Boys Next Door Reviews

Rating: ♦♦♦

If it wasn’t for the fact that I still find Misaki incredibly endearing, I think I would have given up on this manga a long time ago. Every time I think that I’m done with it, that I’m not going to spend my money on another volume, I end up buying it and getting sucked right back into the madcap insanity that makes this series so much fun. This volume had a little less madcap insanity and more plot build-up, but that just means that the next volume is going to be a joy to read.

We start off with Usami running into a deadline and being stuck as to how to write a normal date scene. Neither of the boys have actually been on a normal date. Usami because he’s crazy and Misaki because he’s gotten swept up into Usami’s world. So, Misaki plans out his perfect date and Usami takes him on it. That works out well, but Usami’s distracted and a bit distant. This is coupled with the fact that he asked Misaki if he wanted to move out on his own earlier and Misaki is going through the typical uke-boy confusion. Throw Usami’s brother into the plot, an appearance by Usami’s estranged father, and things are going to get very interesting.

Then we have a short with the Egoists. Nowaki is caught in a slightly compromising situation, leaving Hiro to jump to the wrong conclusions. Then, surprisingly, admits to some of his true feelings.

This series is like a guilty pleasure. It’s just fluff, it doesn’t do anything but make you grin when you read it, but you feel so much better after you finish a volume.

Rating: ♦♦♦♦

I know this one has been out for a while, but I just got my hot little hands on it. As we all know, money’s tight and I had to curb some of my manga buying. Yes, most of the books we review are bought with my small amount of disposable income. This is part of the reason I’m so cranky when I get a crap book. That’s money I just threw away.

So, now I’m only buying manga that really grabs my interest. I’m less likely to take a chance on a new artist. The cover for this release didn’t really grab my interest, so I didn’t pick it up. Then, a week or two ago, I read a review that a friend of mine had written. After her glowing review, I started whining about the fact that I never picked it up and now was too poor to do so. She took pity on me and mailed me a copy.

If you haven’t already done so, go and pick up a copy of this one. One of my constant complaints is that we rarely see anything new. No new plot lines, no new characters. Everything is just recycled and repackaged. This, however, is all new. The stories are not quite what you would expect and end up pulling at your emotions. I didn’t find any saccharine sweet endings in here. It was more melancholy than anything, but it made me want to know what else happened to the characters. What would happen to these guys six months down the road? Would they still be regretting the decisions they made? And, don’t even get me started on the cats.

The art, while not amazing, was quite good. It actually reminded me more of some of the better GloBL artists that are working now, rather than something that’s traditionally Japanese. It was a really nice change of pace and, in a small way, helped to remind me of why I love this genre in the first place. It’s also dangerous because it prompted me to go to Amazon and drop a pretty penny on manga–including another release by this author. It was just what I needed, really–a breath of fresh air.

Rating: ♦♦♦

This release came as a nice surprise. I’m not familiar with the artist, so when I found myself getting into the stories, getting aroused and actually enjoying an anthology, I was quite happy. Anthologies are still not my favorite things, but if they have to be released, let’s at least have them done right–like it is in this release.

The title story revolves around a college student, Manaka, who’s picked on for his stereotypical geeky looks and glasses. The thing his tormentors don’t know is that by night, Manaka is the owner of one of the best host clubs around.

One of his lead tormentors, Doi, applies for a job at the club. So, Manaka is faced with having to deal with his growing attraction to his classmate and keeping his identity a secret.

It’s really rather silly, but there’s something charming that kept me wanting to find out what was going to happen to these characters, aside from the obligatory sex scene. All of the stories are like this too. They are simple and sweet, but still manage to hold your interest.

Once again, Deux has proven that they really know quality when it comes to their releases.

Rating: ♦♦

I have this odd mental quirk. I have a horrible time at remembering names of manga artists. Oh, I remember my favorites and the really well known ones, but other than that, I don’t have a clue. This has actually served me well when reviewing because I pick up a volume and don’t know that I’ve hated stuff by this artist before.

So, it should come as no surprise that I was reading this volume and thinking that the art is good, but the story is absolute crap and then wracking my brain trying to remember if I’ve seen this level of crap story and good art before. Of course, I have. It’s the artist who brought us such gems as Love + Alphα, Heavenly Body and Falling Into Love. My question is, does anyone think these stories are actually any good? Look past the semi-graphic sex scenes. Look past the pretty art. There’s no actual content.

I know I’m a fan of some pretty crappy manga. However, the crappy manga that I enjoy and follow at least have story lines that can be likened to a soap opera with their complexity and ability to make me exclaim ‘what the fuck?’ at least once a volume. This storytelling just bores the crap out of me.

So, we have Ryou, whose brother is a world famous model. Ryou lives in the same dorm as the models. The dorm is owned by his family. His family runs the modeling agency too. This puts him into close proximity to lots of pretty boys. One of the salient plot points for this manga.

One of the models, Kazuto, wants to win Ryou’s heart. The problem is that Ryou has a bit of a brother complex and no one can match his brother, Tomohito. Kazuto must prove his worth to Ryou before Ryou will give him the time of day. This proof not only involves molesting Ryou at every possible oppertunity, but also proving himself as a model.

Pretty boys, check. Slight hint of possible incest to titillate the readers, check. Boring-ass story line, check. We’ve all seen this before. I’m hoping I’m going to be able to remember this author’s name so I don’t have the unpleasant surprise of picking up another one of her works and getting disappointed, again.

Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦

I was wrong. This one didn’t break my heart. In fact, it ended everything almost too nicely for all of the angst that we’ve gone through for the previous fourteen volumes. That’s not to say that I didn’t end up tearing up in places. After the emotional roller coaster that these two have put me through, there’s nothing I can do but cry when they start angsting in the slightest bit.

After Jaehee is beaten by Dai-Oxin, Dai comes to his rescue and takes him away from everything that is bad in their lives. Their families, friends and rival gangs all put aside to give Jaehee time to heal and for the boys to fall deeper under each other’s spells.

Jaehee falls a little bit too much under the spell of Dai and neglects to tell anyone just how badly he’s hurt. At the same time, Dai’s parents and the authorities are looking for him, wanting to pin the blame for Miss Crangela’s beating on him, to further separate our long-angsting lovers.

It’s a satisfying ending. I wanted more, but hey, I’m a perv. It’s been a long road with these two and one that I’m very happy to have gone on. I’m just hoping that this manwah has more up her sleeve so I can get sucked into another one of her stories.

Rating: ♦♦♦♦

I’m so happy that there’s a backlog of Tateno’s work to bring over. Just when I think that a series is done and I may have to start going into withdrawal, they bring something else over to keep me happy.

While this isn’t one of my favorite works by her, it’s crack-like enough to keep me entertained and is populated by a plethora of pretty boys. Blue Sheep Reverie is set as a prequel to Steal Moon and was originally written for a non-BL market. This helps explain some of the stiffness in the story and the flow. It’s not something that detracts heavily from the story. You’ve still got a butt-load of angst, a convoluted plot that will suck you in and pretty much guarantee that you will want to buy the next volume.

So, we start off with Kai. Kai is on a mission to avenge the murder of his lover, Maria. Maria had a special ring she wore set with a blue cat’s-eye stone. The leader of one of the gangs controlling the city, Lahti, wears the same ring, so Kai assumes that it’s Maria’s and sets to work his way into the gang to see if he can solve her murder.

Of course, Kai’s a skilled fighter, so he works his way into the gang quickly, ending up as Lahti’s bodyguard and even into his bed. However, it’s a different ring and things are not quite what they seem.

Yup. Convoluted, completely silly plot, but it made me want to keep reading. Tateno always manages to suck me in no matter how unbelievable her stories are. I don’t know how she does it, but her mix of pretty boys, angst and wildly fantastic plots always seem to push every button I have.

It’s not nearly as good as Yellow and not quite as much fun as Hero Heel, but it’s pretty damn good. I’m really looking forward to seeing where this one goes.