Its been a year since the first volume was released! It doesn’t feel all too long ago that I fell in love with the series. I ended up devouring the volume all too fast and now it’s back to the waiting game.
The second volume of Ookami wa Hana no Kaori brings drama, pain, happiness, and more pain. It’s a series that, underneath Aruta’s innocence and happiness, is a turbulent story filled with deep sadness; a story about two people of different status who are equally powerless against long-standing traditions.
Someone tried an experiment where, beginning with BL manga, they followed Amazon recs until they reached a rice cooker. They list their reasoning for each step which is p hilarious.
Here’s how you can play along:
Pick a BL to begin with
Look at the “Customers who bought this item also bought” list and choose the item you think will bring you closer to a rice cooker
I spent 20 minutes trying to refind this link so I’m just gonna dump it on this blog so I don’t lose it again. Just a list of BL that have nice cover designs.
Oops, I’ve been a bit lazy with posting. Some notable stuff I’ve read in the last.. two months?
Yoru to Asa no Uta - Harada
For some reason I thought this was an on-going series so I put off reading it for quite some time, but when I reached the end of the volume I was greeted with “END”?! Anyway, I love Harada but this title just didn’t quite hit the right notes for me. I seriously can’t get over how garbage Asaichi is. Like, everything about him is pure garbage. Yoru, your taste is SHIT.
The thing with Harada’s longer works, I find, is that they the long route in addressing topics and there’s more room to see different sides of the character - that may mean you’ll love them more or hate them more. In comparison, her shorter works are blunt and to the point that the characters are trash. The longer it goes, the more time you have to try to find a redeeming point - only there is none for Asaichi. Yoru, on the other hand, I loved more and more. I find it amusing that Harada finds it necessary to write a continuation of Asaichi getting brutally violated. Never change, Harada.
Color Recipe volume one - Harada
A BL about hairstylists! While it's not a top favourite from Harada, I did enjoy it for the most part and I’m looking forward to the next volume. It’s a curious work as it’s full of untrustworthy characters so you’re not sure whether to take their word as truth. There’s a lot of things I’m waiting to be resolved and I’m not really sure where Harada will take it so I’m holding off on commenting. I’m also looking forward to the drama CD a lot (I can’t wait to hear Kihara to get wrecked).
Kajou Mousou Shounen volume one - Pii
What you see in the cover and title is pretty much what you get - It hit all the right buttons and I enjoyed it thoroughly (laughs..). It’s probably my favourite BL I’ve read of late but certainly your mileage will vary. Since it delivered everything I wanted I’m honestly a bit nervous to read the second volume.
Yarachin Bitch-bu volume one - Ogeretsu Tanaka
Ogeretsu Tanaka seems to be a really hot name lately. Admittedly, I haven’t read a lot of their stuff, only Sabita Yoru Demo Koi wa Sasayaku and a few oneshots. If I wasn’t a fan before, I certainly am now. Miles away from the emotional Sabita Yoru Demo Koi wa Sasayaku about abuse, Yarachin Bitch-bu is pure crack. Everything seems ridiculous, yet we can see there is something deeper to these characters than meets the eye.
I remember I used to do weekly posts about BL I read throughout the week; I don’t read as much to make it a weekly thing again, but I hope to do it now and then since the only time I post is when there’s something I really enjoy. Here are some titles I read in January!
Dear, Crazy Monster - Motteke
I’ve had this on my to-read list for a while now because !! yandere! BL!! I’m not a fan of the seme that gets jealous at the very sight of someone else breathing the same air as their lover, because that immaturity is suppose to be romantic, but when the possessiveness is obviously deranged it’s really something to take twisted pleasure in. It’s always curious to see how far an author will push the yandere trope; from the cover and title I was expecting something crazy and, boy, was it a wild ride. The insanity intensifies due to the pairing being two brothers.
Yoru wa Tomodachi - Ido Gihou
A complicated relationship between a guy who takes on the role of a sadist to satisfy a masochist. This book left me feeling pretty complex; I’m not sure if I can say I enjoyed it, but I was enthralled by it to finish it in one day. While I think I understood their complicated relationship in the end, my limited Japanese still has me wondering if I’m missing something. It’s a gripping read in any case.
Yamada to Shounen - Mita Ori
This was ridiculously cute! I really liked how Yamada, as an adult, was actually perceptive to Chihiro’s crush and thoughts. I'm looking forward to reading more of this mangaka’s stuff!
Well, well, well. It’s time for another one of those yearly reflection posts.
I feel like I didn’t read a lot of BL in 2015 - possibly even less than the previous year. My main interest that year fell in mobage and, although most were games with all-male casts, it’s not something I particularly indulged in the fujoshi side of. Anime I didn’t watch a lot of either, so the fujoshi in me just kinda hibernated a bit for most of the year. I wouldn’t say I got bored of BL, I just had other interests overtake it. I noted last year that there have been far and few titles that have made a lasting impression on me the last couple of years. ZAKK’s Canis was my saviour in this drought I was feeling. It relit my interest in BL. I’ve probably read the most BL in the last couple of weeks after I finished Canis than I have the previous year combined. BL is such a vast genre with so many different art styles, I’m quite happy to sink back into it.
2015 felt like the year of Harada. While I was already a big fan of her in 2014, having read Yatamomo and Hen-ai, she seemed to finally be getting recognition from the West and had works fan translated. I bought the ebooks of Suki na Hito Hodo and Yajirushi; Suki na Hito Hodo felt a bit weak but wasn’t bad, while Yajirushi was a delightful collection of twisted oneshots. I’m really happy to see the Hen-ai couple once again - they’re my favourite Harada couple.
The one Harada work that stood out the most, however, was the oneshot Pierce Hole. It was a change of pace from the usual Harada, very sensual in tone. Generally, Harada has two types of works; the dark, twisted story with an asshole seme or one on the comedic side, but the one thing they have in common is that they are graphic in sex. The ending seemed like just the “awakening” of the seme’s twisted nature, whereas her usual seme is already deranged it felt really refreshing to see the moment of awakening of the character’s dark desires.
Aside from manga, two of Harada’s works got adapted into drama CDs; Suki na Hito Hodo and Yatamomo. Like I said earlier, Suki na Hito Hodo was one of Harada’s weaker works, and the drama CD seems to dilute it a bit further, dampening down all the sex. Yatamomo, on the other hand, was a pleasant surprise. I wasn’t so sure on Shimono Hiro being casted as Momo but he nailed that role. They cut out the scene of Yata/Momo non-con in first chapter that I thought was a tasteful move on their part.
Riyuma Kana’s Ookami wa Hana no Kaori was the one BL that screamed “read me.” There’s manga that makes you think, “This looks great, I want to read this,” and then there’s stuff you have a burning desire to read no matter what. Determined to read it, I bought the tankoubon, even though I was hesitant if my Japanese was good enough to read it. One of the goals I made last year was to get better at Japanese so I could read raw BL more comfortably, when reading it I really felt like I had improved a lot. With one volume down, I’m looking forward to the next volume. It’s a very cute and innocent series with bitter-sweetness hanging over.
I also gathered the nerve to tweet to the mangaka in Japanese about how much I enjoyed the book and they replied! They were happy to have an overseas fan, haha.
The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window by Yamashita Tomoko was another delightful read. It goes without saying that Yamashita Tomoko is a master of emotions and storytelling. It wasn’t much on the romance front but it has a solid and intriguing plot. I haven’t got to reading the second volume yet but I’ll get to that soon.
Also of note was Yamashita Tomoko celebrating the 10th anniversary of her debut! She writes a number of genres and I’m really glad BL is one of them.
BL game No, Thank You!!! got released early 2015, the first English licensed BL game in many years. I only posted my first impressions, but I did enjoy the game overall. I played Kouichi’s route last which kinda soured my overall impressions, but it was a solid game that stabbed me multiple times in the heart; how the game got so dark and bleak as you go along compared to it’s happy-go-lucky exterior was something that was well-played. I really liked all the routes minus Kouichi’s, it’s really hard to pick a favourite. I can easily pick a favourite sex scene, though - the one where Haru teases Ryu to say stuff against his will, haha I love seeing the level-headed character lose his cool...
Physical BL I got in 2015: Dramatic Days by Sakurai Nanako, Stranger by Kuku Hayate, Ookami wa Hana no Kaori by Riyuma Kana.
2/3 of the books were gifts from Annette - thank you! But I have to confess..... while I was searching my room for Stranger.... I discovered Dramatic Days under a whole bunch of other books.... I forgot I owned it and it’s only half read orz Something to get through in 2016!
I bought more digital titles than physical, which is kinda amusing seeing as how I disliked digital manga a few years back. Digital has its advantages but in the end I still prefer physical.
As for 2016, I’m looking forward to more Harada! There’s just something utterly delightful in how twisted Harada’s works are and I hope she graces us with a lot more in the future. Yatamomo is getting a sequel which is plenty exciting.
Mangakas I’ll be keeping an eye out for are Syundei and Tamekou. I’ve followed both of them as artists on Tumblr for a while and it’s pretty exciting to see them move onto being professionals. Syundei’s Ganbare! Nakamura-kun!! is short but adorable. I look forward to the day they get enough material to release a tankoubon!
Ookami wa Hana no Kaori’s second volume will probably be released later in the year which I’m looking forward to. When that’s released, I’d probably throw the original work Ookami wa Koi ni Naku in my cart as well.
Doukyuusei’s anime movie looks and sounds absolutely gorgeous and I am HYPED. BL anime doesn’t come round that often, let alone decent BL anime, so I’m glad it looks like it’s getting proper treatment.
I expressed in the previous post that Sonna Me de Mite Kure could very well be my favourite BL of the year - and we’re only 8 days in! I really, really enjoyed it, and now everything I read will be up against it for best BL this year.
Anddddd as for buying BL, I have an order for the first three volumes of Canis that I’m eagerly awaiting its arrival.
As for this blog, I guess the goal is to update it a bit more.....
I want to clean up this blog if I ever have the time, but it’s very low in priorities I probably won’t get to it.
Thanks for following even though updates are sporadic!
In the past few years there’s been far and few BL that have really, really impressed me. I’ve read a lot of BL and even if a lot of the plots get recycled, I still love the genre. Still, it feels like most of my favourites are ones from long ago and nothing of late has reached that same level for me. There’s been stuff this year I enjoyed - a lot - but they weren't on the same level that I would rank into my favourites. Thus comes the Canis series by ZAKK.
I had actually read the first volume of Canis a year or so ago but I didn’t follow the releases since I don’t like reading on-going stuff. I made the exception for Canis since the art looked gorgeous, but I left it at volume one and forgot about it. Skip forward a year and I’m rereading the first volume again, as well as the following two volumes.
The romance in Canis is a slow moving one; they grow and learn together, try to figure out their true feelings, they’re very human characters in respect to their flaws and insecurities. Although slow, it’s very, very much worth it in the end. Seeing them together in the end is just so rewarding after three volumes.
What really sticks out about Canis is that ZAKK makes the most out of her character’s occupations - one is a hat maker while the other is ...well, himself. A hat maker in itself is a rare find in BL. But it’s not just the character having this job, it’s the fact that it’s utilized to play a role in the story. More often than not you can have a story about a doctor without going anywhere near any patients or health issues. Satoru’s life as a hat maker is fascinating, especially when it gets connected with his and Ryou’s relationship; he moves forward as a hat maker, as well as progressing in a romantic relationship - the two go hand and hand. It’s also nice that the hat shop side characters feel relevant and are likeable.
And I can’t not mention how gorgeous ZAKK’s art is. It’s honestly breathtaking. Her characters are all beautifully designed and fashionable. I’m taken by the way she draws Satoru’s wavy hair, but it’s the eyes that really draws me in. Her deformed character style is also quirky but charming in their own way. There’s just a lot of life to her drawings and I’m really hoping I’d be able to see more when I get a copy in my hands.
The Canis series doesn’t end at three volumes - the next volume seems to focus on a set of side characters, but it certainly ends on a very satisfying note for Satoru and Ryou. Even if later volumes don’t get back to them I am very satisfied with what we were given thus far. I’ll be waiting for the volumes to stack up before I dive into later volumes but I’m looking forward to them very, very much.
Now and then there‘s a manga that you see and you have a burning desire to read no matter what; Ookami wa Hana no Kaori is that manga for me. It’s a spin-off of the mangaka’s earlier work, Ookami wa Koi ni Naku, which I haven’t actually read. I discovered the book through a collaboration with Saibai Shounen, an app about growing ikemen mandrakes (lol), and it peaked my interest so much I had to buy the manga.
The story begins with Iru, a young man in the military, discovering a malnourished and scar-covered boy from the “White Deer” clan in a cave. Not knowing speech, Iru gives the boy the name “Aruta,” (using the kanji for gold colour) for his striking gold eyes. Iru takes Aruta back to the capital in hopes that he will be happy in the royal palace; it has been a long tradition that those in the White Deer clan marry a royal of the “Wolves” clan. Aruta has grown far too attached to Iru by this point, however, and thus turmoil looms between these two people of different social statuses.
I haven’t been reading much BL lately (which is why this blog updates infrequently), but here’s books on my current reading list:
Yajirushi and Suki na Hito Hido by Harada
I’ve read two of the stories in Yajirushi and they’re what you’d expect of Harada - very messed up. The two books are a lot more censored than Harada’s first two books.. the dicks are just white blobs now...
Yasashii Epilogue by Mochimeko
I bought this a while back but I’m rereading it since my Japanese has somewhat improved since. Currently two chapters in and definitely getting a lot more out of it than the first time I read it. Mochimeko’s art is still adorable.
Stranger by Kuku Hayate
The Wild West! My friend Annette sent me a copy of this earlier this year but I’ve been guilty of just leaving it collect dust because I’ve been too lazy to attempt this with my crappy Japanese. I’ll have to get on it once I’m done with the above.
Just some thoughts about 2014, the new year and the future of this blog.
My interest in BL has been kind of all over the place the past year. I've been reading BL manga but I guess most of my fujoshi interests has been on shows like Free! or Yowapedal. I think when you read a certain amount of BL, a lot of the newer stuff you read doesn't have the same impact. I've been searching for something that I would impress me and could sit next to my favourites (since many of my favourite titles are stuff that have stuck with me from early on) but I realised that there were few titles I read throughout the year that I'd call memorable, must less place within my favourites. A lot of the newer big mangakas (Hayakawa Nojiko, Hideyoshico etc) who've been gaining a lot of popularity in the past years, that, while I enjoy their stuff for the most part, they're not really memorable.
I decided to change which titles I pick up, leaving on-going titles untouched until a certain amount of chapters piles up or it's complete. More often than not the gap between chapters is long and often I need to reread previous chapters each time it's updated. That means I'm probably not going to be up-to-date with a lot of the new hype but I guess I don't mind. I have a long, long list of titles I should be going through anyway.
There was one artist that really impressed me this year: Harada.
I came across an announcement for a drama CD of Yatamomo and the cover of the manga (above) caught my eye. I looked around and it seemed none of Harada's stuff has made it in English yet. I managed to find a preview for her other book, Hen-ai, and, boooooy, was I intrigued. There was a single chapter of Hen-ai scanned online but it was heavily censored (which I think would be because it was the magazine version) and there was a very LQ scan of Yatamomo. I grabbed Japanese eBooks for the first time -- I learned through the raws that Harada's stuff is definitely stuff you wouldn't want to be caught with! Harada's stuff, in simple terms, is twisted; twisted love, twisted characters, twisted hearts. It's heavy in sex - hardcore and erotic. There's more to her characters than what's shown on the surface; they're idiots, liars, perverts, terrible people, who are in love -obsessed- with one another. I haven't properly read the interview with Harada in Bijutsu Techo, and I'm not sure how much of it I can even make out, but it's quoted that they find it interesting when there's a 'gap'. Like in Yatamomo there's a gap between the dark pasts of the characters and how they aimed to look at the brighter things. I've been meaning to write about Harada so I might make a brief review of their two books later if I find time (and I need an excuse to post caps from her stuff because she draws such good sleazy looking guys). She has a new book that was just released last month and has another one this coming February! She has something running in Qpa currently that I'm eager waiting the tankobon for.
If I had to pinpoint a single BL title that I really made an impression on me this year it would have to be BL novel In the Box by Konohara Narise. It was quite the distressing read and I think there's a part of me that's still recovering from it, haha. I haven't got to reading Konohara's Of Beauty yet but that's definitely on my list for this year.
Tagura Tohru's Dear Brother was a powerful title I read earlier in the year. It's a charming, melancholic little piece dealing with the topic of incest. It closes with an ending that leaves you longing for more, yet you know it stopped at the right place.
I think this was a year where I became more interested in darker themes, though the stories may not necessarily be dark itself. An interest in relationships in the more unhealthy area, I guess. Stalkers, yanderes, yakuza, liars, sadists, stuff that are just not quite right or are a lot different underneath. Abnormal is perhaps the word. The Yandere Heaven series released its last drama CD and I think that reignited my interest in yandere BL again. There's not a lot of BL manga with yanderes which is greatly disappointing, since the Yandere Heaven series showed that yandere BL is top comedy. Dayoo's Young Bad Education had yanderes and, though it wasn't on the extreme end like in Yandere Heaven, it was an enjoyable read. In the Box, as I've said many times before, really left an impression on me for its relationship that shouldn't work, but did. All of Harada's stuff delightfully fits into the abnormal relationships category. I adore Guilt|Pleasure's rough and violent works, specifically In These Words. Yamamoto Ataru's Nise x Koi Boyfriend was a collection of stories about deceptive love that entertained me a lot. I guess what I was craving was something different, something that isn't standard paper cut-out relationships.
I've been spending the last couple of months rereading the BL manga I own. I'm trying to clear up space on my bookshelf and although the books on my shelf are the ones who have made it through my previous cuts, it was time to be a bit more critical. Some books that I previously gushed about fell a bit flat on the reread; About Love, Minazuki Akira's This Night's Everything, Maki Ebishi's I Give To You. But there were some books that drew me in a second time; Seven Days, Lies are a Gentleman's Manners, Samejima-kun and Sasahara-kun. It's a bit hard trying to part with works I previously loved but not feel the same magic on the reread - would I perhaps rediscover that magic in a later reread? That's the terrible hoarder inside me trying to reason with keeping everything. I'm still going through my collection but what's left is mostly stuff I know I won't sell (est em, Yamashita Tomoko titles) and then some raw titles.
As for 2015, I'm really looking forward to BLVN No, Thank You!!! being released. I haven't cleared the demo all the way through but all I have left is the sex scenes, which doesn't really interest me to go through since there's no context. My impression so far is just: wow, I love Haru's narration, wow, there's so many settings, wow, Hiroyuki looks good with his hair back, wow. I'm super hyped for it! I really hope it's a title people will support because it'll show there's actually a market for BL games in the west. NTY!!! is definitely a big step up from the previous two English BL games where non-con was a big theme. Also, if NTY!!! is a best seller then we can gloat at the whiny guys crying that their hentai game company decided to expand and cater to females :D
Another thing I'm excited for is Guilt|Pleasure releasing their own volumes of In These Words. I've been buying ebook versions since buying the individual hardcopies is a bit pricey shipping to NZ, but I'm willing to shell out my whole wallet for these editions. They said it'll probably go on order at the end of January so soon!
For a personal 2015 goal, I want to get better at Japanese, which is directly linked to being able to read more raw BL, haha. This week I picked up a title I bought two or so years ago when I could barely make out any Japanese; rereading it now, I was able to get the gist of the plot without having to check a dictionary for kanji. I still need to check a dictionary for the most part, but it feels good to be able to understand the basic plot without any help. The first half of Young Bad Education was the quickest I read a raw manga without skimming so it feels like I'm managing to pick up the pace somewhat. As of right now the exchange rate with the yen is pretty high so I'm thinking about making an order for new manga, but I'm quite behind on new manga releases so I gotta think on that a bit.
Below is just some thoughts on this blog itself which is probably super boring but I need to get it out:
If you've been following for a while you may have noticed that this blog has been getting more and more inactive, though in recent months it's been the busiest its been in a while.
Yet, despite only posting once or a few times a month, I'd still gain a fair amount of followers every month. I'm not sure what they're following for since there's probably hundreds of other blogs like mine that are far more active. Though, I guess I'm not even sure why people followed me back when I was fairly active, either! And then there are people nice enough to put this blog on their Follow Forever lists which just leaves me really flattered. Thanks very much for sticking with me! ;__;
When I think about this blog I have to cringe a lot. It started as just a place to post dirty BL caps since I wanted to keep my main blog sfw, but then I started posting nonsense reviews and a bunch of other BL related things outside manga. This blog led me to meet a lot of great people and the opportunity to fangirl over our favourite BL and mangakas. The blog today has somewhat got some of its life back in the last months of 2014.
Nowadays whenever I see a BL manga cap of a sex scene on my dash it's completely uninteresting to me; there's no context, more often than not there's no mention of the mangaka or title -- it's simply sex. I guess, in a way, that view is reflective of how I read BL; as long as there are feelings between the two persons (whether they are good or bad feelings) it doesn't matter how smutty it is, but if it's the other way round then it just doesn't do it for me. I get nothing from a out-of-context screencap of two guys screwing and boils down a manga to just sex - it could be a rape scene for all I know.
Which brings me back to the original purpose of this blog: to post lewd caps. It's no longer in my interest to post those kind of caps without any sort of context. I want to fill this blog with art, reviews, news, discussions, stuff that is more than just [sexy cap of two guys screwing]. I guess its been like that for the past year but I want to put more effort into it. It's certainly easier said than done.
I've actually wanted to delete this blog quite a few times for a few reasons in the past years. There was a part of me that, while I did meet nice people, did not like the attention the blog was getting. While it wasn't negative attention (that I'm aware of at least), it still made me uncomfortable. The amount on followers here surpasses my main blog by far. I'm a person who is easily shy and embarrassed, I would rather blend into the background than be a leader, so whenever I make text posts I'm always a bit worried. My grammar is dodgy and my vocabulary isn't very wide but that's what I use blogging as writing practice for. Another reason is because it's Tumblr. I've grown more and more weary of Tumblr that I want to up and leave. People would ask me where to read a certain thing that's licensed and when I say I actually paid for it I'd get replies of "well, can you share it?", "but I want it for free!" and, well, I already had enough of that from the Itoshi no Nekokke days. I have a Wordpress that I shift reviews to but it's not as convenient. For now I mainly use Tumblr to update this blog and another side blog of mine, but I do wish there is another platform to replace. I guess I just need to push aside those nerves and feelings and just blog. I might as well make it a new years resolution to write more (there are so many posts in my drafts..). I also have to update the pages and tags of this blog because they're years old and I've been ultra lazy with tagging....
Anyway, thanks a lot for following, whether you've been here for a while or just recently. It's a boring blog but I'm happy if it manages to be interesting to you somehow.
I was so excited to finally get my hands on this. Ever since seeing the cover and the word '"yandere" advertised all over it, I knew I had to read it. I can only talk about the titular story and its extra right now since I haven't read the second story yet, but I want to talk about it before the year is over!
The story begins with Mizusawa, 17 and third year student, comes across his teacher, Takatsu, 37 years old, drunk and lying on a park bench. There, Takatsu drunkly confesses that he's been looking at Mizusawa since he was a first year and kisses him. More than scared or disgusted, Mizusawa is curious. Takatsu's clumsiness and bashful face draws Mizusawa in, rather than repeals him. But Takatsu doesn't want this; it was supposed to be a secret unrequited love, and starts running away. The pairing is described as "attacking yandere x cold-feet yandere," haha, that pretty much sums it up. I really got a lot of joy at seeing Takatsu slip up, haha. He's really the type of character you want to bully (pls look at the last photo for reference, how can you not want to tease that face a bit?) and I was cheering Mizusawa on to bully him for me /o/
The most eye-catching thing of Dayoo's art is definitely her colour pieces; they're soft but still very striking. Mizusawa's eyes look utterly mesmerising on the cover and Dayoo makes extra emphasis to draw close ups of his eyes throughout the manga. It adds an extra layer of emphasis that Mizusawa is looking ahead, while Takatsu averts his eyes and hides behind his glasses.
While I enjoyed it for the most part, there were a bit that I felt like Dayoo could've expanded on in terms of characterization. Also wished the couple could've filled the whole book! I generally read raw manga at snail pace but I managed to get through the four chapters in two sittings. The second story is titled "Kimi wa itazura na hidane" which features a wanko mail carrier x bad tempered novelist, is Dayoo's debut work, apparently. I'll probably take a bit more with the second story since there's a lack of yanderes, haha.
Colour comic from Kumota Haruko's Itoshi no Nekokke volume 3.
I was browsing eBookJapan and saw they had a preview of the volume I've been meaning to buy a physical copy of. I fell in love with Mii-kun and Kei-chan again!
Here's a translation of the comic at the start of the volume. Please read Itoshi no Nekokke if you haven't!
I finished Konohara Narise's In the Box series in two days flat. Once I started, I couldn't put it down; it was one hell of a rollercoaster ride. It's been a long time since I've read a BL has hit me so hard. I recommend you pick it up if you like your BL a bit twisted.
In the Box spoiler talk under cut!
I actually finished it a week ago but hadn't had time to write anything about it. I found myself rereading the novel because 2 days was simply too little time to meet and say goodbye to these characters.
I chose to pick up this series because it sounded fucked up - nothing involving prison could possibly be a simple, happy, love story, right? I've been in the mood for BL more on the darker side (specifically featuring assholes and yanderes), but In the Box was something else. I wanted something fucked up but I got something more heavier than expected. Generally I can find a bit of humour, even if it's unintentional, in twisted stories. In the Box was so messed up that when I did laugh, I felt guilty.
Kitagawa could've easily fallen into the yandere trope and be nothing but an obsessive stalker, but his background basically shaped his whole character which gave reason to his behaviour - something I don't see a lot of in yandere characters. His childish innocence was cute but incredibly sad at the same time. He was a full grown adult that did went without knowing kindness until Douno came along. Douno became this magnificent existence to him that Kitagawa couldn't -wouldn't- consider replacing.
When I think about it, he had a similar attitude like Noiz from DMMd in that he viewed kindness as transactions and didn't understand people - problems all stemming from their terrible parents.
One of my favourite parts, haha. "Give me three days' worth of praise" - Kitagawa in ultimate puppy mode.
The Fragile Swindler was a change of pace with the perspective from a detective Kitagawa hires. It was really painful to read Kitagawa being swindled out of so much money when all he wanted was to see Douno again. It was heartbreaking to learn he went about desperately searching for Douno for 6 long years, everything he did those years was to find Douno; it was his sole reason to go on living. It's undeniably creepy he kept up with it for so long, but you can't help but pity the guy and wish for his happiness.
The reasoning for Douno's sentence was never fully concluded. I wouldn't had mind if he hadn't brought it up when the policeman asked if he any enemies and he mentioned a woman possibly targeting him. He said he couldn't remember the name of the woman who even pinned him and I thought Konohara was going to go for maximum dramatics and reveal that Mariko was actually that woman hahaha thank god not.
For the last half of Out of the Cage I was holding my breath. It was drama after drama and the longest rollercoaster ride of emotions. I had resigned myself to not getting a happy ending; it didn't seem possible to end happy and I was fully expecting one of them would die. Konohara already killed off a small child, surely there's no stopping her from NTR or killing one of them off, right?!??! Luckily that did not happen and against all odds Konohara managed to give them a happy ending. Just after crushing my heart to pieces, though.
But you know, after all that, Kitagawa and Douno were still an odd couple that just didn't seem to meld together rightfully. Was it still pity on Douno's side? Kitagawa was fully dedicated to Douno, he searched for him for 6 long years, but would Douno ever love Kitagawa the same amount? Could they even last in a relationship?
That's where Konohara Narise decided to run over my already shattered heart in the side stories. The stories are set after the main novel, two of them are timeskips. As unhealthy as their relationship seemed with Kitagawa pushing his feelings onto Douno, they managed to stay together for 20+ years afterwards and be happy. That's all I could've asked for. Douno's reciprocated feelings for Kitagawa were clear and Kitagawa managed to live a normal life - no, perhaps his dream life. A life together with Douno in a big house with a fence around the lawn and a dog.
I haven't came across many stories where they follow a couple from their first meeting to when one of them passes away, but I know it is the most heart crushing thing and I can't believe this freaking novel went there. Seeing Kitagawa and Douno in their old age, still together, brings me so much happiness. But the stories were not so happy; they talked about death, about what would happen if one of them died. Kitagawa still has a bit of his childish innocence when Douno tries to talk to him about it, trying to avoid the subject.
The last side story features the child Mariko from the affair, Nao - certainly a unique choice of narrator. We follow his growth from when he is 9 and meets Douno for the first time, thinking he is his biological father, to when he learns the truth at the end of high school of his real father and of Douno and Kitagawa's relationship, to when he hears of Kitagawa's death just as he was starting his first job out of university. Kitagawa had such a big influence of Nao that he ends up naming his child after him and unconsciously repeating the same words Kitagawa told him many years ago. This story hit me so hard... I cried.............. I CAN'T BELIEVE KONOHARA NARISE PLAYED WITH MY FEELINGS LIKE THIS....
Anyway, as I said at the beginning I'm rereading the book -well, I'm mostly rereading just the Kitagawa/Douno parts. It was an unbelievable ride of emotions. I really haven't read anything that played with my feelings this badly in a while - not just counting BL. Before In the Box I read No. 6, and the ending was so bittersweet. But man, no matter how much pain I was in after finishing No. 6, In the Box managed to triple that. I haven't read many Konohara Narise works but I can tell she loves drama. I tried looking for her stuff June printed but it seems they're out of print and don't have ebook versions - I'll get them somehow, hopefully! Since it's easily available, I'll be looking forward to picking up Of Beauty in the near future. For now I'll finish rereading In the Box and track down the version Kusama Sakae did illustrations for.
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