Playing Deep Games With Passion
Written: Mar 04 '09 (Updated Apr 04 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Appealing yaoi with strong characterizations, good story, and appealing drawing.
Cons: Up to you.
The Bottom Line: An early encounter with boys' love manga that has held up very well.
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| rmthunter's Full Review: Shinobu Gotoh - Passion Volume 1 |
Took another look at one of my early enounters with yaoi, Passion, Vol. 1, with a story by Shinobu Gotoh and drawings by Syouko Takaku, and was pleasantly surprised -- it was better than I remembered.
Hikaru Umino is in love. Desperately in love. Hikaru is also a bit feckless, so much so that, when he hears a rumor that the object of his devotion, Mr. Shima, is engaged to be married, rather than simply asking if the rumor is true, he lures him into an empty classroom and assaults him. Shima is somewhat less than enchanted with Hikaru's methods, but tells him to think about his penance: he's about to begin his last year of high school and has that time to make it up to Shima.
Shima's life is not without its own complications. He and Amamiya, a fellow teacher, had been lovers in high school. Amamiya broke it off in their third year (which in an American school would be fourth year), but now has decided that he wants Shima back. Shima's not really all that enthusiastic about the idea -- he doesn't seem the type to carry a torch, and after all, now he has another suitor. Somehow, the three of them wind up at Shima's apartment -- Amamiya because he's using Shima's shower while his own is being repaired, Hikaru because, in line with his general finesse, he just happens to be hanging around the front door when the pizza delivery arrives -- and Amamiya leaves but Hikaru stays. In fact, Hikaru spends the night, at Shima's insistence. Poor Hikaru seems to be on something of a roller-coaster after that: Shima says they will play at being lovers, but Hikaru has to study hard and improve his grades, and if he does well, they will go out on a date.
After not reading this one for a while -- it was one of my early yaoi purchases -- I went back to it after reading Syouko Takaku's Shy Intentions and found it to be very appealing. A large part of that, of course, is character, and this is a prize-winning bunch. Hikaru has book smarts, but is such a clueless kid it's a wonder he can get himself to school in the morning. His earnestness and naivete are close to borderline for believability, but he does come off as genuine, enough that I was rooting for him -- you just want to take him home and feed him. Shima has a certain element of the devil in him, I think -- he's playing a game here, but we're not sure just what the rules are, or what the goal is, whether it's doing a number on Amamiya -- although getting back together with him seems the least likely -- or doing a number on Hikaru -- although he does seem to be fond of the boy. Amamiya himself is a piece of work -- brash, overly self-confident, and somewhat domineering, he doesn't seem to have realized something that we can see -- Shima now is not Shima then, and Amamiya may have bitten off more than he can chew.
Takaku's graphics are charming, very clear and expressive -- the joy on Hikaru's face when Shima returns his phone call one night is obvious, as is the almost smug look on Shima's face when Hikaru asks if they can "do it" again. Takaku manages not only to reveal character in the drawings, but also to flesh out the story line. (The sex scenes are standard-issue reticent: unambiguous without being graphic.)
It's also worth noting that Passion takes some liberties with the standard seme/uke pairing: in this case, the uke -- Shima -- is older and pretty much in control, while the seme -- Hikaru -- is almost too eager to please.
This is the beginning of a four-part series that also has a pendant volume, Passion: Forbidden Love (a yaoi novel), and it looks like it's going to be really, really interesting to see this story develop -- not only is there the romance between Hikaru and Shima, but Amamiya is still a player here as well. The whole thing is on my list to acquire.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
rmthunter
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 in Books |
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Member: Robert Tilendis
Location: Close to the lake
Reviews written: 338
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I've gotten pretty demanding, but it's worth it.
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