Samejima-kun and Sasahara-kun by Koshino

Rating: 6
Juné 2012 - Tokyo Mangasha 2011
1 volume
Translation: Phillip Rankaboshi

Recently a friend told me about a list she saw a while ago of the top ten BL manga in Japan last year, though she could only remember a handful of titles from it; I tracked down the list which turned out to be a poll of readers' votes conducted by some fujoshi fan magazine (Kono BL ga Yabai!), unrelated to any of the manga anthology magazines, as far as I could tell. Top of the poll was Samejima-kun and Sasahara-kun, beating out some very good titles including the next five on the list: Merry Checker by Suzuki Tsuta, Ze by Shimizu Yuki, Yuutsu na Asa by Hidaka Shouko, Castle Mango by Ogura Muku, and Equus by Est Em, all of which I'd readily recommend. This I had to check out out.

Conclusion: someone's going to have to explain its popularity to me because I'd easily rank all those other titles and many more published last year ahead of Samejima-kun and Sasahara-kun. I quite enjoyed reading it but for me it's nowhere near the instant classic its ranking would imply it is. So here follows a rather lacklustre review but since so many Japanese fujoshi have spoken and given it a resounding thumbs-up it's probably worth giving it a try anyway to see if it inspires the love that has completely eluded me.

Samejima and Sasahara are two students who work part-time at the same convenience store and also attend the same college. The story begins with Samejima's awkward confession of love to Sasahara. The confession comes out of the blue for Sasahara who'd always thought of Samejima as a good friend and it takes him half the story to come to terms with Samejima's feelings and the other half to get their stumbling relationship out of the starting blocks.

Two things I like about this manga: first, the bickering couple - I always like a funny bickering couple - and second, the ordinariness of the characters, their conversation, the setting, of everything; there are no heroics nor drama, no tragic pasts nor emotional baggage, the story's just about two plain regular guys getting together, and it's as simple as that. The dialogue is the star of the manga; Koshino is very good at writing natural easy conversation that you'd expect to hear between friends, and is often very funny to boot. The couple are very believable and one of the most realistic I've seen in BL manga, and I suspect this is a big reason behind its popularity.

Unlike many a BL manga, there isn't any contrived romance, in fact it's one of the least romantic BL manga I've read, and that's one of its good points. Koshino constantly grounds the relationship in reality, it's not some fairytale pure unadulterated love, it's two normal guys with plenty of faults and quirks apiece to their personalities feeling their way through the minefield of a new relationship, trying to discover if they are compatible as lovers. The sex scenes are real gems that capture the nervousness of two people getting it on for the first time; it's not just about the smut but about the couple taking the next steps in their relationship with each new physical intimacy a milestone in its progression. The story really takes the time to build a credible portrayal of a budding relationship.

However, Koshino's strengths also lead to her weaknesses. The manga is conversation-heavy and while it's mostly entertaining, at times it drags on for too long and the characters start to sound whiny. Both characters are rather timid about embarking on a love relationship, especially Samejima who, scared that he'll put off Sasahara, backs off numerous times to the extent that I got really annoyed with him and was wishing he'd grow a pair and get on with it. At first, I quite liked his character as one half of the bickering idiotic couple and was amused by his awkward attempts at persuading Sasahara to change their status quo (an alcohol-fuelled incident early on in the manga sees them renting a gay porn video with Samejima declaring that Sasahara must formally become his boyfriend if he can get through the video without running away) but he becomes increasingly wimpy as the story continues, to a point where Sasahara has to do the chasing instead of the other way around. As a result, the manga became a story of two halves for me, an enjoyable first half and a frustrating second.

Perhaps it's exactly because they spend so much time arguing and questioning how much they like the other that I didn't get enough sense of love between them; their story doesn't move me in any way, and that's the biggest failing I can think of in a romance. I guess the fans are the ones who were moved and, though it remains unfathomable to me, according to that ranking poll there are plenty of fans who can attest to that.

The Heart of Thomas by Hagio Moto

Rating: 7
Fantagraphics 2012 - Shougakukan 1974
1 omnibus volume
Translation: Matt Thorn
www.fantagraphics.com
Matt Thorn 2004 interview of Hagio Moto

With the Fantagraphics release of Heart of Thomas imminent, I've been dithering over whether to write a review of it or not. It's considered a shoujo classic from a pioneer of the shoujo genre and, more pertinently to this blog, was one of the earliest examples of shounen-ai and widely credited with being a forerunner of the boys love genre. Frankly, I was rather daunted by all this pedigree and doubted whether I'd be able to write a literary critique deserving of the work, especially since I've read very little from that era, save a few shoujo manga. Well I've decided to blithely ignore all the history and instead have tried to answer the most basic of questions: is it any good? is it still accessible after thirty-odd years? is it worth recommending to a reader of modern BL manga? And the answers are yes, yes and yes, so here are my thoughts on it.

The story begins with the suicide of Thomas Werner, a German boarding school student, and the letter he leaves to a fellow student for whom he harboured an unrequited love; it reads,

To Juli, one last time
This is my love
This is the sound of my heart
Surely you must understand.

Juli is far from understanding and descends into a state of turmoil. On the surface he maintains his veneer as a cool, calm model student but this doesn't fool his roommate, Oscar, who watches over Juli whose mental state becomes ever more fragile. Enter a new transfer student, Eric, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the deceased Thomas, and Juli is increasingly pushed to the brink.

Heart of Thomas is psychological drama of the highest order of angst. It's intense, gripping and thought-provoking. Its themes are multitudinous and complex, every main character has a tragic past and is the stuff of psychiatrists' dreams; suffice to say there's a lot going on and you'd need an essay or two to do justice to it all.

It's very different from any BL being written today with one of the most striking differences being the nature of the love between the boys, which is non-sexual, platonic for the most part, chaste and pure; the story emphasises spiritual love, and the idea that love can serve a higher purpose, as opposed to the more earthly love familiar to yaoi. In that sense, it's quite refreshing to read because it's not tied down by the need for sexual gratification that's prevalent, often to a gratuitous degree, in today's current crop of BL. Instead, the story focuses more on exploring various themes and human character, and is a richer nuanced work for it.

One key theme in the story is that of life and death, and in connection to it, ideas of damnation, salvation and redemption, themes which are often explored through the use of religious analogy and metaphor. The eerie legacy of Thomas's suicide note haunts the main characters throughout the story. For Juli, it's a battle, both spiritual and emotional, to understand the meaning of Thomas's last words, to find out why this boy died for his sake, and ultimately, to accept both the love and sacrifice that Thomas offered. In an interview (linked above), Hagio has said that she wrote the story with the thought that, "how one lives is important, but how one dies might be important, too...In a sense, that mystery of why he had to die is never solved, and I think that unsolved mystery is what sustains the work". It's a romantic view of suicide that works well in the context of the story but the realist in me wanted a discussion of the rights and wrongs of the act of suicide itself, something not broached in the story; and so Thomas remains an ephemeral tragic figure, which I suppose is fitting for the essence of the piece, but remains a contentious point for me.

It's one of several divisive aspects to the story, another of which involves the religious dogma used in the plot and also as a metaphor for sex in some parts, religion always being an incendiary topic for most readers. However, although there is much that I disagree with in the story, I'm glad that the piece poses the questions, offers explanations or interpretations, and provides material that gets the reader thinking, something that is wholly lacking in much of the BL we see today.

The Fantagprahics website (linked above) offers a preview of the first chapter so one can get an idea of the artwork in the series, which can be hard to adjust to for readers who have not encountered seventies shoujo art before. The character design and certain techniques used are certainly dated to the modern eye but there is plenty of beautiful imagery and art that a lot of modern manga would do well to learn from.

There's so much more to the story that I haven't touched on and I would say it's very worth your while to check it out in all its glory. The passage of thirty-odd years has not made it any less compelling than it was when it was first published and for that I believe it justifies its reputation as a classic. It's certainly an interesting read by any standards but whether it's a must-read in terms of modern BL, which is nowadays so removed from its early shounen-ai roots, I'm not so sure, and a question that I'll leave for the individual reader to decide.

In the Walnut by Kawai Toko

Rating: 10
Juné 2010 - Biblos 2002/Libre 2007 - 3+ volumes

I've always liked Kawai Toko but it was In the Walnut that catapulted her onto my personal list of all-time favourite mangaka. In the Walnut is a wonderful slice of life manga that I believe transcends the BL genre and is a title that I'd recommend to not just the fujoshi but to any fan of warm, sweet, thoughtful, moving manga. I feel perfectly justified in rating it a 10; it deserves at least a 9 for its sheer quality of writing, and it gets my personal full marks because it's a work that grabs my heart, gives it a squeeze and wins my love.

Tanizaki is the scruffy roguish owner of art gallery 'In the Walnut'. The series is an episodic collection of stories, usually about the clients of the gallery who present Tanizaki with a problem to solve for each story arc. As well as being an expert restorer of paintings, Tanizaki is also a master forger of fakes, a skill that he employs both to deceive the unworthy and to help the troubled. Usually a grouchy cynical man who has no scruples about tricking people for a painting, when his compassion is triggered, his kindness impels him to help people in the most touching ways. Each story is a little gem in its own right and more than one moved me to the brink of tears.

Tanizaki's sidekick is his boyfriend, Nakai, an aspiring filmmaker whom he's dated since their college days. The series is unconventional for BL in that the leads are already an established couple at the start of the manga, thus the story is not the usual tale of two bishies getting it together and indeed, the romantic element usually takes a backseat to the main storyline. That's not to say there isn't much romance in the story because even if it's not headlining, it's usually there in the background; the couple's affection for each other can be seen in their everyday conversation, in their gestures and behaviour towards one other, each chapter becomes a vignette of their life together and we see the ups and downs of their relationship as they address the problems faced in each new story. Kawai blends the main narrative and the romantic element together seamlessly and the stories are consequently all gently suffused with a warmth of feeling and emotion.

Nakai is the complete opposite of the cool, unflappable Tanizaki; he's cheerful, friendly, open, honest and has a heart of gold. He provides all the cute factor in the manga and most of the comedic relief. His presence is something akin to Tanizaki's conscience; left on his own, Tanizaki gets up to all sorts of shady dealings but Nakai's honesty regularly stops Tanizaki in his tracks to question his own actions and motives. Nakai is a good foil for Tanizaki, but it's the latter who's the star of the book. He's one of the few 2D characters that I find myself attracted to! He's like a gentleman thief cross lovable rogue whom most days can't give a toss about his appearance and to Nakai's despair has a habit of not showering and wearing the same clothes for days, but give him a shave, a comb, suit him up, and he's transformed into an urbane erudite heartthrob! Nakai has an obsession with filming him and celebrates whenever clean-shaven, super-cool, Tanizaki makes a rare appearance...

As is evident in her other projects, it's obvious that Kawai loves her subject and her characters. Each story is steeped in art trivia, it's a pleasure to read for art fans, educational in an entertaining way for the uninitiated, and the plots benefit from her personal interest. The little universe she creates around the gallery and the large cast of characters that inhabit it are rich in detail and personality. Each new story arc necessarily introduces a new character and it's down to Kawai's skill in writing that those characters are deftly portrayed with a quick hand and in the matter of a few pages elicit our sympathy, or loathing, or whatever the mangaka chooses. Tanizaki and Nakai are an endearing pair and it's clear that Kawai enjoys writing stories for them, as she has been doing on and off for ten years now. Included in the first volume is the original short story about how they met, My Beautiful World, which was published before the In the Walnut series. The art easily dates the age of the piece to the earliest days of Kawai's career and it's a testament to her affection for these characters that a decade on she's still writing about them.

I can't enthuse enough about this series and want to share it with people because although it might not be for everyone, especially for those looking for a generic exciting smutty BL story (this is not that story), I know that for those who do fall for it, it will be love.

His Favorite by Tanaka Suzuki

Rating: 7
Sublime 2012 - Libre 2008
5+ volumes
Translation: Adrienne Beck

In the postscript, the mangaka tells us that the series started off as a one-shot chapter for a collection of 'ugly' boys' love romances (lol) and refreshingly, the protagonist Yoshida really is no looker and there's no attempt to pretty him up at any point in the manga. There are many other manga that have 'plain' boy characters but they're either drawn in standard bishounen style and not particularly convincing as plain boys, or they're the hidden bishie type whose beauty is revealed once his glasses are whipped off or he gets a makeover. There's no such respite for Yoshida, he remains weird-looking all the way through, but man is he adorable in an ugly-cute way.

From the back cover, "Awkward Yoshida is hated by all the girls in school for his perceived closeness with hot guy Sato, who uses hanging out with Yoshida as an excuse to turn them all down". Yoshida has no idea why Sato, whom he barely knows, keeps picking on him despite all of Yoshida's protests; this being a BL romance, the reader can easily guess why.

His Favorite is an easy, fun read that I'd recommend to anyone who likes romantic comedies. I read the story with a constant smile on my face, poor Yoshida is constantly flummoxed and flustered by Sato's teasing antics and you have to feel for the little guy. He's a clueless innocent type of uke and his odd looks just make you sympathise with him more. Sato is amusing with his sadistic streak that's reserved only for Yoshida but you like him because it's through his eyes that we see how cute Yoshida can be.

The plot is based on a one-trick premise but the relationship develops at a leisurely pace so readers can enjoy watching the romance unfold for this endearing couple over the span of a few volumes without the joke wearing too thin. Later on the story takes an unexpected turn delving into the frankly bizarre past of Sato and one starts to wonder if the series is being dragged on too long, but at that point the reader is already invested in the story and in for the long haul, rooting for the couple to the very end.

Flutter by Tenzen Momoko

Rating: 6
Juné 2012 - Taiyo Tosho 2011
1 volume
Translation: Jocelyne Allen

I've read quite a few Tenzen Momoko titles and the enduring impression I have of them is one of gentleness. Her stories are thoughtful, sensitive, languidly paced, and all seem to share a similar calm ambiance. Even the most hotheaded of her characters are sure to stop, think and reflect on their feelings. Though the setting and characters change from book to book, her stories tend to follow the same format: boy meets boy, boy falls for boy; cue lots of character analysis, soul-searching, exploration of feelings; conclusion: they're perfect for each other and roll happily into bed together.

Since her books are all quite similar the details of each tend to blur in my mind and I can't recall which ones I preferred over the other, so I can't say that any of them are particularly exceptional but they're routinely enjoyable and I know what to expect when I pick one up, a pleasant romantic read.

Flutter is a typical Tenzen title, this time with two salarymen as the leads. On the way to work every morning, Asada's eyes are always drawn to a good looking stylish man. Even though he is a man like himself, Asada is full of curiosity and wonders what kind of person he is. When the two are paired together for a project at work, Asada is suddenly given the chance to find out. He is drawn to Mizuki from the start and the more he gets to know him the more he likes him.

The story is very much character-driven and while Asada, a straightforward honest type, doesn't leave much of an impression, Mizuki is more complex, laden with emotional baggage, describes himself as, "...a bit twisted...no picnic to hang out with" and is a mature and interesting character to read about.

In a story where there's not much plot the focus falls on the writing and the ability to express that writing through the art. While the quality of the writing is nothing special, the dialogue is natural and unaffected, and there are a few lines that stand out and do well in capturing the essence of the character or in creating the mood of the scene. For me, the artwork is not quite as good and in several instances I find that the characters' expressions don't suit the lines being said and tend to lean towards the melodramatic. One particular niggle I had was that Tenzen has a habit of recycling the same super shocked expression in what seemed to me like every other chapter, the characters are shocked by every slightest thing, make the same face every time, and its impact wore thin very quickly. I feel the manga would be much improved if Tenzen could broaden the variation and subtlety in the facial expressions she draws.

I like reading her stories, knowing that I'll be entertained for an hour or two, but none of them leave a deep impression and are not something that I look forward to eagerly. Perhaps it's her artwork holding her back, perhaps she needs some extra polish to her writing, perhaps she just needs one good plot or premise, but I don't feel as if any of her manga that I've read have made the leap to being really good. However, her books are always a dependable choice for those who like thoughtful romances with a mature attitude, and Flutter is a good example of one.

Black Sun by Ogasawara Uki

Rating: 7
801 Media 2008 - Taiyo Tosho 2007
2 volumes
Translation: Leona Wong (v1), Jocelyne Allen (v2)

Black Sun is a sumptuous historical adventure drama set in the time of the medieval crusades against the Ottoman Empire. It tells the story of Prince Leonard de Limbourg, a European noble serving the order of the monastic knights, and his fateful meeting with General Jamal Jan, an accomplished soldier of the middle eastern empire.

Leonard is commander of Gerun fortress which has been under siege by enemy forces. Hopelessly outnumbered by the opposition, instead of choosing to fight to the death in glory Leonard takes the risky decision to negotiate with the enemy general, offering his own life in exchange for the safety and freedom of his men. Jamal tests the sincerity of Leonard's offer by ordering him to subject to Jamal's sexual advances there and then in the fortress in front of the enemy officers. Leonard feels humiliated but is resolved to see through his intent to save his men and lets Jamal have his way with him. The fortress taken, the surviving Europeans are allowed to walk free but Leonard is taken prisoner by Jamal as his spoils of war.

The first thing about the manga that I must laud is the gorgeous artwork; I love the character designs, Ogasawara draws some of the most handsome men in BL manga who have beautiful faces without being feminine and sexy muscular bodies that keep their distance from realms of bara. When a mangaka takes on a period setting, a lot of the believability of the story resides on the mangaka's ability to create a convincing looking world and Ogasawara achieves this in the detail of her background and prop art but especially in the splendidness of the costumes. Jamal's Turkish robes are opulent, majestic and elegant, and I often pause in my reading of the story to admire the artwork.

Ogasawara's artwork ranks amongst my favourites in the BL genre and although her stories are habitually entertaining I find that her work always falls a step or two short of greatness, Black Sun not being an exception but also probably the best that I've read from her.

This manga is centered on the relationship between the leads but there is a decent plot driving the story resulting in an intriguing tale about love blossoming despite differences in faiths and cultures, against a backdrop of war and all the problems that come with it. Jamal is a charismatic seme who devotes the rest of the two volumes to winning over Leonard and finding a way to keep a prisoner of war as his lover despite the condemnation of the Sultan Emperor and all those around him. Leonard feels that he would rather die than be used as a harlot and yet he is captivated by Jamal's forceful personality and can't help but give in to the pleasure of sex with him. His resistance against Jamal stems from their first humiliating encounter of forced sex in front of an enemy audience but later Leonard learns that Jamal holds a different view of the incident,

"Humiliation? You mean when I was testing the sincerity of your words? Were my soldiers laughing at you in any way? You were impressive. You cast away your pride to save your comrades. There was a reason to it...And now I'm the one being laughed at. I could've had everyone annihilated and yet, I freed them. Above all, instead of killing you I brought you here!"

I've spent more time than usual talking about the plot because it is actually quite interesting and functions well as both a period drama and as a BL romance. The subtitle of the manga is "Enslaved King", likely referring to both characters since Leonard is a captive noble and Jamal was originally a slave, recruited into the army as a boy from a land conquered by the empire, who gained exalted status as a decorated general in command of the slave division. In fleshing out their backgrounds the story touches on issues of class and caste, on faith and religion, on brutalities and consequences of war, and thus raises interesting questions as food for thought that lend the story credibility as a historical drama.

In fact, I often found that the story worked better in the dramatic parts than in the lighter-hearted romantic scenes. Ogasawara regularly tries to insert small pockets of humour into what are otherwise serious sequences and more often than not they fall flat as comedic devices. I felt that for many a scene it would have been better to cut out all comedy and left them as straight-up dramatic sequences. There is plenty of sex in the manga since Jamal is constantly horny but occasionally the sex seems gratuitous and detracts from the seriousness of the main narrative. Although both the plot and characters are interesting there is still an overall lack of depth to both and I think the manga would've benefitted from more focus on developing those core elements instead of wasting pages on cheap humour and pointless smut.

At times, the amount of unnecessary sex becomes a real weakness in the manga. In volume two there is a sequence where Jamal and Leonard chase an assassin through the Emperor's palace...and take a break for a quickie, after which they are still miraculously able to chase down the assassin. Leonard points out that, "now isn't the time" and this reader vehemently agreed. Was the mangaka required to inject some smut into the chapter to fulfil editorial requirements? If it was Ogasawara's own idea it serves as an example of how she occasionally loses perspective of the bigger picture in her stories, something I've found to be a common weakness in her other works. She's good at crafting absorbing suspenseful storylines but then inserts the occasional weak scene or what I feel are inappropriate plot developments and consequently the overall story is held back from fulfilling its potential as a really good yarn.

Another example of this in Black Sun is during Jamal's punishment scene; he is punished by the Emperor for freeing the enemy soldiers in exchange for Leonard and is dealt twenty lashings of the whip. The Emperor's lover Nicolaides, possibly the most annoying character in the manga who makes you wonder what on earth the Emperor sees in him, asks to mete out the first ten lashes and during the whipping gets turned on since he has always lusted after Jamal. Jamal tells Nicolaides to give him a blowjob and then screws him in front of an amused emperor. While the rest of the story takes pains to portray Jamal's devotion to Leonard and his resolve to make him his lover at all costs, a scene like this makes the reader question the strength of Jamal's feelings. Jamal also regularly hits on his closest aide, Isaac, who is his former lover. Is Ogasawara attempting to depict Jamal as a playboy character? I don't feel it quite works in the context of the story and I think is one of the biggest character discrepancies in the manga.

The latter half of the second volume is probably the weakest part of the story, the plot is tied up a bit too neatly and too quickly, which is a shame because the first volume was very good and promising. The second volume also suffers from what I thought was an inferior translation to the first; a different translator worked on the second volume, probably owing to the fact that there was a lengthy gap of four years between publications, and there were parts in the narrative that just didn't make much sense in the context of the dialogue which obviously led to interruptions in the flow of the story.

Although Black Sun has its weak points there is still plenty to like about this manga and I would easily recommend it as a worthwhile read.

Same Difference by Hiiragi Nozomu

Rating: 4
Juné 2012 - Kaiousha 2011
1 volume
Translation: Jocelyne Allen

I like BL manga set in an adult working environment. I like bickering men who argue their way into a relationship. So when the back cover blurb says, "Same Difference pits suave and sexy businessmen against one another in an all-out war for bedroom dominance!" I'm easily sold. This sort of story sounds right up my street but unfortunately even my receptiveness cannot overcome what is an extremely mediocre offering.

I'll be blunt, I found it boring. Is a good reviewer allowed to say that? Oh well, there go all my pretensions of becoming a decent reviewer. I wouldn't say it's bad, I would even say it's competent in delivering a basically ok story, structure, characters and even balance of humour, angst and romance. However, it's not a good thing when I'm flicking forward through the pages to see how much more of the story I'll have to get through.

This type of story that doesn't have much of a plot depends on its characters and dialogue to impress and it falls flat on both counts. Some mangaka are good at packing a lot into a small number of pages but most aren't and Hiiragi is another of them. The first chapter is rather short at 23 pages and there just isn't enough characterisation, the two leads are cardboard cut-out BL stereotypes, one a confident sex symbol, the other a cool 'prince'. They enter into a combative relationship of sorts with absolutely no preamble which even in the realms of fiction I found hard to believe in. The next two chapters are longer and improved in giving the characters some substance but there is still no sparkle to the story. The dialogue is unoriginal, the artwork though competent is not expressive enough and I sat through the entire book feeling like I'd seen it all before.

There is also an unrelated one-shot story in the volume that's set in high school about a pair of twins and the guy they both like. I liked this one-shot more than the main story, I felt that the characters were better realised and the romance more believable. This short story served to improve my opinion of Hiiragi-sensei somewhat, but not really enough that I'd consider buying any more of her work in future.

Overall I'd say that this is a very run-of-the-mill manga and that if you're looking for salary men manga there are definitely better out there. I'd recommend Yamada Yugi's classic Close the Last Door series for starters (I grab any chance to plug my fave manga) and if you like light novels, then try Konohara Narise's The Man Who Doesn't Take Off His Clothes.