Yūko Kuwabara

Another of the relatively entertaining school boy yaoi manga variety in this one we start off with a prophecy that in this particular dorm that whomever the head student shares a room with falls in love with him. In this all boys school same sex relationships seem to be the norm, so this would be nothing shocking except that the head boy, "The Prince of Warm Sunshine", Kihara, has rigged the roommate lottery so that he can share a room with "The Prince of Ice", harsh and unfriendly seeming Kyosuke. Not so much due to the rumor actually, but to secure a little more excitement for himself by unmercilessly teasing Kyosuki. However, it turns out that the icy exterior hides a very insecure and sensitive soul. And when Kihara's teasing starts to cause Kyosuki to become physically ill, Kihara discovers he would much rather take care of his roommate than torture him.

In addition to the main couple this manga deals with two others, Kyosuke's brother, Shuinshi, and the dorm doctor, Hajime, being the next in line. This relationship is presented up front with none of the innocence of the other two (which both remain of the non-yaoi variety) as both are adults and are already very actively involved, which is where the well-earned mature rating comes in. The last and rather cliffhangerish 'ship is between a hopeful suitor to Kyosuke and star baseball player, Kaga, and Kyosuke's former roommate, Suzuki. Although feelings are declared nothing is decided in the end.

I enjoyed this manga and my only complaint is that Kyosuke, Suzuki and Hajime (although he is supposed to be much older) all have very similar appearances. Since they were always either clothed very dissimilarly and were mainly confined to separate scenes this wasn't too confusing. This was a cute one without any truly overbearing semes and the characters all seemed to be relatively sensitive to each other's feelings. Outside of the general yaoi theme (which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who knows what the term means) there was nothing offensive or shocking about the material. A very sweet story with enjoyable artwork.… (més)

There are two princes at the all-boys dormitory, Seiran, for Seika Academy: Ryoichiro Kihara, the Prince of Warm Spring Sunshine and Kyosuke Yoshimi, the Beautiful Prince of Ice. Of course, these nicknames can only convey one side of their personalities. Contrary to his Prince of Warm Spring Sunshine moniker, Kihara, also Chief Resident Advisor of the dorm, schemes to get Yoshimi as his roommate, to take advantage of a prophecy that says the Chief R. A. always has a romantic relationship with his roommate.

Thankfully, this doesn't drag on into one of those stories where the only obstacle in the way of True Love is miscommunication; you know, the kind that makes you tear your hair out because you know that they could have been happy five chapters ago if only they had said that one thing. Kihara is straightforward and honest when it comes to telling Yoshimi how he feels, instead of continuing the manipulation that got him his roommate. However, this only confuses Yoshimi, who is the kind of person that doesn't know how he feels until someone points it out for him. Once he realizes, though, he decidedly takes action, ending this sugary sweet story. At about half the length of the graphic novel, this seems the perfect amount of pages dedicated to them.

The second half of Blue Sky deals with the rest of the boys in Kihara and Yoshimi's dorm lives, starting with a hilarious story that begins from the point of view of Nikaido, who is probably the only straight guy in the whole story. Are Kihara and Yoshimi a couple? If they are a couple, have they done it? Overactive imaginations lead to him and the others envisioning things they would really rather not and poking their noses where they shouldn't.

While the title couple was all about sweet, innocent, boyish love, the next major couple walk an intense and angsty road. Starting with hot and sweaty action right off the bat, Hajime Hino, the school physician, analyzes his relationship with Shunichi Yoshimi. Yes, Yoshimi; Shunichi is the older brother of the Beautiful Prince of Ice. Shunichi was the former Chief R. A. and used the prophecy to his advantage, although in a rather different way than Kihara. Overwhelmed by his former pupil's intensity, the easily swayed Hino enters this relationship, but questions it as the months. He may have fallen in love with Shunichi, but does Shunichi really love him? After all, he talks of nothing but his little brother and how alike Hino is to that brother; is he just a replacement?

To round out the two couples from far sides of the spectrum, there is the couple in between. Kaga is still suffering from his unrequited love for Yoshimi, but his roommate, Suzuki, is always there to comfort him. Of course, this being boys love, cute little Suzuki has ulterior motives that the obtuse Kaga can't see. Unfortunately, Suzuki's over-dramatic, outlandish fantasies never come true, causing him to take a more direct approach after Kaga's friendly concern becomes too much to bear.

Blue Sky doesn't plumb the depths of their characters, but it digs just deep enough for readers to understand and enjoy the characters' romantic motivations. What it lacks in character background, it makes up for in its variety of couples: the lovey dovey couple, the hot and steamy couple, and the almost-couple, not to mention the straight friend looking in.

This review originally appeared at J LHLS.… (més)

I've always loved buddy stories and stories where friends and/or partners become lovers. It is certainly what has drawn me to the stories in "Fake" and "Yellow". However, the journey is part of getting there and without a story(ies) beyond how the relationship unfolds, I tend to feel a little unfulfilled. That is kind of what happened in this instance.

In "Alcohol, Shirt & Kiss" we have partnered detectives. The younger, newest kid on the block, Naru, has made a name for himself in the department for his marksmanship and courage under pressure. Kita is unflappable and, at least to most of the department, completely cool and unemotional. However, when Naru suffers heartbreak from being dumped by his girlfriend and wakes up in Kita's bed a whole new relationship between the two is tested. Naru quickly discovers that under his partner's enigmatic exterior lurks the heart of a man desperate for affection and willing to go to almost any lengths to secure this human connection.

Despite having very little plot and story beyond the relationship, which would have made it much better IMHO, I did enjoy reading this manga. The artwork was easy on the eyes and there were a couple very quick police work related action scenes which I liked quite a bit. I also thought that the various chapter names were clever as each word highlights a significant object or action taking place.

Another kind of unusual thing for me is that I really enjoyed the little side story, "Moon Kiss", at the end. I'm not a big fan of the manga where instead of a full book dedicated to the title story, you get half title and half other stories. In this case however, I felt that the main story between Naru and Kita had resolved itself nicely and I had no problems with an extra bonus. It certainly made me giggle and had an unexpected twist to it I thought was quite charming.

Overall I thought this was a good manga, despite what I saw was a lack of depth, that does have the added bonus of being a one-shot without further commitment to spending more on additional volumes (which is actually why I picked up this particular title).… (més)