Embracing Love 1-2 by Nitta Youka

Rating: 10
Sublime 2013 - Biblos 1997/Libre 2007
14+ volumes
Translation: Adrienne Beck

GO BUY IT.

The end.

No, really, that's my review, go buy it. If you've not read it before, what's stopping you? It's one of the most well-known and popular BL manga ever so you've probably heard of it. Is it the age? The outdated art and fashion? (The perma-tans are scary, I admit) That's understandable but all surface, there's a reason Sublime are publishing this in 2013 and that's because it's a thumping good read that's stood the test of time; it's as close to a modern BL classic as you can get. It's a must-read manga, not because you'll definitely like it, obviously there's no such thing as a universally-loved piece of work, but because in the case that you do like it, there's a big fat massive chance that you'll not only like it but love it.

And when I say go buy it, I mean, go buy it, don't read the scanlations, because they are shite. The English scanlations are poorly translated pretty much through all the volumes, with early volumes missing entire conversations. Do yourself a favour, skip the headache of deciphering crappy translations and just go buy it. Sublime have done a decent job and even left in the honorifics (which they don't usually do) to please the fans who clamoured for them when the license was first announced.

Embracing Love (which I'll refer to by its abbreviated Japanese title Harudaki because I can't think of it as anything but that) is probably my favourite BL manga of all time. I say probably, because there's so much manga that I love and it's hard to choose between them, but while other series have fallen in and out of favour, Harudaki has always remained, unbudging, at the top of the pile. The story begins with a pair of porn actors and rivals, Iwaki and Katou, competing for a role in a movie that promises to give one of them a break into mainstream acting. Eventually, they both break through and fall in love along the way, and the series follows their relationship over a number of years.

I think this is the only fictional relationship of any genre, of any medium, that's made me think, I want a relationship like that. This person understands me, this person accepts me for who I am, this person loves me. It sounds simple enough but we all know what a rare thing it is, but Harudaki manages to depict just that sort of love. It's an emotional struggle all the way but as our couple gradually learn more about one other, bit by bit they come to love each other, step by brutal step they tear down the other's defenses and eventually embrace love, souls bared. Do I sound overly dramatic? Well, this is dramatic soap opera kind of romance, it's emotionally charged and tense, there's no room for wishy-washy feelings here, these are manly men and their love is bold and manly, too. Not that it's lacking in sensitivity, Nitta's skill is in how she guides her characters towards understanding of themselves and of others; all too often, here and in reality, it's a matter of learning to accept yourself before you can allow others to accept you.

The series is one of those rare manga that goes beyond the honeymoon period and also explores how a relationship changes after the love is established. A person changes with age, with life, and the story shows how the couple adapt to each other and how their relationship continuously evolves. Of course this doesn't all happen in volume one of this omnibus edition, which sees the relationship getting off to a rocky start, but we do see the seeds of love being sown and can look forward to at least another six omnibus volumes of that love blossoming.

A couple of notes on this 2-in-1 edition: the cover uses the original volume one cover illustration but unfortunately, the original volume two cover is not included inside. Even more of a shame is that all the chapter title page illustrations are missing. I assume this is because of the tracing controversy that forced Nitta to bring the series to a hasty conclusion a few years back. It was brought to light that Nitta traced photo spreads from fashion magazines for several of the title page illustrations in the Harudaki series. I think she only did this for some of the latter volumes but I suppose the publisher (probably on the Japanese side) decided to remove all the title page illustrations for good measure.