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...?

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