Review 15: Love Life

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

I stumbled onto this one thinking it would be a typical 'guy-next-door' type deal, and I was right. Our main character is Satoru, a comically useless guy who has moved into his first apartment (room). His neighbor is Izumi, a member of a small-time acting troup as well as a competent adult and role model. Satoru's consistent failure to take care of himself allows Izumi to end up fixing things all the time, with the result that they soon forge a tentative bond of friendship.
After a while, an old friend of Izumi's shows up and gets Satoru jealous, especially when the acting troupe has a gay scene that involves Izumi and his friend, and Satoru walks in on them 'practicing'. Needless to say, Izumi and Satoru's relationship is filled with tension due to various reasons - Satoru's fear that he won't be able to be successful as an independent person, Izumi's confusion over what to make of Satoru's situation, and of course, Satoru's fear over his budding feelings for Izumi.

The art is pretty standard for yaoi, reminiscent of many June publications ('From Up Above', 'Love Recipe', and 'Rin' to name a few). It is pleasing to the eye, and the chibi characters are particularly amusing.

The plot isn't exactly original - the whole 'neighbor at the boarding house' thing is way overused in manga in general - but the actual dialogue can be rewardingly deep at times, such as when Satoru finally breaks down and tells Izumi how pathetic he feels, revealing his aimlessness in life and his desire to have a purpose.

The characters are really the only part that makes this worth reading. Despite Satoru being the overdone can't-take-care-of-himself, too-cute-to-function little uke, he has more to him than most of those stereotypes. His depressing past, his future ("like a blank paper"), and his very realistic fear of becoming attached to Izumi all make him far more likable than I had expected. He is a character who is remarkably easy to sympathize with, in fact.
Izumi is also more complex than I had expected. At first he appears to be aloof and just a tiny bit sadistic ("Let's see how long you last here."), but by the third chapter he evolves into a doting caretaker, and in the second volume he really shows how much he worries about Satoru. His natural charisma as an actor, his simple ways of taking care of Satoru, and his frustration with trying to understand Satoru all add up to Izumi's complicated character.

The sex is almost non-existent. The sexual tension is nice in a few scenes, but not particularly lust-filled. It is a sacrifice of explicit sex for added realism and emotion. The story focuses much, much more on feelings and situations than on physical satisfaction.

And this gets a 31/40. Not that bad considering the lack of sex and the standard art.

Recommendation: Read this if you're longing for a slower, realistic romance that could (almost) occur in real life. If you're looking for some steamy scenes, however, check out something else (like 'I Want to be Naughty').