The Yaoi Review » Artists/Authors/Musicians

YAOI NEWS: Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi S2 Airs October!

Jennifer LeBlanc AKA Asami's Girl — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 10:11:19 +0000

A couple days ago ANN confirmed that the second season of Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi has been green lit and now the Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi LiveJournal Community has posted an image of the below ad confirming season two is to start airing this October. However, at the time of this post the website for the series had not been updated to confirm this information.

It appears Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi is following in the same footsteps as Junjo Romantica, which had a very similar airing schedule and time between seasons. If you are unfamiliar with Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi, season one aired in Japan in April of this year and was simulcast by Crunchyroll. You can catch the entire season one on Crunchyroll here.

If anyone wants to provide a complete English translation, feel free to post it below in comments and I will add it to this post with proper credit.

Thanks to @thisfangirlsays for pointing out the Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi LiveJournal Community where this was posted, and to @MagicalEmi for confirming the translation!

~Jennifer LeBlanc

YAOI AMV: The Man of Tango by Tetuzoh Okadaya

Jennifer LeBlanc AKA Asami's Girl — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 07:24:31 +0000

~Jennifer LeBlanc

YAOI REVIEW: No One Loves Me ~ Yugi Yamada

Jennifer LeBlanc AKA Asami's Girl — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 09:20:01 +0000

No One Loves Me ~ Yugi Yamada

Juné Manga ~ 306 Pages

Japanese Pub Date ~ ’07 / English Pub Date ~ 11/10

Book Size ~ 5 1/8 x 7 3/16

Quick Synopsis:

“Katsuhiro keeps to himself and doesn’t show much of an interest in others. In fact, he’s perfectly happy to spend each and every day buried in the stacks of his used bookstore! But when Masafumi – an old face from his college days – shows up with a translation job too good to ignore, will these two total opposites end up reconnecting and finding a common language… of the heart?

No One Loves Me takes a bookworm and a go-getter on a ride through the crazy ups and downs of a high-stakes publishing job… and a once-in-a-lifetime shot at love! Katsuhiro knows that he has to let down his guard if he ever hopes to show the energetic and domineering Masafumi how he truly feels. But can these two “friendly rivals” find a way to write a happy ending to their non-traditional romance?”

Plot/Readability:

The two main characters in this story are Katsuhiro Kusaka, a used bookstore owner, and Masafumi Iijima, a salesman from a publishing company. Although the book synopsis calls these two “friendly rivals”, I don’t really think that applies. Katsuhiro since childhood has always been quiet, a bit quirky and straight to the point and unfortunately those around him including his family misunderstand this as being aloof and cold. I think it’s this personality trait that ends up making him an unintentional ladies man and that’s really where the only rivalry between he and Masafumi exists (and it’s not a rivalry Katsuhiro even wanted to begin with). Katsuhiro knows how his personality is perceived and really struggles with how to fix this and even Masafumi has his own struggles with how to interact with Katsuhiro. It’s through these struggles that some of the best dialogue in this book shines through.

Katsuhiro:

“Do you have to say ‘yes’ when someone confesses to you? Do you have to hold them?”

“There are some things you can’t change even if you do know.”

Masafumi:

“Of course I thought about the fact that we’re both guys. The old me would have only focused on the fact that I’m attracted to Katsuhiro. But now, I think I may have been treating him like a woman this whole time. I may have been trying to feel secure by placing under my protective care a guy who’s probably more masculine that anyone I know.”

In addition to the great dialogue is a great story. It’s different and detailed, and I really enjoyed how much Yugi Yamada delved into the background. It’s not your typical ‘working at a publishing company’ type story. We see Katsuhiro’s love of books through the time spent with his grandfather and how he feels about his own books and bookstore. I really got into his translating of the Czech books and even felt like I would love to read one of them when he was through!

Character Development:

One thing I really enjoy about Yugi Yamada’s characters is how different they are from each other and the various quirks she gives them. Somehow they seem more real to me. Katsuhiro has a depth that doesn’t come from the same old sad stories we always hear, like parents dying when he was young and having to raise his siblings on his own. Katsuhiro has a family just like everyone else and his personality stems from having to grow up with them, flaws and all; no tragic past, just family that doesn’t always mesh. When his uncle was introduced into the story, what he does to Katsuhiro made my heart sink but you know what? That’s how families are sometimes and that was real to me.

Masafumi on the other hand is a bit of a hot head, but he’s got a soft spot for Katsuhiro. I really like that Yugi Yamada didn’t emphasize the ‘but we’re GUYS!’ element in this story. Masafumi falls for Katsuhiro and it really felt natural to me. I could believe in their love story and that was nice.

As a bonus, we also have an additional couple that is part of this story although a smaller part. Both couples interact with each other and the way they all come together is smooth and makes sense. I never felt that any particular part of the storyline was rushed, but at 306 pages there was certainly room enough to explore the storyline as well as the characters!

Sexual Content:

There’s a decent amount of sexual content and at times it is explicit although not incredibly detailed. The sex scenes were very sensual and natural. One benefit to this book is that it covers two different couples so we get sex scenes covering both. Here’s a glimpse of what you can expect:

Illustrations:

Although No One Loves Me is one of Yugi Yamada’s more recent works, having just reviewed three others I really don’t see much of a change in her illustrating style. I still like her ability to vary the characters’ looks enough that you don’t feel you’re getting the same characters over and over (although there are a few similarities from time to time). Yugi Yamada is good at illustrating humor however this title isn’t one of her better examples. Overall her illustrating is still rather simple, but I don’t find it overly detracts from the story. She still does an excellent job making sure the characters’ feelings come through in their facial expressions and that really makes a difference.

Final Thoughts:

No One Loves Me excels in two areas, excellent storytelling and overall length (306 pages!). This one is going down as one of my favorites of Yugi Yamada and I look forward to reading it again.

Plot/Readability: A

Character Development: A

Sexual Content: B+

Illustrations: B

Overall Grade: A-

Where to buy:

Book Depository does not have any copies. Rightstuf shows as a preorder item for some reason.

Other reviewed works by Yugi Yamada:

Close the Last Door! Volume 1

Close the Last Door! Volume 2

Open the Door to Your Heart

YAOI AMV: Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi

Jennifer LeBlanc AKA Asami's Girl — Fri, 27 May 2011 07:01:05 +0000

Awww… so sweet yet so sad. Haven't started watching Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi yet? You can watch it over at Crunchyroll where they have 7 episodes already available with episode 8 being available later today for premium members.

~Jennifer LeBlanc

YAOI ANIME: Encore Presentation of Junjo Romantica S2!

Jennifer LeBlanc AKA Asami's Girl — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 23:26:23 +0000

Rightstuf and Nozomi Entertainment are doing an encore presentation of season 2 of Junjo Romantica! Episodes 1 through 4 are available now on their YouTube channel for the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. An additional two episodes will be available each week thereafter until episode 12. Keep in mind that these episodes are available for a limited time so go watch them now.

If you have yet to pick up your copy of Junjo Romantica, you can find season 1 here and season 2 up for preorder here (psst… I preordered my season 2 through Rightstuf and I already have it!).

Here's the season 2 trailer to get you in the mood!

~Jennifer LeBlanc

YAOI ANIME: Junjo Romantica S2 Release Delayed

Jennifer LeBlanc AKA Asami's Girl — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 01:24:16 +0000

If you preordered Junjo Romantica Season 2 and noticed it hasn't shipped yet that's because the release date has been pushed back from March 11th to May 3rd. I'm not sure why, I just happened to notice it today when I looked on RightStuf and then cross-checked on Amazon.

That being said, I did notice RightStuf is selling it for $29.99 and Amazon for $33.99 (equals the same w/RightStuf's shipping cost and Amazon's free shipping) so why not preorder it now while it's at a great price and before you forget!

~Jennifer LeBlanc

YAOI NEWS: Classic Bronze gets Side Story

Jennifer LeBlanc AKA Asami's Girl — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 05:22:01 +0000

Today we're going 'old school'! Anime News Network reported that Minami Ozaki would be launching Bronze: Zetsuai Gaidan Kaendan-Sho-Tenshi Kotan-, a side story to Bronze: Zetsuai since 1989, which was the sequel to Zetsuai 1989. Confused? I don't blame you. Here's a breakdown of each:

Picture Source

Zetsuai 1989

5 Volumes
Ran from 1990 to 1991
1 OVA
Published in Shueisha's Margaret magazine
Licensed in German, French, Italian, Korean and Spanish but not in English.

Picture Source

Bronze: Zetsuai since 1989

14 Volumes
Sequel to Zesuai 1989
Ran from 1992 to 2006
1 OVA
Published in Shueisha's Margaret magazine

Picture Source

Bronze: Zetsuai Gaidan Kaendan-Sho -Tenshi Kotan-

80 page, 2-part side story to Bronze: Zetsuai since 1989
Launching 1/28/11
March issue of Shueisha 's Chorus magazine

~Jennifer LeBlanc

Article Sources: Anime News Network, Comic Natalie, Wikipedia

YAOI MANGA REVIEW: Idol Pleasures

Jennifer LeBlanc AKA Asami's Girl — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 19:01:57 +0000

Idol Pleasures – Fuhri Misasagi – Manga Review

Idol Pleasures is about Koju Yagihashi, the idol of this story, and Hisaya Amagi, his new manager. Hisaya is a divorced father of one whose sister owns the company that manages Koju. Finding it hard to set up her unemployed brother, she decides to temporarily employ him as Koju’s new manager. Koju is known to be very cool and has had issues with other managers. Surprisingly he hits it off well with Hisaya, a little too well. Hisaya mistakes Koju’s feelings to simply be those of a boy looking for a father figure and not a lover but Koju vehemently denies that. Not wanting to deal with the situation, Hisaya rejects him anyway.

I found the plot on this one to be rather lackluster. I can certainly see why Koju may have developed feelings for Hisaya but for them to be full blown love is a little far fetched. Also, the details of the story are pretty weak. We never really find out just what kind of idol Koju is. He has a lot of photos taken, he acts a bit and then puts out a CD. Even the mangaka points out the lack of clarity here.

The illustrations were acceptable but nothing special. The translation seemed alright but there was one spot where I got confused as to who was saying what because it didn’t seem quite right. As far as sexual content, it’s pretty non-existent. This is definitely not an explicit title and even the little bit of kissing there is isn’t drawn that well. I can deal with a non-explicit title if the kissing scenes are well drawn. There was also such a build up in the story that I felt there could have been at least one good sex scene as a payoff but no such luck.

The only selling point to this story is that there is some pretty good humor in it and I do like having an older man as part of the couple. Outside of that, it’s not one I would tell anyone to run off and buy.

Plot = B-

Characters = B

Illustrations = B

Sexual Content = B-

Translation = B+

Overall Grade = B

Buy Now!

YAOI MANGA REVIEW: Seduce Me After The Show

Jennifer LeBlanc AKA Asami's Girl — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:46:43 +0000

I’ll be honest; I hemmed and hawed when it came to this title. At first I was all gung-ho but upon finding out there wasn’t a lot of graphic sex, I decided to pass. Then I started to hear some good things about it and started to reconsider. Obviously, I changed my mind, hence my review.

This book surprised me in a lot of ways. The stories are different… way different from your typical yaoi. If I had to sum up this book in a few words it would be that it is a grown up version of boys’ love. The stories are mature, the writing minimalistic and what isn’t said is where the story is really at. The author’s illustrations are drawn in what I would call a spontaneous sketchy way that works for her characters and allows them to emote in a way very seldom seen. There are seven stories or chapters in this volume but some are with the same characters so there are really five distinct stories. I won’t go into detail about each since they are pretty short but to give you an idea of the types of characters included, they range from an actor/dancer couple, a painter and gallery owner, fellow rock musicians and a set of twins. Not all of the stories are actually boys’ love. The twins story is very interesting and different but I don’t feel their feelings towards one another are anything beyond two siblings alone in the world. Plus, there is a twist to that story so I recommend rereading it once you finished as it makes more sense once you’ve read the ending.

As I said earlier, the stories and couples are different from your traditional BL fare. The author doesn’t shy away from reality when designing her characters or the real situations they could face in life. The emotions are real and as a reader, it is nice to feel them along side the character. The book cover is boldly done in red, black and white and fits with the inside illustrations, which are also boldly done with minimal use of mid-tones. As far as sex is concerned, there is only one sex scene but it was well done and fit in nicely with the story and the characters. Translation was good and the speech bubbles were clear and easy to follow. If you’re hesitant to grab this title but have access to physical copies at your local book store, grab it and take a flip through. It’s not often we get something so original that is also interesting at the same time (even without the sex).

Character Design = A+ (for originality & emotion)

Plot = A-

Book Design/Illustrations = A- (different but it works)

Sex = B+ (minimal but nice)

Translation = A

Overall Grade = A-

Buy Now!