Fearful of acting on his attraction for his new stepbrother, Naruki, Kou Sawara moves away from home and into the dorm at his high school. Soon thereafter, however, Naruki transfers in. His meek and innocent personality is a hit with the guys at school and Kou works himself to the point of exhaustion protecting Naruki from their advances. When his roommate suggests hypnotizing Naruki so that he’ll be able to protect himself, Kou agrees. Unfortunately, this hypnosis manifests as a super-aggressive seme personality that has Naruki turning the tables on all his would-be seducers, Kou included.

Most of the story revolves around Kou’s conflicted feelings—he’s in love with the original Naruki, but that Naruki is not in touch with his own love for Kou. The aggressive Naruki openly confesses his affections, but Kou doesn’t want to be the “bottom” in the relationship, nor does he consider this personality to really be Naruki. Add in a manipulative roommate who wants Kou for himself, and you get the basic gist. The art and storytelling are both competent, and I did appreciate that the sex scenes are suggestive rather than explicit.

I should probably steer clear of boys’ love titles with wacky premises, though, because even though I know they’re meant to be comedic, I still end up taking them too seriously. For instance, I was really bothered that Kou never once thought about how wrong hypnotizing Naruki was. Now he’s basically hypnotically compelled to sleep with a whole bunch of guys and not remember doing so. Is that not rape? Is that not violation most profound, no matter how implausible the means?

It also really bugged me that there’s no resolution at all to the story. I might’ve liked it a bit more if Naruki had regained his own personality in the end, but as things leave off, it seems like he’ll be stuck with his split personality forever. Sorry, but inflicting permanent mental damage upon the one you love does not strike me as terribly romantic.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at Manga Recon.

From the back cover:
A quiet and shy member of the school’s art club, Toru is quite a contrast to his best friend Ryoji, who is a handsome, loud and brash jock. Toru has harbored a crush on Ryoji for the longest time but hasn’t confessed his feelings for fear of rejection. But from out of the blue, Ryoji suddenly admits that he gets “aroused” whenever he looks at Toru. Curious about this feeling, Ryoji proposes that he and Toru sleep together. Though appalled at the thought of having just casual sex, Toru’s attraction towards Ryoji makes the proposition enticing nevertheless.

Review:
Desire, published by DMP in 2004, was one of the first boys’ love manga I ever read. I liked it very much, but I’ve been a little hesitant to reread it for fear it wouldn’t live up to my initial impression. Happily, I needn’t have worried. Even after a reread with more worldly manga eyes, I still think it’s one of the best around, even though there are certain elements I’m not thrilled with.

It’s the story of Toru Maiki, who’s harbored feelings for his friend Ryoji for a long time. When Ryoji suggests they sleep together as an experiment, Toru goes along with it with the idea that it’ll help him get over Ryoji to see how “wrong” it is. Things don’t go as planned, however, and it becomes a regular thing between them. Toru can’t say no to Ryoji, but his heart is breaking at having a physical relationship with the one he loves without his feelings being reciprocated.

There are many things I like about the story. I like that Toru and Ryoji were friends for a long time even before the story starts. I like the strong characterization—instead of merely supplying eye candy of two pretty boys smooching, the writing helps one to see Toru and Ryoji as well-developed individuals. I like that Toru and Ryoji’s friend plays a big role in the series. The expressive art fits the emotional material well. And I like how Toru suffers and really thinks things through. It’s a very painful situation he’s in, but his eventual acceptance of his feelings for Ryoji is all the better for being hard-won.

I don’t like how pushy Ryoji is, though. Several scenes border on non-consensual when Toru is protesting and Ryoji is insistent. That’s definitely part of Ryoji’s character, as is the very frank and open way in which he discusses his fixation on Toru, but it’s still bothersome. I’m not sure he would’ve stopped even if Toru hadn’t eventually relented.

All in all, Desire is far more thoughtful than the usual boys’ love fare. One grows to care about the characters and empathize with Toru’s plight. Those who are tired of silly or over-the-top boys’ love stories ought to give it a try.

When Yu Igarashi was a child, his mother told him no one would ever love him. In response to this traumatic event, Yu’s mind created two additional personalities who would love him instead. Now an adult, Yu works part-time in a florist’s shop while one personality, Kaname, is a high-powered attorney and the other, Ryo, is a nocturnal playboy. All of the personalities can talk to each other and the fact that Kaname and Ryo occupy the left side of Yu’s brain means that they can use his right hand to ravish him whenever they like, even when he’s the one in charge of his body. When Yu begins to fall in love with Sugo, a flower shop patron and psychiatrist interested in Yu’s case, his other personalities object and refuse to approve of the relationship.

Romantic Illusions is described by the author as “a very light multiple personality comedy,” which is a fairly apt description, aside from the comedy part. I personally didn’t find it funny, but can’t deny that it’s full of wacky complications, especially when each of Yu’s personalities finds a lover of his own. The only time I laughed was when Sugo declared his love for Yu by saying, “I love you. Will you be my boyfriend?” I don’t think I was supposed to be amused by that, but he sounded so like an 8th grade girl that I couldn’t help it. There’s also one bit in one of the chapters that might be disturbing to some, as we’re introduced to a character with multiple personalities that originated as a result of childhood sexual abuse.

While Romantic Illusions may gain some points for having a unique premise, overall the best that can be said about it is that it’s mildly diverting.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at Manga Recon.