I Thot You Was a Toad's manga / #soap opera(14)

Abuse-trope soap opera about a doctor, Motoki, with his own private clinic, who believes that he is in a one-sided love affair with a yakuza enforcer, Kashima, because Kashima is cold, arrogant and abusive toward him. A visit from Kashima's underlings gives Motoki some hope, but is it false? Kirishima Tamaki, like Tamaki Wren, has a particular drawing style in which her men seem to have strangely flat facial features, even in the midst of emotional upheaval. But it is a stylistic element, not an inability to draw.

Manic-paced soap opera, the first 2 volumes in a long series of family dramedies, with the main emphasis on comedy, about the Obinata family of orphaned boys—except for the oldest, their sister Shima, a fire-breathing tigress of a journalist off on the hunt for wild news stories on a continent where she's likely to find some doozies, and who provides the pivotal engine that gets this plot driving, a marriage, followed in rapid succession by a desertion—and the two new Lost Boys who land in their The-Whole-World-is-Gay Never-Neverland constructed just for fujoshii. This one focuses on the love story between the eldest "Lost Boys", Taiga and Shuu, whose reticence to merge is informed by past hurt. Boisterous and noisy as any household of boys would probably be, there is just enough realism and slice-of-life to keep it interesting. The art is old school. Some of the scans are hard to read, but it's important to get this one under your belt if you plan to read the series. My favourite, so far, is the final one of the series, Hanaya no Nakai de. Respect is due to Sugano Akira for generating enough story and character to keep this series going on so long. It's up there with Kodaka Kazuma for massive volumes of entertaining boy love.

A spin-off and continuation of the series started in Mainichi Seiten where an all-male family of 2 moves in with an all-male family of 4. This story deals with Yuuta and Mayumi, both 16-year-old "stepbrothers" (not biologically connected) who share a bedroom. Mayumi's cheerfulness and pluck seems like a front to Yuuta who senses that there are some serious issues being blocked from resolution, and who resolves to find out what the problems are before this destroys Mayumi. The story also addresses the reality of being lovers in an overcrowded house (poor neighbours!) A lively and interesting tale with spirited, realistic characters.

Fourth installment in the Mainichi Seiten series about the all-gay Obinata household. In this one, Shouu's unflinching honesty about his relationship with Yuuta causes his adopted son to come face-to-face with the traumas of his past and how he was formed by them. Unable to cope, he runs back to the neighbourhood of his youth, leaving everyone behind ... even Mayumi?

Second to last in Sugano Akira's sprawling Mainichi Seiten series about the noisy all-gay Obinata household, this volume deals with a disagreement between the explosive eldest, Taiga and Akinobu, the quiet and studious middle son, over an offer of university study overseas. Taiga is gripped by a past of deprivation and want, and it colours all his efforts and sacrifices when it comes to his family, but is this what is even troubling Akinobu, who hasn't been able to sleep? And how much of Taiga's frustration is also blue-balls syndrome, since his relationship with Shuu still hasn't been consumated (seriously)? Whenever Taiga is featured, the storyline goes a bit wackadoo and zany, because the guy can't seem to communicate without shouting at the top of his lungs. This tends to pitch the story into bathos, but it's important to read as a set up for the final and most interesting (in my opinion) story in this series, Akinobu and Ryuu-nii's relationship in Hanaya no Nikai de.

Hikaru, a first-year at an all-boys' high school, joins the astronomy club on the basis of his aversion to sports and a growing, if inchoate, attraction to its president, Hatayama. Although great moist chunks of astronomical data are pooped all over the pages in a bid for authenticity and, presumeably, our edification, the club is incidental, existing mainly for the purpose of its overnight star-gazing sessions on the roof (in Toyko-grade photo-pollution, no less) and the opportunities those present for boy-on-boy sex and couples' misunderstandings—basically, a French farce. So, by the time the first volume wraps up, it appears that club troublemaker, Onodera, who keeps doing "mean things" to Hikaru, is banging Mochida, the only club member who seems to actually know anything about astronomy (or care.) And Onodera is doing these things in a messed up bid to make his cousin, the afore-mentioned club president, Hatayama, jealous ... or maybe even aware of him sexually ... and to ward off Hikaru, who is just clueless. If Hatayama even notices or cares, it doesn't appear that he's rising to the bait, and in the meantime, Mochida has developed quite a crush on Hikaru, thus setting up The Perfect Cliffhanger for the next volume and installment in this ALL-GAY UNIVERSE of the High School Astronomy and Sex Club. Yay! In other words, if you're looking for realism, try Neil DeGrasse Tyson's Cosmos.

Misaka and Masahiro express their mutual attraction and the other feelings this attraction provokes in a mature fashion, while negotiating their work schedules in the modeling industry and fending off possible interlopers. The artwork is gorgeous, as par for Kousaka Akiho, but the conflict arch was too shallow and short-term to keep it interesting. Every difficulty was neatly stitched up and resolved before it was possible to experience a pang of fear or hitched breath for their relationship. In fact, far too much precious manga time was spent over scheduling difficulties without any sense of loneliness or loss. Some advice to would-be mangakas: if you want an appointment book to be the main theme for resolution of feelings, you've got to make it the enemy. Otherwise, it's like filling in a to-do list.

Senior high school teacher Kasei Shinichi has his hands full with Katou Reiji, a star basketball athlete sidelined by a knee injury who has developed a serious infatuation for this teacher. But where most yaoi stories take this as an opportunity to push toward sex, Yuki Ringo recognizes and respects the moral and legal boundaries that these situations present. There is no question, in her story, that a teacher would dismiss a confession as impossible on the basis of professional misconduct, and discourage a minor from harbouring any sentiments. Kasei is left with only fond memories and a smoking habit until Katou returns as an adult and fully credentialed teacher in Kasei's school. From there, the story really embarks on a near-Odyssean world of pain as Katou gently struggles to overcome each obstacle between him and his beloved, moving it forward from fond affection and collegial companionship. And the obstacles are doozies. For one thing, Kasei isn't gay. For another, Katou tried to numb his pain and confusion with some pretty reckless behaviour before he thought he might have an atom's chance of success. This is a rich and rewarding soap opera, well worth the effort of reading.

It's Souya and Kazuki against the world, or at least against Kazuki's nasty, mean, horrible, no-good, prestigious and ancient family. Souya, who's one of those supermodel novelist types, is determined to look after his poor, oppressed, ordinary Joe of a part-time wine-shop waiter stepbrother, in exchange for loads of bottoms up. That's got Daddy and real brother in a tizz. All we need is Queen singing in the background, "Mammaaaaa, I just killed a man ...."

Hans Christian Anderson's allegory about female vanity "The Red Shoes" and the Archers' 1948 cinematic adaptation form the backdrop to Ogawa Chise's romp through the cut-throat business of haute couture in which pairs of bespoke stiletto heels become totems for sexual power and Yuriy Abalkin, the muse, high priestess and prostitute for Alex, whose designs and creations are sought by Yuriy's uncle. Client after client uses Yuriy until he starts to disintegrate into madness and makes a desperate ploy to win the heart of his beloved Alex. This story is a hardcore grand opera of soap and typical of Ogawa Chise, luxurious in bathos and hysterical melodrama. This bitter cup of cynicism is definitely mixed with a good dose of wry.