“Nagai and Honda have been a (mostly) happy couple for an entire year. In fact, they’ve dealt with teasing in-laws, competitive gift-giving… and even an exhausting hunt for their own apartment! Bust just when everything seems too perfect to be true, sweet and sneaky Saitou pops up to cause a little broken-hearted mayhem. Will this face from the past succeed in tearing Nagai and Honda apart for good?

Close the Last Door teases and tempts with the story of a love triangle that refuses to topple! Nagai, Honda and Saitou love to push one another’s buttons in and out of the bedroom. But can these bold men bear the strain of secret meetings, business trips and non-stop flirtations? It’ll take a little flexibility and a lot of hard work if this threesome is going to keep everyone happy!”

Plot/Readability:

Close the Last Door Volume 2 continues the love triangle started in volume 1 between Honda, Nagai and Saitou except this time it comes to a head and decisions have to be made. In volume 1, Saitou’s actions come off as very innocent whereas in this volume his intentions and desires become clear. As our couple Honda and Nagai go through many relationship ‘firsts’ (holidays and living together), Saitou starts to wedge himself further between them causing much friction. Honda grows more and more insecure when it comes to Saitou, and Nagai is pulled between his love for Honda and his friendship and longtime crush on Saitou.

We are introduced to Honda’s (Kenzou’s) brothers Shouichi and Shunji in this volume (although Sensei swears we met them in volume 1, it was actually in Open the Door to Your Heart, which was published just prior to this one where Nagai meets Honda’s two brothers). Although they are a pretty good part of this story, don’t feel like you have to have read Open the Door to Your Heart first. You can easily read this volume and then go read their complete story in Open the Door to Your Heart and it will still make sense. For me it actually made more sense this way.

If I have one complaint about Close the Last Door Volume 2 is that it seems very disjointed. The individual acts are really individual stories and although they do push the story of the relationship further, they just don’t seem to flow as well as volume 1 did. That being said, if you are a big fan of the OVA and want to know the outcome, you’ll be very happy to read this. I know after I watched the OVA I was left feeling desperate to know more and volume 2 filled that need.

Character Development:

The three main characters develop nicely in this volume. Although Nagai is competitive and very much his own man, you can see how deep his feelings have become for Honda. Saitou also develops more into his little devil role and some of his actions I think will surprise you. Honda tries to be the cool, collected seme but his insecurities about Saitou show a lot more.

Sexual Content:

There is good sexual content in this volume with most of the longer scenes happen towards the end. I found I enjoyed the sexual content in volume 1 more than this volume although I wouldn’t say there is anything wrong with this volume. If anything, Nagai becomes a much more willing partner and experiments more.

Illustrations:

As with volume 1 and most of her works, Yugi Yamada’s strength is more in how she shows her characters expressing themselves than in the detail of the illustrations themselves. They are still rather simple but I still enjoy her style and you won’t confuse her characters with any other mangaka’s.

Final Thoughts:

I was a little disappointed in the flow of this volume or lack thereof and the fact that DMP decided to go with the smaller size when they had already published volume 1 in the larger size. That being said, I am very happy with the story itself and it has filled the void from the lack of a 2nd OVA. If you have volume 1 already, you’ll definitely want to pick up volume 2.

Plot/Readability: B+
Character Development: A-
Sexual Content: B+
Illustrations: B

Overall Grade: B+

“Nagai is just your typical office guy… except that he’s had a secret crush on his coworker Saitou for ages. But with Saitou’s massive wedding just around the corner, Nagai realizes that it’s finally time to retire his illicit desire for the adorable young man. However, sly Honda has a few teasing tricks up his own sleeve… and once the beer starts flowing, there’s no telling where the night will end! Is this love triangle destined to tumble, or will it evolve into the most tantalizing tryst ever?

In the buttoned-up world of business, you have to find a few ways to let off steam! The men of Close the Last Door! are definitely open to a range of relaxing options… as long as a few drinks, wandering hands and rumpled sheets are involved. It’s all flirtatious fun and games until someone gets their feelings hurt. Who will play the game to win, and who will crack under the pressure of passion?”

Plot/Readability:

This is a classic ‘gay for you’ story as not one of our characters in this love triangle is gay. It’s mentioned more than once that they are men, they don’t like other men, they just like who they like. It also takes A LOT of beer for the action to happen throughout. That being said, there really is a great story here and this has been one of my all time favorites.

To further clarify the above synopsis, our three main characters are Nagai, Saitou and Honda. Nagai is indeed in love with his coworker Saitou, but they have in fact known each other since college. Saitou is now getting married to his fiancée Remi, who happens to be Honda’s coworker and former love interest. It’s at the actual wedding that Nagai and Honda meet, each soothing their wounded hearts at the bar. You could say the rest is history, but then you’d be wrong. It wouldn’t be a love triangle without another person and that’s where Saitou comes in, or back in so to speak.

Character Development:

I really love these three characters as each is very different from the other and as the story develops we start to see the layers of their personality peel away. Nagai struggles with his feelings for his best friend yet isn’t so blinded by his love that he isn’t open to Honda’s advances. Honda comes off as the comforting playboy yet he can’t seem to leave Nagai alone. Saitou is initially portrayed as the clueless friend who is not aware of his friend’s feelings but is this really the case? The dynamics between these three as their relationships with each other develop makes this a very interesting story. It is one where you find yourself second guessing just who should wind up with whom.

Sexual Content:

The sexual content is varied including kissing, mutual masturbation, oral sex and one full sex scene. There isn’t tremendous detail and the scenes are not long but there’s something about how Yugi Yamada paces them that makes them so nice. I love how she will devote eight panels to one kiss alone. There’s something so sensual in a well drawn kiss that will make me forgive a title for not being overly explicit.

Illustrations:

Yugi Yamada is not an extremely detailed mangaka from the works I’ve seen. Her illustrations are not very detailed or refined and they tend to be rather simplistic. I think where she excels in this particular story is in the pacing of her panels as well as the humorous facial expressions she uses. Without them, this would not have been nearly as funny as it actually is.

Also, Yugi Yamada has a very distinct style so once you’ve seen one of her works, it is very easy to recognize her other works and that is something I really appreciate.

Final Thoughts:

I’ve had my copy of Close the Last Door! for a few years and I would definitely consider it a boys’ love classic. The chemistry between the three points of this love triangle makes this story worth a read in my book.

Plot/Readability: A-
Character Development: A-
Sexual Content: B+
Illustrations: B

Overall Grade: B+