Mmm Delicious Yaoi: Fresh Men

College freshman Takayuki Saito faints into the arms of sophomore Hitoshi Sato during their school's entrance ceremony. Not knowing that the reason for his fainting spell was from too much partying, all Sato sees is a fragile boy fresh out of high school who needs looking after. Unfortunately for Sato, it turns out that Saito is "fresh" in more ways than he can handle!
Since my goal for 2011 is to glean through my to be read pile(s) of manga I finally got around to reading this one-shot today. One of the gripes I had was with the names; Saito and Sato. Seriously, for the first chapter I got the names confused, a lot. Thankfully though the two main characters had their own unique physical attributes so I was able to distinguish the two that way.

I really enjoyed the main story but I found the bonus side stories to catch my attention more. I'm adding to my wish list of manga Endless Rain by the same creator, the angst and emotions conveyed in this one-shot was really well executed so I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of her work.

Baby & Me vol 1

This series has been on my tbr pile for far too long so this month I decided to pick it up while I can still get my hands on it (series run ended and Viz published the last volume already.) The aspect I love about starting a series that is already fully published is that I don't have to wait months for the next volume to be released, and often times you can find used volumes cheap online.
I enjoyed this first volume and will admit to tearing up after reading only the first chapter! I wasn't expecting it to be pulling at the reader's heartstrings right away but it does pull you into the story and keeps you til the end. I'm interested in how this series will progress over 18 volumes. I plan on trying to see if I can snag some editions off Paperbackswap or used via Amazon, not a series that seems to have a high re-read value so I'll be swapping them as I read them.

Reflection: Happy Cafe

*Update: Check out my review of Happy Cafe just posted over on Mangavillage

After my initial reading of Happy Cafe I felt something that I hope isn't taboo to say, but I will anyway, similar to my experience with reading Fruits Basket. Whenever I'm feeling down and out I escape to a world filled with members of the Chinese Zodiac and a kind-hearted, yet sometimes clumsy, Miss Tohru Honda. When I first encountered Fruits Basket I was working 2-3 part time jobs and going to school full time. I always felt drained of all energy and any ambition to keep going but when I did have a moment to myself I would curl up and escape for a bit.
Now that I'm slowly burning myself out, yet again, but this time it's for my last (hopefully) semester of grad school. Working full time and doing an internship, on top of an independent study, is quite a blast that requires much energy that I don't have anymore. With support positions being cut and/or people's positions not being filled when they leave I was worried about my own job last semester. Since I work full-time on my campus, along with school and interning, my workplace holds a lot of ground for me. Thinking that my position is not important transcended into negative thoughts about myself. Then one day I decided to snap out of my funk and shift my focus into being as helpful as possible to all the patrons that I deal with whether they be students, staff, or faculty (which are known on campus for treating staff horribly.) Being able to help others is my way of finding happiness at my current job. So when I sat down to read Happy Cafe I didn't move much til I finished reading it in it's entirety. Often I may sit and read a chapter of a manga while taking a break but I haven't been able to escape like I did in so long that I almost forgot what it was like to get swept away in a story.
So I think this is why Happy Cafe is something I may have enjoyed more than most new series I've picked up so far and think that anyone still searching for their own happiness will enjoy as well.

What I'm Reading in 2010

When I first got into manga I didn't really know what genres I would like so I picked up any series I could. This eventually lead to a pile of first volumes for various series. Now that I have refined my tastes to enjoying mainly three genres: yaoi, josei, shojo (oft sometimes guilty pleasures.)

Even after narrowing down my choices there are still some series that I was curious about and read the first few volumes. Below is some series that caught my eye in 2009 and hopefully I'll be able to get caught up (for those that are still running) or complete in 2010.

Full Metal Alchemist
Having read the first three volumes of this series in '09 I hope to (eventually) get caught up with the current issues. At first I was afraid it would be too graphic for me but that notion was quickly dismissed once I became engrossed with the plot overall.

Hana Kimi

Next to Fruits Basket this is one of the very first shojo titles that caught my eye and hooked my attention within a chapter. I'm already half-way through this series so I'm pretty hopefull that in 2010 I'll know how this tale will unfold. After watching the drama, based off the series dare I say somewhat loosely, I'm interested in how the manga will come to an end.

Bleach

To try to step out of the comfort zones of genres that I have come enjoy the most I wanted to give Bleach a try in 2010. Never was much of an action fan but even after trimming down my to be read list I thought I would start a series that already has, oh 20+ volumes in print :)

Bride of the Water God

I've picked up a few, and dropped, some manwha series and am still exploring all they have to offer. But by far this is one of the most beautiful and majestic series that I started in 2009. It shall not take long for me to get caught up with this series since only a few volumes have been released in the States so far.

There are plenty of other series that I have sad first volumes lurking in my bedroom waiting for me to pick up, and when I do I hope to share my thoughts on them as well in this New Year :)

"Like A Love Comedy"

Review: “Like A Love Comedy” by Aki Morimoto (yaoi novel)

Taking place in LA this light “boy’s love” novel makes for a nice and quick read. The author utilized the setting of television production as the main focus of the story as opposed to the budding romance of the two main characters; Biwa and Yamato. Biwa is the struggling screenwriter of the story that is trying to hone his writing skills to someday make it big in the entertainment business. Yamato is the famous actor from Japan trying to get his feet wet in the American entertainment industry. Their passion for American entertainment will be the thread that ties these two different personalities together in the bonds of friendship that will lead to much more.

The characters personal developments in the story did not come into focus till much later in the novel, if it was noticeable to the reader at all. The plot was stoic and predictable from the first page to the last; though if it was any other way I think it would have been an upset to the reader if Biwa and Yamato did not later reunite on American shores.

Though the title may be somewhat deceiving has “comedy” in it that does not mean it was full of slap stick humor. It was more lighthearted and ironic in a way that what Biwa thought of Yamato at first as being arrogant and dreading working as his personal Japanese speaking assistant later (much later) turns into a blossoming relationship between the seemingly unlikely couple.

If you are looking for a yaoi guilty pleasure look elsewhere as this book could be considered PG-13 (or lower) rating. The majority of the plot focused so much on the production sets that it seemed that the minor romance at the end was somewhat forced, without the last chapter it would be hard pressed to categorize this light novel as yaoi. It would be a good read for those that may want to get into the yaoi/ boy’s love genre and want to start off with something that is a light and easy read.