#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/

The text is copyright © 2025 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site or blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Yaoi Review: CAMERA CAMERA CAMERA 1

CAMERA CAMERA CAMERA 1

DMP BOOKS/June Manga

MANGAKA: Kazura Matsumoto

TRANSLATION: Sachiko Sato

LETTERS: Samantha Yamanaka

ISBN: 978-1-56970-757-9; paperback w/dust jacket (December 11, 2007)

200pp, 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 1 introduces Akira Togawa.  He is an average high school student, with the only exceptional thing in his life being that he’s in love with his older stepbrother, Satoru.  If only that were the lone tricky situation in his life, but it’s not.

Suddenly, there’s a scruffy photographer named Kaoru Nakahara hanging around the school to work on a campus photography job.  Kaoru falls head over heels in love with Akira, and he won’t take even Akira’s loudest “No!” for an answer.  Worse still is that this persistent Akira-enthusiast is aware of Akira’s hard crush on Satoru, who now has a devotee of his own.  A female, Kano Miyata, arrives on the scene in Satoru’s life, and she’s also notices that Akira clings to his stepbrother.  When a young male model with a crush on Kaoru comes forward, Akira is not just in a love triangle; he’s in a love pentagon, and his feelings are all jumbled.

THE LOWDOWN:  In Camera Camera Camera, Vol. 1, lovers and rivals seem to appear out of nowhere.  Camera is a charming frivolous treat, the kind of light-hearted romantic drama one would expect from shoujo manga (comics for teen girls), and, except for the gender of most of its cast, Camera is practically a typical high school romantic comedy/drama.

Camera is successful because (1) it’s a breezy read (2) and it has such endearing characters.  Young Akira is so twisted by his deep emotional attachment to his brother and by his conflicted feelings for the pervy photographer who is suddenly on the scene that Akira is his own comic foil.  Unusual for BL, Camera has a strong female supporting character in Miyata.  Rather than make her just a girl-in-the-way, a throwaway female character/obstacle to boys’ fun, Matsumoto makes her a determined, level-headed, smart player.  Miyata may be an interloper, but she’s sympathetic and fun to have around.

Camera Camera Camera also effectively depicts the fierce yearnings of teen love without one sex scene, and the narrative is heavy with intriguing conflicts and complications.  There is, however, lots of comedy – pratfalls, misunderstandings, and playful fisticuffs.  This skillful interplay of comedy, drama, and romance is why Camera Camera Camera is a fun fun fun read.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of yaoi manga will want to read Camera Camera Camera.

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

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

CAMERA CAMERA CAMERA 1 is still available in a paperback edition from Amazon.

https://junemanga.com/

https://www.digitalmanga.com/

The text is copyright © 2025 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site or blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou YAOI Review: "UNSOPHISTICATED AND RUDE"

UNSOPHISTICATED AND RUDE

JUNE MANGA/DMP BOOKS

MANGAKA: Momoko Tenzen

TRANSLATION: Sachiko Sato

LETTERS: Replibooks

ISBN: 978-1-56970-060-0; paperback (July 16, 2009)

194pp, B&W, $12.95 U.S.

Drama/Romance; Rated “18+ Mature”

Unsophisticated and Rude is a collection of yaoi short stories from creator Momoko Tenzen (Manhattan Love Story), and this collection actually lives up to its title.  In these stories, five boys experience the tumult of romantic love just like girls in teen romance.  The objects of their desire use sneaky flirtation, passionate confessions, and blurted declarations of love to get the ones they love to love them back.  Oh, my!  But sometimes it backfires on them!

In the title story, “Unsophisticated and Rude,” Hiroto Nakajima is in love with his longtime best friend, Satoshi Uchida.  However, Satoshi has a serious crush on popular upperclassmen and star basketball player, Nao Miyazawa.  Hiroto wants to be happy that his friend has landed the handsome Nao, but what is this nagging feeling that seems worry Hiroto’s thoughts and tug insistently at his heartstrings?  Is this about Hiroto’s jealousy over Satsohi dating another man, or is this about Nao the other man.

THE LOWDOWN:  Momoko Tenzen’s beau-hunks are indeed unsophisticated and rude.  They may know what they want, but they aren’t sophisticated lovers.  Thus, all their amorous moves are fumbling at best and rude at worst.  On the other hand, it is this lack of polish in their lovemaking that makes Unsophisticated and Rude such a fun read.  Without the conflict, the misunderstandings, the naïve attitudes, etc., there wouldn’t be the kind of delicious drama that is plentiful in these stories.

Tenzen’s clean drawing style, with her sharply defined figure rendering, is perfect for these stories about young men who are still maturing both physically and emotionally.  The toning gives the art a tactile feel by visually giving clothing texture and the backgrounds solidity.  The visual storytelling is excellent, and while these stories may be familiar, it’s all about the execution.  How Tenzen tells these stories is what makes all five stories in Unsophisticated and Rude yaoi romance comfort food.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Readers who want to enjoy the bliss of love finally arrived will enjoy Unsophisticated and Rude.

A-

★★★½ out of 4 stars

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

https://junemanga.com/

https://www.digitalmanga.com/

The text is copyright © 2025 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site or blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Finder: Body Chase, Unobtainable, DNA in Love

I read Finder Volume 2: Cage in the View Finder (Yaoi)

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart phone apps).

FINDER: Target in the Viewfinder and Fixer

I read Finder Volume1: Target in the View Finder (Yaoi)

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin.

I Reads You Review: GREAT PLACE HIGH SCHOOL (YAOI)

Creator: Naduki Koujima (cartoonist); Sachiko Sato (translation)

Publishing Information: Juné Manga/DMP, paperback, B&W with some color, 164 pages, $12.95 (US)

Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-56970-747-0 (ISBN-13); 1-56970-747-2 (ISBN-10)

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

Great Place High School is a manga from Naduki Koujima, the creator of the manga series, Our Kingdom. The story takes place at a high school full of rambunctious boys and has elements of boys’ love (both shounen-ai and yaoi), bishounen, and high school comedy.

Great Place High School may be like most high schools, with a student body comprised of jocks and geeks and popular girls and not-so-popular girls. The focus, however, is the computer club known as the Information Management Club. There, control freak Ryouichi Tsuruga has to keep things in order, which is made difficult because he has to fend of the machinations of his ultra-vain twin brother, Naruhito.

The arrival of a new member, Minami Wakamatsu, a cute kid with a tendency to destroy electronic gadgets, only complicates matters. Naruhito has a cuteness fetish, and he begins to both harass and hit on Minami. But why should Ryouichi care, unless he also has strong feelings for Minami, whom the Tsuruga brothers feed and dote on as if he were a small pet.

Meanwhile, two other comic melodramas ensue. We learn the history between Student Council President Rin Amanohara and Vice-President Eichi Shidou who have been together since childhood. Also, people think Kotone Kimura and Suzune Kimura are identical twins. They are really first cousins whose mothers are sisters. One thinks they are rivals, but the other cousin thinks they should be romantic.

One of my favorite manga artists is Naduki Koujima because of her gorgeous art. She cartoons the human face with such skill that her characters are beautiful (or pretty like a girl) whether she’s drawing them straight or super-deforming them. I could make viewing Koujima’s comic book art a daily exercise in uplifting my spirits.

Great Place High School, however, is not a great manga, but it is offers light entertainment. It is a collection of short, short stories and several pages of four-panel, vertical gag strips. The Rin-Eichi stories are yaoi as they feature graphic depictions of sex between a male lovers. The Kimura stories are light-hearted shounen-ai boys’ love. The rest of this book is boys’ love comedy – more comedy than BL.

Most of Great Place High School is feel-good and cozy. One might even think of it as BL comfort food. Those who like me enjoy the eye-candy art of Naduki Koujima will want this comfort food.

B

I Reads You Review: VANILLA, VOL. 2 (YAOI)

Creator: Riyu Yamakami (cartoonist); Sachiko Sato (translation)

Publishing Information: June Manga/DMP, paperback, 200 pages, $12.95 (US)

Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-56970-755-5 (ISBN-13); 1-56970-755-3 (ISBN-10)

 

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

Originally published in Japan in the late 1990s, Vanilla is a yaoi graphic novel from creator Riyu Yamakami. Under its Juné Manga imprint, Digital Manga Publishing released Vanilla in two trade paperbacks a few years ago. Vanilla is the story of a high school student, 17-year-old Ichiro Morio, who falls deeply in love with a new teacher, Yoshitaka Saeki, who doesn’t believe in declarations of love.

As Vanilla, Vol. 2 opens, Morio has broken past Mr. Saeki’s rough exterior, or has he? They knocked boots, but afterwards, Mr. Saeki is as callous as ever. Now, Kazuki Nakajima, a former lover of Saeki’s, has decided to make things even more difficult between Morio and Saeki by hitting on Morio!

This volume also includes a Vanilla Extra Episode, entitled “Pink Diamond.” This story takes place after Vanilla and tells the tale of how Kazuki Nakajima and Saeki’s butler, Yajima, became the pair known as the “Jima Duo.” Both discover that two people who seem to be very different are actually quite similar.

After a strong start, Vanilla doesn’t race to a passionate conclusion. It skips to a soft happily-ever-after ending. It’s still fun to read about the lovesick student pining away for his aloof, lover boy teacher, but as I read this, I got the idea that it was too short and that something was missing. What? I don’t know, perhaps, some heat. The chapter that leads off Vol. 2, “Scene 5” starts off with some passion, but the narrative quickly cools. The “Pink Diamond” novella is a bit livelier, mainly because Nakajima is so petulant and stubborn – in a charming way.

Vanilla isn’t exactly vanilla. In some ways it works like a romance novel, but there is just enough nuttiness and crunchiness to make Vanilla a bit different from everything else.

B+

I Reads You Review: VANILLA, VOL. 1 (YAOI)

Creator: Riyu Yamakami (cartoonist); Sachiko Sato (translation)

Publishing Information: Juné Manga/DMP, paperback, 192 pages, $12.95 (US)

Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-56970-754-8 (ISBN-13); 1-56970-754-5 (ISBN-10)

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

Vanilla is a yaoi graphic novel from creator Riyu Yamakami. Originally published in the late 1990s, Vanilla was published in two trade paperbacks by Digital Manga Publishing under its Juné Manga imprint a few years ago. The story focuses on a high school student just starting to accept his gay inclinations when he falls deeply in love with a teacher who does not believe in confessions of love.

Vanilla, Vol. 1 introduces high school student, 17-year-old Ichiro Morio, who is just one of the boys, except that he really isn’t. Morio’s friends are always talking about the girls they would like to “get with.” Morio is not really crazy about dating girls. He has his eyes on the new chemistry teacher, the cold and callous Yoshitaka Saeki.

Morio notices that Saeki is also indifferent towards the girls who throw themselves at him. Saeki, however, is not into romance and sentiment, so can the romantic Morio melt his teacher’s cool apathy?

Readers who prefer their boys’ love to be deeply romantic will love Vanilla. The lead character, Ichiro Morio, is old-fashioned in that he believes that romantic love must absolutely come before physical intimacy. He is practically scandalized by one-night stands and recreational sex in general. Thus, Riyu Yamakami gives the readers page after page of Morio thinking about love, his schoolmates’ lusts, and, of course, his aloof teacher. This is romance-shojo masquerading as yaoi because it is about young love more than it is about hot sex.

While this volume only has brief graphic depictions of sex between male lovers, the passion and yearning slowly simmers, constantly building up anticipation. In fact, whenever the characters share some physical contact, the narrative seems to explode with a burst of energy. I look forward to the next volume.

A-

http://www.junemanga.com/

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Review: A STRANGE AND MYSTIFYING STORY Volume 1

A STRANGE AND MYSTIFYING STORY, VOL. 1
JUNE MANGA/DMP BOOKS

[NOTE:  A Strange and Mystifying Story is now published by VIZ Media boys' love imprint, SuBLime Manga.]

CARTOONIST: Tsuta Suzuki
TRANSLATION: Sachiko Sato
ISBN: 978-1-56970-717-3; paperback w/dust jacket; Rated “M” for “Mature Audiences 18+”
216pp., B&W, $12.95 US

In the two-part tale, “A Strange and Mystifying Story,” Akio Yamane has fallen ill to the same mysterious disease that has killed his family bloodline.  He’s determined not to fall victim to this tragic family curse, but then he suddenly turns ill and is coughing blood.  He makes a desperate wish and inadvertently summons the spirit of a strange man-beast.  With the tail and ears of a wolf, Setsu has protected Akio’s family in the past.  Now, Akio learns that with a kiss, Setsu can draw the disease from his body.  He’s repulsed by Setsu’s probing tongue and fiery touches… or is he?

In other stories:  a young teacher finds himself drawn to a sullen pupil who cleans the school map room in “Nylon Vinyl.”  A master tool smith arrives home to find that a stray has wandered into his shabby one-room dwelling.  When he learns that the kid has a way with sharpening and polishing tools, he takes a liking to him in “Is There No God or Buddha?”

THE LOWDOWN:  In his yaoi manga (a genre that features love between two male characters, often explicitly), A Strange and Mystifying Story, Vol. 1, manga-ka Tsuta Suzuki masters the slow burn.  He makes unrequited love and the anticipation of consummation entrancing.  Suzuki casts a spell with these love stories, but the fantasy infused title story would challenge Danielle Steel on the prose fiction bestseller list.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Yaoi fans who like stories featuring love between humans and fantastic creatures will clutch this to their bosoms.

A-
7.5 out of 10

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


The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and  syndication rights and fees.

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