Review 4: Junk!Boys

Art: 9
Plot: 6
Characters: 6
Sex: 8

Junk!Boys is fun to read in the same way you might watch a really bad movie: with plenty of snacks and either a mild depression or a sugar-high. I've had it bookmarked forever, but it's really more of a shameful indulgence than anything.

Its saving point is definitely in the Art category. Minami Haruka can make almost anything look good. Nice, clean lines and the quality you come to expect from artists who churn out yaoi after yaoi. It isn't perfect in a lot of places, but for the most part it's pleasant.

There is very little plot, and what little of it there IS has to go a long, long way. If I were to describe the overall story in a sentence, it would be, "An innocent uke ends up in a threesome with two boring semes." Sure, there's the whole presumed situation regarding the three acting as the group Junk!Boys, an amateur love-mystery Detective Agency of sorts. But the subplots centered on the mysteries are pretty lame, and often to the point of ridiculousness.

The characters are, well, archetypes. Our uke is Tomoya, the Maiden, whose exaggerated innocence is present even after being molested - oh, was that consentual? My bad - by the two semes. What's really sad is that I can't honestly remember which name went with which seme; they were more-or-less the same person. Anything they said was either serious business or a sudden change to an oddly formal flirtation (usually while taking off Tomoya's pants). They just don't have a definable personality at all, like cardboard.
I shouldn't have to say that the 'side characters' weren't much to look at, either.

I'm divided on how to judge the sex. On one hand, the fact that it's a threesome gives it points in originality. Of course, the fact that all the sex is only faux-consentual is kind of annoying. It's the sort of fake protest that I imagine is present in a good deal of porn, and it isn't realistic at all. The actual sex in question is without context due to the lack of characterization, so you might as well be reading about three random characters going at it.
Still, if you're into threesomes, it might be tolerable.

All in all, it gets a 29/40. Not great, but not absolutely horrible. I couldn't give it more than that with a good conscience, because it honestly isn't that interesting. The fact that is introduces a threesome is the only carrying factor, and even that is done in the least imaginative way possible. Sadly, this isn't one of Minami Haruka's best works.

Recommendation: Good for a rainy day, or a late night when you have nothing to do. Might be especially entertaining to read with a friend of similar tastes, if you feel like pointing and laughing.