Review: WILD ROCK

Something I love about BL is that you find just about any premise you want in it...and I do mean ANY premise.

WILD ROCK (Wairudo Rokku), by Kazusa Takashima.  First published in 2002 and first published in North America in 2006.

PLOT:

For years, Yuuen's tribe have been feuding with the tribe on the other side of the lake over their shared hunting grounds.  It doesn't help that Yuuen is too slight and scared to land any big game.  Thus, his father decides to have Yuuen pose as a woman to serve as a honeytrap for the other tribe's champion, Emba.  The trick seems to work, but the more time Yuuen spends with Emba the more he finds himself falling for him.  Eventually Yuuen can't take the deception any more, and his efforts to make his feelings known changes both their tribes forever.

Review: KINIRO MOSAIC

Sadly, not all yuri (or yuri-adjacent) manga can be as interesting as Mushroom Girls In Love.  Some are simply about blandly nice girls having blandly nice fun in an attempt to be blandly funny.

KINIRO MOSAIC (Kin-iro Mozaiku), by Yui Hara.  First published in 2010 and first published in North America in 2016.

PLOT:

Alice Cartelet is an English girl who loves Japan so much that she decides to move there to attend high school.  There she is reunited with her old friend Shinobu, who stayed with Alice's family while studying abroad and who is equally fanatical about all things European.  Together with their friends, Aya, Youko, and Karen they struggle with cross-cultural misunderstandings along with all the usual pleasantries of high school.

Review: POISON CHERRY DRIVE

Of course, for every great BL out there there's easily half a dozen BL books of lesser quality, and this amongst the worst I've come across in the site's history.

POISON CHERRY DRIVE (Poizun Cheri Doraibu), by Modoru Motoni. First published in 2005 and first published in 2006.

PLOT:

There's a site called Cherry Drive that promises to satisfy the needs of any young gay man who applies (although young, virginal ones are preferred), whether that's revenge for a rape or simply to satisfy their most secret desires.  If approved, you meet up with the men of Cherry Drive: the frantic president Ai Iidai, the chill Mamezo Takano, and their token straight go-fer Kenny Boy.  Their cases never seem to work out quite how they want them to, but somehow things seem to work out.

Review: MUSHROOM GIRLS IN LOVE

There are loads of yuri manga out there, but there's only person crazy enough to write a yuri manga about mushrooms and make it good.

MUSHROOM GIRLS IN LOVE (Kinoko Ningen no Kekkon), by Kei Murayama.  First published in 2013 and first published in North America in 2018.

PLOT:

In a world full of mushroom people, members generally stay within their own tribes.  Herders marry herders; scribes marry scribes.  Thus, when the herder Arralia marries the scribe Erriela, the marriage is the talk of both groups.  Their wedded bliss is short-lived, thanks to royal machinations and the prejudice of both groups.  When Erriela is kidnapped, Arralia lays her life on the line to rescue her wife and find a place where they can both live happy and free.

Review: SEDUCE ME AFTER THE SHOW

June is Pride Month, and as such we're going to be doubling up on reviews.  We'll be covering two manga per week: one BL title, one yuri title.  We'll be starting out with our best foot forward for BL, with yet another anthology by one of our favorite mangaka.

SEDUCE ME AFTER THE SHOW (Sho ga Hanetara Aimasho), by est em.  First published in 2006 and first published in North America in 2008.

PLOT:

This anthology covers the travails of men (and cats?) who are torn between their passion for their crafts and the alluring men who wander into their lives.  Be they dancers, painters, actors, or musicians, all of them end up surrendering to love to try and overcome the pain of their pasts and the complications of their present.