Review: YOWAMUSHI PEDAL

It's once again time for the Summer Olympics, so in turn I'm going to be looking at some sports manga (and in particular those featuring sports you're likely to see at the Olympics), and that includes bike racing.

YOWAMUSHI PEDAL (Yowamushi Pedaru), by Wataru Watanabe.  First published in 2008 and first published in North America in 2015.

PLOT:

Sakamichi Onoda is an otaku who loves nothing more than his regular trips to Akibahara.  It doesn't matter that he lives in the hilly countryside nearly 50km away from the heart of Tokyo - he's happy to bike his way there and back if it lets him save that much more money for another vending machine toy.  Eventually Sakamichi's endurance is noticed by a couple of classmates who are part of the school's biking team.  They eventually convince Sakamichi to give them a chance, but the transition from casual trips to Tokyo on an everyday bike to serious races on sporting models is a rough, even perilous one.

Review: MISTER MISTRESS

 I can't not close out this month by shooting the metaphorical fish in the barrel - i.e., reaching deep into my boxes of BL manga and finding some silly-looking stinker to review.

MISTER MISTRESS (Aijin Incubus), by Rize Shinba.  First published in 2005 and first published in North America in 2008.

PLOT:

Fujimaru is your standard horny hetero teen boy, and it turns out that his teenage libido is the key to unlocking the secret of his late grandfather's house: an incubus named Rei.  Rei craves Fujimaru's body and the raging hormones within it, but Fujimaru isn't very keen on the idea.  The more he tries to resist, the harder Rei tries to trick him into sex.  How long can Fujimari hold out against such temptation?

Review: THE RUTHLESS COMMANDER AND HIS REINCARNATED WARHORSE

 There's still not a lot of BL isekai out there, but this particular one stands out by virtue of having one of the wackiest premises I've seen.

THE RUTHLESS COMMANDER AND HIS REINCARNATED WARHORSE (Shouwaru Boukun Kishu to Nagasare Senba), based on the light novel by Sakashima with art by Nomoto Narita.  First published in 2019 and first published in North America in 2023.

PLOT:

Deep in a forest, a young foal is born.  Once he was a modern-day Japanese man, but now he's enjoying the freedom and simplicity of life as a horse.  Then one day he encounters Lieutenant Commander Felix, a strict but handsome young soldier.  Felix takes this horse (now named Aleksei) for himself, and Aleksei commits himself to becoming his loyal steed.  When the two are attacked by bandits, Aleksei undergoes a strange transformation that allows the two to become closer than ever before.

Review: A FOREIGN LOVE AFFAIR

It's time once more for me to dive into my boxes of BL and find a fresh new handful to talk about this Pride month.  We'll start off simple with an early work from a familiar name.

A FOREIGN LOVE AFFAIR (Iroku Iroku Romantan), by Ayano Yamane.  First published in 2003 and first published in North America in 2008.

PLOT:

On a luxury cruise in the Mediterranean, the young yakuza heir Ranmaru Ohmi is supposed to be enjoying an Italian honeymoon with the daughter of a rival family.  Instead he's picking fights with everyone on the ship, from his new wife to random passengers.  It's up to cruise captain (and secret Japanophile) Alberto Valentiano to keep the peace.  He's instantly smitten with both Ranmaru's looks and insistence on wearing kimonos, and he swiftly seduces Ranmaru.  The two are reunited when Ranmaru goes missing, but that's just the beginning of their truly tumultuous love affair.

Merry Month of Manga: SMUGGLER

 And now we switch gears hard, going from a sensitive and accomplished coming-of-age drama to a messy seinen crime story.

SMUGGLER, by Shohei Manabe.  First published in 2000 and first published in North America in 2006.

                                               

PLOT:

Kinuta didn't meant to end up in the Yakuza.  He wanted to be an actor.  Then he got into some financial trouble, which led to him meeting the worst sorts of people and getting himself deeper in trouble.  Now he's stuck dumping bodies, bereft of any purpose in his life.  Things only get worse when a couple of Chinese assassins take out his boss.  His gang manage to capture one of the assassins, but Kinuta accidentally lets him escape.  Kinuta must take the assassin's place to hide his failure, but the longer the deception goes on the more he loses himself in the role.