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wednesday_10_00) wrote2009-07-21 04:40 pm
wednesday_10_00) wrote2009-07-21 04:40 pm
Entry tags:
Manga backlog (part 1)
Kawaii Akuma - Madarame Hiro (meh)
Have we established yet that I don't like mean seme characters? Because I don't like mean seme characters. This is your standard "seme is a jerk, forces himself on uke, uke does not seem to actually LIKE seme, but can't seem to get rid of him and for some inexplicable reason falls in love (this is love?)" story, the twist being that the seme (Naruse) is an adorable-looking kid (at least, until he grows up--over summer break, no less), and the uke (Akiyoshi) is the one guy in the class not interested in Naruse's angelic appearance. Still, although it doesn't work for me as a romance, as a comedy, it's great. For instance, when Naruse is telling Akiyoshi about why he fell for him, at first Akiyoshi is all depressed because Naruse doesn't list any positive qualities, but then cheers himself up:
"There's no way I don't have any praiseworthy traits!"
Basically, Akiyoshi and Naruse are both twisted weirdos, and that cracks me up, though they hit exactly zero of my moe points.
Kouun no Rihatsushi - Nagato Saichi (sweh!)
Tsukasa is an extremely shy high school boy who happens into Nachi's barbershop one day. Nachi gives Tsukasa a haircut and new outlook in life--suddenly he's the girls at school notice that Tsukasa is way hot and are all over him--but Tsukasa is only interested in Nachi. Fast forward a couple years; the bulk of the story takes place when Tsukasa is 21 and a famous model/TV star...but still hangs around Nachi's barbershop, cleaning and drying towels, ostensibly because he feels he owes it to Nachi, but really because he's in luuurrrrve. Luckily, this is BL, so of course it turns out that Nachi was in love with Tsukasa the whole time also, and they livestupidly adorably ever after:
(Exchanging sappy gifts: a cell phone for a house key.)
(Mumbling your boyfriend's name in your sleep is not allowed.)
This is followed by an unrelated one-shot, about the three members of a band. The middle story was adorable, the other two...funny, but not romantic.
Mimitabu no Riyuu - Kunieda Saika (meh!)
Ishikawa and Yamaguchi are two college boys with a strange relationship. Yamaguchi is super popular with the ladies, but every time he gets dumped, he wants Ishikawa to "cheer him up" with sex. Ishikawa is...not pleased about this arrangement. Eventually it comes out that Yamaguchi was going out with girls and getting dumped on purpose, because of course he's really in love with Ishikawa. I find this setup 30% cute and 70% annoying, but I'm willing to overlook it because Yamaguchi is so stupid and sappy over Ishikawa.
Or rather, I would be, except for the fact that Ishikawa is the extreme tsundere type who in total denial about being in a relationship (once they are actually in a relationship, I mean), and that drives me crazy.
Toshoiin no Koi - Koiwazurai Shibito (heh)
The title story is about a high school boy (Sakurai) and...doesn't seem like BL to me. It's more about him coming to terms with the fact that he's gay than romantic. In the first chapter, he's in love with a friend and is constantly being hit on by another (obviously gay) boy at school named Hanamura, and it ends without him in a relationship. The second chapter is not really about him meeting and falling for someone, but is about how that someone makes him accept himself as he is. Though the first chapter is quite serious and would have been almost depressing on its own, the second is pretty light and funny and adds a nice epilogue to the story; Sakurai's new boyfriend is a total slob, and Sakurai learning to live with this ("oh well, I guess this half-eaten sandwich won't kill me...") cracks me up.
That being said, the other short stories are either depressing, annoying, or just blah. BUT the yuckiest story is redeemed in the extra story at the end, because it's implied that one of the characters (whose heart was broken by the asshole main character) ends up with Hanamura, which I think is way cute.
Kokyuu no Arika - Sakura Sakuya (sweh...)
Two guys with angsty pasts meet and fall in love through their mutual love of Great Danes, what's not to love? Well, OK, there's the fact that I feel bad about the side character ending up with a cheating asshole. But if you can ignore that, the main characters are really adorable.
Irome - Kusama Sakae [KBLY #10] (heh!)
Collection of short stories that all take place at schools (the same school?). My favorites are the title story and related two-part story at the end (though that could be because those are the student/teacher stories...). Not sure I would name this one of the top titles of the year, but I liked it enough to want to check out the author's other manga.
Rutta to Kodama - Fujitani Youko (sweh!)
Rutta, the school bully (cutest bully EVER) falls for Kodama, his roommate, they act completely adorable together, the end. The only thing I don't like about this story is that it doesn't take up the whole volume and the second, two-part story isn't as cute.
Have we established yet that I don't like mean seme characters? Because I don't like mean seme characters. This is your standard "seme is a jerk, forces himself on uke, uke does not seem to actually LIKE seme, but can't seem to get rid of him and for some inexplicable reason falls in love (this is love?)" story, the twist being that the seme (Naruse) is an adorable-looking kid (at least, until he grows up--over summer break, no less), and the uke (Akiyoshi) is the one guy in the class not interested in Naruse's angelic appearance. Still, although it doesn't work for me as a romance, as a comedy, it's great. For instance, when Naruse is telling Akiyoshi about why he fell for him, at first Akiyoshi is all depressed because Naruse doesn't list any positive qualities, but then cheers himself up:
"There's no way I don't have any praiseworthy traits!"
Basically, Akiyoshi and Naruse are both twisted weirdos, and that cracks me up, though they hit exactly zero of my moe points.
Kouun no Rihatsushi - Nagato Saichi (sweh!)
Tsukasa is an extremely shy high school boy who happens into Nachi's barbershop one day. Nachi gives Tsukasa a haircut and new outlook in life--suddenly he's the girls at school notice that Tsukasa is way hot and are all over him--but Tsukasa is only interested in Nachi. Fast forward a couple years; the bulk of the story takes place when Tsukasa is 21 and a famous model/TV star...but still hangs around Nachi's barbershop, cleaning and drying towels, ostensibly because he feels he owes it to Nachi, but really because he's in luuurrrrve. Luckily, this is BL, so of course it turns out that Nachi was in love with Tsukasa the whole time also, and they live
(Exchanging sappy gifts: a cell phone for a house key.)
(Mumbling your boyfriend's name in your sleep is not allowed.)
This is followed by an unrelated one-shot, about the three members of a band. The middle story was adorable, the other two...funny, but not romantic.
Mimitabu no Riyuu - Kunieda Saika (meh!)
Ishikawa and Yamaguchi are two college boys with a strange relationship. Yamaguchi is super popular with the ladies, but every time he gets dumped, he wants Ishikawa to "cheer him up" with sex. Ishikawa is...not pleased about this arrangement. Eventually it comes out that Yamaguchi was going out with girls and getting dumped on purpose, because of course he's really in love with Ishikawa. I find this setup 30% cute and 70% annoying, but I'm willing to overlook it because Yamaguchi is so stupid and sappy over Ishikawa.
Or rather, I would be, except for the fact that Ishikawa is the extreme tsundere type who in total denial about being in a relationship (once they are actually in a relationship, I mean), and that drives me crazy.
Toshoiin no Koi - Koiwazurai Shibito (heh)
The title story is about a high school boy (Sakurai) and...doesn't seem like BL to me. It's more about him coming to terms with the fact that he's gay than romantic. In the first chapter, he's in love with a friend and is constantly being hit on by another (obviously gay) boy at school named Hanamura, and it ends without him in a relationship. The second chapter is not really about him meeting and falling for someone, but is about how that someone makes him accept himself as he is. Though the first chapter is quite serious and would have been almost depressing on its own, the second is pretty light and funny and adds a nice epilogue to the story; Sakurai's new boyfriend is a total slob, and Sakurai learning to live with this ("oh well, I guess this half-eaten sandwich won't kill me...") cracks me up.
That being said, the other short stories are either depressing, annoying, or just blah. BUT the yuckiest story is redeemed in the extra story at the end, because it's implied that one of the characters (whose heart was broken by the asshole main character) ends up with Hanamura, which I think is way cute.
Kokyuu no Arika - Sakura Sakuya (sweh...)
Two guys with angsty pasts meet and fall in love through their mutual love of Great Danes, what's not to love? Well, OK, there's the fact that I feel bad about the side character ending up with a cheating asshole. But if you can ignore that, the main characters are really adorable.
Irome - Kusama Sakae [KBLY #10] (heh!)
Collection of short stories that all take place at schools (the same school?). My favorites are the title story and related two-part story at the end (though that could be because those are the student/teacher stories...). Not sure I would name this one of the top titles of the year, but I liked it enough to want to check out the author's other manga.
Rutta to Kodama - Fujitani Youko (sweh!)
Rutta, the school bully (cutest bully EVER) falls for Kodama, his roommate, they act completely adorable together, the end. The only thing I don't like about this story is that it doesn't take up the whole volume and the second, two-part story isn't as cute.
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Scans, yay!
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This is going to be the best Japan shopping spree ever.
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black sheep/
/black sheep
Oh well, in 5 years when I actually get to read one or two of these in English I can come back to this entry and giggle. :D (It's been funny re-reading the entries you've linked me for my recent entry because it's like hey, I REMEMBER READING THAT, IT WAS A FUNNY REVIEW, OH W_10_00, YOU SILLY.)
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I'm sorry to say that I'm planning on including scans in more of my reviews.
Re: black sheep/
It's sort of sad; I wish I'd had the expertise of others when I started buying English BL - not to mention the vast selection. I've wasted a lot of time (and money) reading such run of the mill, average stuff. I really thought by now our market would have progressed, and I guess we have a little, but unfortunately only just in time for the bubble to burst and revert backwards. BLEH. (SO much potential around 2005, now lost...)
Man, I can't think about manga again today. ._. (Maybe I just need some coffee first. SO TIRED.)
Re: black sheep/
True, but I think you appreciate the really good stuff more when you've read the crappy and mediocre stuff too.
Re: black sheep/
I think English is transforming my manga into run-of-the-mill, average stuff. Oh, not the really good stuff like Junjou Romantica, but I just read Shinri Fuwa's A Gentleman's Kiss in English and then spent half an hour trying to decide if it was the translation or the original that was to blame for the blah. (I mean, business yakuza? Host clubs? What's not to love? Except for the boring...)
Re: black sheep/
Yes, I wanted to like that one a little more. I don't remember it being bad or anything but... well, I can't even remember it now, or why I felt a little disappointed by it, so that probably says it all. I do remember trying to convince myself it was better than it was.... I must have liked something about it though because I know I didn't *hate* it at least...
ps:
*frothfrothfroth*
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This is one of the titles I was going to do a mini-review on (per Sara's request), except how I'm totally not going to have time before I go to Japan (argh).
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I am SO HAPPY someone sees how screwed up the whole relationship is in Kawaii Akuma and is not blinded by the pretty art (the only redeeming factor is that beause they are BOTH so twisted, I didn't need to feel sorry for anyone...). <3 I can't stand it honestly, which is really a shame because the manga IS beautifully drawn and I usually like megane-kun uke. The same goes for Mimitabu which annoyed me to no ends every though I'm generally a Kunieda fan. What's with these SO VERY IRRITATING characters??? >:(
I LOVE Kouun no Rihatsushi though. XDDD They totally win THE CUTEST COUPLE OF THE YEAR award. XDDDDD
and I LOVE Irome more, I think I have a thing for uke who doesn't look like a uke and has a complex about it. :P I used to dislike this author because my first book of hers is "Hatsukoi no Shiryou" and it's yet another fucked-up relationship, but after "Yumemiru Seiza" I fell in love with her. :) <- so there's my rec <3
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I actually really like Akiyoshi, I just...don't like his "relationship" with Naruse. I might even have liked the manga more if I'd liked Akiyoshi less. He's too good to end up like that. :/ Also, sometimes the art is just a little too pretty pretty for me (like, their eyelashes, holy shit). And yeah, Mimitabu....I WANTED to like it, the seme is so sweet, and the uke is so adorable, but the way the uke acts just....argh.
CUTEST COUPLE OF THE YEAR, YES. (Uh, now I actually want to take nominations for this and have a vote on it... >.>)
Hahaha! Yumemiru Seiza is on my Japan shopping list and I purposely left Hatsukoi off. We really ARE manga twins. XDD
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Haha the art's not the style I like but I actually don't mind it... I think it reminds me a bit of Kada Michiru that's why. :3
Yeah I like stories where the share of power between couples are more... balanced. :DDD
OH AREN'T THEY. <333 And I think Ueda and Aki from Hontou Yajuu comes second. They are just so ridiculously in love with each other. <3
Great decision, seriously. XDDD Table manners of a carnivore is good too IMO, but Hatsukoi is pretty screwed up... well I liked it a bit better second time I read it because there's one single cute-ish moment in the kakioroshi (yeah...) and I found out a fanfic I read was loosely based on the idea.
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...I don't think my list is going to stop growing until I'm coming home. D:
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...I'm sorry, what were you saying?
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I'll have to check out some of the others...
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