Kiss all the Boys, vol. 3
Story and art by Shiuko Kano
Published by Deux Press
ISBN-10: 1934496456
ISBN-13: 9781934496459
Review by Jilly Gee
The good news is that Tetsuo is no longer impotent. The bad news is that it’s thanks to his feelings for Tamaki, the same guy his son, Haruka, likes.
Some more good news is that Tamaki returns Tetsuo’s feelings. Some more bad news is that Haruka finds all this out in the worst way, by interrupting their spontaneous groping and fondling session in the middle of the living room.
More family drama than romance drama, the third and final volume of Kiss All the Boys reveals angsty, intense thoughts from both father and son. Haruka seemed like a carefree soul in the beginning, but the incident with Tamaki and his father shows readers the side of him that questions his self-worth as the product of sex between two careless, loveless teenagers. Tetsuo may have come off as a selfish jerk who didn’t care about his son in the first volume, but when Haruka starts with the self-derogatory comments, the emotions Tetsuo displays makes it obvious to readers that he very much loves his son. It was this father son relationship, the way they both grew, the way they both misunderstood each other, they way they finally understood each other, that made me like the series so much. (Well, that and the hilarious way people get freaked out, angry, sad, and whatnot.) Their bond was a lot stronger than any couple that formed throughout the series. For once, I like a boys love series not for the boys love! Not that the boy loving parts were bad; those parts were very much welcome.
Also included in this third volume is an unrelated story titled "Summertime Accomplices". Two boys are left mostly alone together in the school dormitories. One stays because his own house is too crowded and the other stays to keep away from some disturbing secrets at home. The art style is very different from Kiss All the Boys, really round and bendy-looking, somewhat old-fashioned. It may be due to the style they were drawn in and the sharp contrast it has with the rest of the book, but the boys looked so depressed and uncomfortable that I found myself depressed and uncomfortable while reading it. There were a couple of sweet lines, but I found myself too focused on one boy’s large forhead and another boy’s long, melancholy lashes. Call me superficial, but had the art resembled Shiuko Kano’s current style, I probably would enjoyed "Summertime Accomplices" more.