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.
STORY:
Where do I even begin with something as messed-up as Poison Cherry Drive?
I guess I should start with the most offensive part: its callous attitude towards rape. Sometimes they do things like trap a vocal critic in a kidnapping to purposefully bring about Stockholm Syndrome so that Iidai can sleep with him. At least half of the chapters here involve clients who were raped, and the solution offered is to either have the client rape the rapist in return or that the men of Cherry Drive do it for them. You'd like to hope that this was done out of realization that this brand of eye-for-an-eye revenge is beyond reprehensible, but alas the real reason is for comedy purposes.
Oh, did I mention that this is meant to be a comedy? That the guys of Cherry Drive are actually neurotic weirdos, with Kenny serving as their literal straightman? That Iidai is basically using this organization to look for handsome, often barely-legal virgins and gets mad when the results aren't to his liking? That they all collectively get (mostly) naked to cure a client of a fear of naked men? Motoni's notions of humor are simultaneously gross, feeble, and bizarre, and every attempted joke lands with a leaden thud. The combination of poor humor and poor taste makes for a book that is irritating and exhausting to read.
ART:
I was kind of surprised to learn that this book dates from 2005 because Motori's artstyle seems to be stuck in a mode that was much more in fashion at least 5 years previous. Her characters are built on rigid, rectangular models that make them better resemble rulers than human beings. The faces are just downright odd, with their delicately lashed eyes, full and heavy lips, and harsh profiles. There's very little in the way of sexuality, as on the rare occasion anyone can actually get laid the scene is usually heavily censored for the sake of comedy or simply cuts away. There's also very little in the way of visual humor, save for the occasional goofy face. It mostly relies on shouting and bad taste.
PRESENTATION:
On top of everything else, the translation here is awful. It's stilted and garbled, which makes the plot and the humor that much more difficult to comprehend. Then there's the matter of the font and lettering. The font is a slick future-styled one that's in all-caps, which is hard to read and harder still to indicate any change in tone or voice. It seems to have been mostly chosen for size, as more than once speech bubbles are left with an awkward amount of space. It's little wonder that none of the localization staff are identified at all with work this shoddy.
RATING:
Poison Cherry Drive represents some of the lowest dregs of BL during the 2000s. It's a toxic combination of a terrible premise, ugly art, poor humor, and a lackluster localization. It's a poisonous piece of dreck that should be avoided and forgotten.
This book was published by Media Blasters. It is currently out of print.
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