So now that I'm caught up on Harudaki, I finally got around to reading Boku no Koe, and I find that I have mixed feelings about this series. Contains spoilers below the cut...


First, the positive: I love Yumi and Hosaka! red_day_dawning mentioned that they are a bit Snupin-ish, and I can see that--Hosaka with his cold, aloof exterior and his devious Slytherin-like courtship of Yumi. And Yumi, so openly friendly and good-natured on the surface like Lupin, but also like Lupin, it's a bit of a front to hold people (or in this case, one person in particular, Hosaka) at arm's length. And not unlike Lupin, there's a bit of passive-aggressive cruelty in the way that Yumi holds Hosaka at bay by treating his feelings like a joke. (I think that Lupin is an expert at passive-aggressiveness; for example, the way that he gets on Snape's nerves by being unfailingly polite in the face of Snape's rudeness.)

And btw, I think it's pretty funny that when they finally get around to making love, Yumi automatically assumes that he's going to be the uke--is it because he always plays the uke in his voice acting roles? ;-)

However, as for the main pairing, I must admit that Jouchi irritates the hell out of me. At first his cheerful naievete was kind of cute, but his relentless single-minded pursuit of Kazama kind of squicked me. I think it's because that final sex scene in the first volume smacks a bit of the kind of dub-con that is so prevalent in yaoi that I really dislike. Certainly it's mild compared to much stronger dub-con of Junjou Romantica and the outright rapes in Finder in the Trap, for example. But it really turns me off that Jouchi invites himself into Kazama's bed and proceeds to have sex with him when Kazama is protesting every step of the way. Now, I don't really think it's rape, and I think that we're supposed to assume that Kazama really is attacted to Jouchi but is a little freaked out by the idea of having sex with a guy, piled on top of his insecurities and inexperience. And Jouchi points out that if Kazama really didn't want him, he'd be physically fighting him off instead of weakly protesting. Still, I really hate that cliche of "no means yes". And Jouchi seems to be so self-centered to me, at least at first, although he starts showing some growth later in Books 2 and 3. It's all about what he wants, and he just assumes that Kazama should go along with it. And when they do first have sex and Kazama says that it hurts, instead of being concerned for his lover, Jouchi just says how great it feels to be inside of Kazama.

(To be fair, Yumi also says that it hurts, and Hosaka says that he's not going to stop, but I think it's clear that Yumi has thought this through and is prepared to go along with it. I also think that despite what Hosaka says, if Yumi really didn't want to do it, Hosaka would stop. I think that he loves Yumi too much to get pleasure from an unwilling partner.)

There's also the fact that Jouchi already has a girlfriend when he seduces/forces himself on Kazama, but to his credit, he does immediately break up with her afterwards and is faithful to Kazama. Although it really pissed me off that in the beginning of Book 2, he complains about not getting enough from his "girlfriend" and says that the only reason he isn't getting some on the side is because he's afraid the "girlfriend" will find out. However, upon re-reading the chapter, I don't think he really means it, and is just embarrassed to seem henpecked or sentimental in front of his friend by admitting that he doesn't want anyone else. But again, it's all about Jouchi's needs, and he has sex with Kazama even though he knows that Kazama is trying to conserve his strength. He only begins to think about Kazama's welfare instead of his own when he hears from Yumi and Hosaka about how exhausted Kazama is. (And even then, his solution is that they should have oral sex instead because it's less strenuous.)

Of course Jouchi is still young, both emotionally as well as in actual age, and the young tend to be self-centered at times. And it's hard for me explain why Jouchi's relentless pursuit annoys me so much in comparison to, say, Katou's relentless pursuit of Iwaki. After all, Katou gets stalker-ish at times--he even moves into Iwaki's place without his permission. Maybe it's because I feel that Katou also has a deep respect for Iwaki, that I feel like Jouchi lacks for Kazama. Maybe it's also because Kazama seems so young, vulnerable, and emotionally messed up in comparison to Iwaki that I want him to be treated more gently and tenderly. I feel like Iwaki is better equipped to hold his own against Katou; he is older, after all, something that he oftens points out to Katou. I also feel like Yumi and Hosaka are equals in their relationship, while the relationship between Jouchi and Kazama seems a little unbalanced in comparison. Maybe this is the difference between young love and a more mature love?

And maybe it's partly just my own personal quirk, because Jouchi is the type of person that I happen to find irritating--his cockiness and his perky cheerfulness (I think I'm a bit Snape-ish in that I find excessive perkiness really annoying). Although to be fair, his perkiness is balanced by his bouts of insecurity and self-pity, although the mood swings back and forth tend to be kind of annoying, too.

I feel a little bad about being so harsh on the character, and hopefully I haven't offended any Jouchi/Kazama shippers. *sweatdrop* If you see the characters/relationship from a different perspective, please feel free to give me your insights, and maybe it would help me to see them in a more positive light.

And I just thought I'd mention that this series bears a similarity to "Shout Out Loud!" by Sakende Yaruze, published by Tokyopop's Blu line, in that they're both about voice actors in yaoi dramas who fall in love with each other. In Shout Out Loud, the voice actors are Shino, the nice, sweet guy who always plays the uke (despite his protests that can't he play the seme once in awhile?) and Tenryu, the cool, suave seme to Shino's uke. The story is complicated by the fact that Shino's long-lost teenage son Nakaya shows up to live with Shino after his mother dies. Nakaya's mother was Shino's first love, and he says that he hasn't loved anyone else since. She got pregnant when they were teenagers, and although Shino wanted to marry her and raise Nakaya together, she ran off to raise Nakaya on her own, I think because she didn't want to burden him. (It's been awhile since I read the series, and I'm a bit fuzzy on the details.) The series is a bit of a tease, as there's comparatively little action (at least in contrast with Nitta-sensei's works), and Shino and Tenryu's relationship moves at a snail's pace, not being resolved till the final volume. Nakaya, on the other hand, starts off with a girlfriend but rather quickly gets into a heated relationship with his very hot (and male) hockey coach. (And it turns out that while Daddy is an uke, the son is a seme. ^_^) However, while there's not much sex, the characters and the story are very enjoyable, and I especially liked the way that the family relationships progressed--between Nakaya and Shino, and Nakaya and his very strict and stern maternal grandmother (whom he ran away from to live with Shino), and the grandmother and Shino. There's awkwardness and tension between a father and son who are strangers to each other, but they learn to care for each other, and there are funny moments too, like when Nakaya, who thinks that Shino is just a general anime VA, comes across some of dad's BL drama CDs.

Another interesting similarity is that it turns out that Tenryu, like Yumi, is divorced and has a child that he is no longer able to see. (In Japan, it's not uncommon for the non-custodial parent to have no visitation rights, especially if the custodial parent remarries.) Which I find very sad, although it's barely touched upon in either manga. Anyway, I do recommend "Shout Out Loud!" as a very solid, entertaining read (though it's not on the level of Harudaki), and as it's fairly short (5 volumes), it won't break the bank to buy the whole series.

I was going to also talk about When a Man Loves a Man (which I also had mixed feelings about), but as this post is turning out longer than I planned, I'll save it for another time.