Boys Next Door Reviews

Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦

First off, let me say that I absolutely adored this release. Secondly, let me say that there was only one story that even touched upon being BL. Don’t let that stop you from picking up this release, I just want to warn you before you ran out and got this one expecting hot monkey sex.

The one story that was slightly BL revolved around a vampire and his human love. The human lover keeps complaining that the vampire always tastes of other people’s blood and keeps trying to get him to quit feeding. Going so far as to asking him to remove his fangs. Fair warning, the ending is going to tug at your heartstrings. Hell, all of the stories in this collection are going to tug at them. Even I, being a jaded bitch of the highest degree, found myself tearing up more than once at the endings that were more honest than happy.

You know, I don’t always like a happy ending. I like endings that make me think or have the happiness tinged with a bit of melancholy. Those are the stories that stick out in my mind. Fluffy stories are all well and good, but, in the end, they’re utterly forgettable. Top all of that off with the art in this one being completely gorgeous and I am one happy little fangirl.

I’m still not sure why this one was released as a BL title, though. One story and one kiss in an anthology does not a BL release make. I shouldn’t complain. I wouldn’t have found the beauty that is this release if they didn’t send it to me as a BL title. It’s definitely a nice change from the schoolboy angst and salarymen that I’ve been slogging through.

All in all, I’m thrilled with this release. It’s going straight to the keeper shelf. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200. Just go right to the keeper shelf so I can make sure it’s there the next time I want some quality stories.

Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦

I’ve been a fan of this author’s work for a very long time. She’s never been hosted on BND, but she’s been a fan and a supporter since we began. I just hope she doesn’t want to kill us for giving her a review.

Regency takes everything I like about romance novels set in that time period and filters it through a male/male lens. This keeps all of the sweetness and trappings of the time period that I love, but adds in the eroticism of men lusting after each other. What more could I ask for in a book?

We start off with a story about a foppish prince who wages a daily battle with his secretary. The two of them loathe each other, but both are two stubborn to admit defeat. The prince refuses to give in and fire his secretary and the secretary refuses to quit.

Our secretary, being fed up with humiliation, decides to teach the prince a lesson and a festival, featuring multiple nights of masquerade balls, proves the perfect opportunity. Only things don’t work out as planned and the masks the heroes wear at the masquerade are nothing like the masks they wear every day to cloak their true personalities from the outside world. So, you can see where this is going.

Then, there’s the story of the duelist who as achieved everything he set out to do, except for taking care of matters of his heart. The young duelist keeps receiving anonymous letters. Letters that make him think as well as arouse and titillate. The question is, who is sending these letters? There’s really no one in his social circle who can write so well and harbor amorous feelings.

Every story is a treat and absolute delight to read. The only complaint I could have would be that in the world that Derr has created, there is no censure on male/male relationships. Now, we all know what a crime homosexuality was in this time period, so not having that censure threw me for a bit. Believe me, it was something I got over quickly. I’m not going to let something like historical accuracy get in the way of my enjoyment of a book that is written so well. This is the perfect book to curl up with on a yucky day, when you just need to lose yourself in pure romance.

Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦

I’m almost sad that this will be the next to the last volume of Love Mode. While I will be happy to own all of it, I’m really going to miss the anticipation of waiting for the next volume to come out, the joy of getting it out of the plastic wrap and then curling up in bed with the characters.

There are a lot of series out there that I enjoy and look forward to reading and reviewing, but none of them strike the same chord as Love Mode. For me, manga just does not get much better than this. No matter how much angst Yuki Shimizu throws at me, I know that there is going to be a blissfully happy ending for the characters.

This time around, we have the story of Jin and the violet-eyed prince. I really think that this was just an excuse for Shimizu to draw some faux Arabian-style outfits and throw in some cousin-sex, but I’m still going to enjoy it. So, there’s the violet-eyed prince, Shareef, who hires Jin to fuck him silly as way to make him too dirty to enter the priesthood. Also, as an introduction to male-male sex, as Shareef is in love with his cousin, Fai.

Fai is not happy with this turn of events and wants to keep Shareef pure, but eventually sees the light and ends up being madly in love with his cousin as well. This leaves poor Jin behind. That’s okay, though. We get his happy ending in another story.

After that, we have a return to our main couples. There’s a story about Izumi and Takamiya, where shadows from Takamiya’s past are causing Izumi to question Takamiya’s feelings for him. Then there’s more in the saga of Aoe and Naoya. First, Naoya gets tricked with a box of those dastardly special aphrodisiac chocolates. Then, their love is tested once again after Naoya’s grandfather passes away and Naoya is called to comfort the young heir.

You know, once the last volume comes out, I think it’s going to be high time I sit and re-read all of these and just enjoy what made me fall in love with this genre in the first place.

Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦

I have loved this comic ever since someone on my friends list was pimping it out. Yes, the sweeping generalizations of high school cliques may be painted with a very broad brush, but there’s enough truth in it to have it strike home and have some of the interactions between the characters be painfully honest and awkward. Add to that mix some well done illustrations, and you’ve got something that’s really special.

Metis looks like your stereotypical emo kid. Just don’t ever call him that to his face. He’s been paired up with Josh, the quarterback for the football team, to write a paper for their English class. This is all well and good, aside from the fact that Josh punched Metis’ lights out after Metis happened to witness Josh getting dumped. So, Metis is going into this thinking that at any second he’s going to get his face rearranged.

Of course, it turns out that the punch, while intended, wasn’t for the reason that Metis thought it was, and he and Josh get along fairly well together. They drift apart, only to come back together over a shared love of Batman in a rooftop conversation, when Josh invites Metis to a party.

Metis, having somewhat of a brain in his head, brings along another friend for backup. After all, you can’t be the only emo kid at a jock party. A playful kiss between Metis and his friend, sends Josh into a violent fit, knocking said friend into a wall. Metis thinks it’s because Josh likes the friend, but, no; it’s because Josh likes Metis.

I’m showing my age here, but this release brought home everything I like in a John Hughes movie and put it into print form, with two boys. (For those of you who are not quite as ancient as I am, those include Pretty In Pink and The Breakfast Club. Go and watch them.) I read this and I just find myself grinning over how sweet, well done and funny this release is. This one should definitly be on your ‘must buy’ list!

Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦

I like books that leave me feeling satisfied. Especially books that I can walk away from happy, knowing things are going to be right in the the book’s universe. London delivers on all of the above in this release, the sequel to The Gold Warrior. I love how deftly she handles the main character’s angst and confusion with the stoicism befitting a warrior, albeit a disgraced and fallen warrior.

Since Maen is now working for the new Queen, both in bed and as a servant, he has little time to think about his lost love, Dax, but missing Dax colors his every move. Queen Seleste knows this and it infuriates her, as she wants all of Maen completely devoted to her.

When tales of Dax’s death reach Maen, he’s crushed. One of the things that has kept him going in his new role, stripped of any glory he may have had, was the knowledge that Dax was out there, alive, somewhere.

During this time, Maen befriends a young scribe, Kiel. Kiel is smart, blindingly so, and has more than book knowledge up his sleeve. What Kiel uncovers has the makings to unravel their society as they know it.

Don’t feel too bad for Maen; things will manage to work out for him. He’s our hero, don’t forget, and he’s more clever than anyone gives him credit for. Well, except for Dax and Kiel.

I always enjoy London’s writing. She’s able to spin a story that sucks you in and makes you feel along with the characters. I’m still afraid that there is a contingent of fans who are going to avoid these books because there are some descriptions of the straight sex in them. Now, I know we’re all here for the boysmut, but sometimes het sex is needed to develop the plot. Get over it. Reading it won’t kill you, I promise.

You know, we’ve had a few of the authors archived over here at BND go pro, and I’m always happy when that happens, but never more so when it comes to London. I’ve loved her work for years and I could not be more please to know she’s getting the recognition that she deserves!

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: ♦♦♦♦♦

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.

Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦

I never thought I would see any of Mika Sadahiro’s work released in English. She is the queen of perversion in my eyes. Her stories are always graphic, slightly wrong and twisted. Is it any wonder why she’s one of my favorite manga artists?

I was actually surprised that I remembered this series being a lot more smutty than it really is. I thought I remembered things being really truly graphic. Hell, I even went and got my original Japanese release to check against the June release. Then I realized it’s about vampires. It’s fucking erotic without being graphic just by the nature of the bloodsucking fiends. After that, I remembered some of the scenes, which while not being graphic in the sense that you have oodles of uncensored penis everywhere, were graphic because of the sheer perverseness of the acts. Fun times!

So, we have J and K. K turned J into a vampire and broke him out of Alcatraz prison. Oh! Did I mention that Sadahiro is a bit of an USA fangirl? Much like the weeaboo, but in reverse. If it’s in the American culture, she knows about it and will incorporate it into her stories.

Alright, back to the plot. After years of living together, killing and fucking, K and J adopt a human child and name him Ace. Ace and J have an antagonistic, brotherly relationship until Ace hits his early teens and the hormone fairy comes to pay a visit. Ace wants J and J wants Ace. K is the only thing holding them back…

It’s bloody, violent and slightly creepy at times while being good enough to make me want to dance in joy. I know we’ll never see some of her really warped works, like Rub in Love or Under Grand Hotel, but this is enough to keep me happy for a long time.