Back to the characters and titles on these lists (all semes at #5. Coincidence, or destiny?):
from 2008's seme list: 5. Usui (Akanai Tobira, Suzuki Tsuta) Has anyone else read this story? (At only two chapters, I would consider this to be a winner from a short story. I guess I feel a story needs to be 80% of a volume before it stops being short/novella-esque.) I think Usui's an intriguing choice because he's almost not a seme at all. I don't mean that in the sense of him being uke-like or not having sex: he tops and he enjoys quite a few sex scenes. It's just that he kind of stands outside the BL dynamic because he insists he's straight and refuses to acknowledge that he's in that kind of a relationship with the uke. (Really, I'm also inclined to think that the uke Masuoka is more deserving of best uke for his pheromone emissions and the sheer joy he takes from this undefined relationship. It's the uke's response that makes this pairing funny rather than tragic.)
from 2010's seme list: 5. Takatsu Doshin (Takaga Koi Daro, Aida Saki/Yamada Yugi) I think this is "Takatsudo Shin." I'm not the boss of BL fandom, and maybe I'm mixing up my response to the character with my response to the predictable plot twist in this story, but he's really kind of dull. Especially compared with the yakuza brother-in-law, who gets his own story in Aiso Tsukashi...which, sadly, isn't as interesting as his role in Takaga Koi Daro.
From 2011's seme list: 5. Imai Yoritomo (Inu wa Yume wo Mite Koisuru, Natsumizu Ritsu) I want someone to read this series and tell me the story. I'm beating myself up for not picking it up used when we were in Tokyo.
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from 2008's seme list: 5. Usui (Akanai Tobira, Suzuki Tsuta)
Has anyone else read this story? (At only two chapters, I would consider this to be a winner from a short story. I guess I feel a story needs to be 80% of a volume before it stops being short/novella-esque.) I think Usui's an intriguing choice because he's almost not a seme at all. I don't mean that in the sense of him being uke-like or not having sex: he tops and he enjoys quite a few sex scenes. It's just that he kind of stands outside the BL dynamic because he insists he's straight and refuses to acknowledge that he's in that kind of a relationship with the uke. (Really, I'm also inclined to think that the uke Masuoka is more deserving of best uke for his pheromone emissions and the sheer joy he takes from this undefined relationship. It's the uke's response that makes this pairing funny rather than tragic.)
from 2010's seme list: 5. Takatsu Doshin (Takaga Koi Daro, Aida Saki/Yamada Yugi)
I think this is "Takatsudo Shin." I'm not the boss of BL fandom, and maybe I'm mixing up my response to the character with my response to the predictable plot twist in this story, but he's really kind of dull. Especially compared with the yakuza brother-in-law, who gets his own story in Aiso Tsukashi...which, sadly, isn't as interesting as his role in Takaga Koi Daro.
From 2011's seme list: 5. Imai Yoritomo (Inu wa Yume wo Mite Koisuru, Natsumizu Ritsu)
I want someone to read this series and tell me the story. I'm beating myself up for not picking it up used when we were in Tokyo.