Boys Next Door Reviews

Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦

Oh, hell. I should know better than to read a volume of this series at work. There’s always something that hits me and hits me hard. This time, it was Naru being the one to hold his father’s hand in the hospital bed as he was dying. Then later, going out to get a tattoo to commemorate his loss.

This is most likely more than you all needed to know about me, but I was holding my father’s hand when he died in his hospital bed and I have a set of dancing skeletons inked on my leg in his memory. Reading that scene brought it all back to me. The smell of the hospital, my family crying all around me and the nurse, helpless to do anything but let him go. My brother was fifteen at the time, so I kept picturing his face over Naru’s. Okay. Sorry for the trip into too-much-information theater. We will now return to your regulary scheduled review.

Jaehee and Dai keep breaking my heart. Dai is pushing Jaehee away until Jaehee runs afoul of a new gang that has been terrorizing the school. After Dai comes in to find Jaehee being beaten bloody by this new gang, his concern for him is enough to make him ignore his father’s warnings and come to Jaehee’s rescue.

I turn into a twittering fangirl when it comes to Jaehee and Dai’s relationship. There is so much angst, and pure affection to temper the angst, that I seriously melt into a puddle of fangirl goo when I read about them.

A friend of mine went out and bought a subscription to NetComics so that she could read the last two volumes online. While I’m tempted to do that, I’m sort of enjoying torturing myself with the wait. What can I say? I guess I’m just a masochist at heart. I just love it so much when I get home from work to find a package with the next volume of Let Dai waiting for me. I hoard the book until Sunday when I have some time to fully sit and enjoy it.

This series is going to break my heart. I’ve come to accept this fact. But, after this many volumes, I think I’m almost looking forward to it.

Rating: ♦♦♦♦

As time goes by, I’m growing more and more fond of this series. Of course, this is compounded by the fact that I’ve been downloading the fansubs of the series as soon as they become available. Hell, I even went out and got the artbook to help feed my Junjo addiction.

Even some of the things that made me cranky about the manga flow smoothly in the animated series. But, of course, watching the anime, just makes me want to dig back into the issues of the manga. Okay, enough babbling about the animated series. You’re not here for the review of that. I’m supposed to be concentrating on the manga. Bad Cyn! No cookie!

We get a glimpse into the completely messed up family life of Usami and his older brother, Haruhiko. It seems that Haruhiko has taken a shine to poor Misaki. So much so that he declares his love for him. Now, if you thought that Usami was socially stunted, he’s nothing compared to his older brother!

After Misaki mentions that he likes strawberries, Haruhiko starts sending him bushels of them daily. To retaliate, Usami starts buying Misaki every form of strawberry-flavored delicacy that is made. Misaki is up to his ears in strawberries. Haruhiko even goes so far as to kidnap Misaki and lock him away in the family mansion.

Misaki does manage to escape but, as is par for the course with Misaki, manages to injure himself in the process. Usami ends up coming to his rescue and there’s some lovely, hot sex as Usami reestablishes his claim, so everything ends well. It’s more of the general lunacy that I’ve come to enjoy with this series.

There’s also a continuation of the Junjo Terrorist story line, where there’s a huge misunderstanding between Miyagi and Shinobu. So much so that Shinobu is leaving to go back to Australia. Once his decision is finalized, Miyagi realizes just how much he cares for him.

This series far too much fun, even when its silliness borders on the ridiculous. I always walk away from reading a volume of this series with a smile on my face.

Rating: ♦♦♦

I like stories about artists. Even though most of my art is absolute crap, I’m pretentious enough to consider myself an artist. That being said, I can sort of feel a kinship with characters who are artists.

The story starts off with one of the main characters, Itsuki, going into the mountains to see an old acquaintance, Tokiwa. He’s supposed to have Tokiwa come and visit their old teacher, Yamabe-sensei. Now, Itsuki is not expecting a warm welcome and a frosty reception is exactly what he gets. A misstep on the ice leads to damage to both of Itsuki’s legs and to him being stuck up on the mountain with Tokiwa as his caretaker while he heals.

During the recovery time, we find out more of the back story and what caused the animosity between the two. They were friends who met through their love of art and grew quite close, but family and money problems forced Itsuki to turn to Yamabe for assistance. Yamabe was glad to be of assistance, but at a price. He would get Itsuki’s family out of debt and would send his sister to a good school, but in return Itsuki would have to live with Yamabe, cater to his every whim and give up any outside friendships. Once Itsuki agrees, Yamabe turns him into a living doll, refusing to even let him cut his hair.

After years of this treatment, we have Itsuki coming back into Tokiwa’s life. As the days go by, Tokiwa starts acting strangely. Is he pushing sexual advances on Itsuki because he thinks that because Itsuki is Yamabe’s pet that it will be okay, or are there actual feelings coming into play?

For being such a far-fetched storyline, this was a gorgeous and lush story. The lush feeling was helped along by the gorgeous illustrations by Kumiko Sasaki. While the plot of some of these BL novels leaves something to be desired, this one I found to be really satisfying.

Rating: ♦♦♦

I really want to like this release. Usually 801’s release are fun, gorgeous and full of win. This time, however, the characters are just plain unlikeable. The art is pretty and it wasn’t too bad of a read, but when I find the characters unbelievable, shallow and petty, I can’t really enjoy the story.

The title story is about Koutaro, a young and carefree temp worker, and his lover, Asahi, who is older and has a steady job for an elite corporation. They get along well when they are together, the problem is finding time to be together. Once they do get together, doubts keep them from enjoying themselves.

It’s cute and all, but the characters are just not engaging. I want my characters to jump off the page and make me angst and cry with them. I don’t like it when I’m flipping through the pages, just to find the next sex scene to hold my attention.

If you want pretty and smutty boys without exercising a lot of brain power, you may like this release. Personally, I think 801 is capable of release a much higher quality product.

Rating: ♦♦♦

I really like this series. It has gorgeous art and silly situations with a nice dollop of angst to keep me interested. The only thing that keeps me from fully enjoying the series is the fact that it can be damn confusing at times. I don’t know if it’s because of the translation or how it was originally written. The fact that I do end up confused makes me cranky because it throws me out of the pure enjoyment of the story while I’m trying to figure out what in the hell is going on.

This time, Jiho walks in on Mookyul doing his damnedest to get into Ewon’s pants. Not surprisingly, this upsets Jiho and he washes his hands of the whole mess and Ewon and Mookyul. Only he doesn’t really. It turns out that Jiho was only dating Mookyul to make Ewon jealous.

Ewon is kind of frazzled at this point. He wants Mookyul, but now he has no job, his ex wants him and, to top it all off, he’s coming down with the flu and exams are just around the corner.

Later, it’s Mookyul to the rescue, but is Ewon ready to have a jealous, demanding, sex-crazed, ego maniac with a huge cock as his boyfriend? Mookyul seems to think so!

I still enjoy this series and think that the art is some of the best that I’ve seen, but the confusion I get every time I get a new volume is kind of creeping in on my enjoyment.

Rating: ♦♦♦

I’m of two minds on this release. On one hand, I like how dirty the sex scenes are. I like stories about detectives, informants and criminals. They make me happy. On the other hand, the situations in this release were so unbelievable that I had a hard time trying not to laugh out loud while reading. By now I should be used to the unbelievable plot lines in BL novels, of course, but I guess that I still want some semblance of realism in my books.

Shiiba is a detective, working undercover in Kabukicho, Japan’s red light district in Shinjuku. He’s trying to crack down on illegal gun smugglers. To do this, he needs to insinuate himself into the underworld and work with an “S” or a spy/informant.

While investigating, Shiiba gets a call, telling him not to trust his S. After his S is killed, Shiiba needs to find a new informant and fast. There is one contender, but he wants more from Shiiba than police protection. He wants Shiiba naked and every way he can possibly have him.

Okay, so I guess it’s really not as ridiculous as some of the BL plot-lines I’ve seen. I mean, if I can handle happy, bouncy yakuza and prisoners falling in love through cell block rape, this plot-line should be a piece of cake to swallow. Still, it’s sticking in my throat.

It’s not a bad read and I’m really looking forward to the sequel. I just can’t quite recommend this one with flying colors and all guns a-blazing.

Rating: ♦♦♦♦

Tea ceremonies should not be erotic. I don’t care how pretty the boys are in their traditional garb and how much lust is simmering between them, they just shouldn’t be erotic. Of course, this book makes them erotic and leaves me feeling all around happy because the entire thing is so well done and so very, very funny.

I had read this series first through scanlations, but I stopped reading after the first few releases. I don’t know why because I really enjoyed the story. Maybe I was just running out of time to download stuff or got distracted by shiny things. So while I am familiar with the basic plot, I don’t know a lot of it, so I was in for a treat when I picked up the first volume for myself.

Madoka Tokumaru is a bull in a china shop. He always seems to be breaking something. To help him learn some control and to help keep all of her stuff from getting destroyed, his sister forces him to join the tea ceremony club. The head of the tea ceremony club is the cool and collected Kazuma Hasune. Hasune has reservations at first about Tokumaru joining the club, but gives in.

Now, things are going to start heating up and the question is, will Kasune be able to survive the hurricane force that is Tokumaru?

There’s really just far too much sweetness and silliness in this release. It’s not a difficult read and the plot is very easy to follow. It’s just the thing to curl up with when you want some pretty-boy goodness and don’t want to tax your brain too much!

Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦

What is it about tattooed gangsters that makes me happy? Seriously. I spend half of my time when I’m reading this series staring at the utter prettiness of their ink.

This time around, we get a little more info on Aoi’s back story, and the relationship between him and Sakiya grows even stronger. There’s a lot of longing and lustful looks, but no real consummation of the relationship.

Now, here’s where it starts getting really good. The other half of the book revolves around Junki, otherwise known as slutty Mr. Blondie, his back story and why he behaves the way he does.

Junki’s brother was part of a gang and used to bring his fellow gang member Chihiro around the house. Junki was never too impressed with the fact that his brother was in a gang and that Chihiro was one of the gang members, but everyone got along pretty well. Now, Junki’s brother never wanted him to join the gang, he wanted something better for him. But, after his brother’s death at the hands of rival gangsters, Junki rebelled and joined a gang to find his revenge.

At this point, Junki’s feelings towards Chihiro grew stronger and Junki wanted to attempt a relationship, but Chihiro always turned him away. It seems that he never saw Junki as anything more as a friend. This leads Junki to look for gratification elsewhere…

I do so enjoy unrequited love, there’s so much potential for angst. I shouldn’t enjoy the misery of these characters so much, but I do. Oh, I still want them to find a happy ending at some point, but I’m really enjoying reading about them making themselves miserable in the mean time.

Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦

Let’s hear it for sci-fi stories and boys in impossible outfits! The only thing that could have made this story better would be to throw in an apocalypse or two, but hey, the series is still young. There’s still time for the world to end. Hell, with the way this one ends, there’s a strong possibility that I may get that!

There’s Nozomi, who is the reigning street fighting champ, who gets defeated by a stranger named Cyote and ends up forfeiting his freedom. Nozomi ends up locked in a ‘peeping tom’ room where people can tune him and watch him 24/7. The only chance Nozomi has for escape is to earn enough money from his page views to pay for his freedom.

Things aren’t what they seem. There’s a mysterious plot involving computers that are sleepin, the moon, and a whole other set of watchers that end up using Nozomi and confusing the hell out of him. Then there’s Cyote who’s involved with the conspiracy, drags Nozomi into it without explaining anything and ends up worming his way into Nozomi’s affections. As a reader, you go between wanting to see the two consummate the heat that’s been building up between them and wanting Nozomi to punch his lights out and make his escape.

This is over and above Tateno’s usual standards of greatness. The story is fully engaging, the characters are well formed and the whole thing is completely addicting. I’m just hoping that I won’t have to wait another year and a half for the next volume like I did with Hero Heel.

Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦

Is there anything more fun than a incubus getting his claws into a Catholic priest? I don’t think there is. Maybe it’s just my lust for boys with wings and bastardization of Christian mythology coming through, but this release pushed almost all of my happy kink buttons.

So, there’s a priest, Father Mauro, whose kind heart led him to take in a drifter he found in his garden - a drifter with horns and a tail. Now Mauro doesn’t think twice about his guest’s extra appendages, except for asking him to hide them from his parishioners. Mauro is convinced that demons don’t exist. His guest is just, um, special.

The guest, Raoul, worries that he may be a demon, but lets Mauro reassure him that it isn’t possible. After all, Raoul’s not evil, just mischievous and playful.

This all changes when one of Raoul’s brothers comes looking for him to take him back to his family in Hell. Raoul’s not just a demon, he’s an incubus and one of Satan’s own sons. This doesn’t make him that special, there’s over one hundred brothers, which explains how they lost one of them. Of course, being an incubus, there’s really only one way that Raoul can take sustenance and this means that Mauro’s on the menu!

The whole thing is very sexy and cute. I have to admit to wanting more stories about the older brother incubus and what life is like in the author’s version of Hell. Her version of Hell seems to be more like a pantheon of gods rather than a place of fire and punishment. Still, the book was very satisfying and made me grin the whole way through.

Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦

I’m never disappointed when I have a volume of Love Mode. It always manage to leave me happy and satisfied. It’s enough to make my bitter, jaded heart want to find romance and a happy ending. Almost. Really. Don’t think some sappy manga is going to change my outlook on life. I’ll still be the same bitter bitch I always am, just with a few softer, blunter edges.

Last time, we had poor Haruomi being stabbed by a psychopath after he tried to save a kidnapped Kiichi. Things end up working out for our young heroes and a romance is starting to blossom, but the Aoe family machinations won’t leave them in peace for long.

Haruomi gets the reunion he’s been waiting for with his long lost twin brother, Tien, but it’s not the happy reunion we’ve all been hoping for. No, Tien is out for his brother’s blood and has plans to kidnap Kiichi.

It seems that after Haruomi sold himself to the Aoe family to pay for his brother’s medical care, the neighbor he entrusted with the money skipped town, leaving Tien to fend for himself. This has made Tien pretty bitter and understandably so. It’s going to be Kiichi’s innate goodness that breaks through Tien’s anger.

Yup, so very happy with Love Mode now. How long am I going to have to wait for the next release though!? I get impatient with series like this, but at the same time I really don’t want them to end. I know we’re nearing the end and I’m going to really miss having a new volume to look forward to.