Author: Rio Kanagi  / Illustrator: Kugo / Format: BLCD
H-level: 1 /5 / Plot: 3 /5 / Artwork: 4/5 / Characterization: 4/5 / Overall: 4/6

Yesterday I was disappointed by the drama Chocolate no you ni, but this drama totally cured me! The story is not particularly fantastic but the pacing, acting, characterization are so well balanced that once you start listening, you simply can’t stop!!

Story

The story begins with an AV scene (female ), after which we are introduced to Tokisaka Ei ( Nojima Kenji).  Ei is a descendent of a yakuza family but when his father passed away, he gave up being a yakuza and opened a tiny restaurant instead.  Most of the members of his yakuza group seeked jobs elsewhere but Tsuda ( Yusa Kouji) chooses to stay with him at the restaurant.  Ei has a childhood aquaintance, Higa Soujun (Sugita Tomokazu) who is also the son of a yakuza group and has now become the leader.   Soujun likes Ei (and so does Tsuda) but Ei doesn’t recognize that.  One day, two yakuza-like guys came to Ei’s store to cause trouble.  Soujun kick them out and Ei learn that the guys belong to a group called Xanos.  Then Ei’s tricked by Soujun  to work part time at a host club and there saw Ryou ( Suzuki Tatsuhisa), his younger brother selling drugs to a woman.  Soujun seems to know something about Xanos and after some investigations, it seems Ryou is the leader to this newly formed mob Xanos.  Ei wanted to help Ryou because he knows Ryou doesn’t want to be yakuza but a doctor.  Yet, it seems Ryou is gutted by Ei disbanding the yakuza group.  Then one night, Soujun came to Ei’s place covered in blood.  He was stabbed by Ryou and Ei is really worried.  So Ei went to confront Ryou. In the end, Ei is all love-love with Soujun and Ryou also joins Soujun’s yakuza group.

Review
If you just read my review, you may find the story interesting but if you actually listen to the drama CD, the story is amazingly fascinating because it moves so fast.  Scenes shift quickly and there are also moe points along the way.  Of course, the biggest moe point is Nojima Kenji’s ex-yakuza deep voice.  I only know the cute side of Kenji and I’m pleasantly surprised by his deeper and rougher tone. The way he pronounces the word is also very cute and though it doesn’t match the artwork (on the cover because the uke is the short haired guy), I must say his acting is superb! Ei’s tsundere personality is also a mega moe point and the signature of a tsundere is “kawaii to iuu na!” (don’t say I’m cute) but he’s really cute!!! Sugita’s Soujun is also sexy and cool but when he’s in front of Ei, he’s also cute! Ahh, what’s with this couple! They’re both manlike and very powerful but they can be so cute!!! Yusa’s Tsuda is also a funny character who adores his waka Ei but got defeated by Soujun. Finally, two days in a row, I listen to Tatsuhisa’s bad boy voice.  Well, unlike his role in Chocolate no you ni, this time, he is a bad boy with a good heart and a brother complex.  Obviously he likes Ei and is disappointed by the fact that Ei disbanded the yakuza group and descends from a powerful leader to the owner of a small restaurant.  He hoped his brother would be a great man.  Also, he mistook his mother from being kicked out of the family.  Instead, she left at her own will so Ryou won’t have to stay in a yakuza family.  There’s a spin off featuring Ryou’s romance and probably one day, that will get dramatized too! Maybe we need to send to ask Cyberphase to do that.

Bottomline
I recommend this CD for those who like speedy stories and of course, it is a MUST LISTEN for Kenji fans because his acting is so fresh and good in this drama CD. The BGM is also OK and so my only complaint is that sometimes, it’s difficult to differentiate between monologue and dialogue, especially of Ei.  Had the sound effect been more different between BGM and monologues, it would be even better!

Author: Hichiwa Yuka
Illustrator: Kane Hikaru
Format: BLCD
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Betrayed by Hichiwa sensei! Apparently the uke is not the poisonous uke I expected!! Harsh review ahead so please be careful!

Story
Shizuka Kyouichi ( Takeuchi Ken) works as a programmer in a company, along with his best friend Nagase Kouji ( Suzuki Tatsuhisa).  He designed a brilliant program but Nagase stole it and claimed the credit.  Kyouichi was pissed and went drinking alone in a bar.  There he met Kajimoto (Yasumoto Hiroki), who was crunching chocolate all the time.  The guy came over to talk to him and soon learned he was unhappy because his program was stolen by his friend.  Kajimoto then offered Kyouichi a plan for revenge.  First, Kyouichi would have to alter his appearance, then use his own body to seduce Nagase.  Deeply wounded by Nagase’s betrayal, Kyouichi went with Kajimoto’s plan and transformed from a dull programmer with no fashion sense to a decent looking guy.  During the process, of course, Kyouichi slept with Kajimoto and gradually fell for him along the way, to the extent that he almost gave up his revenge.  Yet he knew Kajimoto had a lover and when he saw the photo at Kajimoto’s place and a man walking into his apartment, he jumped to the conclusion that Kajimoto still loved his lover.  So he proceeded with the revenge again.  In the end though, Kajimoto revealed the truth that he was actually the head of the project and he was really impressed by the program.  At the bar when he saw Kyouichi, he fell in love and when he learned the brilliant program was actually written by Kyouichi and not Nagase, he wanted to help (and along the way own) Kyouichi! Well, all’s well that ends well, Nagase is replaced by Kyouichi in the project and Kajimoto and Kyouichi are now all love love.

Review
Although I wouldn’t say Kyouichi is a brainless uke, I can’t say he is very brilliant either… and he’s simply fooled around by Kajimoto and Nagase.  Of course Nagase is wicked for stealing Kyouichi’s project, but the latter should really fight for his own right!! You can’t blame people when you sit around doing nothing after knowing someone has stolen your project.  Also he keeps saying he doesn’t want Kajimoto to help but he keeps on going back to Kajimoto, definitely not the type of uke I like.  As for Kajimoto, he is SO TYPICAL of Hichiwa sensei’s seme, a.k.a. tough, intelligent, but stubborn, self-centered, and hardly listen to what others have to say.   He is surprisingly hetare though ,eating chocolates and watching classic anime. Overall, I think the two may be a pretty good couple (a.k.a. ba-couple).  Finally, Nagase! He is not much different from a villager A in a RPG game.  If he is the “horse”, at least give him a bigger role! Suzuki’s “bad boy” acting is actually quite good so I feel it would be better had he appeared in more scenes.  ??Finally, I find the pacing of the CD extremely slow .  Hichiwa sensei is famous for her speedy dialogues but somehow I can’t feel the speed in this particular story.  Maybe it’s not the best story to be dramatized?

Bottomline
Sorry if my review is a bit “spicy” but I had high hopes for this CD (cast and author) so when my expectations were not met, I feel a bit angry .  I certainly think there is not much “plot” in the story so it’s not necessary for a 2-disc package.  If you have plenty of time and interest to listen to a very sweet story, I think this is for you.  Unfortunately, I don’t like sweets and so this is just not my taste.

P.S. I think Kajimoto won’t last too long if he keeps eating chocolates and pizzas as they’re not good for the body. Hopefully Kyouichi can change his diet .

Author: Kozawa Ryouta
Illustrator: Kazu Aki
Format: Drama CD
H-level: None
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After a long break, really long, I’ve finally gathered enough energy to listening to CD and writing reviews again.  The first CD I pick to review is a suspense mystery which has no H but a very rich plot.  In fact, the script won the 50th Buruli Bonaward.  In addition to a novel and movie, there is also a drama CD released by Momogre and the latter is the subject of my review.

Story
A year ago, net idol Kisaragi Miki ( Horie Yui) committed suicide.  A year later, five of her fans gathered at Iemoto’s house ( Ono Daisuke) to commemorate her.  The members include:

Iemoto, a police officer;
Ono Daisuke ( Sugita Tomokazu), a well-mannered young man;
Snake ( Miyano Mamoru), a young man with high tension;
Yasuo ( Nakamura Yuuichi), a young man who seems to be very concerned with following the crowd;
Ichigo Musume ( Fujiwara Keiji), a middle-aged and weird man.

A funny note about the character names is that the handle name “Ono Daisuke” is different in the drama CD than in the movie.  In the movie, it’s Oda Yuuji but in the drama CD, they changed it to Ono Daisuke to tease on the poor Ono Daisuke (seiyuu).  They even emphasized the “famous seiyuu” Ono Daisuke , very funny.   The gathering began with Iemoto showing off the others his precious collection of all the pics with and stuff with Miki, including a letter she wrote and addressed to him.   The gathering took off in a warm atmosphere but everything changed when Ono Daisuke suggested that Miki’s death was not suicide but murder.   At first the members were reluctant to discuss the issue but gradually all joined the discussion and slowly, their real identities begin to emerge.

The following contains spoilers to the story and is only intended for those who want to know the story better.  The text is written in white color, please highlight to read.

Ono Daisuke starts off by explaining why he thinks Miki’s death is not suicide.  First, judging from Miki’s personality, there is no reason why she has to choose to burn herself if she just wants to die.  Setting the house on fire causes trouble for her neighbors as well (nearly burn the apartment next door) and Miki could have used alternative methods if she simply wanted to kill herself.  Also, Ono explained that Miki had been stalked and attacked by a stalker before, the stalker also broke into her house and took away one item.  Ono then accused Ichigo Musume of being the stalker.  Ichigo Musume admitted he peaked and even went into Miki’s house but he wasn’t the stalker and definitely didn’t kill her.  Ono phoned the police department and confirmed that Ichigo Musume was being investigated by the police at the time and couldn’t be the murderer.  The deduction process continued and this time, it was revealed that Snake actually also entered Miki’s house! He worked at the Lucky?Lucky shop and Miki often went to buy stuff from them.  She ordered bottles of various types of oil because she couldn’t distinguish the liquids very well.  Snake delivered the bottles to her apartment and she made him tea but she did not get further into the house than the kitchen.  Then came Ono Daisuke himself, actually he was Debu-chan (little fat guy), MIki’s manager.  He loved Miki and wanted to know why she died. Since he was so stressed, he lost a lot of weigth and so the others didn’t recognize him.  Then came Yasuo, who wasn’t just an ordinary fan but actually Miki’s childhood friend and the guy who made a promise to marry Miki when the grow up.  Finally, Ichigo Musume is no ordinary hentai oyaji but really Miki’s papa who went to her house because he wanted to see how his daughter was living.   After a long process of deduction, the group came to the conclusion that everything was just a tragic accident.

On the night of her death, Miki wanted to kill a cockroach so she rang Yasuo for advice.  Yasuo recommended Miki to pour orange marmalade detergent on the floor.  However, after 20 minutes, she still couldn’t kill the cockroach, so she went to bed with her candles still burning.  She mistook salad oil for orange marmalade detergent because the bottle looked similar and she couldn’t tell the liquids apart.   She wanted to leave a message telling Yasuo she couldn’t defeat the cockroach but instead dialled the wrong number.  So the message went to her manager Ono Daisuke and was later mistaken by the police and the mass media as her suicide note.  The candle fell to the floor following an earthquake and spread quickly because of the oil.  When she realized her house was alit, she rushed to the place where she kept all those fanletters Iemoto sent her because she felt the letters supported her and she valued them over her own life.

Once the mystery was solved, the guys watched a video with Miki singing and they joined in, then they left Iemoto’s house without realizing there’s still one mystery left… the identity of the stalker who stalked Miki before she died.

Review
This story reminds me of Anthony Berkeley’s “The Poisoned Chocolate Case” because the whole story only focused a group of people deducing a case.  The script has a nice balance of humor and suspense and the pacing is very good.   Probably the most interesting part is the ending, which is not hard to guess if you take a deeper look at the real identity of each character.  With regard to acting, I think everyone’s done a great job, especially Fujiwara whose tone changes as the identity of his character clarifies .  Nakamura also shocks me a little because his initial high tone voice is so high I must admit I didn’t recognize him immediately.  Still, I think Yasuo is a bit miscast because Nakamura sounded a bit unnatural when he spoke with that tone and tension…made me feel like he’s stretching the limit of his voice.  I think Kakihara, Ueda Yuuji, etc. may have been a better choice… hmm.  Sugita’s Ono is quite sexy and Ono‘s Iemoto is in his calm and intelligent form.  However, I think if Ono’s voice is a bit “darker”, it maybe even more interesting.  Spoiler: He lacks the darkness and wildness of a killer.  Finally, Mamo is completely amazing! He’s like chorise personality in Gundam 00′s drama CD , mega high tension and mega cute .  Rather than the cool “Light” type of chara, I think he’s better with this kind of hetare, tennen character .

Bottomline
This is a MUST LISTEN for seiyuu and mystery fans because the plot is well written, the acting is fun, and they even have a free talk session in bonus CD with Ono advertising his Spica-mos CD . I hope more mystery drama will be released in the future as I really love mystery and suspense.

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Story
In this volume, there are three stories in total, all linked to the story PET. Pretty much pet is story about master and sex androids in half human and half animal shaped. The title story is the second story which is about two kids growing up together in a war ridden period. Rou is an orphan and when he was young, he learned martial arts from Seishin’s grandfather. Seishin did not speak much but was very strong even as a kid. Rou always wanted to beat him but he hardly ever succeeded. In the beginning, Seishin seemed cold but after Seishin speaking to Rou for the first time, Rou realized that Seishin also wanted to be his friends with him and so the two became friends.

Some years later, Seishin’s grandfather died and the two survived by picking metal from dump sites to earn money. When they grew up, Seishin became a bodyguard and got a much better salary while Rou worked at a bar. One night, Seishin came home looking very distressed and he was also covered in blood. Rou wondered what happened but all Seishin said was that he killed people. Seishin seemed so traumatized by the murders he committed that he did not resist when Rou tried to sleep with him. Since then, their relationship crossed the “borderline” of friend. Rou wanted to undersatnd Seishin’s feelings more. When he met a contract soldier at the bar, he decided to become a contract soldier and he went to the front line. There, he tasted the horros of war and faced the time when one had no choice but to kill. One time, they encountered a frightened kid on the battlefield who fired at Rou because he was so scared. Rou managed to calm the kid (who resembled Seishin) but he got injured and was removed from the frontline. He survived to go home to meet Seishin and was then more prepared for a more stable relationship because he could understand and face “death”.

Compared to the more depressing Yakusoku no Tsuki, the next story: Higana Ichinichi is lighter and would give the audience a good laugh. In Higana Ichinichi, we see Tasuku (guy on the right) entering the dormitory because his parents were going abroad to work. Since Tasuku entered at an unusual time, there was only one place left in the dormitory and he had to share his room with an extremely strange guy Koumei. Koumei aimed at becoming a “housewife” in the future and he could sew, cook, clean perfectly. In addition, he also had a strong sense of justice and later on became the “seigi no mikata” in the neighborhood (forcing Tasuku to go along). At first, Tasuku disliked living with Koumei because the latter would sew chicken and kitten onto his collar or alter his clothes without his permission. Still, when he realized that Koumei was doing this because he was trying to make others happy (Koumei used to go to his mother’s workplace where he sewed things for older ladies and made them happy), Tasuku could not refuse Koumei.

As time went by, Tasuku realized that Koumei was kind to EVERYONE but he wanted Koumei to be kind to him in a special way. Koumei overheard Tasuku while he was letting his feelings out when watching the cats which were taking shelter in the school and since then Koumei and Tasuku moved a HUGE LEAP forward . The funny thing is that actually Koumei was pretty STRONG because he also learned martial arts when he was young and so in bed, Tasuku couldn’t stand a chance.

Review
After reading a huge chunk of Himawari sensei’s work in a short period of time, it’s obvious that she has a unique style in laying out her stories. The keyword to all her stories is – child -. Regardless whether the story is shouta or not, you’ll get a feeling there is always “children’ in her manga. For instance, in Yakusoku no Tsuki, it began with the time when they were children. In the short story from “Pet” though the “pet” looks like an adult, he seems to know very little about the world and in a sense, is a child. In Hagana Ichinichi, Koumei obviously behaves like a child though physically he is completely grown up. That’s the interesting “style” that really attracted me to Himawari’s world. Her children-looking characters usually are more mature and strong while her adult looking characters are the child-like ones. The use of monologues and the references in the background also add to the flavors of her manga. This “style” may take a little while to get used to, especially for people who dislike shouta. However, for those who don’t particularly dislike shouta, the “child” element can be a BIG attraction. In terms of characterization, unfortunately, I don’t have anyone I like in particular in Yakusoku no Tsuki. On the other hand, I really really like Koumei (sweat). I suppose it’s because Koumei is so sweet and cute and feminine on the outside but once on bed, he’s so dominating and masculine. He’s also very honest with his feelings and is so innocent he’s almost surreal (well, not almost… he IS NOT REAL -period). He kinda reminds me of Forrest Gump in a way and I am REALLY WEAK to this kind of SEME (sweat).

Bottomline
To be honest, I really dislike short stories and if not for collecting Himawari Souya’s work, I would probably not have read short stories. Unlike long stories, they don’t have enough room to develop the character. Having said that though, these two volumes (along with Ongakushitsu) really show me just how diverse and unique Himawari Souya sensei can be. I wouldn’t recommend all her works to everyone because it’s a matter of taste I must say and I don’t think she is the type of author whom everyone will like. However, I highly recommend readers to at least give one book or two a try and to see if you like it or not. The best one to start would be one of her short story collection because that would give you the idea of what I mean when I say the common element that defines Himawari’s world is “child”.

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Recently, I have been thrown into Himawari Souya’s world and have literally gone through all her works (aside from the hard-core shouta ones). I already introduced the Iromachi series earlier and this time, I shall introduce a completely different series: Otonari & Hiraga brothers series. It’s a series with three books: Koufuku no Susume, Kimi no Ondo, & Aruku Omoi. These three books feature two couples: Otonari Makoto and Hiraga Yukiharu as well as Otonari Minori and Hiraga Mizumo. Since I like Minori and Mizumo much more, I shall focus my review on this couple instead.

Story

The Hiraga family is extremely poor because the parents vanished, abandoning their children. The grandfather could only take care of one child – the oldest Yukiharu and the other children were left to fend for themselves. Luckily for the Hiraga family, Otonari’s father was Hiraga’s father’s friend and so he rented out the place for the Hiraga brothers to live as well as helped them out. Although the eldest child was Yukiharu, he was living with his grandfather and knew none of the existence of his family until the day when his grandfather passed away. He thought he would be left alone in the world but soon he found out he had six younger brothers and his parents were still alive. When he came back to join his younger brothers, he found himself the focus of attention of the eldest children of the Otonari family – Otonari Makoto. Though he had no memory, Makoto said they used to play as children and he even had photo of Yukiharu! It’s a struggle to look after his brothers and at the same time also trying to keep Makoto from hugging him. However, in a way Yukiharu was happy because he was not alone in this world.

KIMI NO ONDO

Kimi no Ondo is the story between Minori and Mizumo. While Yukiharu was living happily with his grandfather, he did not realize his next brother, Mizumo had to work like mad to keep the family running. Since they were extremely poor and Mizumo was stubborn and did not want to receive financial help from the Otonari family because he already had caused them enough trouble, he resorted to shoplifting. He was caught and caused some trouble and on the surface, he seemed to stop. Minori (Makoto’s younger identical twin brother) offered to help and said Mizumo could pay him back little by little later on. Mizumo though managed to repay the sum in 2 years. He managed through prostitution. He was only in fifth grade (like 10-11?) when he started selling his body and that lasted into middle school till Minori found out when he saw Mizumo being bound to the bed by the P.E. teacher. Minori then said he would buy Mizumo instead and would pay to have sex with him. At first, he was just doing this because he did not want Mizumo to continue prostitution but soon he fell in love with Mizumo – so much that he became upset because he knew his love was one-sided and for Mizumo, he was no more than a customer. The truth though was that Mizumo also fell in love with Minori but he did not quite understand it. Yet, when he heard a girl had confessed to Minori and that Minori might get a girlfriend, he was upset and he started acting strangely. Finally, the tension built up and the two quarreled and Minori went back to the girl he just rejected and started going out with her. Mizumo also started going back to prostitution but neither could sleep with another person again. In the end, their feelings seemed to cross and they ended up being a couple instead of customer and prostitute.

ARUKU OMOI

The third book (and last in the series) Aruku Omoi still focuses on Makoto and Yukiharu though we also get to see Minori and Mizumo. In Koufuku no Susume, though Yukihara and Makoto seemed to become good friends, Makoto treated the relationship as a romantic one while Yukihara treated it as a normal relationship. That’s because so far Yukihara had been straight and had girlfriends like other normal boys.

It would be a bit difficult for Yukihara to suddenly enter into a homosexual relationship. Also, he did not quite understand his feelings, not until an “accident” happened. When Mizumo fell ill with a fever (39.3), he mistook Makoto as Minori (they’re identical twins after all and he was ill) and he kissed Makoto accidentally. Yukihara was very shaken by the scene and that’s when he started to feel puzzled at his own feelings for Makoto.

Eventually, the two’s feelings crossed and they finally had their first sex together (though with strange advice (?) from their highly experienced younger brothers ). Minori and Mizumo also got along well and gradually, Mizumo seemed to be able to depend on Minori (?)… or maybe.

Review

Among the couples featured in this series, I like Minori and Mizumo the best … rather, I like Mizumo the best. I am really weak to uke like Mizumo who try his best and sacrifice himself for his family. I also like how Minori doesn’t mind Mizumo’s past and supports him all the way. The little side story in Aruku Omoi when Mizumo fell ill is the best of all . I don’t know how to put it in words but that really summarize all the hardships Mizumo went through but at the same time there is something to be happy about. It’s almost like putting condensed milk into a cup of bitter coffee – DELICIOUS!

Compared to Mizumo and Minori, I like Yukiharu’s couple slightly less because the life of Yukiharu is more typical plot you’ll find in BL. However, I like the interactions between Yukiharu and Mizumo as well as the rest of the family and I also like how Himawari sensei gradually let Yukiharu mature over the series.

Bottomline

If you really like family drama in BL, I highly recommend this series because the artwork is beautiful, the mood is great, and I like the part about the family as well as the romance.

Author: Kaitani Shinobu
Format: Manga

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Story

This is a manga serialized in Young Jump by Kaitani and so far there are 4 volumes. The fifth book is going to come out this month. Liar Game has also been made into Japanese TV drama and probably some people may have seen the drama. I read the manga and I instantly fell in in love with Akiyama (^_^;;) and that’s why I read as many volumes as I can find.

The story in Liar Game is very simple. Kanzaki Nao is a very honest girl and she doesn’t know how to cheat but is constantly being cheated because of her personality. Her mother died when she was an infant and her father is suffering from terminal illness. One day, she received a card inviting her to join the “Liar Game”. On the card, it said if she did not want to join, she should not open the packet but she did not notice the small font till she opened the packet to find 100 million yen. The money was her “chips”, her capital in the game. She would have to play against another player (with equal amount) and try to get as much money as she could from the other player. She could win up to 100 million but she might also lose up to 100 million. Should she lose, she would have accumulated 100 million debt! Nao’s opponent was her high school teacher, whom she respected. However, she did not know the teacher had the intention to cheat her money right from the beginning. Not knowing what to do, Nao searched for help everywhere but her only hope seemed to be a genius conman – Akiyama Shinichi.

Review

I have seen many people comparing Liar Game to Death Note because of the similarity of both plot style and art style. While the story in Liar Game is more straightforward and less complex than Death Note, it’s also fascinating in its own way. While Death Note relies on the characters as the axial to link the story together, Liar Game depends on combination of characters to bring out the story. Unlike detective stories, death is not emphasized here but as we read in between the lines, we can see the horror beyond death – the fear among the living. Who to trust and whom not to trust becomes the key question in Liar Game. While the characters in Liar Game may not have as much impact as those in Death Note, I quite like Akiyama and No. 15 (in Game 2).

in terms of artwork, obviously it’s not comparable to Death Note because there are not many geniuses out there like Obata. Still, I think the artwork is reasonable and I really like Akiyama’s expressions even though they may seem a bit too stiff at times.

Normally, I hate useless crybaby heroine as Kanzaki Nao but I can understand why such annoying character is necessary in Liar Game. If she is the strong and clever type, it will be extremely hard for Akiyama to interfere and help her. It’s because of her annoying personality that renders the opportunity for Akiyama to enter her life and her to enter his. I quite like Nao in the manga but I find the TV adaptation of Nao a bit over the top. Somehow, the Nao in the TV version is a bit too pleasant and cute (?) and did not have the depressing look in the manga version. In contrast to her, Akiyama Shinichi is a much more interesting character. Many compared him to Kira and L in Death Note and that’s understandable because he’s like a mixture between L and Kira. The base of his character is in L (the look too) but occasionally, he displays an arrogant and charismatic attitude that’s closer to Kira. In the manga, I like him because he wears a sincere look on his face – very enigmatic. Sadly in the TV series, the actor chosen failed to replicate this interesting expression. Instead, he only acted out the arrogance that made Akiyama seem like an inferior version of Kira (;__;).

Bottomline
I like the manga but I don’t like the TV series because the characters are all exaggerated (in a negative way) and many of the small details in the manga are eliminated in the TV series such that the transition becomes quite awkward in the TV drama. Therefore, for those who have not watched the drama yet, I highly recommend reading the manga first or you may be biased by the TV drama’s characterization and may not taste fully the characters in the manga. If you like mental battles, I certainly recommend this manga!

Author: Hasekawa Ai
Format: Manga

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Story

Even though the kanji should read Renai Sousa, the actual title is Renai Control because that’s how it’s romanized. Among the manga I have read lately, this is my favorite manga. This is a link work to Anata no tonari ni suwasarete and though you can understand this story without reading the prequel, it’s HIGHLY RECOMMENDED you read the prequel as well because that will double the fun.

In the prequel, we were introduced to Yamashiro Kei (CV:Narita Ken), an extremely handsome interior designer (with glasses), who was Takamiya Shinjin’s (the furniture designer) close friend. He seemed to have interests in Jin (CV: Ishikawa Hideo) but since Jin already found someone he loved – a cute 19 year-old college student Yoshino Azumi (CV: Shimono Hiro), Yamashiro was left alone with nothing but his work. In the meantime, he was actually working for the owner of a chain restaurant Okumura Takashi (CV: Konishi Katsuyuki). Okumura was interested in Yamashiro since their first meeting but it was not easy to woo a cool beauty as Yamashiro, especially when the latter’s pride could reach the moon (by Shiki (CV: Kamiya Hiroshi), Okumura’s nephew). Okumura tried really hard seducing Yamashiro but the latter did not respond according to his wishes.

Here are a few memorable scenes in the manga:
1) Okumura asked Yamashiro to design his house and so Yamashiro went around the house taking pictures of the layout. When he was done, Okumura was sleeping like a baby. At the lift, Okumura seduced Yamashiro to stay longer but the latter remarked that if Yamashiro were so tired he slept like a baby, maybe he should get some sleep. Then in the lift, he burst into laugher.

2) Okumura kissed Yamashiro for the first time but instead of blushing or looking shocked, Yamashiro just cooly said he thought Okumura’s kissing skills would be better than THAT. Then in the lift, he panicked.

3) In the snow, Okumura was waiting for Yamashiro and finally Yamashiro confessed his true feelings (but still retained his pride).

4) When Yamashiro looked at the glass and saw his own reflection, he suddenly realized how deeply he had fallen in love. He panicked and fled and then started to build up a distance again.

5) The last breakdown when Yamashiro finally confessed all his feelings to Okumura (extremely sweet).

Review
This is the manga that proves that Hasukawa sensei is not just good at drawing but she can also write a brilliant story as well. Of course, the success of this manga is the set of characters because both seme and uke are likable and charismatic, not like the other work where both are nearly negligeable. Before I move on to describing the characters though, I must say the best part of this manga are the DIALOGUES. Since Yamashiro is set to be a pretty poisonous tongue cool beauty (more obvious in the prequel), naturally his dialogues are very intelligent and witty. Also, the artwork has obviously improved in this manga over the prequel and the background details are also very beautiful. I particularly love the idea of the crystal tables created by the lightning effects. The tempo of this manga is also brilliant and is nothing as boring as the prequel. This manga is simply SO MUCH BETTER than the prequel I hope Hasukawa sensei can keep up this style and abandon her older, more boring style (laugh).

In the prequel, Yamashiro was a total badass, making fun of the cute Azumi and was trying to interfere in their romance, causing both Azumi and Jin some distress. Here though, he is not much better because he is gving Okumura all the headache as he never does what Okumura would like him to do. He is doing this on purpose though. He thinks that Okumura likes the strategic challenges in love and he constantly seems to feel that ONLY HIMSELF has fallen deeply in love and Okumura is not loving him as much as he loves Okumura (which is obviously not true). Yamashiro also surprisingly has a childish side to him though normally he looks so mature and poised. An example is when he is descending the lift, he is laughing like a child because he saw Okumura\\\’s sleeping face. Also in the prequel, the way he bullied poor Azumi, it is really not how an adult should act (sweat). The combination of a very mature and intelligent Kei as well as a childish and tsundere Kei makes this character extremely interesting and lovable.

Since Yamashiro is such a T.S.U.N.D.E.R.E.L.L.A., Okumura really struggled to woo the heart of his princess. He had to wait in the snow, he had to bear the pain of keeping the distances because Yamashiro did not want other people to think he got the job because Okumura was interested in him, etc. Still, the harder the process of wooing, the greater the joy when Okumura finally got Yamashiro – at the expense of his sunglasses though (laugh). Okumura is extremely perfect (handsome, successful, and can even cook pasta!) Yet, he has his hetare side and that is the best part of it. The balance reminds me of Wakamiya in Freezing Eye, where the seme is also extremely successful but occasionally crack old man\’s jokes (and incidentally, Wakamiya is also attracted to a FREEZING BEAUTY, haha).

Shiki is another very interesting character. In this story, he just acts as a third person who tries to promote the romance between Okumura and Yamashiro. He is very poised, has a good sense of humor and emits a little mysterious aura. I really hope there will be another story about him later on but that would mean the end of the Okumura family (all homo), haha.

Bottomline
While the manga is close to perfection (at least for me), I am quite disappointed with the drama CD. Individual performances by the seiyuu are great but sadly, the producers seem to have forgotten the gap in age between Okumura and Yamashiro such that however you listen to it, Narita’s Yamashiro appears to be much older than Konishi’s Okumura. For fans of the manga, this can be frustrating because the voice simply doesn’t match the images. For seiyuu fans though, this might be quite interesting because Nariken’s uke is not common and delicious.

Author: Suzuki Tsuta
Format: Manga

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Plot:
Artwork:
Characterization:
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This is the debut work of Suzuki Tsuta and actually earned quite a good wave of reviews among Japanese fans. I personally like her simple and minimalistic artwork (without the elegance of many mainstream BL artists) and she’s definitely on my “to-watch-out” mangaka list. There are altogether 5 stories:

Story

hand which

At college, five guys were good friends: Sawatsu, Udaka, Kuroshima, Takada, and Shimizu. When Sawatsu gave up his job because it was too tiring, his girlfriend dumped him. His friends then came to comfort him and he was so touched he said it would good if he just became homo. The next thing he realized, he was sleeping next to his best friend – Udaka … NAKED!!

Shake a hand

When Udaka and Sawatsu became lovers, Kuroshima, who knew of Udaka’s feelings for Sawatsu since college was upset because he always liked Udaka but never confessed. At this time, his other friend Takada realized how depressed Kuroshima was and offered his own body to console him. However, that complicated rather than simplified matter .

Shoumi na Kokoro & Shoumi na Kotoba

This is my favorite of all the short stories because my father is AS PICKY in terms of food as the uke Tsuzuki (laugh…I’m also very picky myself). He doesn’t like to eat a lot of things but he did not really tell his wife and so his wife thought he did not like her and the marriage broke down. One day, he went to buy food for a poor catty from a nearby take-away and the owner of the take-away Chikuba invited him to eat at his shop but he said he was very picky with food. Chikuba said he would try his best to cook something that Tsuzuki could eat. Eventually, the two fell in love along the way but Tsuzuki was afraid of his own feelings and so he tried not to eat Chikuba. Chikubathen chased Tsuzuki to his office and the two confessed and ..#$&*. Shoumi na Kotoba is the aftermath of the two… Tsuzuki promised Chikuba for a date but he ended up working and Takeuma was upset… so Tsuzuki gave Chikuba a special service ^////^.

Osewa ni narimasu

This is the most stupid of all five stories x_x. Aono came to work for Iwata, an illustrator who had a terrible temperament and no servant could really work for him for long except Aono. That’s because Aono fell in love with Iwata and would not mind being scolded or even beaten. However, when Iwata wanted to $&*~ Aono, the two got into a misunderstanding and Aono decided to quit. Just when he was about to leave, Iwada came looking for him and the two then confessed and really #$&*. ^_^;;

Force within 10 meters, and 8 meters above the line

This is the cutest of the five stories. Hideaki is a normal kid in his late teens (?) who returned to his home in the rural side after graduation. Next door was a terribly old and rotten house (almost like a haunted house). When his mother accidentally dropped her panties in the garden of their neighbor, she asked Hideaki to go pick it up but when Hideaki visited the place, he saw its residence having sex (both males of course). Hideaki was so embarrassed he rushed back. The neighbor Bunzou then came bringing back the panty ^_^;; and from then on Hideaki got interested in Bunzou. He later learned that Bunzou’s work was to create homepage featuring photography of bishounen (and sleeping with them along the way (^_^;;) … This is basically a story about the two meet and falling in love.. very typical romance.

Review

Coming Soon

Bottomline

Coming Soon

H-level: None
Plot:
Artwork:
Characterization:
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My Christmas review (though a bit late) is dedicated to a non-BL, baseball manga which has just claimed the 2006 Tezuka Osamu Cultural Award. I’m usually not into sports manga because most of the time, they just focus on techniques and competition and before long, they enter the endless loop that lead to nowhere but boredom. Ookikufuri Kabutte (abb. as Oofuri) is different because its focus is not on techniques so much as the psychological conditions within the players and also between the players.

Story

The story begins with Mihashi Ren transferring to Nishiura Public High and is looking for a club to join. He is soon coerced into the baseball club by Momoe Maria the director (but not the teacher). Mihashi at first has no intention to join the baseball club because when he was playing baseball back in his old middle school Mitsuboshi Gakuen, he was bullied. Mihashi is the grandson of the owner of Mitsuboshi and with that connection, he managed to keep the top-pitcher position in the team. However, the rest of the teammates felt he did not have the ability to be the top-pitcher and also blamed him for causing the team to lose all the matches. Those sad memories stripped all Mihashi’s confidence off and left him with the decision to quit baseball and to transfer to a new school in a different town. At Nishiura, there is no formal baseball team and so Mihashi is somehow dragged into the baseball team. As he pitches the ball, the catcher Abe Takaya notices the way Mihashi pitches is unique. Instead of pitching fastballs (as most middle or high school pitchers do), all the balls Mihashi pitches are breaking balls and changeups. He recognizes Mihashi’s ability but Mihashi himself still insists he is no good (damepii) or damena pitcher. At the same time, the batter Hanai Azusa also refuses to join because the director is a woman (though Momoe has superhuman energy and stunned Hanai with just one hit). In the end, Abe provokes Hanai by saying there’s no way Hanai can hit Mihashi’s ball. Hanai is pissed off and accepts the challenge. Abe asks Mihashi to follow his directions and pitches the way he signals him to. Mihashi agrees because Abe says he will make Mihashi a star pitcher. In the end, Hanai can’t hit and the team then roughly forms. Still, Mihashi’s lack of confidence is a big problem and so Momoe suggests a tournament between their school and Mihashi’s former school – Mitsuboshi. To train for the tournament, the team goes to train in the mountains. Mihashi is still lacks confidence and Abe gets angry at times and even wants to leave at one moment. However, Momoe manages to make him stay behind. She also tells him to use the same method she used on him to boost Mihashi’s confidence. The first match against Mitsuboshi is not easy because it’s not just a game between two baseball teams, but also a battle to restore Mihashi’s confidence and to make him the real pitcher of Nishiura. I won’t go into the details because (1) it’ll spoil the fun and (2) I’m not so familiar with baseball. However, one thing it’s important, i.e. while the match is going on, we are also looking at:

(a) the relationship between Mihashi, Abe, Tajima, Hanai, and the rest of the teammates at Nishiura.
(b) the relationship between Kanou, Hatake, and Oda, and the rest of the teammates at Mitsuboshi.
(c) the fact that Kanou has never considered him a better pitcher than Mihashi.
(d) the fact that Hatake understands his own fault and apologizes in the end to Mihashi.

In fact, I think the apology in the end and how Hatake tips off Mihashi his weakness is quite touching. Baseball isn’t just about winning and losing. It’s about friendship and team spirit.

I learn about this manga when I hear it’s going to be animated by the team behind xxxholic & Hachikuro. Normally, I don’t like sports manga because they tend to focus too much on the techniques and competition they neglect the human factor. Recent sports manga in Jump such as Tennis no oujisama or Eyeshield 21 are typical examples. To my surprise though, this manga is not just about sports but sportsmanship as well. In particular, the interactions between Abe and Mihashi is very interesting. Mihashi suffers from a severe lack of confidence. On the other hand, Abe has a strong belief in his own values and enjoys it when people rely on him. However, he appreciates reliance too much that on the long run he makes Mihashi over dependent on his directions and strategies. Aside from the two main characters, the relationships between other these two and the other members of the team, such as Tajima (the short but genius batter) and Hanai also get more and more interesting as the manga develops. The first game is a battle for Mihashi’s confidence and a pitcher for Nishiura. However, the focus is not only on Nishiura. We can also see how the opponent team suffer from problems, especially when no one in that team (except for Kanou) seems to appreciate and recognize Mihashi’s strength and hard work.

Review

He’s a genius in a way because instead of dividing the target into the usual four divisions, he has 9 divisions. However, he doesn’t trust his own ability, no matter how many times other try to convince him of his ability. Having said that though, he is very obedient and will follow Abe’s orders (even when he thinks it’s not working). There’s no doubt about Mihashi’s ability as a pitcher but no matter what kind of genius you are, as long as you can’t overcome the psychological barriers, there’s no chance of winning. Although now Mihashi has basically overcome the problem of trust and communication between pitcher and catcher (his biggest problem in middle school), he actually faces another problem. Since he gradually becomes more and more dependent on Abe, there is a risk that if this trust shatters (for whatever reason), the team will be in grave trouble. I think that might also be a key to the climax in this manga.

In most baseball manga I have read before, the focus is on the batter or pitcher, very seldom is the credits given to the catcher as much as in Oofuri. Even though Mihashi is the main character, Abe actually has the control in the manga and he’s also the one handling most of the conversation. Overall, Abe is very calm, intelligent, and likes to take care of others or for others to depend on him. However, he sometimes overdoes it and also is too full of himself. If he’s not overly confident, he might have noticed the changes in Mitsuboshi’s teacher’s strategy earlier and would not have allowed Oda to hit the ball or Hatake to do that homerun.

Hanai & Takaji are batters and both of them compensate each other instead of rival each other. Hanai is tall and has a nice build and is also a good batter. However, in terms of batting sense, he is not as good as Takaji. Takaji is almost a genius when it comes to batting sense, like he can take on Kanou’s fork pitch with just one hit. However, he’s a bit smaller in build so he can’t do homeruns. At this moment, it’s still a bit early to see what happens to the two but I’m sure they’ll mature over the course of the manga.

Kanou failed to be the main pitcher in middle school because Mihashi wouldn’t get off the spot and Hatake, who always felt Kanou was better, also blamed Mihashi for that. However, Kanou really understood that Mihashi was a better pitcher than himself because of his stamina as well as his ability to control the ball (thus capable of four types of breaking balls). During the match, Kanou pointed out Hatake’s failure to appreciate Mihashi and thus was the cause of the team’s losses. Frankly, Hatake supported Kanou so much during the middle school years and what Kanou said was a sort of betrayal. Still, Hatake was not stubborn and he accepted his own fault and tried hard. That allowed the team to restart again. Of course, the presence of Oda is also important because he did not know a thing about Mitsuboshi as he’s a transferstudent.

Haruna Motoki is the last character I’ll introduce in this review because he’s a very important figure in Abe’s life. If the Mitsuboshi team shattered Mihashi’s confidence, then Haruna has an equally destructive impact on Abe. Haruna and Abe used to be pitcher-catcher partners in middle school. However, Haruna is a very strange person. Since he is very scared of incurring injuries, he has a rule that he will only pitch 80 balls each game regardless of the outcome. Abe, who aims only at victory and wants to play everygame with his heart, hates Haruna for his selfishness but there is nothing he can do because Haruna is really good and can pitch at a very high speed. When Abe meets Mihashi and sees how hard he tries even there is no return, he is touched and that’s why he insists on Mihashi. However, Haruna still wants Abe to be his catcher because Haruna understands just how good and special Abe is. The future relationship between Abe, Mihashi, and Haruna should be quite interesting.

Bottomline

I love this manga for a lot of reasons. First, it’s got a perfect balance between the technical and psychological side of baseball. The only other manga that dealt with the psychological configuration of the players (as I can recall) so deeply is TOUCH (the everlasting classic). However, TOUCH takes more on the romantic and personal side whereas Oofuri focuses more on team interactions. As a result, there is almost NO WOMAN in this manga except Momoe and the manager. However, Momoe is so HOT sometimes you just forget she’s a woman. Second, the absence of woman means ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES for bl fangirls . In fact, I already have A WHOLE LIST of potential pairings but of naturally, the triangle – Haruna, Abe, & Mihashi – is the most OBVIOUS XD. This manga reminds me a lot of Hachikuro, especially the mood and the atmosphere. It’s all about YOUTH, SWEAT, and FRIENDSHIP! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS MANGA!!! It can easily enter the ranks as Hachikuro and Nodame Cantible.

Animation Staff:
Director: Mizushima Tsutomu (xxxholic)
Script: Kuroda Yousuke (Hachikuro)
Character Design: Yoshida Takahiko (Hachikuro)
Production: A-1 Studio (Aniplex)

H-level:
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Artwork:
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Story

The drama CD version will be released in December 2006 and as usual, I write a preview of the story for those who’re interested in the drama CD. This is the first book that sets off a series oosely linked by the Wellness Mart company. Yusa Nao (CV: Morikawa Hikaru) had been very successful so far – both with his career and with his love life. Just five years after graduating from university, he already became a candidate for the executive position in the third largest supermarket chain in Japan – Daieidou. He was also planning to marry his girlfriend Yuri when a sudden change in his company’s policy threw him from the peak of his career to the valley. At the same time, his girlfriend also split up with him after about his failure at work. Yusa was so shocked and desperate he quit his job, took all the money he got and went to gamble at Les Vegas. At the roulette, he met a very handsome Japanese American by the name Joshua (CV: Horiuchi Kenyuu). As Yusa kept on winning and attracted some attention with his abnormal amount of good luck, Joshua said he would challenge Yusa to five rounds. Yusa accepted the challenge and had four straight victories. Before the fifth round, Joshua ran out of money so he used his watch (which was worth around 500,000 dollars) as bet. In return, he wondered if Yusa would bet his own body to match his bid. Yusa was so desperate he thought “the hell with it” and agreed. He never expected himself to lose but he did! As a result, Joshua took him to a hotel. At first he thought the agreement was just “one night” but Joshua said the agreement did not include an expiry date! Yusa regretted but it was too late. Joshua said if Yusa could satisfy him in bed, he would win the second game. After about 20 pages of H (I’m not joking) on a bed filled with hundred-dollar bills (I wonder how they’re going to clean the bills afterward ) and another 14 pages of H in the shower, Yusa admitted defeat because he reached orgasm before Joshua. However, Joshua thought it was closer to a draw because he was satisfied with the smut too. Joshua then surprised Yusa by calling his full name. Joshua went on to explain that he was really the COO of one of the top supermarket chains in the States – Wellness Mart. They wanted to enter the Japanese market and to do so, they tried to get Daieidou as their local partner. Of course, Yusa was the one handling the deal and they were close to jackpot when Daieidou suddenly dropped Wellness Mart and became partners with the European chain Chanti instead. The former COO at Wellness Mart quit because the project fell apart and Joshua took over. Joshua said if Yusa would like to get freedom, he would have to help Wellness Mart enter Japan as initially planned. If he failed, then he would be under Joshua’s control forever. Yusa said he needed time to review the data and assess his own situation before making the decision on whether or not to take up the challenge. Joshua agreed to give him a week and as evidence of the existence of the challenge，Joshua gave Yusa his 500,000-dollar watch.

Yusa came back to Japan and immediately was greeted by Joshua’s subordinate Kataoka (CV: Sugita Tomokazu), another Japanese American. With height over 190cm, Yusa recognized Kataoka immediately, just as Joshua predicted he would. Kataoka drove Yusa back to his own apartment so he could collect his data files and belongings and promised to come fetch him again the next morning to escort him to the office. When Yusa got home, he found an envelope with a key and a brief “Good bye” from Yuri. He thought he might have a chance to repair the relationship but it seemed it was really over. When he laid down in bed, he remembered the time he had in Les Vegas with Joshua and began to xxx alone. The next morning, Kataoka came drove him to the office as promised but when they arrived, Yusa was very surprised at how deteriorated the office was. Since it was only a small office (with 3 workers aside from himself), it seemed Wellness had no reason to invest more than necessary. After 15 minutes of silence (seemingly being ignored), Yusa finally introduced himself and then the two staff (not Kataoka) broke out in laughter. The first blonde guy introduced himself as Jay (CV: Hatano Wataru) and he pointed at the Chinese looking guy who was still laughing and introduced him as Tien (he would not appear in the drama CD). After working for five days with these men, Yusa found it quite pleasant to debate and discuss with his potential colleagues. He also started to pick up the confidence that was shattered by his previous failure at Daieidou. Then, he got a call from his good friend at Daieidou – Uesugi (CV: Yusa Kouji). Uesugi asked if he could go meet him at a bar at 7 that evening. He did not want to meet Uesugi but there were many questions in his mind that needed answers, such as why Uesugi did not tell him of Daieidou’s plans to team up with Chanti before? Or why would Uesugi be promoted to his current position for his success with the Chanti partnership. When Yusa met Uesugi, he got all his answers. What really happened was that his girlfriend actually started dating Uesugi after Yusa introduced the two a year ago. In order to help Uesugi, Yuri asked Yusa a lot of questions about the plans with Wellness Mart in bed. She also peeped into Yusa’s scheduler and informed Uesugi of Yusa’s moves. Uesugi had always envied Yusa and wanted to beat him. Using Yuri, he managed to get rid of Yusa by telling the Board of Directors at Daieidou that Wellness Mart was not aiming at a partnership with Daieidou but a complete takeover. The Board believed him and that’s why they chose Chanti instead. He invited Yusa that evening to the bar simply to tell him how he earned his victory over Yusa (both at work and in private) as he was going to marry Yuri next month. He even invited Yusa to their marriage! Yusa was completely crushed by the betrayal of the man whom he thought of as his best friend and the woman he loved enough to plan a future with. That night, Joshua came to Japan to meet him but he did not want to meet Joshua and said he was completely useless. Joshua was extremely annoyed by Yusa’s self-humiliating comments and slapped him in the face. He insisted that he would not hear any decision from Yusa until the end of the one-week agreement.

The next day, Yusa went to work as usual and everyone was surprised by his swollen face and reddened eyes (from crying). After work, Kataoka invited him to a restaurant and told him why Joshua wanted him to work for Wellness Mart. Joshua always praised Yusa’s ability when the partnership plan was onging and was looking forward to working with him. However, the plan failed in the last moment and Joshua thought Yusa betrayed him. When he heard Yusa went to Les Vegas, he went to meet him and since he knew Yusa was also a victim, he offered Yusa the chance so both of them could take vengeance on Daieidou. He used his own family wealth as gurantee to exchange for time to get another shot at the Japanese market. His goal was to enter the Japanese market as planned and to completely elimitnate Daieidou. When Yusa realized that Joshua was not “playing a game” as he claimed but really gambling his career and wealth on the project, he changed his mind. He tried his best to calculate all the data and found a way for Wellness Mart to enter Japan. In the beginning, Wellness Mart wanted to use Daieidou as a stepping stone so they could launch their own supermarket from scratch. However, that would mean incurring a lot of fixed costs and would increase the risks. Yusa recommended buying out smaller supermarkets instead and beat Daieidou not with size but with quantity. If they had enough stores (even smaller) across the country to raise the awareness of the Wellness Mart brand, they would be able to expand more easily in the future. Joshua was very satisfied with Yusa’s suggestion as it was beyond his expectations (Yusa even included a list of potential supermarkets they could buy). So, he gave Yusa his freedom as promised and even offered to write recommendations for Yusa should he decide to work for other forms. However, Yusa chose -at his own free will- to work for Joshua and Wellness Mart.

Joshua then brought Yusa to their next betting arena – THE BED.

Review

Since “Rien no Kikoushi” I stayed away from Fuyuno sensei’s works but then Nara’s artwork was too much a temptation for me and so I gave this series a try. To my delight, the novel is very enjoyable even though the time she devoted to the H scenes is a bit too much. Just description of the H scenes alone probably take up one quarter of the novel ^^;;, leaving very limited spaces for description of the actual strategy against Daieidou. Still, I think that’s understandable because this is boy’s love and girls are more interested in the smex than in the figures and business plans. In terms of the writing style, I don’t like Fuyuno too much because she tends to repeat the same descriptives and adjectives all the time and I hate it when the uke makes a lot of vowel sounds ^_^;; (personal preference). Besides Joshua x Yusa, Tien and Jay also seem to get their own side stories. Tien’s story is about Wellness Mart trying to get into Hong Kong’s market while Jay’s story hasn’t been published yet. I prefer Tien’s series because I like the uke in that series more but I am worried Fifth Avenue may not dramatize that because they excluded Tien in this drama CD (cry).
It’s always sad to see a successful man falling from heaven to hell (reminds me of the guy with the Harvard Tie in “Trading Places”). However, when the man gets revenge on those who betrayed him, that always makes me feel VERY GOOD. Unfortunately, in this story, we don’t see Uesugi and Yuri being punished (not yet) but I hope they eventually will as these two are real scums. Yusa may be a bit naive and trust people too easily. However, I agree with him that if he loves a woman enough to decide to marry her, he naturally will not doubt her intentions when she asks him about work. You cannot really say you love someone if you cannot even trust that someone. In that sense, when Yusa related the pain inflicted upon him by his girlfriend and best friend, I really felt sorry for him and wanted to murder Uesugi and Yuri if I could jump into the novel. Worse was the fact that Uesugi was not satisfied at just throwing Yusa down but he made sure that Yusa endured a 100% defeat by inviting him to his wedding and asking Yuri to come meet him at the bar when he was talking to Yusa. I really admired Yusa for being able to maintain his calm and not beat the heck out of Uesugi. He politely declined the invitation and even wished the couple the best of luck TVT. Saintly!! Yusa is smart and kind and a good fellow. The only problem is that he is not good at handling crisis. If Joshua did not approach him, he might probably be sleeping in Tokyo’s Underground, poor guy.

I don’t really like Joshua because I don’t understand how he could have fallen in love with Yusa simply because the latter was good at work. Since he is the COO candidate for such a gigantic firm as Wellness Mart in America, he must have met many brilliant people across the globe so there is no reason why he would fall in love with a man he never met before. I can understand him falling in love AFTER their first H because Yusa\’s too good in bed ^_^;; but then if he wasn’t in love in the first place, there was no reason for him to travel all the way to Les Vegas to meet Yusa, and in such a horrible way. Joshua is a typical Horiuchi character, meaning he is fun, seems to take things lightly, but is really a very intelligent and careful (like Wakamiya in “Freezing Eye”). It’s probably his attitude that made Yusa mistook him for treating the project as a game when he was really gambling his own future.

The description of Kataoka is a huge guy outside and an otome (girl) inside!!! Kataoka is such a hetare wanko I really like him very much >///<. When he first met Yusa, he was so nervous he could not speak much. He heard all the wonderful things about Yusa from Joshua and when he communicated with Yusa through faxes and e-mails with regard to the partnership proposal, he admired Yusa even more – to the extent he almost idolized Yusa. When he first drove Yusa from the airport to his mansion, he noticed the tear tracks on Yusa’s face and quietly offered his own handkerchief without saying anything!!! So cute >///<. He was also the one who told Yusa about Joshua (because he knew Joshua slapped Yusa) so that Yusa could forgive Joshua. Nice as he is, Kataoka can be a little “slow” at times, especially when it comes to noticing the relationship between Joshua and Yusa (sweat). Overall, I really like him (and secretly cheered for him and Yusa at one point but then I think Yusa maybe too intelligent for him, haha, whatever that implies, I stopped cheering for him ^_^;;).

Both Tien & Jay had a very tiny role in this novel and since Tien won’t appear in the drama CD, I suspect his dialogues will be taken over by Jay (not reasonable because I feel those words fit Tien way more than Jay but I don’t see any other way out). Jay is the relatively cuter guy and Tien is the smart and intelligent type (with glasses). In his own side story, he’s a lot hotter and manlier than the Tien in this novel but then two years of love-love makes a whole lot of difference I suppose. I won’t go into Tien’s story until I review his novel but I do hope they will dramatize his story too ;__;.

Bottomline

For those who like mind tricks and watching a man overcoming the biggest crisis in his life, I recommend this novel and drama CD. The casting looks good and everyone fits the image I formed from reading the novel. My only complaint is too much H and not enough plot. I believe the story could have been better if Fuyuno had shortened the casino and first H scene (that took up half of the book) and had elaborated on how Yusa found a way to introduce Wellness Mart into Japanese market instead. However, for people who like smut, you may want to leave things the way it is now