this story.
Well, I liked three out of five: 1, 2, and 5. Not LIKED liked but I enjoyed them and found them very entertaining. So, half a star from me. Am definitely going to read Antique Bakery and Gerard to Jacques, two longer manga by this artist.
Empty Heart []
Mangaka: Minase Masara
Scanlation Group: Nakama, Hochuuami
Genre: School Life Yaoi
Status: licensed but it was fully scanlated
Warning: not worksafe
Found: Recced by ahoythere here: Again, beautiful art. I read Minase’s stuff because it’s so pretty, not because the story’s good but this manga is an exception (maybe I’m also nostalgic because it was one of the first mangas I ever read…). Takumi is in love with his teacher Jun but Jun has always loved Takumi’s older brother Ryou. Because he and his brother look exactly the same, Takumi offers to sleep with Jun and pretend to be Ryou. The angst isn’t overdone and it’s quite a sweet story.
My notes: lovely. I’m in two minds about the drawing. It’s very pleasant on the one hand but some things annoyed me, stick-like arms mostly. The story isn’t too complex but it’s pleasant to look at, and there’s just enough story in it to keep my attention.
I’m keeping the summary from ahoythere because the one at Manga Updates is too spoilery.
Fingertip’s Love (Yubisaki no Koi) []
Mangaka: Naono Bohra
Scanlation Group: Nakama (site is down)
Genre: Yaoi
Status: 1 Volume (Complete)
Warning: not worksafe
Found: looking for this mangaka’s works; recced by Reddwarfer
Summary: Detective Maizuru Motoya has a secret he cannot tell his assistant, whom he is in love with. With a single touch of a person, Motoya can read their thoughts. How he got such ability is in the past. Nakagawa, who doesn’t know about his respectful boss’s special ability, began to worry when Motoya refuses to let come in contact with him. To add more worry, Motoya is awfully close with Hajime…
My notes: It’s a bit too comical and dramatic for me, but lovely and pleasant to look at too. The detective is what makes this manga, IMO, with his special ability (you’ll learn how he got it in ch. 5) and incapacitating phobias. He’s awfully cute: eyes that have corners down and skinny hands, like a small yuppy dog :) I was wondering why people kept calling him old man when he’s freaking younger than me, like, a mere boy! Then in the extra, the mangaka said she’d drawn him as 38. Well, ok, not an old man still but less outrageous :) Anyway, the story was interesting to follow and pleasant to look at. What else to wish?
Flowers #
Mangaka: Miyamoto Kano
Group: Liquid Passion
Warning: Not Worksafe
Status: one volume (complete)
Genre: Yaoi Slice of Life
Been posted in yaoi_daily June 2008, where the comm celebrated the mangaka’s birthday
Summary: When Ryou moves into a new apartment block, his neighbour Makoto makes no secret of the fact that he likes men, and Ryou is forced to confront the secret doubts he’s always had about his own sexuality. Things get complicated when Makoto’s history with the other resident of the building, Nanno, results in jealousy, tension, and love triangles all around.
Download: here
My comments:There’s plot behind the porn and the characters look lovely, although they have MK’s clone faces (too similar to each other and the rest of the mangaka’s characters for my comfort) and awful feet, OMG so awful :((( But Miyamoto Kano tells a really nice love triangle story. I was hoping for the kind of ending this story has and it happened, so that makes me a happy pj. Really, really liked the ending :) Not my favourite of MK’s manga but nice.
Eroica Yori Ai wo Komete (From Eroica With Love) (from 1976 till now) ##
Mangaka: Aoike Yasuko
Scanlation group: Pink Panzer; an anonymous group scanlated the first 19 volumes. The first ten volumes have been published in English.
Genre: Action Adventure Comedy
Status: 34 Volumes (Ongoing); scanlation up to Vol. 21 (part 1 of of story 17)
Found: in a talk with Parlophone about old skool manga
Summary: What happens when a gay art thief and a conservative NATO officer cross paths? Disaster, of course. Dorian is an aristocrat, a thief and a hedonist; Klaus is a duty-driven espionage agent with no patience for fools. Follow them as they chase each other across the globe — from Britain to Baghdad, from Alaska to Alexandria, from Moscow to Madrid. Spectacular locations and non-stop adventures await!
Download: Vol. 1-19 with a nice detailed guide including notes on scan quality (locked for members); vol. 20-21 (locked). More covers (and first 13 vols) here
Prequel/spinoff: Der Freischütz (The Freeshooter; Madan no shashu)
Status: 1 volume (Complete).
Summary: A hardboiled espionage action story featuring Major Eberbach. Can he elude the pursuit of the genius assassin from the KGB? More detailed summary by missparaphilia here.
Other related and side stories: Z, Plus Ultra (artbook), Nanatsu no umi nanatsu no sora and its prequel, Eru Arukon - Taka (a step to the past, about Man in Purple)
Related things: lj comm castlegloria (Eroica fanfiction); schlosseberbach (everything Eroica); Eroicafans.org. There’s fandom! I might dip my toes in it. I haven’t decided yet. Am awfully tempted.
My notes: I loved this manga to bits and tiny little pieces! I’ve had SO MUCH FUN with it. Best Male Friend who had to observe me reading it in the evenings on our trip now must be sure I’m a complete loony, if he hasn’t thought so before. Because I clapped hands, squealed, laughed, and talked to my laptop.
It’s awfully trashy, as trashy as only comics about superheroes and Cold War times can be but yeah, lots and lots of fun. I can’t tell you how many times I burst out laughing or grinned in delight. Each time I finished a story from the series, I thought, “I liked this one best!” And then thought the same when I read the next one. The genre is spy action/adventure and humour. Truth be told, I don’t like reading about spies almost as much as I dislike reading Sci-Fi. Not my thing at all. But this one is so light and captivating, and in the end, so amusing and enjoyable that I succumbed almost at once.
Character facial expressions aren’t Aoike Yasuko’s forte, nor is anatomy. Plot is. Spies and secret agents of every country: KGB, NATO Intelligence, CIA and FBI, MI6 (SIS), Interpol, etc, etc and also local police of where the action takes place and local criminals are all competing with each other or fighting each other. Characters travel all over the world. Character names are awfully trashy too; that first seemed too bad to me but later made me laugh and welcome them (Misha the Cub as the KGB boss, Comrade Dostoevsky, Comrade Gorky, Comrade Karinka, lol). The settings are European (mostly) but there are lots of Japanese sayings or references, and that creates a fantastic multi-cultural kaleidoscope. If it’s skewed, it’s fun nevertheless. One thing I find surprising is that among all the agents and forces, there’s not a mention of Stasi. You’d think that Iron Klaus of Bonn would mostly deal with them. But back to what I started with, this manga is incredibly plotty. Feels like a real rollercoaster sometimes. What amazes me most is that the mangaka always ties all her ends by the end of a story. Wowsome.
Both main characters are very attractive. Supporting characters are wonderful too, especially Mr James, Eroica’s extremely stingy accountant (although I don’t like how he’s developed in the last scanlated stories). I love-love-love Iron Klaus (Major Eberbach). I can’t even believe how much myself. Almost like Snape. But then again, he’s a Snape-like character, only with much better hygiene. He’s very rude and loves to shout; he expresses his negative opinion on people and actions without hesitation. He’s a prude and neat freak and superhero all the way but unexpectedly, there’s something in him that calls for your sympathy and makes you want to hug him, even with the risk for your life such a gesture would pose — when he broods or when something does manage to stun him (Eroica usually :D). IMHO, his character isn’t as logical as Eroica’s: it’s rather contradictory, if you start thinking about it seriously. But in the mosaic-like nature of this character perhaps lies a lot of his appeal. He’s intelligent, resourceful, quick-witted, and observant but at the same time not aesthetically developed in any way (despite being a rich aristocrat by birth) and rather naive in some things, or maybe infantile. But why am I looking for that much psychological credibility in a character who smokes like a chimney but is able to run fast for miles without losing his breath? He’s incredibly cool (superhero, remember?) but his quirks and idiosyncrasies make him humane. And precious. If to speak of the way he’s drawn, I melt when I see his haircut. Melt and squee :) So I understand why Eroica never gives up. Eroica himself is also an absolutely charming character: extravagant, flamboyant, childlike in his wish to have all the pretty that he likes, devious yet kind. And more logical in and of himself, as a character. Speaking of the drawing again, the characters don’t age as the years pass: not only is Klaus Heinz von dem Eberbach the Eternal Major, he’s an ageless Klaus: he’s the same in 1990 as he was in 1977, and so is Eroica.
On the whole, I’ve read manga where the drawing looked more professional but was it more enticing? No, no, it wasn’t. At the beginning, I looked at the covers and thought, “OMG, what awful jaws!” By the end I though, “Oh my, such lovely chins, gimme more!” I thought it many times while reading Eroica that that was an error and that was badly drawn but overall I was completely charmed. The mangaka draws one face for her main characters, as too many do, but it seems she’s aware of it: see story 10 and on. In any case, the drawing changes to the better visibly from the first volumes to the middle of the manga. It looks as if the mangaka didn’t find her style and touch at once. I like the later style better of course, and objectively speaking, it’s more elaborate and sure.
Another thing I liked very much about this manga is that it’s like a contemporary history lesson. Well, only for those who remembers the news hot topics from the years when the volumes were drawn ‘cos the lessons are comical and so of course warped. War Iran vs Iraq, Moscow Olympics 1980, Perestroika and Glasnost, the uniting of the two Germanies, they all pass before your eyes. Fashions! OMG sunglasses! Hair styles OMG! :) Breathe and drink history, or ‘History Lite’, if you will :)
Speaking of structure, the manga consists of stories that have the same cast of characters and that you could read separately. Comparing it to other manga that have ‘big plot’ and ’small plots’, I wouldn’t say it has a big plot that unifies all stories. I mean, if you start with story 15, I don’t think you’ll find it incomprehensible. But I still recommend reading it from beginning to … well, to the current [scanlated] volume. Because while the big plot barely goes anywhere, the characters form various kinds of relationships, and it’s interesting to trace those. Story 1 is really just a warm-up for the later series (but please don’t let it scare you off). There are main characters you won’t meet after story 2, so reading vol. 1 is a bit bewildering ‘cos it barely touches what the summary speaks about. But that story picks up later, and goes on for many volumes.
Side stories are fun, especially the one that shows the disastrous party that is referred to in The Laughing Cardinals. Other side stories tell us quite a bit about Lord Eroica’s and Iron Klaus’s past. General advice: don’t skip side stories, especially the later ones. They either show a lot of important things or you simply would want more Eroica by then :)
The prequel, Der Freischütz, is darker than the main series. If From Eroica with Love is a humorous look at a spy’s life (and so, adventures), Der Freischütz is about its dangers and ruthlessness. Makes one understand Major’s paranoia better. Spoiler, highlight to read: only in Der Freischütz can we see the death of a character. In Eroica, things get smashed, buildings destroyed, there are fisticuffs, people get injured occasionally, but nobody dies. In Der Freischütz, even Major kills.[/end spoiler]
I’m posting this rec under the yaoi tag but it’s not yaoi at all. Spoiler white on white, highlight to read (mind, a REAL spoiler, for the whole series, so think twice): honestly, it’s not even BL for real. Very soon in the series, Eroica falls in love with Iron Klaus aka Major Eberbach. Major, if anything, is asexual. He despises the ‘homo stuff’ but there’s no woman to make his blood run faster either. If anything, he’s a devoted husband to his work. So their relationship consists of endless one-sided flirting and passes and also one-sided shouting and attempts to sterilise plates, door handles, etc not to catch homo virus. I would hate UST of such proportions in another manga. But somehow it’s not annoying here. Maybe because Eroica enjoys chase much better than gain. Or maybe because if Iron Klaus didn’t break into a cold sweat at the thought of somebody touching him (unless it’s a fight), he won’t be Iron Klaus anymore. Be it as it may, the UST too happens to be very enjoyable in this manga.[/end spoiler]
Btw, I would like to request a spoiler for the last 10 volumes, if somebody has read them raw (since the question is spoilery too, it’s also white on white): does their relationship progress in any way, as in, the Major begins to feel something beyond annoyance about Eroica or does it stay the same? I doublt it, but… And does the mangaka age her characters?[/end spoiler]
A couple of notes on the translation of volumes 1-19: it seems to be done by a person (persons) whose first language is Japanese, so the English often sounds stilted. There weren’t errors that threw me out, just strange word choices and expressions. Well, and of course the translation of proper nouns can be very imprecise, say, Ljublanka in story 11: I couldn’t figure out what it was until I saw the note that it was where the KGB headquarters were located. Turns out to be Lubyanka. Don’t know whose error it is, mangaka’s or translator’s. And can’t say it really matters. Ljublanka or Lubyanka, or Russian names that can’t exist, it’s still fun and charming in its own way. My special thanks to Pink Panzer guys for picking up the scanlation in the first place, but also for keeping to the spirit of the translation (’cos by the middle of the story, I loved it) and for the good scans.
My favourite story is Emperor Waltz (a huge one, volumes 16, 17, 18 & 19), and favourite scene is Iron Klaus performing a Tyrolean dance. Who could resist?! A couple of pictures to entice: click here.
I spent almost three weeks with this manga, and now that I’ve reached the end of the scanlated stuff, I don’t know how to be without! As a conclusion, heartily and highly recommended. From pj with love :)
Gerard to Jacques (Gerard and Jacques) #
Mangaka: Yoshinaga Fumi
Scanlated by: BeautifulSoup
Genre: Comedy Drama Historical Yaoi
Status: 2 Volumes (Complete), licensed
Rating/Warning: NWS, R
Found: recced to me by klynie1 here
Summary: [From Blu]: Just before the start of the French Revolution, a commoner named Gerard pays a visit to a high-class brothel, where he sleeps with, and then buys the freedom of Jacques, a young noble sold into prostitution. Jacques looks down on commoners and Gerard has his reasons for hating the nobility, but they’re thrown together once again when Jacques ends up being hired as Gerard’s new houseboy. Jacques’ determination to make his own way in the world, and Gerard’s surprising, quirky shows of kindness slowly bring the two together into a romance for the ages!
My notes: awww, I loved it. It’s a proper story with plot and lots of emotionally engaging scenes, with humour and well-written characters, all of that in historical settings in which a pro historian might find something to criticise but I certainly can’t. And won’t. Because I enjoyed it very much, and nothing in this story rubbed me against the fur.
Main character #1 is Gerard, one of the new bourgeoisie. At first, it’s hard to understand whether he’s kind or sinister. He has his own ways of doing things; I would say he’s a Count of Monte-Christo-like character, only without the latter’s grandeur or scale of machinations. The author does a good job uncovering Gerard’s past and showing us how it’s influenced him. Jacques, main character #2, is simply delightful. Sold into a brothel and later hired as a servant in Gerard’s house, he strives to prove his worth and independence as soon as he finds that things aren’t always what they seem. His earnestness is refreshing rather than tiresome as it could be had this character was written by a weaker author.
I always say when reccing a manga by Yoshinaga Fumi that her drawing style is acquired taste. I hated it at first but she charmed me with her strange wit and plots. Now I love it. I’m going to order this manga online as my next present to myself :) Highly recommended!
Gokuraku Cafe []
Mangaka: Mamahara Ellie
Been posted in yaoi_daily in June 2008.
Warnings: relatively worksafe (but for a few kisses)
Genre: Yaoi
Scanlation Group: Forever More
Download.
Summary vol.01: Gokuraku Cafe revolves around Yuuto Takanashi, a young cafe part-time worker with a penchant for the animated cartoon character, Jacky. Naturally enthusiastic and helpful, Yuuta often gets involved with the personal lives and problems of Rainbow Forest Cafe’s customers. Although a bit impulsive, his involvement usually ends up appreciated; to the extent that most of the (male) customers begin falling for him! Such incidents, added to the overprotectiveness of his best friend Souhei, only make Yuuto’s life more complicated. Interesting turns are indeed waiting for this young apprentice as he struggles to pursue his dreams under the guidance of the enigmatic cafe master, Dick Yashima.
My comments: The nicest yaoi I read so far, and in it lies the main pleasure of it. Everybody is nice here, even when they aren’t for a short period of time. Yuuko, the main character, is a cure for a tired mind and heart. Lovely and amusing.
Hydra/Rules and side stories ##
Mangaka: Miyamoto Kano
Scanlation group: Liquid Passion
Genre: Drama Mature Yaoi
Status: some stories complete, some scanlation ongoing (Hydra, vol. 9-11), some licensed (Lovers and Souls)
Warnings: not worksafe on the whole
Summary for Hydra: from Liquid Passion: When Ryuu transfers to Hitomi’s school, he leaves an immediate impression on him. Curious about rumours of a full-scale tattoo on Ryuu’s back, Hitomi starts getting closer to him. Before long, the friendship and fascination Hitomi feels for Ryuu start developing into more, but before he has a chance to come to terms with his feelings, Hikaru appears on the scene…. and he has his eyes set on Hitomi.
More covers here.
My notes: Another long manga that I liked a lot. Now, this mammoth is a completely different animal than Love Mode (see below). Hydra/Rules arc is by far the most realistic manga I read so far and more intelligent than many. It goes like this: one boy (Utsumi Ryuu) from a rather unhappy family (mother dead, father a tattoo artist working for jakuza) had a very unfortunate, tragic, plain bad accident in his past, partly caused by his tattoo. The accident messed him up badly. Now he transfers to yet another school to avoid rumours, and a train wreck of emotional mess comes with him. Through no fault of his. Really, who could blame him? Well, I couldn’t. I love him. But it’s like there’s something in the air, spreading by itself. And it all happens during those most impressionable years of 17-18, when hearts are still soft and trusting.
As I said, I loved Ryuu, and Hitomi is a very likeable guy, so when Hikaru appeared and started to interfere, I hated him. But by the end of vol. 8 of Hydra, I was totally in love with Hikaru. Hard not to be! He’s such a wonderful guy. Shrewd and perceptive but pretty uncomplicated, and the way he loves, gosh, if it won’t make your heart bleed for him, you are made of stone. He’s also probably the character drawn most distinctly. The look in his eyes when he begins chasing somebody (which happens only twice in the whole series, regretfully, ‘cos he’s a very loyal, steadfast guy) makes me melt. Ah, I’m simply glad most of the series is either about him or involves him.
The story spans some 15 years, from high school to when Hikaru is 26. It consists of an awful lot of short and long books. Chronological order (taken from Geoviki’s files which she kindly lent me, with huge thanks to her), in bare bones, with download links (where possible):
Key:
bold — main stories of the arc; must read
underlined — not scanlated
Italics — licensed, search on your own.
Ocean’s Cage, Sky’s Door - Please ch. 5 | Kiss | Kiss After | Skies | Hydra vol.1-4 | Hydra vol. 5-6 | Heavenly | Hydra vol.7-8 | Blue Film First | Hydra vol. 9-11 (scanlation ongoing) | Real Things | Hello Again | Sleeping Beauty, Lovers and Souls prequel | Lovers and Souls ch. 1 – Lovers, Souls | Fragile | Vanity | Dreamer’s High | Rules vol. 1 | Rules vol.2 | If winter comes, can spring be far behind? | Rules 03 | Song Birds | Another day on the planet | Another Rules story: Tooru and Atori
See more detailed guide to reading Hydra/Rules stories written by Geoviki.
Basically, to get the story, you have to read Hydra, Lovers and Souls, and Rules. The rest are optional doujinshi. Hydra is about Ryuu, Hitomi, and Hikaru’s last school/first college years and their messy love triangle. Lovers and Souls is about a new character, Tooru, a pretty messed up and very beautiful guy whom people give money for sex, and he takes it ‘cos why not? He just doesn’t care. He’s one of the main characters in Rules. While you will be able to understand what’s going on in Rules without reading Lovers and Souls, it would be hard to connect with Tooru emotionally. So get your hands on this part. Besides, it’s a beautiful story, if very sad. Well, a huge tearjerker actually. Rules is set 9 years after the beginning of Hydra and centers on Hikaru, Tooru, and two new guys. Scan quality and SPAG are pretty good, which must be said in praise of the scanlation group ‘cos it’s not such a frequent thing, so the reading is easy on the eyes.
Some things that [might] intervene with reading:
- the scanlation of Hydra isn’t finished. The last three volumes are still being done, so by reading what’s after, you sort of spoil yourself for the ending of Hydra. On the other hand, you don’t know what happened. You know only the general outcome.
- This mangaka draws one face. For every character. Well, sometimes they are different enough, in other panels they are absolutely the same face with different hair. It makes it very hard to identify characters sometimes. You have to lean onto other things for identification, like eye colour or habits: Hikaru smokes, almost in every scene; Tooru has light eyes which makes him easy to tell from Yuki whose eyes are black, etc.
- That she changes character hair several times only adds to the mess. Hikaru first appears with longish blond hair, then suddenly with very short black hair (this is how I love him best, btw — makes his eyes stand out more), then comes back to long blond locks in Rules. I seriously WTFed and cross-referenced names for about 10 minutes when a black-haired guy named Taira appeared. I thought he was a brother of the first Taira or a namesake. Tooru wears his hair blond and messy first, then short and black, then lets it grow long. Atori gets rid of his curls — but that’s at least explained as it happens.
- That’s another mangaka who draws feet in a way that makes me sob in misery. Feet aren’t just something at the end of the leg!
- What’s with all the “I like you”? Kindergarten girls, or what? “I love you” appears a few times (good for me!), but of all the other expressions of mutual like are mostly “I like you” that sound really, really weird most of the time.
- Another speech-related thing that bugs me: very often, the characters ask, “Is that so?” Not “Really?” Not “Isn’t it?/Are you?/Did he?” that you would expect for expressing mild disinterest, mild disbelief, or just to keep up the conversation. I don’t remember this phrase used in fanfic (or RL speech, for that matter) that often. I wonder if the translators are native speakers.
- One funny thing. Hydra, Ch. 6 pt. b panel 31. The bubble reads: “Is there something wrong with your hand? You’ve been staring at it this whole time.” The upper panel on which the bubble is: definitely wrong hand/arm anatomy, as in, right hand attached to left arm. Made me lol I don’t want to sound so petty but it was the most unfortunate coincidence of error (not too many of them in this mangaka’s work) and ‘caption’ :)
As I said at the beginning of my notes, it’s a more realistic manga than most that I’ve read. There’s bad sex and messy and stupid break-ups, there are precious tender scenes, but most of all it’s life going on around you. And it’s quite awesome. It’s not melodramatic, it’s not cliché, or at least not much. You just start reading and following these guys’ lives, and fall for them head over heels. I’d make an effort to drag Hikaru to this side. Pity that he’s a Japanese. Drawn. Made up. Character. Damn :(
Am going to reread this manga. Maybe soon.
Ijimetaihodo_Aishiteru []
Mangaka: Mizukami Shin
Group: Liquid Passion
Warnings: Not Worksafe
Genre: historical, yaoi
Status: completed
Found: browsing yaoi places for this mangaka ‘cos I liked a story of hers (see previous post)
Summary (taken from Baka-Updates): Collection of oneshots. Part 3: Foreign Culture Communication Commodore “Just call me Darling,” is new to Japan and is given a young, beautiful and incredibly naive translator named Haneda Takayuki. Darling is smitten with his “Honey”, but will the culture differences be too much for them?
Download
My comments: I downloaded only story 3 ‘cos I clearly like this mangaka’s [pseudo] historical creations better. Lovely and amusing. And I really like her style, although her characters do look all the same from manga to manga. Anatomy error in panel 27 (two right hands) Anyway, it’s an entertaining piece, and pretty :)
Itsuka no Himitsu #
Mangaka: Naono Bohra
Scanlation Group: Dangerous Pleasure
Genre: Drama Yaoi
Status: 1 volume (complete)
Warning: not worksafe
Found: looking for this mangaka’s works
Summary: It’s been ten years since Yuuya was home. That was the last time he faced Asato, the blind neighbor he’s always had a crush on. He’s spent the time trying to forget the one night he acted on those feelings. But he’s been fired and evicted; with no place to go he returns to his childhood home and the man he’s never forgotten.
Download
My notes: I read the summary and thought, “OMG, OMG, it seems totally like my kind of thing, please let it be my kind of thing!” A blind man with greying hair, and there are cats and baggy sweaters! Definitely, yes. And it was. The story could have been more developed or elaborate but other than that, I enjoyed it a lot. It’s lovely and pleasant to look at.
So, Naono Bohra is clearly one of my favourite mangakas. Her men are nicely meaty. They have shoulders and muscular thighs and knees. But not photo-model-like muscular. Worker-like. They wear stretched sweaters and love cats. Fabulous!
Jack in the Box []
Mangaka: Higashizato Kirico
Group: Sweet Lunacy
Genre: Shotacon Yaoi
Warnings: not worksafe
Status: short oneshot
Found: was recced to me when I asked for nice and loving shota
Summary: Arata gives his girlfriend ’skin to skin loving’ when his girlfriends little twin brothers wanna know what ’skin to skin loving’ means… There’s only one way for Arata to show Kagari and Natsumi what ’skin to skin loving’ really means…
Download: at the group site.
My notes: very amusing and hot. The drawing is rather cluttered but among the unapologetic shotacon, I liked this one best.
Junjou Romantica (Pure Romance) []
Mangaka: Nakamura Shungiku
Scanlated by: mochi*mochi, Beautiful Soup, chibitora, DokiDoki, GinRyuu, morau
Status: licensed, 10 Volumes (Ongoing)
Genre: Comedy Romance Yaoi
Warning: not worksafe
Found: recced by several folks in the comments under my yaoi diary posts.
Summary: Junjou Romantica: Misaki is suddenly having some unexpected and odd problems. What started as a need for some college entrance exam tutoring has somehow led him to being romanced by a suave older man who also happens to be his big brother’s best friend. Confused by all of his brand new emotions, Misaki struggles to deal with his suddenly very odd life. And if that wasn’t enough, his suitor, Usami, has plenty of issues of his own. A man-child who decorates his room in giant teddy bears and toys, Usami is a famous novelist who also writes steamy boys love novels on the side. When Misaki cracks open one of these books and reads sentences like “Misaki licks every inch of Usami’s hot body”…well, let’s just say that all hell breaks loose. And if one couple isn’t enough for you, Junjo Romantica focuses on three different sets of lovers, each with their own compelling stories.
Junjou Egoist: Hiroki is a broken man, consumed by unrequited love for his childhood friend, Akihiko Usami (the writer from Junjou Romantica). Along comes Nowaki, whose name means “typhoon”, an orphan working his way through life since middle school. Like the typhoon he is named for, he whirls into Hiroki’s life and heart, blowing all resistance away before him.
Junjou Terrorist: As fate would have it, Miyagi (whom Hiroki is working with as assistant professor) and Shinobu, the younger brother of his ex-wife, cross paths. Bit of pieces started to link together from the first two stories; his ex-wife, Aikawa, is the editor for Usami. That aside, Miyagi, who has a sad hidden past in himself, is faced with Shinobu, who just says whatever on his mind. The wheels of destiny is beginning to turn once again…
Download: nope. But you can find it.
My notes: I may not like this kind of style, but the drawing is very expressive, and the mangaka certainly knows what she’s doing. I wish I knew terms for all those kinds of panels, but even being mute in this, I like how various elements are used. Exaggerated motion and emotion, everything’s very dynamic. This manga also shows how much you can make or break with a good or bad scanlation. I’m very glad the first volumes were done so well, for which my thanks to mochi*mochi & Beautiful Soup, because were they not, I simply wouldn’t read it (as I said, not my favourite kind of style). But the work the scanlators did on them, as for me, is exemplary. Which can’t be said about the rest. Vol. 4 exists in much worse scans, scanlation becomes very ‘usual’, and translation loses all semblance of English. It improves in vol. 5 done by GinRyuu and even more in vol. 6 done by morau but never reaches the complexity and the attention to detail of the first volumes. But then again, morau seems to be one person, not a team. And they are doing a good job for one person.
The story consists of two main storylines that take turns: Junjou Romantica, about Misaki and Usami Akihiko, and Junjou Egoist, about Kusama Nowaki and Kamijyou Hiroki (well, and a couple of side stories). I liked the story of the second couple better. They are Snape/Harry with bottom!Snape, of sorts. A very grumpy, bad-tempered and foul-mouthed, secretly vulnerable teacher and an orphaned boy who inserts himself into the teacher’s life. What I like most about this storyline is that it’s not about how they get together — they do it almost at once — but of how the lack of communication and their personal issues make their life one big emotional roller-coaster. Besides, I like when seme is younger than uke. Back to Junjou Romantica, I like the characters. Usami is Howl-like (Howl’s Moving Castle), with his room full of toys and his beauty and popularity, and Misaki is a wonderful boy who always takes care of others. But I find it too repetitive. Six volumes and Misaki is still in denial? Boring.
I also downloaded and watched one episode of anime. I thought it looked cheapo but then I realised that almost every anime does if to compare everything to Miyazaki’s films. Duh. No, IMO, it looks average. But Usami Akihiko’s voice is very, very pleasant and velvety.
If you DL the manga from various places on the net, it’s going to look confusing ‘cos some people divide the story into volumes, others into acts, some others count by chapters. So it goes like this (the parts scanlated so far, as on July 5, 2008):
Vol. 1 (mochi*mochi & Beautiful Soup):
ch. 1-2 = Junjou Romantica, act 1 and 2
ch. 3-4 = Junjou Egoist (aka Junjou Egotist in some later translations), act 1 and 2.
ch. 5 = Junjou Romantica, act 2.5
Vol. 2 (mochi*mochi & Beautiful Soup):
ch. 1(6) = Junjou Romantica, act 3
ch. 2-4(7-9) = Junjou Egoist, act 3, 4, 5
ch. 5(10) = Junjou Romantica, act 3.5
Vol. 3 (mochi*mochi & Beautiful Soup):
ch. 1-3(11-13) = Junjou Romantica, act 4, 5, 5.5
ch. 4-5(14-15) = Junjou Egoist, act 6, 7
Vol. 4 (who?):
ch. 1-2(16-17) = Junjou Egoist, act 8, 9
ch. 3-5(18-20) = Junjou Romantica, act 6.1, 6.2, 6.3
Side story: Junjou Minimum (Summary: A one-volume series that kicks off as a side-story from Junjou Romantica (last chapter of vol. 4) featuring the characters from Romantica and Egoist. First part flashes back to the younger days of Akihiko Usami and Hiroki while the second part is a cute story about the younger Misaki and his brother… (from Baka-Updates))
Vol. 5 (GinRyuu):
ch. 1-2 (21-22) = Junjou Romantica, act 7, 7.5
ch. 3-5 (23-25) = Junjou Terrorist, act 1, 2, 3 (bad scans, unbound book)
ch. 6(26) = Junjou Egoist, act 9.5
Vol. 6 (morau):
ch. 1-2(27-28) = Junjou Romantica, act 8, 9
ch. 3(29) = Junjou Egoist, act 10
ch. 4(30) = Junjou Terrorist, act 4 (either not scanlated yet or I haven’t found it)
Vol. 7:
ch. 1(31) (JunjouDotInfo) = Junjou Egoist, act 11
As a conclusion, I won’t be holding my breath waiting for the next chapter to be scanlated but I will read the rest of the manga as I see new parts appear. IMO it’s quite pleasant.
Koi no Kawaki (Thirsty for Love / Be Thirsty of Love) (2001) []
Mangaka: Honami Yukine & Takaguchi Satosumi
Group: Aarinfantasy
Status: 1 volume complete, licensed
Warning: NWS, some het sex
Genre: Drama Mature School Life Tragedy Yaoi
Found: looking for this artist
Summary: Orie Nakano’s girlfriend is cheating on him with two other men! One is the mysteriously untouchable Tatsumi, and the other is the basketball-playing upperclassman that Orie idolizes. But things are far from being as simple as they seem, and now the three men are inevitably pulled towards each other and bond together by their love for Yuka, which extends much farther than just the girl herself. Love, admiration and lust intermingle around them in an inescapble spiral in this coming of age sexy romance.
My notes: I like this artist. Not love but I find her art pleasant to look at: smooth, polished, pretty, and airy. The story is very angsty and twisted. Three guys, one girl, various degrees of attraction to each other. Then — just the three guys. The story contains lots of tangled up and confused emotions, sex, teenage curiosity and unconscious cruelty, and not a little bit of stupidity. Sometimes it’s achingly tender, sometimes it borders on mindfuck, yet other times those guys look ripe to be strangled by a frustrated reader.
I can’t say I liked the story ‘cos it disturbed me on many levels but I’ll remember it, that’s a given! The translation is a bit obscure though.
Koi no Tsubo #
Mangaka: Mizukami Shin
Scanlation Group: Storm in Heaven
Been posted in yaoi_daily in June 2008.
Warnings: Not Worksafe
Genre: Historical Yaoi
Download (direct)
Summary: “The solution to all love problems is sex.” So prescribes Doctor Meishuu to his love sick patients. But when a patient confesses his love for the dear Doctor, can Doctor Meishuu still continue to stand by his philosophy?
My comments: As cliché as it gets and chock-full of things I’d hate were it another manga: sexual healing, rape and captivity turned into twu wuw, and a makeover respectively for the three couples the story of which make this manga. But I found it very entertaining, mainly because of the main character, Doctor Meishuu, who sleeps with anything that has two legs and plays a matchmaker for everybody around him. I rather like how the characters are drawn, too. What to compare it to? It’s like watching an entertaining B-rated Hollywood film or reading a story with decent SPAG but FFnet-like plot :) Am going to read more by this mangaka.
Kokoro no Kagi wo Mitsukete (To Find the Key to the Heart) []
Mangaka: CJ Michalski
Scanlators: Things You Like & Countless Time
Status: 1 Volume (Complete)
Genre: Drama Yaoi
Warning: Not Worksafe
Found: in a post of somebody sharing CJ’s work
Summary: Kazuto has injured himself and he’s living alone. His half-brother, Kiyoto, offers him his servant Toudou for help till he recovers from his injuries. But Kiyoto isn’t thinking about Kazuto’s health but something else Kazuto posseses. How loyal will Toudou be for his master when there are other feelings stirring underneath?
Download: here (registration required)
My notes: the translation is rather awkward (”a violent embrace is unreasonable”) and not without errors (you’re/your) but it gets the meaning across, I suppose. The manga is rather cliché (again, non-con is the best way to express feelings, blergh) and not without melodrama, but there’s plot and various relationships. It’s easy to follow. The main character is very cute and nice: selfless, kind, yearning for family and love. Quite pleasant! Am going to read more by this mangaka.
Kudan no Kuroneko (Black Cat of Matter) []
Mangaka: Mizukami Shin
Group: Fantasyshrine
Warning: Not Worksafe; Tentacle rape in chapter 3
Genre: Yaoi, Historical, Supernatural
Status: completed, 1 volume
Summary: After rescuing Maya, the descendant of the Cat God who was injured from his unsuccessful first mission, Yujiro begins to feel a strong desire for the beautiful feline. Does Yujiro know that Maya is on a recovery mission for the calamity bells? This is a love that crosses the boundary of race.
Download
My notes: I really liked the gods in ch.1, especially on page 6! Tentacle rape (tail rape) was a tad unnecessary, IMO. The first three chapters tell us a story of Yujiro and Maya, set in and around a fox god’s and cat god’s shrines. Chapter 4 steps back to show us the beginning of Shinichi’s relationship with the nine-tail fox god he serves, Konosuke. Shiranui, the previous god of the shrine whom Shinichi’s father served, is beautiful, but I really like Konosuke. He’s bratty, sly, and obnoxious (fox!) but not without kindness. When I went back to ch.1 after ch.4, to look at some fine details, I could really appreciate it much better. You start noticing the looks the priest and fox exchange, and so on. Chapter 5 is pretty cracky, if you ask me. Babies, babies, in the way of really bad MPreg only not MPreg per se and funny.
Long Way Home []
Mangaka: Miyamoto Kano
Group: Hochuuami (site is down)
Warnings: Not Worksafe
Genre: Yaoi,
Status: complete oneshot
Found: thanks to Geoviki
Summary: Katou has money problems, loans and he hasn’t paid his rent for 5 months now. When his realtor Yui suggest that, if Katou does a job for him, he will give him 3 more weeks to pay the rent (before kicking him out or worse), Katou happily agrees…
My comments: I learned of this manga and mangaka because Geoviki wrote a fanfic for it. I read it and liked it, but being a diligent reader that I am, I first had downloaded and read the manga. I liked it. But here I must confess that I like Viki’s story better. IMO it fully realises what was only drafted or hinted at in the manga. Miyamoto Kano’s style is pleasant though, so I think I’m going to read something else of hers, the huge Hydra/Rules arc probably.
Love Mode (1996) #
Mangaka: Shimizu Yuki
Scanlation group: Sakura-Crisis, Essence of Purity, Nakama and others
Genre: Drama Yaoi
Status: complete (11 vols +side stories), licensed
Warning: not worksafe
Recced to me by bosska_ak here
Summary: Mistaken identities, bizarre accidents and pratfalls, tragic pasts and plenty of broken hearts, and that’s just for starters! Love Mode tells the story of the lives of the men involved with the classy male escort service, Blue Boy. Lovelines intertwine and cross, friendships are made and broken in this boys’ love classic!
Download: try free manga sharing places, like here
My notes: I’ll start with pros ‘cos overall, I think, it’s a manga well worth spending your time on. But there are pretty serious contras; I’ll list them at the end.
This is, in essence, a soap. All action is built around the host club and his owner, Reiji Aoe. Everybody is gay and paired up, which should be annoying like hell to me but wasn’t because it’s a gay club, so it was sort of a natural order of things for this manga. Japanese names for me are like, I suspect, Russian names for a Japanese person, that is to say they all sound the same, so I’ll outline the main characters and couples. Volume 1 is about the club owner’s old friend Takamiya and the extremely pig-headed Izumi whom he met by mistake that had to do with the club. Takamiya is one of the nicest guys in this manga: level-headed, soft-spoken, and loving. Izumi is a very ordinary guy from an ordinary family who’s easily embarrassed by public displays of affection and “is not homo!!!” Vol. 2 begins the longest storyline, that of the very club owner Reiji Aoe and a guy he rescues from the street, Naoya (aka kitten): the boy who attracts misfortune, tragedy, and trouble like a magnet. He’s a bit of a crybaby; not surprising, knowing his biography, but is a really decent boy. I like these couples from the first volumes best. They are very likeable, especially Reiji. The ever devious but kind doctor Kiichi Aoe, Reiji’s older brother, is fun too. There are also shorter storylines. I like best the one of another Izumi (a very troubled and waif-like host from the club; looks like fanon!Draco) and Arashi (a simply good guy, a student) in vol. 3 and the story of Seiichi, another host in BB, and Tomoki, a 14-yr-old boy who bought his services. This last one made me bawl. Well, quite a few of Naoya’s misfortunes before that had, too. Vol. 8 and 9 are a sort of prequel, the past of Kiichi, young Reiji, and Kiichi’s valet Haruomi, which is also very captivating. Vol. 11 shows us the story of Reiji’s first meeting Takamiya and his life in England, awfully bittersweet, Paradise-like and heart-breaking.
Everything in the manga is about love (that’s why it’s called Love Mode, I suppose) but it’s full of action: there’s kidnapping and blackmail, deaths and rescues, illnesses and romantic dinners, and various hard choices. There are quite a few hot sex scenes. I particularly liked the one where Izumi is blissed out on sex at the end of vol 1. Yes, it’s melodramatic like any soap but it’s not boring. I read 11 volumes of it and never quit, so let it be a testament to the mangaka’s ability to keep her readers’ attention.
The style is odd: it seems simple, even a bit unprofessional-looking. Well, not a bit. It does look like when the mangaka began drawing it, she couldn’t do it very well (see the cover). It becomes better as the series goes on. I didn’t find it unpleasant though. Actually, I found it pleasing. And even very refreshing. There’s something honest in it; a honest enjoyment of storytelling, probably, and the love for characters. There’s also just enough variety in the relationships — they are far not the same! — to keep it interesting. Lots of dysfunctional families, lots of new connections to soothe and compensate.
There are some problems that [might] intervene with reading:
- it’s not a good scan, a bit of an eye-breaker actually; and really bad scans starting with vol.8 (or 9, in different places). OTOH, there might be better scans somewhere on the net?
- English text in speech bubbles is darker and brighter than the rest (it becomes ok by the middle of the series);
- the translation, sometimes, is very weird (phrases like “My nerves were unexpectedly daring” and homonym abuse, weird word breaks like “h-otel”, no-one else in t-he area”; the translation in vol 6 where there’s a lot of crime action is rather incomprehensible on the whole.
- in vol 6, one of the opening panels with Reiji Aoe as a Nazi officer is frankly spooky;
- the character cards (when you get to the end of volume or sometimes chapter, there are these cards that tell you about characters) make me WTF. For example: Katsuki Kyosuke. Birthday June 11 Gemini. Blood type O. 19 years old. 176 cm, 52 kg. That’s WAY underweight. I’m 52 kg, and I’m a) a woman, b) have thin bones, c) am 160 cm, d) have healthy but not bulky muscles. I look thin. A guy weighing 52 kg being 176 cm = anorexic. All other characters, even the more muscular ones, always have height/weight correlation as minus 110 at best (186/76 for Jinnai Kuniaki, 172/52 for Takimura Rin, 189/76 for Ian Sanders but ok, the latter’s 17 years old and a model). What’s with the mangaka’s math or anatomy knowledge?
But on the whole, I find that the things listed in contras are all small things, and the things I enjoyed were a lot bigger, if to look at the manga as a whole. So I’d give it a chance, in your place, if you aren’t opposed to romantic soaps. Funny thing that I am :) But I really wish to read it in a well-scanlated version!
Mada Koi Towa Shirazu ni (2006) []
Mangaka: Mizukami Shin
Group: Tennoikkaku and Fantasyshrine
Genre: Drama, Historical, Yaoi
Status: completed, 1 volume
Warning: not worksafe, rape
Summary from Fantasyshrine: Set during the Keiou era of Japan. In the restlessness before the storm of revolution, the heir of a wealthy samurai family meets a beautiful young man. A beautiful and heartbreaking period drama which Mizukami is so good at. This one starts off kind of depressing, but keep reading!
Download (via file-sharing servers, lots) (you’ll have to register)
My notes: aww, I can’t help it, I love this mangaka’s style. Maybe it’s the characters’ luscious hair, maybe it’s their eyes, maybe clothes. One thing I don’t love is when she draws feet so that it’s neither right not left. As for me, there’s nothing much in the story if you don’t like these doe-eyed youths or square-chinned samurai. It stretches one’s belief pretty far, if we speak about plot/characterisation. I can’t believe that lord Honda would so easily change his lifestyle or that Shiyuri can be so fierce and cunning in some situations and so helpless and meek in others. But they are still a pleasure to look at :) So, as I said, I can’t help it. I can simply leaf through it for another look at Shiyuri’s pretty face or hair.
The man who wouldn’t fall in love (Aisanai Otoko) []
Artist: Miyamoto Kano
Warning: Not Worksafe
Scanlation group: Liquid Passion
Found: posted in yaoi_daily
Summary: Sahara works in publishing with Yagisawa Kei. After vowing he won’t get involved with straight men again after heartbreak, Sahara meets Seto who is a designer at a firm his company collaborates with. Seto begins to pursue Sahara, but what will happen when Sahara learns that Seto isn’t gay?
Download: here
Prequel: Te wo Tsunaide, Sora wo (Two of Hearts). Status: 1 Volume (Complete). Licensed. Scanlated by Hochuuami. Summary: When failing novelist, Haruya, finds a young boy undressing on the shore he has no idea he’ll become linked to the boy who refuses to be touched.
Sequel: Amayakana Toge. Summary: Yagisawa Kei is disastrously unlucky in love, as his recent strike-out with author Itou Haruya attests. When his publishing company makes him responsible for a handsome young author, he once again finds himself walking an all too familiar path where work and play collide. He doesn’t realize that he has met Subaru before . . . or that Subaru’s reappearance now will open old wounds from a past he’d rather forget. This book falls between Te wo Tsunaide Sora wo (Two of Hearts licensed by Deux) and The man who wouldn’t fall in love.
Download: here
My notes: In the prequel, Te wo Tsunaide, Sora wo, one of the characters, thankfully, wears glasses and the other one longish blond hair, so I had no trouble telling them one from another. But I do get a bit tired of the same faces every time I read a manga by this artist. The story itself is easy to remember because of Maki’s phobias. But I liked the third story, Amayakana Toge, best. By then, I got used to Yagisawa and wanted to know his story too. It has two time-lines and is pretty romantic, in that “real life flows around you” kind of way that Miyamoto Kano favours. Alternating time-lines and the initial mystery help to keep one’s attention.
Memory of the Future and sequel, Where the Wind Goes (aka Future Lovers (Mirai no Kioku; Kaze no Yukue)) (2002-2004) ##
Mangaka: Kunieda Saika
Scanlated by: Loveless and DokiDoki
Status: 2 volumes (complete), licensed
Genre: Comedy Drama Yaoi
Rating/Warning: NWS, R
Found: recced to me by reddwarfer here.
Summary: [From Loveless]: Kento Kumagaya has but just one small dream: getting married to the ‘ideal’ housewife, having an ordinary family, with a wife, two kids and his grandparents all living happily. Life, however, has other ideas. Enter Akira Kazuki, a beautiful, witty and uninhibited gay man who seems to care for naught. This is a romantic, sweet and humorous story between two different people who unexpectedly find the same future together. (I wouldn’t recommend reading the sequel summary at BU ‘cos it’s rather spoilerish — pj)
My notes: ooh, I loved this one! It’s so funny and lovely and absolutely delightful! Akira is a sort of fanon!Draco, of the best kind: bratty, very pretty, spoilt but sensitive. Kento is a very down to earth kind of guy who happened to get seduced by Akira. And, being a serious and simple guy that he is, he’s settled to mate for life. Won’t be easy, will it? There are angsty scenes, episodes to cry at, but mostly it’s amusing or outright funny. Dying Gramps made me roll on the floor howling with laughter. If you want to feel good after reading, this is an ideal story for you. It’s at the same time humorous and realistic, and it’s interesting to follow even though I wouldn’t call it plotty. I loved how it’s drawn too. I closed the last page cooing and laughing, then went and ordered it from Amazon to have my own paper copy. Highly and heartily recommended!
Music at the Break of Dawn (2003) []
Mangaka: Yamimaru Enjin
Scanlation group: Loveless
Status: oneshot, part 7 of An Ark of the Prince (Ouji no Hakobune), complete
Genre: Shounen Ai Yaoi
Warnings: Work Safe (a kiss)
Found: in yaoi_daily, end of june 2008
Summary: not given
Download: somewhere on the group’s site; I read it in yaoi_daily.
My notes: The cover doesn’t say anything about this short story because it’s for another oneshot from this volume. Music at the Break of Dawn was the only one I read from the seven. The beginning was drawn pleasantly, so I gave it a go. It’s a short and sad story, or maybe bittersweet. I don’t want to say much about the plot for fear of spoiling it, but it’s about a very ill and weird young guy and a bitter middle-aged writer, his neighbour. The story has a couple of very vivid details and doesn’t go along the most predictable, clichéd way, which probably made me like it. It’s poetic and emo but not too poetic, as for me, and pleasantly quiet.
Negai Kanae Tamae (Grant my Wish) []
Mangaka: Nishida Higashi
Scanslator: Volyund
Status: 3 Volumes (Complete)
Genre: Drama Mature Yaoi
Warning: not worksafe; some explicit het
Found: sequel was posted in yaoi_daily
Summary: Kinukawa was a second class pianist and he occasionally played in small clubs. He had a fairly loyal audience, a man who always listened to his piano and after a while, he was attracted by the man’s admiration for his piano. One time, he accidentally spilt water onto the man Fukami’s jacket. As a result, Fukami’s subordinate stabbed Kinukawa’s hand right through. Kinukawa then worked at his father’s coffee shop as he liked making cakes and Fukami came. He then told Kinukawa that if he could make cakes there were not sweet, he would come. The next time Fukami came, he told Kinukawa that he bought a piano and would like him to teach him how to play. Kinukawa agreed and he was happy teaching Fukami, but teaching a yakuza piano was more than what it seemed. (by nanya)
Download: here
Sequel: Seishun no Yamai wa
Summary: A collection of three stories: 1. Seishun no Yamai wa - ch 1-4 2. Tengoku ga Mieru (Viewing Heaven) - ch 5-6 (Two-part sequel to Negai Kanae Tamae [Grant My Wish] featuring Kudo, former bodyguard to Fukami. During a trip to Europe, Kudo fends off the advances of a nosy thief while haunted by memories of his former boss.) 3. Good Night - ch 7
Scanlation group/DL: Half-Baked Scanlations
Status: Only the second story is being scanlated for the time being due to time constraints.
My notes: I wasn’t sure I was going to like it because the drawing style, let me put it like this, is peculiar. But some really funny and some really moving scenes (jigsaw puzzle!) made me change my mind. The tough and violent (also dim and very messed up) yakuza guy Fukami keeps getting into a jam; a nice and gentle (and rather naive) guy Kinukawa is in love with him keeps saving him. The yakuza characters are a bit like in Pulp Fiction or Kill Bill — maybe I think so because Kudo reminds me of Travolta :) I mean, the story is often funny, in a horrifying sort of way. The sequel is very sad though. There are typos in the first part of story 1 but I wouldn’t say they spoil the reading. I’ve seen comments elsewhere in which people complain about the ending (mind, I’m speaking of story 1). To avoid spoilers, let’s call it ambiguous. Well, I don’t know, I didn’t have any problems with it. IMO it lets you think about their future relationship and what point they are at exactly without creating any undue confusion.
Okujou no bai-bai (Good-bye on the rooftop) []
Mangaka: Kyuugou/ 9go / Ninekoks
Scanlation group: Biblo Eros
Genre: shounen-ai
Length: oneshot
Found: was posted in yaoi_daily
Warnings: worksafe (but for a kiss)
Summary: Nogi is the fearless and respected karate black-belt who beats up bullies without breaking a sweat. But to Fujiwara, he’s just “Kei-chan”, best friend and object of his secret affections. Can their friendship survive? Or develop into something more?
Download: here
My notes: lovely, exaggeratedly comical, if simple and unambitious. In other words, there isn’t much to the story: it’s a bit comical high school romance. But I like how the faces and talks are drawn. ETA: after reading quite a few works by this mangaka, I come to the conclusion that I like her drawing style a lot and her storytelling, rather less. But the visual side of manga is often more important for me :)
Pretty Scoop []
Mangaka: Yamato Nase
Warnings: Worksafe for ch.1-2, Not worksafe for ch. 3-5
Scanlation group: Hochuuami (the site is currently down)
Genre: yaoi
Status: 1 Volume (Complete)
Summary: Sada-kun enters an all boys school to join their illustrious journalism club, but meets his match when he gets paired with the scary Nanjou.
Download: is posted in yaoi_daily starting June 24, 2008. Or try free manga comms.
My notes: very cute and funny. The plot is a sort of “education of Colin Creevey” :) A boy dreams of becoming a photo reporter. In the school journo club, he gets paired up with a mean-looking guy who, as it turns out, likes cute things: kittens, flowers, you name it. Their small adventures, misunderstandings, and everything else are cute overload, seriously, but in a pleasant way. I laughed out loud a couple of times. I’m a bit confused about Sada’s age ‘cos I don’t understand that school system. He looks like he’s 12 maybe because he’s often chibified, but he must be older. The leap into kissing and all is a bit too fast, but I liked the manga overall.
Ren’ai Nenrei []
Mangaka: Naono Bohra
Group: Dangerous Pleasure
Genre: Yaoi
Warnings: Not worksafe
Status: oneshot, complete
Found: was posted in yaoi_daily, and I pounced!
Download
My notes: A middle-aged (over 40, I think) Hakuto has an ED: “…no matter how cute, slender, or young my partner is, I just can’t get it up!” Kuramoto, Hakuto’s subordinate but not his type, offers him to try it with him. A simple way, really :) It’s funny and lovely.
Retsujou Kyoumushitsu and it’s sequel Junai Fetizm (2004) []
Mangaka: Kanzaki Takashi
Scanlated by: Attractive Fascinante
Status: 1 volume (Complete)
Genre: School Life Smut Yaoi
Rating/warnings: NWS, hard R
Found: recced to me by alexis_sd here.
Summary: [From Attractive Fascinante] : 1-4) To Takei, who’s a Math teacher in high school, the school is the perfect feasting ground for students. But never did he expect that one of his former students would become a teacher as well as his colleague! For the number one lusty teacher – Takei, his days of humiliation are starting soon! 5) Our Oath- The mixed up sex lives between a businessman, his secretary, and their sons.
DL: here.
My notes: this manga begins as unapologetic porn and pure guilty pleasure reading (pretty amusing, too). It’s a world where teachers fuck students in school with no repercussions, where students watch their gay teachers have sex, and where everything revolves around sex and more sex. There’s nothing original either in the story or in the artwork but it’s pleasant to look at, except one dislocated knee that is, unfortunately, at the opening page. On the way though, the porn gradually develops into a sort of relationship, sort of story. The ‘echoing’ endings of the chapters underline it and give the storyline some sort of structure. Not bad on the whole, as far as “almost-PWPs” go. One thing that annoyed me was “cum” in translation.
