I Thot You Was a Toad's manga / #Beautiful Art(114)

Yajima, depressed by the going-nowhere relationship with his much older and married male lover, is offered some sexual stress relief by a handsome stranger, Watabe, in a gay meet-up park. Yajima takes Watabe up on his offer, although he makes his preference for older men almost insultingly clear for their first encounters. He never guesses that Watabe isn't as innocent as he looks, and the offer had more to it than Yajima could imagine. The question is whether that's an insurmountable problem. Great art, handsome guys, interesting story premise and lots of fantastic sex!

Tamaquis Wren specializes in yaoi where the uke surrenders himself to love so much, he gives up his own dignity. Dignity is reinstated by love returned, a classic romance trope. This story is hardcore, however, for, instead of love, the sole motivation is vengeance, and there is no surrender, just rage-fueled detachment and dissociation. To extract the cruelest revenge he can, Yan, the son of a murdered king, becomes the favourite catamite in the court of the Chinese Emperor who committed regicide against Yan's beloved father. Bent on destroying his enemies and slowly debauching the Emperor past his body's capacity for tolerance, the only revenge Yan can extract is what he has, himself, endured. In the end, in spite of page after page of strangely utilitarian sex and seduction with child rape, gang rape, slavery, sex cults, drugs, felching, castration, BDSM, odd sex toys, vegetable-slicing(!) and a huge and surprising reveal right at the end, the story is empty and cold, just like Yan. Weirdly, it's the court intrigue and politics that move it beyond mere shota wish-fulfilment smut fantasy and redeem it (for me; I can't abide child rape), transforming it into Wren's best work. It isn't romantic at all and, for once, Wren doesn't pretend that soul-crushing depravity and oppression are romantic. Wren's drawings are distinctive and stylized, but here they focus on lips, hair, eyes, skin and a boy whose naked body is modified to look like a young woman's. Everyone else is nameless, fully dressed and, either a wild-eyed and lust-maddened rapist, or a fellow scheming manipulator — distorted through the lens of obsession. Yan is an interesting character who gains his individual freedom, revenge and personal power, although nothing else — certainly not love.

Hoshino was dazzled by his senpai, Akihino, when they formed the astronomy club together in high school, especially with his dreams of becoming a pilot. What he didn't know is that those dreams had only become an opportunity for Akihino because he was dazzled. After an eleven year separation, Hoshino is astonished to be reunited with Akihino, who has not been able to fulfill his dreams. Indeed, it seems that he is the single parent of Hoshino's biggest problem student and there is a sad mystery behind this, but Akihino does not want Hoshino to come any closer. A bittersweet story about adulthood and sacrifices, which becomes much sweeter when barriers are slowly worked through, although it's sometimes frustrating to watch.

A misbehaving diva of a failed actor, Nanami Jin, is sent to a doujin mangaka's studio to learn how to be a proper model, the career he gave up when his idol, supermodel Kase Yutai, retired. Jin keeps up his tantrums and egotism until he discovers that this mangaka happens to be Kase.

Sequel to Cherry-Poppers, Rui and Saeki are like oil and water, but Rui is easy-going and compassionate and Saeki is on the rebound. That's enough of an emulsifier to marinade this chopped salad.

Final installment in Takanaga Hinako's Kimi ga Koi series, which began with Kimi ga Koi ni Ochiru and continued with Kimi ga Koi ni Obereru. Rejected firmly by Kimono proprietor, Jinnai, procurement manager Kijima is swept away by the beauty of unknown newcomer Ichikawa's designs, even while he is dead set against the innocent man's growing infatuation. Ichikawa's resistance to having his designs showcased is rooted in a past marred by treachery and professional sabotage. Will Kijima overcome his own resistance in order to uncover Ichikawa's secrets and protect him? Or, having outed him in spite of Ichikawa's reservations, will he leave the designer to face his enemies alone?

2nd in Takanaga Hinako's Kimi Ga Koi Series, that started with Kimi Ga Koi Ni Ochiru and ends with Kimi ga Koi ni Midareru, this story furthers the adventures of Reichirou, from the first series, as told through the eyes of Jinnai, a kimono salesman from the shop which Reichirou, the eldest son of the company's owner, now manages. Jinnai's reaction to losing out the managerial position to such a young man starts off as irritation and envy, but evolves into attraction as Reichirou's modesty and purity win him over, then love as he confronts his own sense of entitlement and impetuosity, fighting off jealousy and insecurity when Kijima comes on the scene. This comes to a head when Reichirou's duty to his family includes meeting with a prospective marriage partner. Can Jinnai learn to trust?