Yaoi Review (Again!)

I know I posted my first yaoi review not too long ago, but the spring season is seeing a wonderful slew of titles emerging and I've been ordering them left and right. Let's just say those publishing bitches are getting a lot of cash out of my poor battered credit card these days.

BeBeautiful is a pretty kick ass company (except for the steep price tag on their yaoi line at the moment!). They are being a bit more selective than some of their competitors in terms of the titles they are bringing out, but I've bought every single one they have published thus far. It was definitely a smart move to nab rights to Kazuma Kodaka's Kizuna series. All the yaoi fangirls and boys know about this one. And volume 5 is quite nail biter I must say! We were left on a cliff-hanger at the end of volume 4 when Kei gets kidnapped by a dissenting yakuza subset. So in volume 5 it's Ran and Kei's half-brother Kai to the rescue. At the same time, tensions between Masa and Kai come to a head in a very awesome little power showdown where Kai stuns not only Masa, but the hapless reader--like moi! I totally didn't see his strategy coming, but let me just say it was cool! He's totally coming into his own and I like that a lot. So now he's seemingly cut ties with Masa and I can't wait to see what that will bring with it in the future. Those two are totally going to hook up at some point...but the sexual tension Kodaka-sensei is building is fabulous. Our main couple, however, don't get any nooky in this volume. But I'm sure they'll more than make up for it in the next one! They usually do. I know that some folks don't like Kodaka-sensei's art all that much. It certainly is a bit of a departure from the more androgynous aesthetic employed by many yaoi mangaka, but I find her more masculine style interesting. And her sense of humor is great!

While I really enjoyed Kizuna 5, what I was even more excited about was Youka Nitta's second volume of Haru wo Daiteita (Embracing Love). When I was at YaoiCon 2 years ago I heard about Nitta-sensei's work from several people, but hadn't actually seen any of it before. So when BeBeautiful announced they'd gotten the publishing rights to her most famous series I was super psyched. And believe me, the first volume TOTALLY delivered! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her artwork. Her characters are gorgeously drawn in sharp, compelling, but minimalist detail. Compared to some other biseinen, these men are not fussily or extravagantly detailed. Don't get me wrong, from some artists I love that. Ayano Yamane in particular--her characters are so detailed that it seems to me that she must spend hours on certain panels, and aesthetically, they blow the mind. Youkka Nitta's work isn't nearly so artistic, but it has a clear-cut simple kind of beauty. A lot of work was put into these characters, but you don't notice it unless you're looking hard enough. I like the fact that she draws frequent close-ups of characters in large perspective. I think she has a particular knack for illustrating scrumptious male torsos and her sex scenes are some of the hottest I've come across. Me likey big time! She also has a wickedly funny sense of humor and it's hugely entertaining to see Katou and Iwaki's relationship as it unfolds. One thing that truly endears this series to me is the fact that Nitta-sensei plays with the whole seme/uke dichotomy. I haven't read the entire series, but from what I've gathered so far this is the first yaoi series I've read that has what are sometimes referred to as "reversibles." Namely, the characters take turns being top and bottom in their sexual relationship. I'm hoping that US publishers are going to start bringing over more of these kinds of series, because from what I've gleaned online it seems like some of the younger up-and-coming yaoi artists are leaning more toward this kind of liberation from expected or rigid sex roles. And that, to me, is very exciting stuff!