Animania

Note: As I'm in the process of moving, expect reviews to continue to be fairly sporadic until August, as much of my manga is now packed.

A Love Song for the Miserable is a single volume yaoi title from the seemingly unknown, single named mangaka Yukimura. It was published here in North America by Digital Manga Publishing under their June label back in May. I decided to give it a whirl after reading a favorable review of the title over on AnimeOnDVD.com. Being from DMP, it features the usual large book size, a nice color dust jacket and high quality pages and printing.

Itsuki Asada works for a large department store. When his request to be transferred to his dream department, events planning, is denied, he drowns his sorrows in alcohol and ends up laying in a bush crying. He's found by Iwasaki Sunao, normally just called Nao, who got lost while jogging and thinking. He pulls Asada from the bush and, sobered up, Asada gives him directions. In exchange, Nao tells him to drop his shop. Feeling more and more depressed about his job, Asada finds the paper with the shop's address and decides to visit. This starts a friendship between the two men, as Asada becomes new pastry chef Nao's personal taste tester. Alas, when Nao decides he should go to France to study more, Asada reacts badly, leaving things bitter between them. At this point, the story jumps ahead three years, finding Asada finally in the events department and Nao the pastier at a new shop who is already receiving tons of praise. Asada must inject himself back into Nao's life to try to get the chef to be a participant in a baking event at the store. These two must now deal with the past, and with the feelings that caused them to both react as they did. They must also decide what kind of future they want, and if it should include one another.

I don't know if this is Yukimura's first work or not, but if it is it is certainly a good one. She has an excellent art style, with her men looking like men without the ridiculously sharp pointed chins often seen in these series. Instead, their chins are more normally proportioned, while still being "manly." Her characters are all distinctive looking, with good facial expressions, and her drawings of the desserts were so well detailed I wanted them to come off the page so I could eat them! I like both central characters. Asada is so miserable, I can't help pitying him. He has a lot of issues with his work, and really just wants to be needed. When he finds his own little paradise, losing it really hurts him. Nao also has an interesting personality, hurt by Asada's reaction and a little slow to realize why. As whole, it has a good story, with some nice resolution and just the right amount of interaction with others without getting distracted by them. It was particularly nice to read a yaoi title that didn't fall back on having some former friend/coworker etc decide they suddenly want to have one of the main characters. The only thing causing problems for Asada and Nao are their own personalities and unwillingness to be honest with their feelings. I highly recommend this one for anyone tired of the usual high schoolers, love triangles, and ultra-pointy chins. This is two adult men, just trying to deal feelings they never expected to feel.

Rating: A

Fall in Love Like a Comic is a short, two volume series from Chitose Yagami that takes a look at high school mangaka (manga writer) who writes shojo manga but as never had a boyfriend. It was originally serialized in Japan's Ciao magazine in late 2002. Viz released the series as two volumes, however the second volume is really a separate sequel that was serialized sporadically in in Ciao and another magazine, Chuchu. Still, the two flow together very nicely, so I can see why Viz made the choice to just release as a whole story. I decided to pick it up after reading the first chapter when it was previewed in an issue of Shojo Beat.

The story focuses on Rena Sakura, a high schooler who hides the fact that she is a successful, professional mangaka from most people. Her best friend teases her about writing smutty manga when she's never even been on date, while her editor has mentioned that having actual experience would only make her writing even better. Enter Tomoyo Okita, a gorgeous schoolmate who stumbles on Rena's secret. With her editor's words still ringing in her ears, Rena impulsively asks Tomoyo to date her so she can gain experience. When he accepts though, she soon finds herself wanting to be more than Tomoyo's fake girlfriend, not realizing he wants her to stop seeing him as some perfect shojo manga boyfriend.

Though short, Fall in Love Like a Comic is a short, but fun series. Rena is cute and her surprising vulnerability and insecurities about her looks and whether Tomoyo really finds her attractive are a nice touch. With her success and popularity, one might have expected her to be more arrogant or aggressive. My only minor annoyance is that Yagami drew Rena in such a way that she looks like a elementary or middle schooler. Very small, short, with big huge eyes and a child-like figure. She's the only character given such an appearance, and its jarring at first to see her then sharing rather heated kisses with Tomoyo, who looks like a normal high school boy. Still,

Rating: B+