The One-shot Challenge

[wednesday_10_00]

mangaroo challenged me (and anyone else who wants to play along) to name my top five one-shot manga stories. I really had a good time putting this together. Not only was it fun to dig through my bookshelf and re-read things I'd forgotten about, but it was very refreshing to judge each story on its own merits, rather than having to warn off people ala "Well, this one story is really good, but the rest of the volume is crap, so...". Anyway, here it is.

Edit: Apparently I'm too stupid to keep track of what is a locked post and what isn't, so, quoting mangaroo on the rules:

The Challenge
I challenge you ... to name your top five (ten, if you want to be ambitious) short stories. Please include the title of the volume it's collected in (if collected) and the name of the artist. And feel free to take it out of these comments and make top-level posts for my enjoyment.

The Rules
A short story should be complete in one chapter. If it stretches to two, you should note that in your comments (and I'm afraid the judges will deduct points from your total score). Episodic chapters of longer series don't count (think Harudaki) and could result in your being disqualified. Omake, 4コマ, and any 書き下ろし shorter than 12 pages (how's that for arbitrary?) do not count as additional chapters.

The Rules Revised (Since no one had any intention of following the rules anyway. I am the world's most ineffective dictator.)
5 favorite one-shot stories followed by 5 favorite shot + chaser stories (aka "two-shots").

Notes: These are chosen from the manga I currently have available (i.e. the ones I haven't sent home), so the list is not entirely complete. I may, however, have stopped at Book-Off to look up the titles of some that I knew I wanted to include but didn't have with me. Not that I'm obsessive or anything. The lists are vaguely in order of preference, although I did give priority to stories that I've loved for a longer time.

True one-shots:

1. Kiss Scandal, Kanamaru Maki/Honami Yukine (from Sono Toki Heart wa Nusumareta)
This is the story of the relationship between a US congressman and his secretary, and the scandal when the public finds out about them (and when I say "public finds out," I mean, "Colin kisses Paul in the middle of a restaurant"). It is so perfectly adorable, I never get tired of reading it. (And I would so totally vote for Colin if he was real. And, uh, I lived in Maine.) Also, bonus points for the lovely Engrish, as exemplified by the newspaper headline "CHARMING HOUSE GUY'S LOVE EVER AFTER."

2. Usotsuki, CJ Michalski (from Usotsuki)
Okay, so apparently this is not for you if you like your androids to be logical and stuff, but otherwise a sweet and touching story. It seems like your average robot story until the last few pages--that's when it hits you, right in the gut. *sniffles* Uh, in a good way. ('Cause we all know I don't like sad stories, right?) Personally, I could have done with out the 書き下ろし gag at the end, but we can just pretend that doesn't exist.

3. Beloved, Kanzaki Takashi (from H H, which is OOP. No idea if it's in H H Remix or not.)
This starts out like it's going to be yucky--the main characters are in a sex-for-money relationship, neither of them even knows the other's name, and the seme is only doing it because he's in love with someone else named "Masafumi." The uke (Hibiki) knows this and charges him a "Masafumi Fee" for every time the seme says "Masafumi" while they're having sex. Then the Masafumi Fee starts to really annoy Hibiki because he finds himself drawn to the seme. (I love the scene where Hibiki is looking at the deposits in his bank account--he has a special Masafumi Account because he doesn't want to use that money--and getting annoyed at all the money that's in it. "Five thousand yen, that means he said it ten times!") And then it turns out that the seme is an adorable sweetie, and the real reason he keeps saying "Masafumi" all the time (you knew there was a real reason, right?) is too cute.

4. Kakero! Ai no Tonakai, Arai Sachi (from Chara 12 2005)
Bookstore owner x mangaka. Need I say more? (Okay, I will: It's a Christmas story, hence the reindeer in the title.)

5. Honjitsu wa Seiten Nari, Shinba Rize (from Oitashichatta)
The story of two boys on the school student council, who act like they hate each other because their fathers are rival politicians, but in fact are a totally love-love couple. I was a goner when, on page 3, they call out, "Taka-pyon♥" and "Yasu-rin♥" and run into each other's arms--right after having a big showy fight for the benefit of everyone else on the council.

Honorable Mention: Kaizoku Game, Takagi Ryou (from Tres Tres 2005 Spring issue)
I don't need to explain why I love this, right? Yarr. Okay, good because it really doesn't have any other merits.

"Two-shots"--One-shots that were so good the author went and wrote another chapter:

1. Kira Kira/Fuwa Fuwa, Kitasato Senju (from Aijin Senka)
There are two reasons I love this story. 1. It portrays a character actually (*gasp*) dealing with the trauma of sexual abuse. 2. Sakura, the main character's best friend and love interest, is the sweetest, most patient boyfriend ever. He's so gentle and adorable with Tomoaki it almost hurts to look at. (Don't be scared off by the mention of sexual abuse--this is not an angsty or yucky story.)

2. Hidoi Otoko/Yuushuu, Minase Masara (from Infernal Boys vol. 1 and vol. 3)
Nagao and Katsumi are so in love, but so awkward with each other...I don't know, I just find it totally endearing. The plot twist (can there be a plot twist when there's no plot?) in the first story is like, one of my favorite moments in all of BL manga. Even though there are only two chapters, they're my favorite of Minase's characters. There WILL be riots if there's not more of these two.

3. Do You Remember Me?/Love Letter, Umetarou (from Juurokumai no Kokuhaku)
This story would be good enough to recommend just on the merits of the adorable main character, but the kind of Usotsuki-esque heart-rending moment near the end earns it a spot on this list. (Not as heart-rending, mind you, but I like the characters more, so that makes up for it.)

4. Dekiru Otoko ga Sukinanda!/Kawaii Otoko ga Sukinanda!, Takanaga Hinako (from Dekiru Otoko ga Sukinanda!)
I don't really like the first chapter of this story because of the rape thing, but Shingo's love attack (see icon) in the second chapter is so precious I think it makes up for it.

5. Honey in the Dark/Mermaid in the Dark, Ohgi Yuzuha (from Star ni Ai)
This story is a little darker than I like--the end of the first chapter is not even really what I would call "happy," and the uke's angsty past is pretty heavy--but I really like the concept of it (the uke is blind, and is attracted to the seme by his beautiful voice). Also, I think this might be the only thing Ohgi has written for Pierce that actually starts out with the main characters attracted to each other and both wanting to date, and there are moments when they're really sweet together. I'd really like to see more of this one.

Honorable Mention: Wild Man Blues, Yamada Yugi (from Mizu Nurumu)
With two full chapters and a relatively long 書き下ろし ending, this story takes up almost half a volume and is probably too long to qualify. Also, I'm not entirely sure how much of my love for this story is due to actual lovableness and how much is just nostalgia. But when I first read it (years and years ago), I liked it so much I was inspired to track down all of Yamada Yugi's other works, and this is still a favorite.

Next, please?