Brilliant Blue: Vol 1
Story and Art by Saemi Yorita
Published by Doki Doki Imprint of Digital Manga, Inc.
ISBN10: 1569700990
ISBN13: 9781569700990
Review by Linda Yau
Shouzo Mita never thought that he would end up running his father’s construction business even though he has the same job at Tokyo, but when his father’s back gave out, he headed back to the suburbs. At a welcoming party he bumps into Nanami, a childhood friend and this is the start of Saemi Yorita’s Brilliant Blue.
Shouzo couldn’t believe that his childhood naive friend chubby appearance actually transforms him into a bishonen character that if he was down in Harujuku or Shinjuku, his looks would be material for the entertainment industry. He did lose weight after his mother died, but apparently that wasn’t the only changes as Shouzo discovers behind the bishonen appearance is Nanami’s married lover Douwaki-san, who Nanami doesn’t like, but is impressionable enough to enter into a relationship with.
Brilliant Blue would actually have a continuation, so I would be interested in reading more of this tentative relationship between Shou-chan and Nanami. In the afterward of the book, Yorita-sensei called Nanami an interesting characters, but was a dumb uke never the less. This is the beginning of a long a meaningful relationship that is chaste enough, so that there would be a stronger relationship in the end. Quite sweet, and innocent really. Even the author couldn’t believe that the passion was so chaste in the end, funny.