Not for the Faint of Heart - Tale of the Waning Moon Vol 1
Let the review continue, brought to you by a delicate mixture of brandy and peppermint schnapps and a particularly good read in Tale of the Waning Moon, which combines fantasy and video games with yaoi manga styling for a result that is fun and irresistibly cute throughout, although not exactly without its problems. As it is, this is probably my favorite yaoi manga that I've read so far, but as with most in the genre, it falls victim to a few flaws.
The largest of these is basically the premise of the series, which is that a young man wishes for love on the waning moon and has his wish answered by a moon spirit who decides that the young man will love him and proceeds to rape him. Okay, so I guess that is sort of par for the course for the genre, as much of what I have seen implies that there is quite a bit of non-consensual liaisoning going on in most of the yaoi manga I have read. But I admit, that doesn't really do much for me. Some playing hard to get, okay, but we're basically being told that this guy has been gay all his life and hasn't known it, finds out by being raped, and then it's all roses from there.
Luckily, this manga does a fair job with the main character's feelings concerning what has happened to him, and so while the first time was against his wishes, this works as a sort of "be careful what you wish for" scenario, where yes, he was gay all along and this moon spirit awakens him to the fact. Not that it completely dismisses the point, but after that there isn't any more rape, so I enjoyed it more as it went on. And indeed, this is a rare yaoi manga that delves into fantasy, poking gentle fun at some video game cliches and showing a world that is grounded in fantasy tradition.
And really, it is a fine book, with the main character continually finding himself in questionable situations and having to either get himself out of it or relying on the moon spirit to help him out. Along the way he meets up with some friends and they all set out together to explore the world and adventure. It's a little more complicated than that, but in essence it is like a video game where the main character is chosen by something and has to leave home to search out his destiny. The characters are all fun and the art is gorgeous and everything really works on most levels.
And as for the naughty bits, I can say that there aren't an abundance of scenes, and what there are seem pretty tame, but there definitely is a lot of tension and hilarious situations and there is rather a promise of things to come (teehee). In any event, the sex is fun while it's around, though if you are looking for something with a lot of explicit scenes I would look elsewhere. What is there is well done, and the characters all interact in fun and adorable ways.
So at the end of the day, I would recommend this book to pretty much anyone who enjoys yaoi manga, and would probably go that step farther and say I'd suggest it for anyone looking for a good overall manga. The plot moves at a good clip, and the romance elements are good, the characters develop and grow more complicated, and there is a good amount of humor and silliness. The only complaint, really, is that the foundation of the story and the relationship with the main character is rape, and though standard for the genre I still find it objectionable. So, finally, it receives an 8/10.