I Reads You: 2008

Showing posts with label 2008. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 30, 2025

#IReadsYou Yaoi Review: CAMERA CAMERA CAMERA 2

CAMERA CAMERA CAMERA 2

JUNE MANGA/DMP BOOKS

CARTOONIST: Kazura Matsumoto

TRANSLATION: Sachiko Sato

LETTERS: Samantha Yamanaka

ISBN: 978-1-56970-758-6; paperback w/dust jacket (February 26, 2008)

208pp, B&W, $12.95 U.S.

Drama/Romance; Rated “YA” for “Young Adults 16+”

Camera Camera Camera is a boys' love/yaoi manga series from mangaka, Kazura Matsumoto. It was originally serialized from February 2002 to February 2003 in Dear+, the boys' love manga magazine published by Shinsokan, the Japanese publishing company. Boys' love (or BL) manga is a manga genre that depicts amorous situations between male romantic leads and is typically created for a female audience. Yaoi manga is a BL subset that features explicit depictions of sex between male characters. The Camera Camera Camera series is specifically yaoi manga.

Camera Camera Camera focuses on Akira Togawa. He may be an average high school student, but he is in love with his older stepbrother, Satoru. Make that was. A scruffy photographer named Kaoru Nakahara came into Akira’s life when he began work on a campus photography project. Kaoru fell head over heels in love with Akira, and he wouldn’t take even Akira’s loudest “No!” for an answer, but Akira eventually fell in love with Kaoru, too.

As Camera Camera Camera, Vol. 2 opens, Akira gets a shocking phone call about Satoru, but that’s not his only problem. Akira also finds himself fighting a diminutive, 16-year-old, male model named Daisuke Kotoko for Kaoru’s attention. Meanwhile, a mystery woman comes back into Kaoru’s life, and Akira may finally learn why Kaoru doesn’t like to take photographs of people.

THE LOWDOWN: The drama continues as the Boys’ Love (BL) drama, Camera Camera Camera, moves steadily, but with much commotion, towards its conclusion. Creator Kazura Matsumoto presents such well-developed characters, and while she doesn’t offer much psychological insight into them, she does connect them through love and obligation. All that passion, concern, duty and commitment make for tasty conflict, jealousy, and rivalries, but it’s all smooth and entertaining rather than being dark and tiresome. Matsumoto is an all around good artist, but her stylish facial drawings immediately capture attention. It is funny; however, that her drawing style made Akira’s face look like the mug Michael Jackson is currently sporting.

Camera Camera Camera quality BL manga. It is also a Young Adult drama that may appeal to teen BL fans as much, if not more, than older readers.

I READS YOU REVIEW: Fans of Camera Camera Camera 1 will want to read Camera Camera Camera 2.

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

https://junemanga.com/

https://www.digitalmanga.com/

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Thursday, December 11, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: WORDS OF DEVOTION 2

WORDS OF DEVOTION 2

DMP BOOKS/June Manga

MANGAKA: Keiko Konno

ISBN: 978-1-56970-805-7; paperback w/dust jacket (January 8, 2008)

186pp, B&W, $12.95 U.S.

Drama/Romance; Rated “M” for “Mature Audiences 18+”

Words of Devotion is a boys' love manga series. Boys' love (or BL) manga is a manga genre that depicts amorous situations between male romantic leads and is typically created for a female audience. Yaoi manga is a BL subset that features explicit depictions of sex between male characters. The Words of Devotion series is specifically yaoi manga.

Words of Devotion 2 goes back to the early high school days of boyfriends Shinya Otani and Miyako Tachibana. The dark-haired Otani and the blond Tachibana are in their second year in high school. Inseparable friends, they look like they’re on the verge of becoming something more that just two guys who hang out together.

But the duo has girlfriends. Tachibana seems to be (sort of) dating Yukiko “Yuki” Mizusawa, and Otani feels somewhat threatened by their closeness… or is that what he’s really feeling? Otani is not sure, but he has his own relationship to handle. Otani has a girlfriend named Youko Akizuki, but he’s not sure what’s really going on between the two of them. Otani thinks that he wants to have a sexual relationship with Akizuki, but how does he initiate that with her? Should he make the first move? Does Akizuki love Otani, and how much? And Otani is so unsure about his true feelings for Tachibana.

THE LOWDOWN: Teen melodrama reigns supreme in the BL (boys’ love) manga, Words of Devotion 2, which is filled with back story that brings this series to a close. While light on explicit sex (a staple of yaoi, a BL subset), Words of Devotion is heavy on teen relationship. The awkwardness of Otani and Tachibana’s relationship is fun to watch – like peeking around the corner at a young couple. Some of Words of Devotion 2’s best moments, however, are the scenes between Otani and Akizuki – a conflicted gay boy and a crazy-in-love girl. Hot stuff!

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Yaoi fans with a need for teen drama will like Words of Devotion.

★★★ out of 4 stars

Re-edited: Tuesday, December 9, 2025

https://junemanga.com/

https://www.digitalmanga.com/

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Thursday, October 23, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: NANA Volume 9

NANA, VOL. 9

VIZ MEDIA

MANGAKA: Ai Yazawa

TRANSLATION: Tomo Matsumoto

ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Allison Wolfe

ISBN: 978-1-4215-1745-2; paperback; (March 4, 2008)

280pp, B&W, $8.99 U.S.

Rated “M” for “Mature”

Nana is a shojo manga from writer-artist Ai Yazawa. It was originally published in Japan in the shojo manga magazine, Cookie, from 2000 to 2009. It has been collected in 21 tankobon (graphic novel) volumes, but the series is not complete. VIZ Media published an English language edition of Nana, first serializing the series in its former magazine, Shojo Beat. VIZ also published English editions of the tankobon volumes from 2005 to 2010 under its “Shojo Beat” imprint.

Beginning October 21, 2025, VIZ Media will publish new editions of its Nana graphic novels. It starts with Nana 25th Anniversary, Vol. 1.

Nana is a tale of two young women named “Nana.” Nana “Hachi” Komatsu moves to Tokyo to start her life over and leave her unpredictable former love life behind. Nana Osaki moves to the big city to work on her goal of being a rock star. Chance unites them, and together they navigate a world of fashion, gossip, music, sex, and all-night parties.

As Nana, Vol. 9 opens, Takumi has claimed Nana “Hachi’s” unborn baby as his own, and wants to marry her, leaving Hachi’s boyfriend, Nobu, out in the cold. Takumi movies Hachi out of the apartment she shares with Nana Osaki. Now, everyone and everything is thrown into chaos as two bands try to take that next step in their musical destinies.

THE LOWDOWN: If the American television network, The CW’s target audience is women 18 to 34, this demographic group, whether they read comics or not, would just love this ensemble drama. Relentlessly character driven and rich in strong individual personalities, Nana is the kind of reading experience for people who enjoy fictional characters acting like real people. The melodrama, the soap opera theatrics, and the love and friendship will keep the reader turning the pages just like a good thriller will have an action junkie tearing through a book.

In Nana Graphic Novel Volume 9, there is realistic character drawings and superb illustrations of sets, backgrounds, and environments. Thus, it is easy to see why Nana is supposed to be the all-time best-selling shojo in the world. It is a straight drama that speaks to a broad audience.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of VIZ Media's “Shojo Beat” titles and of music-themed shojo manga will love Nana.

A-

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

NANA VOLUME 9 is available at Amazon.

https://www.viz.com/

https://x.com/VIZMedia

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I Reads You