As in her excellent Dining Bar Akira, Tomoko Yamashita has created in Black-Winged Love a set of boys’ love stories focusing more on a universal aspect of human relationships rather than what goes on between guys in the bedroom. Each story relates in some way to the difficulties of communication, be it the crippling fear that keeps gay men from confessing their orientation or … [Read more...] about Black-Winged Love by Tomoko Yamashita: A
Boys' Love
Brilliant Blue 2 by Saemi Yorita: B+
Brilliant Blue ends as sweetly as it began, offering plenty of humor and warmth along the way. At first, Shouzo continues to fight his attraction for Nanami, resulting in some nice chapters told from Nanami’s perspective in which his confusion over the way Shouzo’s treating him is both adorable and sympathetic. Eventually, Shouzo can’t resist any longer and takes the … [Read more...] about Brilliant Blue 2 by Saemi Yorita: B+
Wild Adapter 1-6 by Kazuya Minekura: A-
I've heard a lot about the works of Kazuya Minekura over the years—mostly in praise of Saiyuki and Saiyuki Reload—but was never particularly tempted to see what all the fuss was about. That changed when MJ, who has uniformly good taste, raved about Wild Adapter on her blog back in June, and was immediately greeted with a chorus of agreement from other trustworthy sources. The … [Read more...] about Wild Adapter 1-6 by Kazuya Minekura: A-
Color by Eiki Eiki and Taishi Zaou: B+
From the back cover: When art student Takashiro Tsuda chose to show his painting, Color, in a gallery exhibition, he never dreamed that an uncannily similar painting would hang next to his—with the same title, even. Works of art come from the deepest depths of an artist's soul, so how can anyone else be expressing themselves so much like Takashiro? Filled with a yearning to … [Read more...] about Color by Eiki Eiki and Taishi Zaou: B+
Unsophisticated and Rude by Momoko Tenzen: B+
Unsophisticated and Rude is a collection of five boys’ love tales from Momoko Tenzen. Unlike most compilations in this format, all of the stories are enjoyable and demonstrate an impressive ability to establish unique and compelling characters within a limited number of pages. The first two stories—“Unsophisticated and Rude” and “Pretender”—are the best, offering additional … [Read more...] about Unsophisticated and Rude by Momoko Tenzen: B+