Boys Next Door Reviews

Rating: ♦♦

I used to think that I liked plotless smut. I know I always enjoyed it in fan fiction. What I was forgetting is that in all of the fics that I love, no matter how plotless and smutty they were, I knew the plot of the original story. I knew the angst, back-stories, the how and why the characters would act the way they were. When I’m faced with an original work that’s just pure smut, I find myself getting cranky with it because it’s not giving me backstory, angst and the real reasons for why the characters are acting the way they are.

I was very much looking forward to this release. High-school boys banging each others brains out, what is there not to like? Well, the lack of plot is definitely one thing that there is to not like about this series.

We’ve got Mizuki, who was being molested on the subway on his way to school. To make matters worse, he found himself enjoying the touch. Even worse was the fact that the person molesting him wasn’t some old man, but the student council president, Azuma.

Turns out that Azuma has been in love with Mizuki from afar for a while. When Mizuki comes up to him and demands an apology, he proceeds to screw Mizuki senseless. Every time Mizuki tries to question the relationship or Azuma’s feelings, he gets ravished until he forgets about asking questions about the relationship.

If you want pretty but plotless smut, then you’re going to find a lot to like in this release. If you’re cranky when there’s no real back-story and no real storyline, then you’re like me and going to be pretty dissatisfied with this release.

Don’t get me wrong, I like the smut. It’s well done and well drawn. I just need to know more about the characters emotions before the graphicness will even begin to get me hot.

Rating: ♦♦♦

Maybe I was too harsh when I reviewed Love is Like a Hurricane. I mean, 801 Media usually has really good taste when it comes to manga releases. So, I thought I would give the series another try.

On a second reading, I didn’t find it quite as annoying as I did the first time around. Oh, it’s never going to be in my top series, but there’s nothing to really get cranky about either. I mean, it’s well drawn, the sex is hot and there is a semblance of a plot in there.

I just don’t like young looking characters. I want my boys to have muscles! It’s one thing to look like a stereotypical bishy-boy out of a shojo series; it’s another thing all together for them to look like they’ve barely hit puberty.

Once I got over the fact that the characters look really young, I did find a lot to like in the release. In fact, I really enjoyed the quasi-incestuous relationship between Akira and Izumi. They’re step-brothers, with no blood between them, but reading about them screwing madly just makes me happy. I have an odd fascination for incestuous stories. Sue me. We all have our weird kinks.

It’s presented very well. The stories are good. I can’t bring myself to get too excited about these releases, though. They’re just lacking something. I wish I knew what it was that turns a manga from a good story into utter crack, but I don’t. Whatever it is that turns a series to gold, this one is lacking it.

Rating: ♦♦♦

Once a release crosses a line for me, it’s very hard for me to get back into the release, no matter how cute or how good it is. As most of you know, I have this twitchy thing about underaged characters or characters that look like they’re underaged. I know that there are a lot of people who are not bothered by this, but it creeps me the hell out.

So, when an aphrodisiac that is slipped to one of our main characters, Mizuki, it not only turns him into a walking horn-ball, but it also has the side effect of de-aging his body. It de-ages him so much that he got the body of a six-year-old. Mizuki’s lover, Aszuma, then proceeds to try and have sex with Mizuki’s new body.

Oh, the sentiment was nice, but I just didn’t like the physical age of the characters body. Other than that, this release was just fine. In fact, in places it was downright cute. I just couldn’t get back into it after that.

In all honesty, I think I like the stories about the side characters more than I like the stories about the main characters. The side characters don’t seem to be as whiny. The plot for the two main characters doesn’t seem to be more than have Azuma pushing for sex and Mizuki refusing. That is, until Azuma overcomes Mizuki’s objections through sheer pleasure and Mizuki moans the roof down as he comes.

Really, I’m trying to like this series, but it’s really making it hard for me to find stuff that I like!

Rating: ♦♦

I don’t understand why I don’t like this series. There’s no real logical reason for it. I’ve found series with less plot to be amusing. And, it’s smutty, which is always a plus in my book, and most importantly, it’s well drawn. By all rights, I should be madly in love with this series, but I’m not.

I find myself bored with the banality of the main characters’ relationship. I want some angst. I want some character development. I do not want what this volume gave me: An excuse to draw the uke in a frilly maid’s dress, so that the seme could molest him in it.

Everything else just blends together. It’s very hard for me to stay objective and write a review when after reading this volume I just wanted to throw it across the room. If there are fans of this series, I would love to hear from you, so you can tell me what you see in these releases.

Usually, 801’s releases match my tastes. The stuff they pick is usually plot-heavy and topped off with smutty goodness. This is the reason why I’m so eager to try series they bring over that I’m not familiar with.

Most of the time, they’re spot on. I just don’t know why they decided that this should be the first real series that they were going to release. I guess that it’s not my cup of tea and should just leave it at that. But, it still bugs me. I want to like this, really I do, but I can’t seem to make myself get into it.