Boys Next Door Reviews

Rating: ♦♦♦♦

In La Esperança, we meet Georges who is, simply put, a goody-two-shoes. He’s a devout Christian. He’s loved by all the staff at his religious school. He’s even adored by his fellow students.

Well, all his fellow classmates except Robert. Robert wants to break down that good boy exterior of Georges’ and will do whatever it takes to do so. But how far will Robert go? This is something you’ll have to read and see.

The backdrop to this manga is mystery and secrets. It seems a good deal of the characters have a bitter past just waiting to be exposed. Of course, as we all know, most young teens have deep, dark secrets that somehow disappear by the time they reach twenty. Heh, whatever. Suffering characters are what books are made of.

The illustration for this manga is just superb. It’s clean, easy on the eyes and very expressive. The story is charming and even funny in some parts.

I would recommend La Esperança to anyone who is new to the BL scene or to younger teenagers. I think the more experienced BL fans will enjoy this manga too. It’s not explicit. It’s sweet, simple and light.

Rating: ♦♦♦♦

We pair up with Georges and Robert again in volume two of La Esperança. Georges’ naivity really gets the best of him in this volume. After getting reality shoved in his face and his feeling hurt, Robert is there to console our sweet Georges.

This consolation does not go unnoticed, of course. Henri has a thing or two to say about Robert’s growing closeness with Georges. Things are worked out, more or less, between Henri and Robert in the end. I won’t spoil it for you though.

No, there is still no sex. Hell, there aren’t even kisses in this volume. We are talking extremely light BL. I’m not complaining… much.

This volume seems to be lacking something, in my opinion. The plot is still good, but I feel something lacking on the author’s part or something. I don’t know if Kawai’s editor curbed her or if she was restraining herself. This just doesn’t have same atmosphere that the first volume had.

However, the art remains beautiful. I think it’s still worth your time and money. Doubly so if you really enjoyed volume one. I just hope that Kawai is leading us to deeper, darker things in the next volume.

Rating: ♦♦♦

Well, here we are at volume three of La Esperança. I’m feeling rather blah about it. It’s a good book, not a great book. I’m disappointed with the lack of tension between the characters.

I like in the first chapter that Georges actually gives advice that he received earlier. I think he’s starting to see that his saintly facade is pushing the ones who want to care for him away. I doubt he’ll do much changing though.

Through the rest of the book you find out exactly why Robert is so, well, obsessed with Georges. Robert is full of resentment for his family. Will there be forgiveness? That is really up to Robert. I think Georges could help if they’d quit pussyfooting around.

That’s probably what’s aggravating me about this relationship. It’s not emphasized enough and there are all these other unimportant relationships that are getting in the way of a great story. I think Robert and Georges could actually heal each other and yet they aren’t!

Maybe this is too damn shojo for my tastes or something. Three volumes and nothing has changed, really. I think there’s only been one or two kisses in this series so far. I’m not really digging on that fact.

DMP is still keeping their production value high. Kawai is still drawing beautifully. I think if you’ve enjoyed La Esperança so far, you shouldn’t quit now.

Rating: ♦♦♦♦

I’m liking volume four of La Esperança waaaay more than volume three. Things are flowing. Things seem to be progressing. Hell, Georges comes close to being sexed up. I don’t know what happened with the last volume, but this one is looking up.

Robert’s been missing from school and his home. Of course, Georges is worried sick about him. Georges wrangles Henri into helping him find our distressed Robert and the circus begins.

Alain (remember Alain?) is the one who finds Robert hanging with the bad boys. Well, by “hanging” I mean insulting the bad boys and getting beat up by them. Eh, whatever.

Somehow, Georges finds Robert laying in the gutter, he yells at him and drags his beaten ass home. No, nothing interesting happens. Le sigh. Robert, upon waking, leaves before Georges awakens.

Georges is left to stalk Robert’s home. He’s never let in because the nanny-type person thinks Robert is suffering from seeing Georges. Uh, I’ll explain. Georges looks like Robert’s late crush who wanted to become a nun. Since Georges and the dead crush have faith and look alike, Robert keeps feeling the pain and guilt of her death when around Georges.

In the end, Henri kicks a little ass and gets Robert back to school. I’m rather proud of the runt. He got Robert to return. I wish it was Georges who did it, but I’m just glad Robert is back.

This is definitely shojo manga without the girls. Or rather Georges is the girl without the correct anatomical parts. Now that I think about it, why this series considered BL?