Boys Love
Story and Art by Kaim Tachibana
Published by Doki Doki Imprint of Digital Manga, Inc.
Copy supplied by Publisher
ISBN10: 1569700885
ISBN13: 9781569700884
Review by Linda Yau
Mamiya is a magazine editor who has his first high profile feature on famous teen model Noeru Kisargi. He was quite enthused to get the job, but then he meets the model, and it goes down from there. Mamiya learns that Noeru lives a very irresponsible and tormented life with underage drinking or sleeping with random men. He is in other words a jerk.
Now this self-destructive cycle of Noeru stems from his childhood loss of a friend. Meeting Mamiya reminds him of his childhood friend. There is the establishment of a random relationship from Noeru’s point of view. But a probable significant one from Mamiya, and this assumption is from the reader. Now throw in another childhood friend of Noeru, Chidori and you have a jealous love triangle. The book boils down to the last few pages, and ends in a tormented Romeo and Juliet or Korean drama ending.
Reading this story, I was pretty dismayed at how the book went. Plot-wise everything was so cliché and expected of a bl-manga, that I didn’t feel it went anywhere to offer something new beyond a one horse trick bite. This story most probably would appeal to adolescent readers who would want everything to end in one story, would be tied along by the emo angle, but beyond that I was pretty disappointed by this story. I found Mamiya’s character as weak, and manipulated by Noeru, who has his own torments. Everything in the relationship was quite rushed and assuming of the readers. Their development is quite superficial, and I am afraid that one book won’t cover it. I recall the review I wrote of Brilliant Blue, and of Kris’s Future Lovers where I am agreeing with the review as well. These are examples and contrasts of possibilities of a two book series. Now if Boys Love had a chance, then the one book deal would probably will not be as weak as it is.
On the other hand, if the plot was mush, the art in Boys Love was drawn very well, soft and definitely eye candy, it would send bl-fan’s all a twitter, but I can’t help but bringing up the fact that the plot is pretty weak in aspects of wanting something beyond superficial development. Real life relationships shouldn’t be an aspect of just expectations, and petty development, otherwise it will be just a soap opera drama.