Boys Next Door Reviews

Rating: ♦♦♦♦

I am so thrilled to have this in my hot little hands. When I had my mental list of series that would never, EVER be brought over to the US, this one was on the very tippy top.
Yet, it’s been released.

My only real problem is that it’s so goddamned tiny! I don’t know if they were scared by the size of Sword’s cock, so they issued this manga in an itsy-bitsy format, but it’s much smaller than any other manga I own. It’s the size of the BL novels that DMP releases.
I guess I can understand, I mean, Sword’s cock really is quite intimidating.

It’s also missing the authors notes, where she explains some of her USA pop-culture fangirling. The peeping-tom inmate? That’s based on Stone Cold Steve Austin. Fangirling goes both ways my freaky darlings. We go gaga over Japanese personalities, and they can go gaga over ours.

What we did get, is part one of the UGH doujinshi. Which, is pretty awesome. I know I’ve had it on my looking for list over at JPQueen for ages, and they haven’t been able to find it for me, so to have it, in English, as part of the manga makes me happy.

I guess I’m still slightly gob-smacked at the fact that I’m holding one of the most violent, filthy, abusively sexy manga that has ever been released, in my hot little hands.
I had forgotten just how absolutely WRONG some of the scenes are, and spent a very enjoyable evening re-equating myself with the characters

For those of us who are completely out of the loop, UGH revolves around a prison, set under New York City, Underground Hotel. The inmates who manage to find some enjoyment during their incarceration call it Under Grand Hotel. Throw in trading bodies for protection, prison rape and blowjobs in the prison library, and you’ve got an idea of what’s going on in this manga.

Mika Sadahiro is the master of what she does, and what she does gets my panties in a knot. I’m still not happy with how tiny this release is, but I’m SO happy to have it here.

Rating: ♦♦♦♦

Duo Brand makes me happy. Boys in traditional Japanese outfits make me happy. Time traveling cops who fall in love with boys in traditional gear make me happy. So, all around, this release made me very happy.

Aki, is a Jittemochi, or a commoner with the authority to make arrests on behalf of the local police force, living in feudal Edo. While researching a murder, he spies a familiar face. It’s the man who rescued him from drowning twelve years ago - Yet the man won’t admit to it. And, this mystery man keeps showing up at murder scenes, and can explain the mysterious burned holes (bullet holes) in the bodies that Aki keeps finding.

Kuga is a modern day detective with a secret, and a fascination with Aki that can only lead to trouble.

It’s BL done in the best style, which Duo Brand seems to have mastered. Continuing to sing this releases’s praises will just lead to me either spoiling the release for you, or me repeating myself, so we’re going to keep this one short and sweet. Buy this one. It’s too much fun to leave mouldering at the store.

Rating: ♦♦♦♦

I adore Yamada Yugi. Her characters are batshit crazy in the very best way. The plots are completely unbelievable. Yet, instead of them making me cranky, I fall into them and get sucked into their little world of insanity. That’s quite a talent. After reading BL for longer than I want to admit, I’ve just about had it with some of the more outlandish plot-lines and tropes that go along with this genre.

So, Yamada Yugi, you’ve got the rare talent of making me forget that, at times I hate this genre, and remind me of just why it is that I love it.

Itaru had grown up taking care of Tatsuhiko. Tatsuhiko grew up in love with his caretaker. Time goes by, and the two grow apart, leaving Itaru with a bittersweet memory. Years later, when Itaru has joined the wonderful world of salary-men, he is tasked with a mission. It seems that young Tatsuhiko has run away from college, and his family desperately wants to find him.
In the normal world, the police would be called in, which Itaru points out, but as Tatsuhiko’s family hates the police, he’s charged with the task.

Along the way he’s put in contact with a less than honest private-eye, the #1 massage girl at a local parlor, and Tatsuhiko, who’s never outgrown his love for Itaru.

It’s slightly crazy, but works out in the end. Trying to explain the plot here, in just a few paragraphs is giving me fits, because it’s so amazingly convoluted. By all rights, this manga should not work, yet it does.
It’s like she broke all the rules that govern what should make up a good release, and in putting it back together, came up with something utterly wonderful.

I want more releases from her. This one just made me happy.

Rating: ♦♦♦♦

It’s graduation time for the boys, and while whether or not Tokumaru will even be able to graduate is still up in the air, their relationship is still solid.

Or, is it? Hasune wants nothing more than a confession of Tokumaru’s feelings, while Tokumaru is just fine with things going on as they always have.
Predictably, this leads to strife - and with the introduction of someone Hasune has had a relationship in the past - confusion and jealousy on Tokumaru’s side.

Both characters have grown over the course of the series, but have they grown enough to be able to express their true feelings to each other, without loosing each other?

I’m going to miss this series. It was far too much fun. It wasn’t anything groundbreaking, but it was well drawn, and managed to combine humor with angst very well.

I wish everything that got released over here was this charming.

Rating: ♦♦♦♦

Ah, another GloBL manga from Tina Anderson! This time she’s teamed up with Amelie Belcher. Now, we should all know by now that Anderson delivers the goods. However, before I got my hands on Loud Snow, I wasn’t familiar with Belcher. After poring through Belcher’s deviantART, I was sold. What a talent!

Anyway, enough of my gushing. Loud Snow is about an ice-age family living on the coast of North America. In this happy family is Anituk, who is not happy. Anituk shows that teenagers are sulky and grumpy no matter the era. He’s cute and harmless, though.

One day, a stranger from the south pulls into camp. This stranger, Abalu, takes a keen interest in Anituk. Anituk, completely taken off guard, rebuffs Abalu’s friendship. Of course, Abalu won’t give up the pursuit our surly teenager.

As the tale continues, Abalu teaches Anituk some important lessons. With these lessons, Anituk lowers his guard and the two become closer. And, as they become closer, Anituk finds himself attracted to Abalu…

There’s more to this story, but I don’t want to spoil it. Also, it doesn’t end exactly how one would expect. Having said that, Loud Snow is entertaining and touching. I dare call it sweet. ‘Sweet’ is not usually an adjective I would employ to describe an Anderson manga, but it fits this time.

Overall, Loud Snow isn’t one of Anderson’s most complex stories nor is it gritty. It’s a delightful story with lovely illustration, though. If you’re a fan of GloBL, I think you’ll find this manga to be worthy of your shelf.

Rating: ♦♦♦♦

I shouldn’t have been as charmed by this release as I was - yet re-interpretation of fairytales has always been one of my downfalls.

This release opens up with a mish-mash of the Little Mermaid fairytale. Haru has always used a giant clam as his sounding board. Every time something’s gone wrong in his little world, he would go and cry to the giant clam and tell it all of his secrets.
The giant clam was listening. After one night of tearful confessions from Haru, the giant clam prayed to be given a form that he could comfort Haru with.
It’s wish was granted, and he became a mermaid. The only thing was that he wasn’t given a voice, so, he has no way of comforting Haru, or even letting him know that he is the giant clam that Haru is now going crazy looking for.

You can see where this is going. It’s cheesy. I’ve seen it before, but damn if it doesn’t pull the right strings and leave me with that warm, fuzzy, just petted a basket of puppies feeling.

This release is really a great example of the whole being worth more than the sum of it’s parts. Taken individually, the stories, and the art wouldn’t be enough to make this stand out - but on a whole, this series sticks with you, and is going firmly on the keeper shelf, to be read when I want to just smile, and let happy fluff spill all over me.

Rating: ♦♦♦♦

You know, it’s kind of nice to get back to vampires that are demonic and bloody. Most of the vamps that we get in manga form are too lilly-white to be able to cause some real carnage.

Not so for the vamps in this release. Lots of gore, complete with hearts being ripped out of chests. While I’m not a huge horror fan, vamps should be a bit forbidden and scary. They can’t be sexy and mysterious all the time. Hell, they’re supposed to be killers, not saints.

When we last left these guys, Sein was recovering from an attack by his older brother, Verloren. His devoted human Lou wants nothing more than to be first in Sein’s eyes, and to keep him strong.

Verloren has different ideas for his brother, and is going to do everything he can to turn Sein into a killer like him.

What really makes me happy is the mix of serious drama, and silly, silly art. One moment things are very detailed and all of a sudden Lou says or does something that’s exasperating/cute, and the characters go super deformed for a panel or so.

While there wasn’t quite enough romance to make this a truly stellar release for me, it was really damn good - and something that’s going directly to the keeper shelf.

Rating: ♦♦♦♦

I didn’t think I was going to like this one. I mean, it had good art, and a cute cat. But, good art and a cute cat will only take you so far.

I need some substance to really bring me over, and thankfully, this one had substance.

All Atsu wants in life is a dog. All Junya wants in life is Atsu. Once they hit college, Junya decides to make his feelings clear, confusing the hell out of poor Atsu.

My favorite scene was when our two heroes finally get together. They’re getting all hot and heavy, when Junya’s cat decides to make his prescience known, by leaping on to Junya’s back.
Being the owner of a fat, clumsy and rather stupid cat, I found this to be hysterical.

This release is filthy, graphic and far too endearing. I’m not familiar with this artist, but she reminds me of Takakura Row, when it comes to the amount of detail she puts into her characters, and just how dirty they are.

I’m also reminded of just why I like 801’s releases in the first place. They’re graphic (no glowing cones of light here) and they usually have some substance to back up the filth.

Substance in my smut, who ever would have thought!

Rating: ♦♦♦♦

I always enjoy Makoto Tateno’s work. I’ve really been happy with this series, and it’s follow up, Steal Moon. There’s something about this dystopian society, with assassins and cabals that just pushes all of my buttons.
Plus, there’s angst and pretty boys screwing. Hell, throw in some Mecha and some teenage pilots, and this would be my version of Gundam Wing.

I love the tension between Kai and Lahti. By now, I shouldn’t be all impressed with Tateno’s deft handling of angst, and longing, but she still manages to get me every time.

Kai wants Lahti, but Lahti is giving off mixed signals. Then there’s the underlying drama of Lahti’s assassin sister, Maria, who captured Kai’s heart - and his conflict with his perfect image of Maria, and the truth of the assassin that she really is.

What drives me crazy is that I shouldn’t like this as much as I do. In one scene, Lahti hauls off and smacks Kai across the face, and Kai goes crawling back to him, like a puppy dog who doesn’t know any better.
My femmi-nazi self is screaming that I should be offended by this, not turned on and enthralled, yet, I’m sucked in and left wanting more.

That’s the talent of Tateno. This is old-school, stereotypical BL. The stuff that normally makes me cranky. Yet, when presented this well, I find myself remembering exactly why I like the genre in the first place.

I’m just in it for the angst.

Rating: ♦♦♦♦

I’ve been waiting so long for this volume, that I pretty much forgot what had happened in the first two volumes.
Thankfully, I caught myself up pretty quickly. This isn’t one of those deep thought mangas that has lots and lots of complicated plot twists. No, this is pretty straightforward, boy meets other boy, boys boink, and then complications arise to keep boys from boinking.
Just to catch all of you up, we have Tokumaru and Hasune. Tokumaru is good at anything athletic, but is a dismal failure at almost everything else. Hasune is the head of his family’s tea house, and his charged with trying to teach Tokumaru some grace and manners.
Cue some hilarity with Tokumaru being a klutz, and winning over Hasune with his bubbly personality and we’ve got a relationship.

In this volume, it’s summer break, and Tokumaru is faced with trying to figure out what he wants to do with the rest of his life. Nothing like putting the pressure on! When he’s given the opportunity to look into attending a sports college, where his lack of book knowledge is not going to be held against him, Tokumaru thinks that he’s got it all figured out.
Hasune takes this as an opportunity to tutor and molest Tokumaru at every possible opportunity. Now, the question is if Tokumaru will be able to stay with Hasune or will his future plans pull them apart.

You know, if this wasn’t so well drawn, and so charming, I don’t think I would care for it as much. It’s really nothing special, when you look at the basic plot, but, there’s something with the quality of the art, and the situations the characters find themselves in, which turn this into a series that I’m happy to wait for.

I have volume four pre-ordered on Amazon.com, and it’s slated for delivery in April. Let’s hope that the release date doesn’t get pushed back too far, now that I’m remembering how much I like this series, I don’t want to wait too long to read the rest of it!

Rating: ♦♦♦♦

I have waited a long time to hold a book by Becca Abbott in my hot little hands. She was always one of my favorite Gundam Wing authors that we archived here at BND. Her stories were always filled with pain and heartache, yet tempered with passion and sweetness.
SL Publishing Group has picked a real gem to be their first foray into print books. This is going to appeal to the yaoi fans, as well as to fans of m/m fiction who want a good dose of high fantasy with their relationships.
I happen to be a sucker for high fantasy, so this book pushed all of my happy buttons.

Stefn is a sin-eater. Sin-eaters are humans who are born with a deformity and everything that goes wrong is laid to blame at their feet. Despised by his family because of his deformity, Stefn spends his days wrapped up in ancient histories and books.
There’s a revolution brewing. The church, which Stefn’s family owes full allegiance has grown corrupt and power hungry. The king of the land is in a drug addled haze. The king’s brother will do everything in his power to save the kingdom of Tanrin; even if it means bringing back forbidden Naran sorcery.
A coup is staged, and Stefn is the only male member of his family left alive.
He’s left alive for one reason, to serve as the conduit of power for Michael Arranz, who’s descended from the demon race of Naragi. Michael’s blood is one of the purest left, and he needs a conduit if the plans to save the country are to be fruitful.

Enter in Stefn – abused, sheltered and believing fully that the demon race is evil, and that he must do everything in his power to thwart Michael’s plans.
Yet, it’s hard to rebel when you’re very being is tied to what you hate most in the world - When it holds you in a web of pleasure and friendship, greater than anything that Stefn has ever known.

This book too me to a place that few books are able to bring me to. A place where you don’t even notice that time is passing, yet you’re spending hours devouring every word on the page. I was sad when I found that I only had a few chapters left. I wanted the book to keep going, to spend more time with these characters.
I knew I was going to like this book, based on the strength of Abbott’s previous writing, but I wasn’t expecting to like it quite this much. If this is the quality of work that SL Publishing Group is going to be releasing, then we’re all in for a big treat.