Review 156: Punch Drunk Babies

Art: 8
Plot: 7
Characters: 8
Sex: 7

This one's about an aspiring boxer who meets a guy who trained himself to box so he could use it as self-defense (he's pretty). The aspiring boxer takes in the other guy because he made him lose his job (it was an accident involving sushi). The art is good, the plot is... different... the characters are good, though, and the sex is all right. Even if it has nothing to do with the main characters the first time.

Overall, 30/40.

Recommendation: If you like boxing.

Review 155: Zetsuai and Bronze

Art: 6
Plot: 5
Characters: 7
Sex: 5

This one's confusing, and it's also from the 80's. Some famous singer guy passes out on a street and is taken in by a brother and sister who he somehow had played soccer with in elementary school. But the singer has no memory of his life besides soccer, and all he wants to do is play soccer. Eventually he develops feelings for the guy taking care of him, along with all of the other complicated messes going on.

Art's not to my liking, plot is intricate in a bad way, characters are difficult to distinguish due to the art (no idea who's who half the time), and the sex doesn't happen until over a hundred pages in, which is what we like to call shounen-ai most of the time.

Today's lesson: yaoi = sex before the fiftieth page
shounen-ai + yaoi = sex after the fiftieth page
shounen-ai = no sex

Overall, 23/40.

Recommendation: Never!

Review 154: Detective Bluecat

Art: 7
Plot: 5
Characters: 7
Sex: 5

This one is about a wealthy man, Aoneko, who indulges in unofficial detective work for fun. He is opposed by Hachiouji, an actual detective, as well as many other criminals and adversaries. Unfortunately, the translation of this manga is terrible, and it attempts to directly translate Japanese names into their literal meanings - point being, it's nearly impossible to read without an eyebrow twitching. Anyway, Aoneko gets himself into all sorts of trouble and has many sordid, scandalous nights which are considered deviant in this time period (probably around the 20's). Unfortunately, one of the lengthy flashbacks concerns incest with Aoneko and his uncle.

The art isn't anything to shout about, the plot is confusing and ridiculous, the characters are difficult to understand, and the sex is pretty bla and predictable.

Overall, 24/40.

Recommendation: If you like detectives. MAYBE.

Review 153: Rising Storm

Art: 6
Plot: 6
Characters: 6
Sex: 6

I was not impressed with this one. A Japanese youth goes to a guy's mansion to take care of his horses (for reasons TOO ridiculous to be stated here) and the wealthy guy falls for him. Unfortunately, when the uke is in the house he tends to accidentally break priceless vases. For every artifact broken, the seme inflicts some sort of ass-related punishment. This starts with spankings and goes alllll the way. To all the way. You know.

The art I disliked, especially in the sex scenes. It always looked awkward and inelegant. The plot is obviously bad, the characters flat and just plain weird, and the sex worse.

The only good thing that came out of this was one priceless line:
"If you get lost in these woods, you won't find your way back. There's a weak magnetic field here that makes it very dangerous."

Overall, 24/40.

Recommendation: If you think that plot sounds entertaining.

Review 152: Dear Green

Art: 8
Plot: 6
Characters: 7
Sex: 6

This one's different, but in an uninteresting way. The two are lovers when the story starts, and the plot has to do with how they're going to tell their best female friend from high-school days. She was actually the girlfriend of one of the guys before (he realized his sexuality?), which makes things complicated. But it all turns out all right, except that the sex doesn't happen for a long, long time.

Overall, 27/40.

Recommendation: Not really.

Review 151: Your Feelings

Art: 9
Plot: 6
Characters: 6
Sex: 6

Okay, another 'childhood friend' cliche plus the old 'must not let him know I like him or we can't be friends' dilemma. This culminates in an extraordinarily swift realization that they like each other, which rushes into the sex scene without any hesitation. I think I speak for many when I say... what? Somehow I don't imagine virgin guys, who have never even kissed before, randomly sexing it up (okay, so maybe I'm wrong, but it still should have hurt the poor uke more than it did).

Overall, 27/40.

Recommendation: Nah, breh.

Review 150: Vibrator Company

Art: 7
Plot: 5
Characters: 5
Sex: 5

This one sounds a lot more interesting than it is. Basically, one guy invites his childhood friend over for a New Years' party at his family's bathhouse. But he doesn't invite anyone else. As the clock strikes midnight, the guy proclaims 'New Years' sex!' and there's a sloppy, ridiculous, almost entertaining sex scene in the bath. Almost entertaining.

I think I can call 'nuff said at this point.

22/40.

Recommendation: If you're insane in the membrane.

Review 149: Countless Time

Art: 7
Plot: 7
Characters: 8
Sex: 8

Makoto Tateno strikes again, this time with a yakuza-filled dystopian... wait, isn't that just like Steal Moon? Okay, okay, so this one is different. This time, we have a yakuza boss and a guy who wants to be a bodyguard for him (in order to find out who killed his wife and took her ring). But it turns out that the yakuza boss doesn't have the ring after all, and yet... the bodyguard falls for the yakuza boss. Of course. There's a lot of other stuff about the rival yakuza group, some kind of supercomputer, and weird futuristic shenanigans (also like Steal Moon).

At least the characters aren't bad, and the sex is all right. The art isn't as good as Tateno's other works, though, if I have to judge.

Overall, 30/40.

Recommendation: If you liked Steal Moon.

Review 148: Cornered Mouse

Art: 8
Plot: 8
Characters: 8.5
Sex: 9

The plot basically goes like this:

"Hi, I'm a private investigator. Your wife hired me to uncover your infidelities, and I found plenty of evidence."
"No, wait! All those times were only because I can't say no! I was manipulated because I'm such a wimpy guy!"
"In that case, if you don't want your wife to find out, you have to give me your body."
"Not you, too!"

So the poor (not really) guy is forced to submit to most of the investigator's advances. But the strange thing is that the investigator isn't interested in simply coercing him into sex - he starts with only kissing, like a romantic. As we all know, however, there are rarely true romantics in yaoi, which leads to the investigator forcing sexual favors onto the can't-say-no guy.

The art was very nice, which was a pleasant surprise. The plot, despite how awful it sounds, turned out to be very intriguing due to the good writing and interesting dilemmas the characters face. The characters were also very likable, and realistically flawed for a change. The sex is drawn very well and is full of intensity - finally.

Overall, 33.5/40.

Recommendation: If you like blackmail?

Review 147: Gekka Joujin

Art: 7
Plot: 8
Characters: 8
Sex: 6

Okay, so the uke here (Nanagi) is a demon-fighting shaman. Yeahhhh. And the seme is a school-teacher-turned-guardian of said shaman. They are directed by Shao to do certain demon-exposing missions, but the catch is that Nanagi in his shy form is incapable of battle. In order to get into his battle-form, he has to reach a level of euphoria with the help of either some summer herbs or the good ol' fashioned way - sex.

The art is pretty bad quality for the most part, but I really like how Nanagi looks for some reason. Extra points to boost that score a little.

The plot is interesting but a little too creative. Too much going on, perhaps. The characters are good, too. The sex is really brief and not very intense, so points off there.

Overall, 29/40.

Recommendation: To fans of Eerie Queerie and such.

Review 146: Bukiyou de Gomen

Art: 8
Plot: 8.5
Characters: 8
Sex: 8.5

What a pleasant surprise! Masaki, the 'uke', finds out that the guy he was seeing was just using him as a plaything at the hotel, so he dumps him and runs off into the woods. Masaki finds shelter from the rain in a randomly-placed house in the woods, a vacation cottage that is currently tended by Ichirou, an exceedingly nice guy the same age as Masaki. Masaki impulsively has sex with him because he's upset and wants to devalue someone the same way he was devalued. He leaves in the morning but he encounters Ichirou - and Takatou, the jerk ex-lover - at his school soon after. Ichirou helps him scare off Takatou, and Masaki begins to realize how crazy he has been acting, as well as how good a guy Ichirou is.

The art was fair but not gorgeous. The plot was actually quite enjoyable, for whatever reason. The characters were quite good - I especially liked Ichirou's simple honesty and kindness. It was refreshing for yaoi, truthfully. And the sex scenes were pretty nice, too; they were basic but well-drawn and intense.

Overall, 33/40.

Recommendation: If you like nice-guy semes and ukes getting righteous revenge.

Review 145: Blurry Moon

Art: 8
Plot: 6
Characters: 6
Sex: 6

This one is a 'host' yaoi where one of the most popular hosts is an uke who has unrequited love for a more popular host. Of course, it turns out that this guy raped him in high school and then abandoned him under a full moon. Somehow, this makes the uke decide to have sex with him - consensually this time - with little explanation. I don't know; it's a mystery to everyone.

The art is quite good, even if the two main characters look a little young to be hosts. Or to be sexing it up, either way.

The plot is weird and has too many flashbacks. The characters are standard but not very deep, and their actions don't make a lot of sense. The sex is okay but shadowed by the rape flashback, which leaves a bad taste in my mouth. And his, probably.

Overall, 26/40.

Recommendation: Whoever they're marketing these rape mangas to. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Review 144: Blind Love

Art: 8
Plot: 5
Characters: 6
Sex: 5

Yeah... for whatever reason, plots where the uke gets drugged and raped before the tenth page don't appeal to me. Which is exactly what this one is, no denying it. There's really not much else to it, no substance or anything. And I don't know what kind of aphrodisiac they're using, but... sigh. All the semes seem to have some tucked away nowadays.

The art is nice, thanks to Kanbe Akira. But how much can you appreciate art with a plot like this?

'Nuff said about the plot. The characters are awful, too. The uke has very little personality, and the seme is a mindless lust machine. He isn't even that attractive. The sex is not actually sex here, so I can't rate that so much.

Overall, 24/40.

Recommendation: If you liked No Money. Har har.

Review 143: Bitter

Art: 8.5
Plot: 5
Characters: 7
Sex: 7

Pretty standard plot here. The young hotel-chain manager finds a drunk patron - a beautiful uke - and carries him to his own suite. Then he takes off the unconscious guy's clothes and molests him, leading to a very angry uke in the morning. "I mistook you for a prostitute," the hotel manage says. The uke, however, will have none of this.
Soon, the hotel manager finds out that the uke was in fact his rival; another hotel manager with a competing hotel. And the uke proposes a deal - in return for use of his body, he wants the seme to help out the rival hotel's marketing at the risk of his own hotel.

The art is pretty nice, courtesy of Minami Haruka of course. I like this style, in spite of the feminine portrayal of both uke and seme.

The plot is obviously not great, but whatever. It's Minami Haruka; some sacrifices can be made.

The characters aren't superb, but I'm rather fond of the uke hotel manager, Shou. He manages to be detached and alluring because of his bitterness (hence the title) which is an interesting twist for a cute uke.

The sex was all right, but for some reason the effeminate way the seme is portrayed doesn't work for me here. All the characters look just a little too similar.

Overall, 27.5/40.

Recommendation: If you like slutty, bitter ukes who only care about money. I.e. gold-diggers.

Review 142: Binetsu Shukan

Art: 7
Plot: 6
Characters: 6
Sex: 7

The plot here is a simple equation.

heat wave + slut = sex

What this means is that the heat wave in this story causes the slut (uke? I guess) to take off his shirt, leading to spontaneous sex with the seme who has been watching him around the office recently.

Anyway, the art is pretty unremarkable, the plot is iredeemably lame, the characters aren't fleshed-out at all, and the sex is predictable and not at all entertaining.

Overall, 26/40.

Recommendation: Naaaah.

Review 141: Barbarian in Tokyo

Art: 6
Plot: 8
Characters: 6
Sex: 6

The plot revolves around a 22-year-old idiot detective named Fubuki, who looks suspiciously like Ayase from No Money. This detective gets into all sorts of trouble and is rescued multiple times by the head of the nearby yakuza group. This leads to sexual endeavors that look very unbalanced due to Fubuki's childlike appearance.

The art is terrible. Sometimes I was mislead because the lines didn't make sense with the expression shown. Most of the faces were just flat and unappealing, and even the main characters weren't remarkably drawn most of the time.

The plot was the only decent part of this one. It reminded me of a prototype of Fake, which is actually one of my favorite action/drama series. However, this yaoi messes up by giving the uke detective absolutely no ability to get himself out of bad situations. I don't think he can even shoot a gun, really. So exasperating.

The characters, as I may have insinuated earlier, are lame and easily likened to similar, also undesirable ones. The uke is the typical helpless, bunny-uke who gets kidnapped all the time, and the seme is the typical yakuza boss with a soft spot (and a not-so-soft spot) for for said uke. Been there, read that.

The sex is sad. By sad I mean that Fubuki is way too young looking and he doesn't seem like he'd be experienced with sexual activities. But he appears to experience very little pain during the sex scene... odd. Can't say that struck me as realistic.

Overall, 26/40.

Recommendation: Go read No Money. Seriously, it's better. Never thought I'd say that.

Review 140: Arrested Man

Art: 6
Plot: 5
Characters: 7
Sex: 5

Okay, so I could tell by the title picture that this was going to be one of 'those' yaoi, but I was woefully unprepared for the horrors within. Iori has just dumped his girlfriend when he is approached and knocked out by his adopted (?) little brother, Naoki, who is now an adult as well. Naoki kidnaps him, ties him to a bed, and does (what most people would call) unspeakable things to him. He also gives the reader a flashback to the tragedies of his childhood at the hands of Iori, showing us that - hooray! - his lurid acts are semi redeemable. Seriously, that's it.

The art is awful. Nothing more. The plot is obviously horrendous. The characters make a little sense, but they also make me nauseous. The sex is the worst part, as it is highly distasteful and even... gory... which should just not happen. Ever.

Overall, 23/40.

Recommendation: NO.

Review 139: Gravity Eyes

Art: 7
Plot: 6
Characters: 7
Sex: 7

Gravity Eyes is the story of a university student who sells two kittens to a professor because his apartment doesn't allow pets. The professor - Kiriya - demands that the student - Kuramoto - take care of the kittens by coming over to his apartment and feeding them, etcetera. In this way, Kuramoto becomes close to the professor and learns of all the complexities hidden within that majestic, unsmiling face. In this way, Kuramoto's tragic past is also revealed, making for a very dramatic manga in general.

The art is okay, but I didn't love it. Kuramoto's hair didn't appeal to me for whatever reason, and the expressions often seemed too generic - typical smiles, frowns, etc.

The plot, as seen above, is far too much to explain here. It is highly melodramatic, very coincidental in many scenes, and a roller-coaster plot. The reader barely has enough time to recover in between bouts of either sappy or tear-jerker dialogue. It might have been an easier story to enjoy if it hadn't been crammed so full of emotion.

Honestly, I wasn't fond of the characters. Kuramoto makes some uncharacteristic choices that mess his life up, and he doesn't react in a natural way most times. Maybe I just don't 'get' his personality, but he seemed like a generic uke except for the odd few scenes. And Kiriya just struck me as a nasty Eiri Yuki type, except not in a badass way. More like a haggard, defeated professor - not nearly as sexy, assuredly.

The sex - what very little there was - was permeated with emotion, emotion, and more emotion! It was impossible to focus on any of the (nonexistent) steaminess as a result, and the sex scenes were brief and unsatisfactory.

Overall, 27/40.

Recommendation: If you're a sucker for soap operas.

Review 138: Cafe Relish ni Oide

Art: 8.5
Plot: 7
Characters: 7
Sex: 5

This one's about a cosplay cafe full of typical yaoi stereotypes! The art is pretty nice, which is its main attraction. Besides men in uniforms, I mean. Because the plot and characters aren't much to look at (standard whiny uke and sympathetic seme deal, trying to save a shop with a huge debt), and the sex is nonexistent. Woo.

All in all, 27.5/40.

Recommendation: Nah...

Review 137: From Dusk Til Dawn

Art: 7.5
Plot: 6.5
Characters: 7.5
Sex: 7

This one's about a guy named Kirishima, who recruits women - and men, presumably - to act in porn movies. His company produces all sorts "except heavy S&M, beastiality, and child porn"... Anyway, Kirishima happens to find a flashy foreigner on the streets. 'Clarence' (I know, right?) begs Kirishima to take him in because he has amnesia and has nowhere to go. Kirishima isn't the type to cater to an unwanted guest, but somehow he relents.
After a while, it appears that Kirishima's porn company is battling another for the top ratings and top money. There's a whole big mafia subplot going on, and multiple people get kidnapped and rescued - you know, the usual. Eventually the mafia guys get Clarence, just after Kirishima has found out that the man has healing powers (and has also been thoroughly kissed by him). Kirishima then tries to rescue Clarence but is badly wounded. However, Clarence sprouts angel wings and saves the day.

The art is all right but isn't terribly sophisticated.

The plot, as described above, is rather lackluster. If any of the numerous subplots had been more focused, that could have led to good things. Unfortunately, much of it seemed tacked on, especially the angel wings (the rest of the healing powers I could kinda buy, but not that).

The characters are pretty amusing, but they tend to go out of character at odd moments. I'm not sure if this makes them realistic or unrealistic, actually. But it did confuse me a little, so points off.

There wasn't any full-on sex in this one, so it has to be marked down. But if there had, it would have probably been decent.

All in all, 28.5/40.

Recommendation: If you like mafia yaoi? With porn-producing undertones?

Review 136: Ark of the Prince

Art: 7
Plot: 5
Characters: 6
Sex: 6

This one was way confusing. It starts in a fantasy world, where the prince, Louis, is 'betrayed' and imprisoned by his closest advisor/guard, Armand. But then he learns that Armand only did this to save him... or something. But then the world literally crumbles around them, and when Louis finally wakes up, it is in a futuristic hospital. He then learns that the fantasy land that was all of his memories was only a gaming device, used to submerge people in said fantasy land. But a crisis brought the game down, and so most of his memories were 'deleted'. When he returns to 'real life', he has no actual memories except for Armand, who returns to him as a real person. He and Armand make peace with the eternal confusion this will bring.

Okay, so it goes without saying that the plot was full of confusion. I have no idea what parts of it mean, so I didn't even list them in the summary. The characters didn't make much sense as a result, and there wasn't any sex depicted. The art wasn't even that great - there were many points where details weren't drawn to save time... pretty obviously, too. Sometimes there are even just silhouettes where fully-drawn characters are expected.

Overall, a 24/40.

Recommendation: No. Just no.

Review 135: Amai Jouken

Art: 8.5
Plot: 8
Characters: 8
Sex: 8

When Hisaya gets let go from his old job - and his abusive relationship - he has nowhere to go. That's when Munekazu randomly picks him up and takes him back to his apartment. Munekazu demands nothing except that Hisaya work at his French restaurant. After a while, however, Hisaya grows to love Munekazu and battles with his fear of the unknown - what does Munekazu want of him, anyway? Luckily, they resolve these troubles in the end, and sexytimes commence.

The art is very nice in this one - I especially like that Munekazu is dripping wet during at least 60% of the story. Thought that was a nice touch.

The plot is done well despite being so simple, and the characters are pretty nice, too. Hisaya's troubled nature is interesting and not too over-the-top, while Munekazu is very sweet.

The sex is pretty darn good. Especially the shower scene.

Overall, 32.5/40.

Recommendation: If you like dramatic 'does he love me? Oh, heavens!' type deals.

Review 134: Akanai Tobira

Art: 7.5
Plot: 7
Characters: 8
Sex: 8

This one is... really different. The uke has an unrequited infatuation with the seme, who he ends up working for and living with (they work from home). The uke has these pheromones that attract all sorts of weirdos, but strangely they don't work on the seme, who is a self-proclaimed 'straight'. Despite this, whenever the seme gets irritated by the blushing, easily-ashamed uke, he gets in the mood to do 'homo stuff'. Okaaaaay.

The art is all right, the plot is really weird but kinda interesting, the characters are oddly likable, and the sex is... well... pretty good, actually.

Overall, a 30.5/40.

Recommendation: If you like blushing ukes... who are way more shameless than most.

Review 133: Aitsu to Ore

Art: 8
Plot: 6
Characters: 7
Sex: 6

This has such memorable lines as, "So since I'm your father's mistress's son, you think you can do whatever you want with me!?" and "give yourself to me totally." Yeah, this has a variety of shorter stories all involving convoluted family trees and borderline incest, with the theme of troubled lives and naive ukes getting disillusioned by cruel older semes. Yeah.

So basically, the art is fine, the plots are complicated and dissatisfying, the characters are regrettable, and the sex - when there is any that isn't forced - is not very good.

Overall, a 27/40.

Recommendation: Nope.

Review 132: Ai no DNA

Art: 8
Plot: 7
Characters: 8
Sex: 7

Hmm... another difficult one to judge. It's a little weird because the seme and uke are 'brothers' (the seme is from the father's first wife, and the second wife brings a child from a different man, so they aren't blood-related)... even if they're not blood-related, the fact that they start from a brotherly relationship is kinda creepy. Despite this, the art is pretty good, the plot is pretty interesting, and the characters are believable. The sex, if you are comfortable enough with the idea that they're not really brothers, is all right. But still... a little bit putting off.

The plot revolves around two guys born on the same day (different years) who share an odd 'bond' such that the older guy feels all the physical pain the younger feels, and the younger guy feels all the physical pleasure the older guy feels. This is a fascinating dynamic, if only if was used with two people not in the same mishmash of a family.

Overall, a 30/40.

Recommendation: If you like flustered, angry ukes.

Review 131: 1999 Shanghai

Art: 5
Plot: 9
Characters: 8.5
Sex: 7

This one is an odd mash-up of good and bad. We've got the typical mafia story with lovers from opposing 'families', only it's a much slower-paced story than most of its type. This adds to the tension and makes it a lot more enjoyable than usual, but regrettably it is brought down by its older style of art (in my opinion). The expressions aren't clear enough, and sometimes I got really confused with who was who since a lot of them look the same.

So yeah, Dawu is a low-ranking guy in one gang while Xiaoxue is a prized assassin in its rival gang. They meet without knowing each other's backgrounds, but they soon discover their inherent incompatibility during a gang fight. But despite that, they have steamy, forbidden sex anyway.

Art's awful, plot is oddly fun, characters are very likable, and the sex is not quite up to par.

Overall, a 29.5/40.

Recommendation: If you like mafia yaoi.

Review 130: Take Over Zone

Art: 9
Plot: 9
Characters: 8.5
Sex: 7

Another difficult one to judge, although this one I liked in spite of that. This stars a guy who used to be a great runner but quit the Track Club due to molestation by his coach. Then in high-school he gets inspired to join a new Track Club, where he meets a serene but cold upperclassman who doesn't seem to like him much. But their relationship grows closer until he discovers that the upperclassman actually likes him... a lot. Thankfully, the upperclassman is truly a kind-hearted person, and he doesn't rush the guy. This yaoi has a lot of Track Club action - as in running relays and all that - as well as many cute romantic scenes.

The art is very nice - I loved the different looks for all the club members, and the expressions and emotions were done well.

The plot, as said above, was pleasing and adequately exciting.

The characters are very likable and diverse, which makes for a more enjoyable story overall. The main character and upperclassman-guy are my favorites. Very good.

The sex never technically occurs, unless you count the flashback to the molestation - which I don't. For once, such a thing is treated with the seriousness it deserves, and it does not strive to seem pleasurable.

All in all, 33.5/40. Not bad!

Recommendation: If you like sports-oriented yaoi.

Review 129: Zettai Meirei

Art: 7
Plot: 6
Characters: 7
Sex: 6

This one was another 'whaaaat?' story. Basically, in the ancient times a Shinto priest creates a magical sword that transforms into a warrior with immense power. Said warrior obeys only the priest and fights demons. Sadly, the only bit of plot we get to see in this story is when the Emperor demands the sword for display in his palace. The priest, despairing, has a one-night stand with the warrior he created, telling him he loves him. Then when the Emperor demands the warrior to join him, he refuses, taking the priest to somewhere far away where they can be together forever. Okaaaaay.

The art is all right, but not breathtaking. The plot (see above) is below mediocre. The characters aren't well-defined at all, and the sex is brief and uninspired.

Overall, a sad 26/40.

Recommendation: Nah.

Review 128: Kouun no Rihatsushi

Art: 9
Plot: 9
Characters: 9
Sex: 9

This one is so cute! In a creative twist, the seme - Tsukasa - starts out as a nobody with a sheet of hair over his eyes, and he encounters the uke - Nachi - in a small town barbershop. Nachi cuts his hair, revealing the gorgeous face underneath and suddenly the transformed man is propositioned by modeling agencies and film directors. He skyrockets into the world of live-action dramas, scoring a lead role in a romance. Despite his success, he keeps going back to the small barbershop to see the barber, both unaware that their feelings are mutual. But after Tsukasa saves Nachi from an annoying slime of an ex, the confessions arise and sexytimes commence.

The art is quite nice, and Nachi has the coolest hairstyle and clothes. Somehow Tsukasa is also really cool-looking, even though I don't usually like the short, spiky-haired type. The expressions are spot-on and the sex is tastefully depicted.

The plot is actually very imaginative, and I dunno why I like it so much. I suppose that's a good thing, so I won't question it. See above.

Tsukasa and Nachi are excellent characters and extremely likable. Their motivations are legitimate and they are so much deeper than most of the stereotypes seen in yaoi. I especially love the side of Nachi we see during the first sex scene - hilarious ("Hope I don't embarrass myself - I haven't done this in a while."). Even the minor characters of the two grandpas are worthy of recognition. Nicely done.

The sex is superb - understandably awkward and realistic for once, but at the same time steamy and entertaining. There's even humor in there somewhere. What skill!

Overall, a 36/40.

Recommendation: If you like cute stories, or just nicely matched couples.

Review 127: Kondo Koso Honki

Art: 7.5
Plot: 6
Characters: 6
Sex: 5

This was a highly unappealing story. We have the classic unrequited love between childhood friends - gag - with the addition of the cold-exterior seme archetype, with the result of an annoyingly helpless tone throughout the story. The guy on the right is the uke, and he gives up on his seme only to go home with one of the seme's coworkers, who he has been warned about. Said coworker drugs him and ties him up to rape him, but miraculously the cold-hearted seme shows up and 'rescues' the uke... only he doesn't untie him. Instead, he decides to sex him up in the exact manner of the rapist. Which is somehow meant to be different and sexy, despite the fact that the uke is drugged and tied up. I hope I speak for many of us when I say... WTF?

Art is a tad sub-par, plot is obviously horrid, and characters have little motivation and are tossed around by the terrible excuse for a plot. The sex is basically rape, only with that 'this is supposed to be sexy' overtone which disturbs me. No Money, anyone?

Overall, a 19.5/40. Ouch.

Recommendation: Not worth your time.

Review 126: Roman Gousha

Art: 7
Plot: 6

Characters: 8

Sex: 8

All right, so this was a weird one. A married man in 1919 can't support his sick wife and his children, so he goes to the nearest city and lands a job as a servant to a company executive. His master, however, rapes him on the first night he stays there. The married man realizes that this is part of his job, but as he learns to bear the atrocities for the sake of his family, he also uncovers the dark past of his master... and begins to care for him.
Then his wife dies, and he returns to take care of his children. Years later, the executive turns up and more-or-less asks if he can be part of that family because he loves the man. Their awkward past is kinda sorta reconciled, and the family moves into the city with the executive.

Right, so the plot is already strange, so the different art style seemed almost expected. It isn't bad, per se, but the executive man always looks way too soft in the face. The married man is very pretty, though... which as a downside made him look prettier than his wife. Awkwaaaard.

The characters were all right. They had noticeable motivations and weren't as confined to archetypes as most. But they certainly weren't elaborately designed, either. They escape dreadful and rise to adequate during the story, at the very least.

The sex is difficult to judge. I'm not sure whether to count the rape(s?) or not, but I'll just say that the one or two times it is consensual - unsure how many to count, again - it's decent. Not fireworks, but decent.

All in all, 29/40. Hmm.

Recommendation: Erm... if you like abusive relationships that turn sweet?

Review 125: Taiyou no Kikoushi

Art: 9
Plot: 7

Characters: 7

Sex: 7

This one, despite its glorious art, is your standard fanfiction-quality yaoi. It's the usual 'absurdly-wealthy-foreigner-loses-way-and-insists-on-staying-with-poor-host-guy' type deal, with the slightly unorthodox use of the long, flowy golden hair and gold jewelry all over said foreigner. The host is, of course, a pushover and a 'normal' guy. Don't expect anything surprising to happen in this one.

As I've said, the plot leaves much to be desired - such as, I dunno, a plot? - and is generally unbelievable. The idea that a foreigner with that much money would 'lose' his bodyguards is inconceivable, and it isn't reconciled later in the story, either (such as with an admission that he had lost them on purpose, for instance).

The characters are also lackluster. The foreigner is a selfish, spoiled child who generates little sympathy from the reader, especially since he's a type found often in yaoi - and always the wealthy heir, too. The main character is more likable, but his choices and motivations don't make sense, particularly when he lets a complete stranger sex him up. I mean, he seemed to be pretty stubborn up until that point... it was a rather abrupt shift.

The sex itself, speaking of which, was all right but didn't have enough inspiration. There seemed to be little reason for the main character to cooperate, making it more of a lazy-rape. Not sure what that term means, but I bet it'd apply to this.

All in all, 30/40. That feels like too high a score...

Recommendation: Read if you appreciate the spoiled-heir type. Or some such nonsense.

Review 124: 1001 Years I Love

Art: 7.5
Plot: 6.5

Characters: 7

Sex: 5

This one is weeeeird. Sort of like a mix between Tarzan and... some sort of furry romance. Basically, this 'tiger' kidnaps a beautiful man and then changes into a human to try and procreate with him. The infuriated male tells him this is impossible, as they are both men. Eventually, the tiger-man and the uke get along with each other and a love grows. The tiger-seme learns what the feeling of love is, and the uke stops denying it as well.

The art is so-so but not superb.

The plot, as mentioned above, is nothing to get excited about. The whole Tarzan concept has been used in other yaoi, usually with a demon seme. Making him a tiger was not a) more appealing, or b) more creative than the usual. And his words about being a beast, as supposed to a human, were a little creepy at some points.

The characters - wow, two characters! - were not well-developed or all that interesting. Yawn. There is a distinct lack of depth in this whole yaoi, in fact.

The 'sex' consists of one scene, in which the tiger-man basically rapes the uke. Not sure if it was completed, per se, but enough to count. Not satisfying at all.

26/40.

Recommendation: If you like tigers...?

Newest Funny Yaoi Page

http://view.thespectrum.net/series/shinyuu-henjou.html?lzkfile=Shinyuu+Henjou%2Fshinyuu_henjou_054.jpg

Read it and see.

Review 123: L'Étoile Solitaire

Art: 8
Plot: 6
Characters: 6
Sex: 6

So there's this cold-hearted president of a large hotel-buying company that's trying to expand into Japan, and he tries to buy a small chain of traditional Japanese hotels from its young and inexperienced president. So of course he falls in love with him, decides not to buy the hotels, but his nasty/evil advisor guy interferes and tells the young uke he's only making trouble for the older president... seen it all before. Oh, and possibly THE WORST cliche ever, the 'blonde and spoiled female fiancee' cliche is utilized to its full extent. Very, very predictable and dissatisfying throughout.

Art is decent. Only decent part of this manga, actually.

The plot is horrifically bad, as said before. No need to elaborate further, I trust.

The characters aren't necessarily unlikable... they're just very obvious types. The seme is the good-hearted but misunderstood wealthy young CEO, while the uke is the shy, naive kid who's still in school (at least they say it's college in this one). Then there's the aforementioned bitch-fiancee, and I'm sure that says it all. And evil advisor-guy, who tries to get in the way of the two lovebirds because he's jealous and clearly has an old crush on the president.

The sex is so boring it's barely noticeable. I flipped the page and was like, 'wow. That's it?' Pretty uninspiring.

All in all, 26/40.

Recommendation: Read this only if you're intending to use it to outline the many overused plot devices in yaoi manga.

Review 122: Shortcut Love

Art: 8
Plot: 6
Characters: 7
Sex: 6

This one stars a high-ranking executive who creates designs for logos, adverstisements, and televison ads. He and his group are less popular lately, but a new guy shows up who works way harder than the rest of them, and he seems to be brilliant despite his lack of experience. The leader of the group is tired of his job and has no enthusiasm for life, so at first he takes the newbie's bold suggestions as insults. Until one day when he starts to see that the guy just wants to create better designs, much like he himself did before he lost interest.
This would all be kinda uninteresting if there wasn't a random semi-rape scene with the new guy 'coercing' the group leader. With that added, it's extremely uninteresting and vaguely irritating. One more cliche, check!

The art is all right. Typical style, really. The characters didn't particularly stand out, but the style was decent.

The plot, as mentioned above, was mediocre and frustrating once the rape-scene came into play. The business parts of the story aren't all that fascinating, and when the reader finds out that there won't even be any build-up before the historic 'first sex' scene, it really deflates any remaining interest.

The characters aren't particularly moving. The new guy comes off as really annoying and immature at the beginning, while the group leader is stuck-up and bored of life.

The 'sex' is lame and predictable, with the typical 'I'm being raped but it's actually kinda nice' situation. Which I don't have to describe by now, as I'm sure you all know what I mean at this point. Seriously frustrating - it's becoming a pet peeve of mine for sure.

All in all, 27/40.

Recommendation: Not worth your time, nor anyone else's.

Review 121: Work In

Art: 8.5
Plot: 8
Characters: 8.5
Sex: 8

This one is an 'office worker' (aka 'salary-man') romance between a worker and his younger boss. They're probably in their early thirties or late twenties, I'd guess. At first, the gay worker - who has had rumors spread about him in the office, resulting in his alienation - is extremely lonely, which is when he starts to fall for his boss. They end up going out for a professional drink, but the worker gets smashed and tells his boss how he is so lonely in the office. Later, the boss ends up confessing to the worker and intiates a relationship they have to keep secret from the other workers.

The art is different, more realistic than some, but pleasing all the same. The worker doesn't have a pretty face, but that makes it even more easy to believe. Both main characters are good-looking, but they aren't the type of extreme-attractiveness characters you often see.

The plot, as described above, is pretty reasonable but not overly creative. Thankfully, occasional humor makes up for this.

The characters are very endearing. Much sympathy is generated for the worker, and the boss is a likable guy on the whole. They seem to match quite well. The worker even seems to grow throughout the story, which is unusual for many yaoi.

The sex is not an explicit scene like in most stories, but it achieves a similar steaminess and succeeds in involving the actual personality of the characters.

All in all, 33/40.

Recommendation: Pretty darn good. Read it if you like the office setting yaoi, or just if you wanna read something sweet.

Let's Review: Critiques 100-120

All right, another batch of twenty reviews is up, so you know what that means! Let's put them all in order and see which yaoi is on top - har har - this time around.

Junjou Karen - 34
Bitter-sweet Cafe - 32
Shibararetai - 32
Bakumatsu - 32
Uso to Kiss - 32
You're My Love Prize - 31.5
Seiryou's Scariest Tales - 31.5
Secret Agreement - 30.5
Kawaii Hito - 30
Nagaraja - 29
$10 - 27
Rules - 27
Anbalance Lover - 27
Groupie - 26
Competent Chairman - 26
Jazz - 26
Secrecy - 25
Night of Replicant - 24
Animal X - 24
Bath Towel - 23

Congratulations to 'Junjou Karen' for this time's top score! And my heartfelt consolations to 'Bath Towel', our esteemed loser.

Honorary Loss goes to 'Animal X' for what I can only call Most WTF Manga in the yaoi category. I will be having nightmares. Thanks a lot.

Review 120: Nagaraja

Art: 8
Plot: 8
Characters: 8
Sex: 5

Hmmm... no sex. Barely any kissing. I get the feeling that maybe this isn't a yaoi (no, really?)... But I'm going to review it anyway, as it was in the yaoi section of Spectrum Nexus. Despite the fact that Prince of Tennis is also in the yaoi section. Hn.

The fantasy-esque plot is kinda interesting, but not developed to its fullest. The characters are pretty nice but not above normal likability. There is no sex, so that gets the usual score for really, really bad sex.

29/40.

Recommendation: Fantasy shounen-ai lovers? Anyone?

Review 119: Anbalance Lover

Art: 7
Plot: 7
Characters: 7
Sex:6

Chapter One basically serves as a definition of 'reach-around'. That being said, the plot is mostly decent. The art is kinda lame... didn't like the hair at all. The characters don't entirely make sense (or have personalities... 'kay). The sex is laughable, but not in a way that you'd actually laugh. More like cry. Hmm.

'Anbalance' Lover is really supposed to romanize to 'Unbalanced Lovers'. In your face, Spectrum Nexus! Erm, just kidding... they're my only source of yaoi at the moment (more on that later). Love ya!

I know you wanna hear about the plot, but it's really just an group of smaller stories, all involving 'unbalanced love', which apparently is the politically correct term for 'rape' nowadays. Oh, yaoi, you do make me roll my eyes far too often. I may develop eye-strain.

27/40.

Recommendation: Not this time, folks.

Review 118: Junjou Karen

Art: 8.5
Plot: 8.5
Characters: 8.5
Sex: 8.5

Oooh... I really, really like the way the kid in the middle looks (in the manga, too, not just the cover). This one is an interesting trip concerning an uke caught in a guilt-relationship with a slightly abusive seme who makes him have emotionless sex to 'atone' for something he did in the past. The uke accepts this as what he deserves, but meanwhile falls for a student he's teaching at the nearby high-school. Said student is the initiator, thankfully, (?) but can such a pure-hearted love come to fruition for someone with such a dark past - and a vindictive lover?

Plot is interesting enough. Characters are very likeably, especially Shirasaka (the teacher/uke). The sex between the stone-cold seme and the guilty uke is as uninteresting as it's supposed to be, while the sex between the student and uke is much more satisfactory.

34/40. Whoaz.

Recommendation: For those of you who like more drawn-out plots and built-up sexual tension. Mmmm.

Review 117: Rules

Art: 6
Plot: 6
Characters: 8
Sex: 6

This one's odd. The art style is different, and I don't like it very much. Pretty sketchy - literally. The plot is pretty random as well. It starts with a reversible (guy on left) who has given up on serious relationships due to being 'spectacularly dumped' by a guy he really liked. He's in the gay district when he sees a lost high-school kid about to be dragged off by an old pervert. With a feeling of duty, he rescues the kid - well, he's probably around 17 - and shows him to the train station. But the guy takes him somewhere and they have sex. What? Then he never sees the guy again, and you find out from the guy's perspective that he only wanted to satisfy his curiosity for his male friend's body. 'Kay.

The characters are actually decent, which is wasted on this story. The sex, however, is brief and uninspiring, which suits the plot.

27/40. Ouch...

Recommendation: Nope!

Review 116: Uso to Kiss

Art: 8.5
Plot: 7.5
Characters: 8
Sex: 8

... What is with the fascination for incest, particularly half-incest stuff that makes you think, 'well, that's kinda creepy, but at least they're not directly related'!? I mean, do they have to be half-brothers? Why couldn't they have been stepbrothers, completely unrelated by blood? Even that's kinda weird, but I would have almost let it slide compared to this. I know judgment isn't something to be handed out so hastily, but... this kind of thing does make me uneasy.

The story seems pretty typical at first - guy meets uke working at a bar, they meet for drinks, get drunk and have sex at some point. The complication is when the older man - seme - finds out that the uke is his younger half-brother. Ashamed, he keeps this from the uke and pretends that they're not having sex anymore because he found out the uke is a minor (17 in Japan, which means pretty much 70% of the yaoi we're reading is... yeah). But how long can his charade go on without the uke finding out the awful truth?

Spoiler: (highlight to read) They actually aren't related by blood. Whoaz.

Sadly, both the characters and the sex are pretty good, making me feel even worse after I found out their 'relationship'. What a pity...

32/40.

Recommendation: If you're looking for something intriguing and aren't too squeamish.

Review 115: Bitter-sweet Cafe

Art: 8.5
Plot: 8
Characters: 8.5
Sex: 7

Hurrah, Akira Kanbe! This one contains one of my favorite quotes, which is, "But isn't cake the symbol of happiness?" Such wisdom in a yaoi... my, my. But, silliness aside, this is really a heartwarming read. The plot is pretty simple - boy meets boy, takes boy in, they work at a cafe together - but surprisingly effective with the use of such nice characterizations. The seme has a sad past (I guess I'll find out more when I read the prequel... oops), but he's really a good person who's just experienced tough times. The uke is pure-hearted but an awful cook, which would seem cliche but ends up being endearing in this case. Obviously the art is great.

As for the sex, it's just okay. I guess it makes sense with the characters, but it isn't particularly great.

32/40.

Recommendation: If you like a sweet uke and protector seme pairing.

Review 114: You're My Love Prize

Art: 8.5
Plot: 7.5
Characters: 8
Sex:7.5

Yay! Ayano Yamane! But I'm actually unsure about this one. The art, of course, is really nice. But the plot is pretty twisted (as is the sex, come to think of it). The characters are all right, but I'm not sure how to reconcile the very un-vanilla sex scenes. Don't get me wrong, if you're into that, then fine, but when it's one-sided, that's not okay. Granted, I give it an extra 0.5 points for at least explaining the uke's unintentional enjoyment with the aphrodisiac forced on him, but still (the whole 'aphrodisiac' thing ought to be on the cliche list... and for the record, there's only one true aphrodisiac that works on men, and it's called 'damiana'... some sort of herb or something).

All in all, 31.5/40.

Recommendation: For those of you who like action yaoi. Or some messed-up sex.

Review 113: Competent Chairman

Art: 7
Plot: 7
Characters: 6
Sex: 6

... All right. So I knew something was up when I saw that older guy on the cover, but I hoped, just once, that my instincts weren't right. They were. Apparently, the two lovers in this manga are aged around 20 and 50. Oh. My. Gawd. It seems just... wrong. I mean, we see celebrity matchups like this all the time, but we never see them all lovey-dovey or... having sex.

The art is all right. But... the guy who's supposed to be like 48 looks around 20 instead. Hmm. If you're going to take on something like lovers with 30 years between them, at least give it the respect it deserves. As Mr. Freeman would say, the best anime - and hence, manga - is made with sincerity. The way the art shrouds the truth makes me not take this seriously at all.

Plot is pretty lame, not a lot going on. It's basically a standard 'oh, I'm not worthy of you!' 'neither am I!' type deal. Except one of them is supposed to be way older.

Character-wise, the older man doesn't even have the maturity he ought to. This renders the whole idea of his age completely irrelevant. Baaaad character score.

I think I shouldn't have to mention the sex. Besides the fact that there's such a huge age difference, the older man is the uke and looks - and acts - like any 20-year-old uke would. There is no sign that anything is different from the usual yaoi. What a half-assed attempt at something 'forbidden'.

26/40.

Recommendation: Don't waste your time on this one.

Review 112: Seiryou's Scariest Tales

Art: 7
Plot: 8
Characters: 8.5
Sex: 8

This one revolves around a scary class president (guy on the left), who tends to sex up other students a lot. Even the teachers are scared of him - Hashizume - because he's so diabolically charismatic. That is, until one day when he meets his match with a transfer student who doesn't know his reputation. Said transfer student (guy on right) - Misonoi - demands an apology after Hashizume knocks him over. Hashizume, being the sly man that he is, suddenly has a change of heart and becomes very humble in front of Misonoi, shocking the other students. But it's really only a part of his plan to get into Misonoi's pants... Unfortunately, his plans backfire when the honest Misonoi believes all of the ridiculous lies Hashizume tells him.

Ahem. Art is a bit under-developed. Plot, as mentioned, it pretty interesting. Characters are actually very amusing, so extra points for creativity!

The sex is all right. Not bad, not great. Seen the 'school-tie as a restraint' thing far too many times, but I'll let it slide.

31.5/40.

Recommendation: Uh... if you like... scary class presidents?

Review 111: Shibararetai

Art: 8
Plot: 8
Characters: 8
Sex: 8

All right, this is another of those 'feudal Japan' settings. The first story concerns a wealthy young man who inherits the shop from his father, and the nearby doctor/teacher who he ends up involved with. The other stories are much the same pace, though different scenarios (some of them are even modern-day).

The art's always decent, the plots are generally okay, and the characters are likeable enough. The sex varies... some of it is really... er... odd. But it's still not outright rape (I suppose) so it should be all right. Sigh... what a world we live in.

32/40.

Recommendation: Feudal Japan lovers, rejoice~!

Review 110: Jazz

Art: 8
Plot: 6
Characters: 7
Sex: 5

Well, this one had me almost excited for a short time. It seemed to have some promise... started out with a doctor treating an asthma patient whose mother had been stifling him for years, aggravating his condition. But when said patient gets into a university, he takes the doctor out for dinner - weird - and then drugs his drink and rapes him afterward. So much for that.

Art is good, but obviously the plot sucks. Another rape cliche, sigh. The doctor's character makes sense, but the patient is just messed up. The 'sex' is awful as well, see above.

All in all, 26/40.

Recommendation: Nope.

Review 109: Bakumatsu

Art: 8
Plot: 8
Characters: 8
Sex: 8

Wow. Pretty decent scores across the board. This one is another samurai-era yaoi, though it strikes me as more of a shounen-ai since there isn't anything remotely graphic until the second volume. It's about First Captain Souji Okita (uke) and his idol, Toshi Hijikata (seme), who both live in the same dojo thing. Souji has admired Hijikata ever since he was a kid - guess there's quite the age difference - but now that he's an adult, he realizes that he has fallen in love with him. His annoying antics, however, combined with Hijikata's iron strong restraint, might mean that they'll never consummate their love...

Art is good, plot's fun, characters are pretty likeable, and the sex is fine as well.

32/40.

Recommendation: for those of you who like the samurai stuff.

Review 108: Secrecy Agreement

Art: 8
Plot: 7.5
Characters: 7
Sex: 8

This one is a nice departure from the past handful of terrible mangas. At least this one has an interesting plot... somewhat. Basically, the seme and uke have been together for some time, but the uke is an heir to a famous family and is getting married to bring his and another important family together.

The art is pretty nice. I like the uke's long, Edo-period hair. The plot is decent for the most part, though I admit to being a little confused at some points with the various timeline shenanigans... flashbacks, flashforwards, etc. The characters were disappointing, however.

The sex was all right, but not refreshing enough to give it extra points.

All in all, 30.5/40.

Recommendation: If you like long-haired ukes.

Review 107: Animal X

Art: 7
Plot: 5
Characters: 7
Sex: 5

All right, so this one is majorly sci-fi and revolves around a developing race of cannibalistic beings that appear human but can transform into... wait for it... DINOSAURS. I'm not talking about a cute apatosaur or something, they change into butt-ugly half-beast half-tyrannosaurus things. And eat people. Is this really a yaoi?

The art is bad, the plot is like a watery version of Jurassic Park mixed with some kind of black-and-white werewolf film, the characters are cardboard, and there's not actual sex. Which, at this point, I'm considering a blessing. I don't wanna see no dinos in my yaoi.

Plot: the soon-to-be uke is engaged to the woman he loves, but he's so girly that they don't seem to have a romantic relationship at all. Meanwhile, he's being paid to take pills that, unbeknownst to him, will eventually make him a woman. Due to this, one of the dinosaur-people thinks he's a woman and kidnaps him to be his mate and to 'breed' with. Stuff happens, dinosaur-people village gets razed to the ground by competing dinosaur-people, bla bla bla.

*cry*

24/40.

Recommendation: Don't ever mention this title to me again. I'm off to get some cookies before braving the next one.

Review 106: $10

Art: 8
Plot: 5
Characters: 7
Sex: 7

Lemme just say that I'm immediately suspicious of a yaoi called '$10'. I mean really. Well, my suspicions were correct... at least, in part. And this is, regrettably, yet another 'bad yaoi'. The art is all right, but the plot is a tangled mess of melodrama and duplicity. How very lame.

The plot follows these guys who have been best friends since they can remember. One is a responsible, mature guy, while the other cavorts with women carelessly and always makes the other guy talk to the girls for him and handle any problems. Living childishly like this, he just expects his friend to take care of all of his problems with nothing in return. The truly irritating part is when the supposedly responsible guy decides to lie to the careless guy and confirms that his girlfriend is pregnant. Mr. Careless says he'll give blowjobs to some guys to get money and deal with it, but Mr. Responsible isn't having that, and suddenly offers his friend money to sex him up. Wow... seriously? Then they both find out that they were deceiving each other in various ways. Messed-up.

The characters, if you can't tell by the plot, are pretty annoying. But... I can't help but think that they're somewhat deep if they evoke such an emotion. Some points given.

The sex is all right, I suppose. I was distracted by the awful plot at the time, and the money that was changing hands.

All in all, 27/30.

Recommendation: Not again...