Not for the Faint of Heart - Three Wolves Mountain Vol 1 Review
Well back to the yaoi this week with Three Wolves Mountain, found on amazon and purchased now that there really isn't anything to get at the local bookstore. In some ways it is a sad fate, to not be able to find anything in town, to have to wait for things to arrive from the vast and mighty internets. But at the same time there is the fact that selection in the book store is quite limited, and selection online is equally vast and mighty. Which means that, drunken pineapple playing glorious music through my veins, I embark into a yaoi that is actually satisfying visually and imaginatively.
It's a strange thing (to date, at least) to find a mature (read sex-themed) manga that actually manages to tell a decent story while being naughty and fun. But I am extremely happy to report that Three Wolves Mountain manages to be entertaining, charming, sweet, funny, cool, and pretty damned sexy. It's good times all around. For those looking for a book that really succeeds in capturing both humor and a bit darkness and wrapping a sweet coating of sex around it, look no further. The story itself follows two brothers, both werewolves, as they search for and find a home with a human. It is an interesting premise, as one of the werewolves is mainly human while the other is mainly wolf (they have full moon versions that move toward traditional werewolves, but I liked the difference). They are kicked out of their home by their parents and are taken in by the human guardian of a graveyard.
And the stories are all solid, all fairly dark and definitely mature, and each growing the relationship between the more human werewolf and the human. They make a cute pair and along with the wolf brother become something of a family. This is while dealing with ghosts, family, and demonic possessions. It all just works, all just feels right. And while it is an aspect of the human's backstory, there is no actual rape in this volume. For a yaoi, that's basically unheard of, but here we get only consensual sex, only two people engaged in a loving relationship. And while the two characters aren't always perfect with each other, it works. I got the sense, at least, that these characters were fun and existed in a world larger than the one shown.
And, of course, the sex scenes are great. Probably out of all the adult manga I have read so far, this had the best art, the most detailed, and given that some of these characters have fur at times, that's really saying something. The scenes are steamy and well done, and there isn't really anything to be uncomfortable with. Here are two people in love, and finding out what it means to be in love. There's no censoring, no blurring or anything like that, and this is the first yaoi I've read where the guys are not locked into roles of who is the top and who is the bottom. And, somehow, that seems refreshing.
So yes, highest recommendations for Three Wolves Mountain. The drunken pineapple cries out in joy as it is crushed between my teeth and all is, for once, right with the world. The one real downside to this is that there is only the one volume, only the one set of stories. A part of me desperately wants more, wants to be able to keep following these characters. But I suppose I shall content myself with other stories, other naughty adventures, and know that at the very worst I have found a very good read. A 9.25/10.