Review 11: The Art of Loving

Plot: 9
Characters: 9
Sex: 6

'The Art of Loving', as a good deal of yaoi, concerns the fate of two high-school classmates with major differences between them. Yutaka is the elite student and heir to his father's company, but beneath the facade of the perfect son he is constantly suppressing the sexual desires that he has been taught to scorn, with the result that he is practically devoured by them. Tohno is a transfer student who at first seems like the typical blonde delinquent but immediately shows himself to be a cheerful and hardworking guy who has never had a chance to be loved by anyone, passed around to different family members after his father's absence and his mother's death. These backgrounds bring about an almost tangible need to be loved, but the problem is in the fact that Yutaka wears his mask so thoroughly that he can't open himself up to the emotional side of love, leaving only lust as his idea of what 'love' is. In contrast, Tohno seems to have pretty normal views on love and sex, but unlike Yutaka he considers the emotional bond between two people to be the height of love, disregarding lust as almost unnecessary.
These two meet at school and form a fast friendship, but Yutaka's growing desire for Tohno causes him to lose focus on his studies, getting him into hot water with his excellency-obsessed parents. Tohno, who has no idea what Yutaka is doing to him in his mind every day (needless to say, it isn't at all innocent), is simply gratified that Yutaka 'cares' about him so much, oblivious to the fact that much of it is a combination of curiosity and suppressed sexuality.
Then Tohno's aunt and uncle pass away in an accident, leaving him with a large debt, very little money, no home, and no other relatives to take him in. Yutaka takes advantage of this and makes a deal with his father: he will dutifully be the perfect son and grow up to manage the company if his father pays for Tohno's schooling and takes him into the family. His father agrees, and as Tohno is moving in, Yutaka springs his own desperate deal: in return for taking in Tohno, he wants Tohno's body.
The first volume stops here, and the only glimpse into the future we get is in the prologue. In it, Tohno and Yutaka both seem jaded, older and more knowledgeable of the terrible relationship they've put themselves in. Tohno uses Yutaka simply for sex because he is unable to express his emotions, while Tohno has developed a hedonistic streak that results in alcoholic and sexual indulgences to help him forget his situation, chained to Yutaka by both the deal and his tragic and unreturned love for Yutaka that exists outside of the sexual sphere.

The plot is surprisingly moving. Anyone who has ever been in the position of lusting after someone with full knowledge of its impossibility can certainly empathize with Yutaka's dilemma throughout the novel, and anyone who has found themselves bound to another by sheer devotion despite the coldness of that person can identify with Tohno's later situation. The work is, in fact, swarming with emotional turmoil that is very well done and rarely pulled off in yaoi. Such sincere emotion is a true treat here.

The characters are by necessity deep and developed to the point where one can easily sympathize with both central characters. They greatly bolster the plot and make a moving tale out of what otherwise might have gone unnoticed despite the beautiful way this star-crossed love plot is carried out. Yutaka is pitiable in his helplessness, but in the later years of the relationship he is seen in a light that is both flattering and hateful, making readers see the two-sided love-hate feeling that Tohno is bound by. Tohno himself is a very likeable character, and one must sympathize with the luckless life he has lived and continues to live. At the same time, the reader mourns for his forced choice to live with Yutaka when he might have made a free life for himself on his own, regardless of financial problems.

The sex is barely mentionable. With all the conflict between the characters, there really isn't much appetite for it in the first place, and though Yutaka is obsessed with the idea of sex itself, the tortured aspect of their relationship is such that the sex is actually depressing. Taken apart from the plot, it is initially yawn-worthy, and adding in the desolate mood of the story it becomes just sad.

In conclusion, a 24/30.

Recommendation: if you're dealing with any of these situations and long to find characters you can identify with, this is for you! However, if you're looking for a more cheerful read, or a yaoi with steamier sex scenes, you should keep looking.