#IReadsYou Review: BLUE FLAG Volume 2

BLUE FLAG, VOL. 2
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Kaito
TRANSLATION: Adrienne Beck
LETTERS: Annaliese Christman
EDITOR: Marlene First
ISBN: 978-1-9747-1302-8; paperback (June 2020); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
224pp, B&W, $12.99 US, $17.99 CAN, £9.99 UK

Ao no Flag is a high school romance manga written and drawn by Kaito.  The manga was serialized on the online manga magazine, Shonen Jump+, from February 2017 to April 2020.  VIZ Media is publishing Ao no Flag as a paperback graphic novel series, entitled Blue Flag, under its “VIZ Signature” imprint.

Blue Flag focuses on an unassuming high school student named Taichi Ichinose.  It is his senior year at Aohama High School, and he finds himself in the same class as shy Futaba Kuze, of whom he has conflicted feelings.  Taichi and Futaba begin to fall in love, but each has a same-sex best friend – Taichi's Toma Mita and Futaba's Masumi Itachi – who are in love with them.

As Blue Flag, Vol. 2 (Chapters 6 to 12) opens, it is time for Aohama High's school festival.  Toma accepts the position of cheer squad captain on the condition that Taichi and Futaba participate.  The problems are that Taichi does not want to participate, and that Futaba is deathly afraid of performing a cheer in front of the student body.  Later, Masumi makes a series of surprising confessions to Taichi about her “boyfriend.”  Plus, Toma, the captain of the school's baseball team, looks for success at the high school summer tournament

[This volume includes the bonus story, “After the Festival.”]

THE LOWDOWN:  The Blue Flag manga is not any one thing.  It is a mixture of genres and themes:  romance, high school drama, coming-of-age, shonen, LGBTQ, and light comedy.

Blue Flag Graphic Novel Volume 2 is my first experience with the series.  The series is so easy to read that readers do not have to read the first volume to understand the story.  I would, however, recommend that due to the ending of Vol. 2 readers at least start the series with the second volume and not start with the third volume.

Kaito presents characters that are likable, even lovable, simply because the four leads have genuinely different personalities.  That makes the desire, yearning, self-doubt, and internal and external conflict feel real because the characters are truly seeing things from their own different points of view.  This is a high school romance that has dramatic heft.  As usual, readers get a superb English translation from Adrienne Beck that makes every thing resonate with the reader.  Also as usual, Annaliese Christman's lettering sets the tone for individual moments as well as for larger scenes.

I am utterly shocked by how much I like this second volume of Blue Flag.  Honestly, I didn't expect much because of the title and Vol. 2's cover illustration.  Neither hints at how powerful the story is.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of coming-of-age stories and of LGBTQ-themed manga will want to read the “VIZ Signature” title Blue Flag.

10 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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#IReadsYou Review: SEVEN DAYS: Sunday-Monday

SEVEN DAYS: SUNDAY–MONDAY
SUBLIME MANGA/Taiyoh Tosho Co., Ltd. – @SuBLimeManga

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Venio Tachibana
ART: Rihito Takarai
TRANSLATION: Adrienne Beck
LETTERS: Deborah Fisher
EDITOR: Jennifer LeBlanc
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0927-4; paperback (December 2019); Rated “T” for “Teen”
372pp, B&W, $16.99 U.S., $22.99 CAN, £10.99 UK

Seven Days is a boys' love manga from writer Venio Tachibana and artist Rihito Takarai.  Boys' love (or BL) manga depicts amorous situations between male romantic leads.  There is a sub-set of boys' love manga known as “shounen-ai,” that usually does not feature graphic depictions of sexuality.  Seven Days is essentially shounen-ai.

Seven Days was serialized in the Japanese yaoi manga anthology magazine, Craft, from 2007 to 2009.  The story was released in two parts, Seven Days: Monday–Thursday and Seven Days: Friday–Sunday.  Seven Days was collected in two tankobon (graphic novels) under those titles, Seven Days: Monday–Thursday (published in Japan in 2007) and Seven Days: Friday–Sunday (2009).

Digital Manga Publishing's (DMP) imprint, Juné Manga, released an English-language edition of the first graphic novel in 2010, and the second in 2011.  In March 2019, VIZ Media took over English distribution rights.  In December 2019, VIZ published both Seven Days graphic novels in a single, English-language paperback omnibus edition (a “2-in-1 edition”), entitled Seven Days: Monday–Sunday, under its SuBLime Manga imprint.

Seven Days: Monday–Sunday introduces two male students attending Hoka Private Academy.  The first is Yuzuru Shino, a bored and disillusioned third-year high school student.  The second is Toji Seryo, a popular first-year student at school.  Yuzuru has heard the rumor that Toji will accept anyone who asks him out on a date at the beginning of the week (on Monday), and that he ends the relationship after seven days of dating (on Sunday).

On a lark, Yuzuru decides to ask Toji out as a half-hearted joke, but, to his surprise, Toji accepts the offer.  Over the course of seven days, Yuzuru's feelings for Toji grow, and although Toji seems sincere, Yuzuru does not quite trust this erstwhile playboy.  Still, Yuzuru begins to dread the impending day when Toji will inevitably end their relationship.

[This volume includes a bonus story, “Goodbye for Now,” and an “Afterword” and an “Author Note.”]

The Seven Days: Monday–Sunday manga may or may not be “shounen-ai” as I have labeled it.  However, it is such a gentle, puppy-love type, high school romance that I could also label it as quasi-shojo manga, which are essentially comics for teen girls.  The primary audience for BL manga is female readers.

The Seven Days: Monday–Sunday Graphic Novel is rated “T” (Teen), and although I have previously read BL manga with a “teen” rating, I have not read many.  Thus, it is jarring to see two teen males starring in a BL manga and not “getting it on.”  Talk about non-graphic depiction of a sexual relationships; Yuzuru and Toji do not engage in sexual intercourse.

Still, creators Venio Tachibana (writer) and Rihito Takarai (artist) present a story that is so oddly endearing.  Every time, I picked up the Seven Days: Monday–Sunday Graphic Novel, I felt an urgency to keep reading so that I could see where Yuzuru and Toji's relationship was going.  Obviously, I was hoping to eventually come across some good-old fashioned male-on-male action of the yaoi manga variety.  However, a part of me wanted to see if their love was real, or see who would dump whom.  Would Yuzuru break-up with Toji before he could break-up with him?  Or was Yuzuru simply going to wait for the inevitable and proverbial “shoe-to-drop?”  That is when Toji would say to Yuzuru, “I'm sorry. I couldn't fall for you. Let's break up.”

Well, there is a happy ending, so there... I have spoiled it for you, dear readers.  Seriously, Adrienne Beck's translation makes this cool story simmer by turning awkward dialogue into conversations full of longing, searching, and yearning.  Deborah Fisher's lettering gives this story a steady pace and keeps the dialogue from seeming too measured and too cool.  So, the English-language edition of Seven Days: Monday–Sunday is not the greatest boys' love story of all time.  Still, it finds a way to make a seven-day romance seem like the most important thing in the world – simply because readers will end up rooting for the romance to lunge past the seven-day mark.

7 out of 10

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

www.SubBLimeManga.com


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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Review: HIS FAVORITE Volume 3

HIS FAVORITE, VOL. 3
SUBLIME – @SuBLimeManga

CARTOONIST: Suzuki Tanaka
TRANSLATION: Ivana Bloom
LETTERING: Annaliese Christman
COVER: Suzuki Tanaka and Fawn Lau
EDITOR: Alexis Kirsch
ISBN: 978-1-4215-4357-4; paperback (March 2013); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
178pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $14.99 CAN, £8.99 UK

Suzuki Tanaka, the creator of Love Hurts, also produced the boys’ love manga series, His Favorite. Boy’s love (also known by the acronym, BL) depicts romantic relationships between male characters. His Favorite can be classified as “shounen-ai,” the subset of BL that does not feature explicit depictions of sex between male characters.

His Favorite Volume 3 (Chapters 8 to 12) focuses on Yoshida, an awkward high school student, and Sato, the hottest guy in school. Sato is in love with Yoshida, but the latter things the former wants to play around too much and is not really serious about anything, especially love. Meanwhile, all the girls in school are crazy about Sato, and they think that Sato and Yoshida are just really close friends. That’s why they insist that Yoshida help them get closer to Sato.

Yoshida and Sato’s classmates, Yamanaka and Torachin, are in a similar predicament. Torachin’s frequent fights have left him with a bruised, unattractive face, which scares the girls – sometimes to tears. Yamanaka thinks Torachin is just right, but Torachin doesn’t think that Yamanaka is ever serious – about anything.

As boys’ love manga goes, His Favorite is tame. It doesn’t even have the heat of the more complicated shojo teen romances (such as a Honey Hunt). Instead, it is deliberately, almost stubbornly playful. Creator Suzuki Tanaka offers comedy and slapstick; there are misunderstandings and kissing.

Sex is far way and talked about as something that will, should, or even might happen, but does not happen in the text or seemingly even “off camera.” The characters are funny in how clueless they are, or perhaps, they are not clueless. It is a peculiar kind of tunnel vision from which they suffer… maybe.

B

www.SuBLimeManga.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

Loveless: Mobile Suit Gundam /Loveless Crossover

I read Loveless, Vol. 10

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin.

Review: LOVELESS 2-IN-1 Volume 1

LOVELESS 2-IN-1, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Yun Kouga
TRANSLATION: Ray Yoshimoto
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Lillian Diaz-Pazygyl
LETTERS: James Dashiell
EDITOR: Hope Donovan
ISBN: 978-1-4215-4990-3; paperback; Rated “T” for “Teen”
446pp, B&W, $14.99 U.S., $16.99 CAN, £9.99 UK

Yun Kouga, the pen name of Risa Yamada, is known for creating such manga as Crown of Love and Gestalt. One of her other popular titles, Loveless, a fantasy/drama series, has a new North American publisher. Tokyopop had the license to publish the series in English, releasing eight of the series’ graphic novels before going out of business. VIZ Media now has the license and resumed the English-language publication of the series with the ninth volume.

VIZ Media will also republish the first eight volumes in 2-in-1 editions, which has a single graphic novel edition containing two volumes. Loveless 2-in-1 Edition, Vol. 1 collects Loveless Volumes 1 and 2.

Loveless, Vol. 1 introduces 11-year-old Ritsuka Aoyagi, a troubled sixth grade student who is still grieving the loss of his older brother, Seimei, who was murdered a few months earlier. Ritsuka meets Soubi Agatsuma, a 20-year-old man who claims to have been a friend of Seimei’s. After a little while, Ritsuka learns that Seimei and Soubi acted as a fighting pair.

They were involved in battles in which the fighting involved spells composed of carefully selected words. Soubi was the “sentouki” or “fighter unit.” Seimei was the “sacrifice,” the one who bears the damage inflicted upon the fighter. When the sacrifice gets worn down, the fighter loses. Through Soubi, Ritsuka learns that Seimei was killed by a mysterious group called Septimal Moon.

In Loveless, Vol. 2, Ritsuka and Soubi grow closer, while more pairs of fighters come forward to challenge them or Soubi, specifically. Yuiko Hawatari, Ritsuka’s classmate, falls deeper in love with him. Ritsuka’s therapist, Dr. Katsuko, tries to unravel the mystery of his apparent dual personalities.

Apparently, Yun Kouga does not consider her creation, Loveless, to be boys’ love manga, although the series does depict romantic, committed, or intimate relationships between pairs of boys and young men. There are no scenes of fleshy entanglements between naked young men, as may be found in the boys’ love subset, yaoi manga. But there is the kind of lusty hugging between fully-clothed young men that one might find in the non-explicit-sex subset of boys’ love called shounen-ai.

That’s how Loveless is. It takes on the characteristics of many genres. It’s part battle manga, and I must admit to being intrigued by its verbal, word-based skirmishes. Call Loveless a battle rap manga. It is also a high school romance with a love triangle (Ritsuka, Soubi, and Yuiko) that threatens to keep adding romantic interests (a fellow student and possibly a teacher). It is a family drama complete with a psycho mom and a largely absent dad.

Loveless is not too much of a good thing, but rather, too many good things. I like Loveless, but I’m not in love with it.

B

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

I Reads You Review: PRINCESS PRINCESS 5

Creator: Mikiyo Tsuda (cartoonist); Earl Gertwagen (translation)
Publishing Information: DMP/Juné Manga; B&W paperback, 200pp, $12.95 U.S.
Ordering Numbers: ISBN 10: 1-56970-850-9; ISBN 13: 978-1-56970-850-7

Rated “YA” for “Young Adults 16+”

Princess Princess is a manga series from Mikiyo Tsuda that was collected in five volumes by Digital Manga Publishing’s imprint, Juné Manga. Princess Princess has characteristics of both shojo manga and the boys’ love subset, shounen-ai manga.

Princess Princess has shojo manga elements like teen romance and high school politics. There are some romantic moments between the male characters, but that is more shounen-ai than it is the explicit boys’ love subset, yaoi. The male cast can be described as being bishounen or “beautiful boys,” a term used to describe male characters that are androgynous or clearly feminized.

Princess Princess is set at Fujimori Academy. Every year, a few boys become “princesses.” These male students dress as girls for special events and cheer on athletic squads, warm hearts, keep up school spirit, etc. Basically, by appearing in drag, these already androgynous boys have “princess power.” This is ability to smile, look pretty, and speak in a magical falsetto voice, and it all makes everyone in the school feel happier. This year the princesses are Mikoto Yutaka and the nearly-inseparable pair, Tohru Kouno and Yuujirou Shihoudani.

In Princess Princess 5, it is election season at Fujimori, and the race for student council president has torn the princesses and the school apart. Tohru Kouno and Yuujirou Shihoudani are doing everything they can to help and support Akira Sakamoto, whose older brother is the great “Sakamoto-Sama,” a former student council president.

Meanwhile, Mikoto has sided with Toui C. Mitaka, an aloof and haughty transfer student. Tall with long blond-hair, Mitaka is ambitious and sees everyone and every position as a mere stepping stone on his way to future success as a businessman. Tohru and Yuujirou despise Mitaka, and the school is in turmoil, with everyone taking sides. The soft-hearted Akira, however, is determined to play peacemaker even if it costs him the election.

Digital Manga Publishing (DMP) eventually created an imprint for titles like Princess Princess, named “DokiDoki.” This new imprint was a place for titles for female readers that were somewhere between younger teen-oriented shojo manga and shounen-ai. In fact, DMP published the Princess Princess sequel, Princess Princess Plus, under DokiDoki.

Princess Princess 5 isn’t exactly boys’ love, although there is some romance between male students, both obvious and sublimated. What does that make Princess Princess? It’s like a comedy set at an all-girls school, except the girls are actually boys – some girlish, some effeminate, and some typically teen male.

I have to admit that I enjoy this kind of shojo/shounen-ai hybrid. There is something interesting about these boys getting along and working out their problems, even after all the fussing and fighting. This is simply an idealized and fantasy version of male-bonding that both women and men like (although the men might not admit it). In this volume, there is storyline that has Tohru accompanying Yuujirou home and helping Yuujirou work through some family issues. It exemplifies this series vibe of seeing male friendship through rose-tinted glasses.

Princess Princess 5 is good character drama and good boys’ something, and readers who like this sort of thing will certainly enjoy this.

B+

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