Brilliant Blue by Yorita Saemi

Rating: 8
DokiDoki 2009 - Shinshokan 2004
2 volumes
Translation: Ken Wakita

Brilliant Blue is an unassuming manga that quietly creeps up on you. It's cute and laid-back, a romantic comedy with a fairly typical pairing of smart uptight seme x cheerful dumb uke, it has a simple plot that in the hands of another mangaka would result in a generic story but with Yorita is anything but; Yorita has the kind of writing ability that makes me want to read everything she's ever written, with her effortlessly easy dialogue and an eye for detail that helps her create well-realised characters and well-observed depictions of society. The manga is not flashy in the least, it doesn't have impact visuals nor big dramatic emotional reveals, instead it's those details that pull you in bit by bit. I thoroughly enjoyed the story from start to finish and can't recommend this manga enough.

Shouzo is an up and coming civil engineer but when his father is hospitalised with a back injury he returns home to the countryside to oversee the family construction business. There he is reunited with former classmate, Nanami, who is now an electrician. Nanami used to be a slow fat kid but has grown up into a bishie whom Shouzo doesn't even recognise at first ("when did you become the male character in a shoujo manga?!"). Shouzo dislikes small town life and isn't keen on taking over his father's company but when he falls for Nanami he begins to wonder if he might not stay on after all.

There are many things to like about this manga but the crux of it hangs on whether you like Nanami or not. He displays characteristics of an autistic savant with underdeveloped communicative and social skills yet is a whizz with numbers. I found the character quite confusing at first - is he actually autistic and misunderstood by the neighbourhood as a dim-witted kid? However, Nanami is just so darn cute that soon enough I accepted him for what he is, a childlike innocent naive person with boundless cheer and enthusiasm, who trusts easily and is friendly towards everyone. Chibi Nanami is adorable and cute no matter what he does whether it's eating (he's a glutton, like a cute stray puppy that the neighbours can't help but feed), walking, sleeping or singing a song about Shouzo while folding laundry. Shouzo is a good foil for Nanami and acts as the straight man in their double act; fussy and strict in stark contrast to the spacey Nanami, he's level headed, sensible and is the voice of normalcy, a trait that I wish more manga characters would have. Their relationship is funny and sweet, it's given plenty of time to develop and by the end of volume two I was sad that that was the end, I would have happily read through another volume or two of their antics.

One thing I really like about this manga, and which sets it apart from other BL, is that it's not relentlessly all about the romantic couple, there's a big cast of side characters and care is taken to create a convincing universe around them; the story paints a rosy picture of family and small town life where everyone knows everybody else and one can't escape neighbourhood gossip. I especially like Nanami's overprotective older brothers who try to scare Nanami away from gay sex by saying things like, "your dick will rot off!"

In the afterword, the mangaka says a few things about drawing Nanami like, "Oh wait - I can add a bunch of heart symbols to his dialogue (it's okay, because it's Nanami)" and "He's picking his nose, hee hee (it's okay, because it's Nanami)". I smiled at these comments because they show how much affection Yorita holds for her characters and her feelings are evident in the story which is full of warmth and heart. Brilliant Blue is an older title but there are still copies in stock, if this manga sounds at all like your kind of thing I urge you to buy - a real underrated gem.