kastra (kastra) wrote in bl_review, @ 2007-09-11 01:18:00 |
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Current mood: | chipper |
Entry tags: | ask, english, kuwabara |
Alcohol, Shirt and Kiss
And now for something in English.
Alcohol, Shirt and Kiss (ASK) by Yuko Kuwabara was the first true BL manga I ever bought in English. It is this book's fault that I now continue to be persuaded to purchase BL books in English even though it is the junk food of my Japanese study. It is still not truly regretted. It fulfilled all of my markers of a good BL manga. It was funny, sweet, beautifully drawn and without the whiny uke (*) or abusive seme. Life can be very good.
The main story is about two cops who are partners. One, Naruse, breaks up with his girlfriend and, to forget her, he gets completely drunk and wakes up in his partner's bed. And he is not alone. Confused Naruse immediately thinks they have slept together, but he can't remember anything. Kita, his partner, decides that rather than coming clean about what exactly happened that night, it would be more fun to tease Naruse and lets Naruse continue to believe they had sex . Thus the fun begins.
As seme's go, Kita is not the jerk many are. Although he plays with Naruse, it comes across more like a little boy on a playground pulling the girls pigtail to get her attention. There is no malicious intent or assumption that being a jerk makes you cool. Don't get me wrong, Kita is a bit of a jerk, but it is not the kind of jerk that you want to knock out the front teeth of. Kita does have his emotional complications but they are surmountable.
It is truly a love story without any tears (well not the inappropriate ones), pain or the favorite "I say no, but I really mean yes!" crap that turns up too often in BL. It also has great pacing so you never feel left behind. There is also a great secondary cast of characters who provide more humor to the story as they watch the relationship between Naruse and Kita develop.
The art is really pretty. On the humor side, Kuwabara draws great stuff. One of my favorites is the reaction of Naruse to Kita's teasing.
Then there is her more serious moments. I really loved Kita's sweet look in this scene. You can just feel how completely he cares for Naruse.
Kuwabara has a really unique ability to really show complex emotions in her characters. Other artists are good, she is a master.
Anyway, all I can really say is buy and read this book. Even the english translation is good. Lacking in awkward lines and ridiculous colloquialisms it is a smooth read even in the sweet parts.
I am sure I could babel forever over this one so I shall stop here. :)
(*) Something makes me feel uncomfortable using the terms "uke" and "seme". Maybe it is the inherent imbalance of power in the words. Until I find something that agrees with me better I shall stick to these but please understand that although I use the words to delegate the stereotypical roles to the characters, I do not feel that it is right to trap them in such stereotypes. Hell I use them so infrequently I am not really sure if I am even spelling them right