Review: LOVE STAGE!! Volume 2

LOVE STAGE!!, VOL. 2
SUBLIME MANGA– @SuBLimeManga / (Asuka Comics CLDX)

STORY: Eiki Eiki
ART: Taishi Zaou
TRANSLATION: Adrienne Beck
LETTERS: Wally
EDITOR: Jennifer LeBlanc
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7992-4; paperback (July 2015); Rated “M” for “Mature”
192pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $14.99 CAN, £8.99 UK

Written by Eiki Eiki and drawn by Taishi Zaou, Love Stage!! is a boys' love manga.  Boys' love (or BL) manga depicts amorous situations between male romantic leads.  Love Stage!! focuses on college student, Izumi Sena, an average, but cute guy from a family of celebrities.  He becomes romantically entangled with Ryoma Ichijo, one of Japan's most popular young male celebrities.

When Love Stage!!, Vol. 2 (Chapter 6 to 10) opens, Izumi runs into Ryoma, although he had been avoiding the popular young star ever since their misguided moments of foreplay play.  And they keep running into each other.  Ryoma is finding it harder and harder to deny himself; he totally has the hots for him, but this is also true love...

Meanwhile, Izumi, an unrepentant otaku (fanboy), wants to be a mangaka (a creator of manga).  He has no time for romance, and he certainly does not want to love another guy.  Izumi is focusing all his efforts on being a published manga creator.  Rei Sagara, who manages the Sena family's celebrity endeavors, wants to make Izumi an idol.  Sagara makes a deal with Izumi regarding his future, and when things go bad, Izumi runs not to Sagara, but into the arms of Ryoma?!

[This volume includes two bonus chapters.]

The Love Stage!! manga is a delightful romantic comedy.  Its sense of humor is thoroughly well-developed, which helps sell the romance.  When comedy is working, love has such an easier time blooming.

Love Stage!! Volume 2 reveals Ryoma to be a true romantic.  Yeah, he wants to do some X-rated things to Izumi, which he does; believe me when I say that Love Stage!! earns its “Mature” rating.  Still, readers buy the notion that what Ryoma wants is real love.  Ryoma's feelings and Izumi's oblivious uke routine create a push-pull rhythm that helps to keep the narrative tight; there is virtually no extraneous or filler material here.  Real funny, really sexy, and true love: this is a excellent series.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

Yaoi Manga Review: LOVE STAGE Volume 1

LOVE STAGE!!, VOL. 1
SUBLIME MANGA– @SuBLimeManga

STORY: Eiki Eiki
ART: Taishi Zaou
TRANSLATION: Adrienne Beck
LETTERS: Wally
EDITOR: Jennifer LeBlanc
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7991-7; paperback (May 2015); Rated “M” for “Mature”
186pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $14.99 CAN, £8.99 UK

Love Stage!! is a boys' love (BL) manga from the creative team of writer Eiki Eiki and artist Taishi Zaou that was serialized in Asuka Ciel magazine beginning in July 2010.  SuBLime Manga began publishing Love Stage!! in an English-language edition in graphic novel form back in May.

Boys' love manga depicts amorous situations between male romantic leads, with its subset, yaoi (which Love Stage!! is), being more explicit.   Love Stage!! is about an average guy from a family of celebrities who becomes romantically entangled with one of Japan's most popular young male celebrities and idols.

Love Stage!!, Vol. 1 (Chapter 1 to 5) opens in the past.  A small boy is dressed as a girl for a commercial shoot.  His costar believes that the girl is really a girl, and he never forgets her... him.  Ten years later, the boy who dressed like a girl is Izumi Sena, now a beginning college student.  He is an unrepentant otaku (fanboy) and wants to be a mangaka (a creator of manga).  The rest of his family is in show business, and they want Izumi to join the family business.

Meanwhile, Izumi's costar in that long-ago commercial is Ryoma Ichijo, a hot young actor and idol.  The commercial in which he starred 10 years ago is going to get an anniversary sequel, but Ryoma will not return unless that “girl” from the original reprises her role.  What will he do when he finds out that she is really a he?

While the Love Stage!! manga is a romantic comedy, the early chapters are more comedy than romance.  Love Stage!! Volume 1 is not just funny; it's delightfully funny.  In fact, it is so comedy oriented that when some... heaving petting suddenly occurs, the change in tone is quite jarring.

Writer Eiki Eiki is a master of BL and similar genres, as well as shojo manga.  Artist Taishi Zaou has a beautiful drawing style that is perfect for shojo manga and makes her boys' love manga exceptionally pretty.  Together, they create something unique, manga that transcends genre.  That is Love Stage!!, cute and funny and popping with energy and I think the best is yet to come.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

I Reads You Review: FEVERED KISS (Yaoi Novel)

Creators: Arika Kuga with Taishi Zaou (spot illustrations) with Translation by Design (translation)
Publishing Information: DMP/DokiDoki, B&W, paperback, 168 pages, $10.95 (US)
Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-56970-091-4 (ISBN-13)

Fevered Kiss is a yaoi novel from writer Arika Kuga with full page illustrations from Taishi Zaou (who also produces work under the name “Mikiyo Tsuda”). This is the story of two young men who fall in love and share hot kisses, but can’t (or won’t) speak what is on their minds in matters of love.

College student Satori Okada is a straight-laced guy, but at an end-of-the-year party, he has more drinks than usual. A night of conversation and friendship turns into morning, when Satori wakes up in bed with fellow student Naotaka Asou. They lovemaking is good, and Satori can’t (or won’t) push Asou away. After that night, however, all Asou wants to do is kiss Satori, and they are the most passionate and fevered kisses Satori has every experienced. But what are Asou’s intentions, Satori wonders? Asou won’t go further than kisses, nor does Asou express his feelings.

Then, Satori discovers two people connected to Asou. One is an apparently jealous former lover named Iizuka Shunpei. The other is a beautiful young woman from another college, Yasumi Takahashi, whom Satori sees with Asou. Will these confused lovers ever learn to talk to each other?

In addition to being a yaoi novel, Fevered Kiss is also a light novel, a form of Japanese novel targeted at teen readers. Light novels are also relatively short (essentially a novella) and come with illustrations. This is definitely yaoi – boys’ love featuring explicit sex between male lovers, and using words, writer Arika Kuga creates love scenes that are as steamy as anything a yaoi manga artist can draw. This novel isn’t light on the bump and grind, but it’s not just about sex. Fevered Kiss is deeply romantic, and Kuga fills it with the kind of romantic melodrama and soap opera conflict that will have readers quickly flipping pages.

Taishi Zaou’s 12 or so illustrations add a nice touch to the book, but while Zaou is quite good at drawing characters, this story doesn’t necessarily need her contributions. Fevered Kiss’ words will get you hot all on their own.

Buy Fevered Kiss (Yaoi Novel)

June Manga Present Green Light

Press release from Digital Manga Publishing:

Green Light (Yaoi Novel)

Series Title: Green Light
ISBN: 156970158X
ISBN13: 9781569701584
Publisher: Digital Manga Publishing
Imprint Name: June
Price USD: $10.95
Writer: Yura Tamaki
Artist: Taishi Zaou
Release Date: January 27, 2010
Size: 4.25” x 6.75”
Format: Trade Paperback
Page Count: 200
Series Volumes: Oneshot
Recommended Age: Young Adult 16+
Genre: Yaoi, Romance, School life

Summary
Academy freshman Shotaro Izumi has a problem. That problem is his childhood best friend, Makoto Natsuki. Natsuki lives the life of a prince. Ever since elementary school, his perfect looks and sweet disposition have won the hearts of everyone around him and attracted a gaggle of fans. But Natsuki's burst into fame has plunged Izumi into hell. Five years ago Izumi's offhanded criticism of his friend earned him the hatred of all the girls (and boys) in school, and it's only gotten worse since. His friendship with Natsuki was destroyed over the incident, and the ostracism has seriously warped his personality. The more Natsuki becomes a star, the more Izumi becomes a bitter social outcast. So when Natsuki asks Izumi one day what he can do to make up for everything, Izumi flippantly says "Go out with me" just to get a rise out of him. But to his shock, Natsuki takes him up on the offer—and seems to take it very seriously...

Other works by creators:
Color (DMP: 9781569701126)
Living for Tomorrow (DMP: 9781569700846) [END]