Cold Sleep

COLD #1

by Narise Konohara, Nanao Saikawa (Illustrator), Douglas W. Dlin (Translator)

After losing his memory in a serious car accident, Tohru Takahisa is taken in by Fujishima, an older man who claims to be his friend. But the taciturn Fujishima refuses to reveal anything about Tohru’s past! Despite the gulf between them, a strange and awkward tenderness grows, even as they are held apart by the tragic events of Tohru’s forgotten past! Dramatic, heart-wrenching romance and tragedy combine in a gripping story where the past and present are intricately entwined.

This volume also contains the short story “Class Reunion” and an all-new sequel!

Genres: Yaoi, Manga, Romance, M M Romance, Contemporary, LGBT, Light Novel

226 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2003

Reviews

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Review: Cold Sleep is a different sort of yaoi novel. It delves a little deeper into the psyche of the characters and though we still have just the one point of view, which is typical, he isn't your run-of-the mill yaoi character. He's a blank slate, sure, but still a thinking feeling man who isn't afraid to go after the answers he needs.

I personally am not too concerned with the realistic likelihood of the main character's medical dilemma. That isn't why I read yaoi novels. I read them for their distinctly streamlined look into the characters' minds and hearts. Without a lifetime of baggage to weigh him down, Tohru has a unique chance to build a new life and concentrate on the one man who has done everything to help him do just that. It isn't until he delves into his past that he realizes what a prize he has in his present and understands what he wants his future to look like.

I had a lot of chances to get frustrated with Fujishima, however. With no real insight into why his actions and his words don't agree. He went far out of his way to help Tohru, and then maintains he doesn't want him. It made no sense, and it frustrated me to no end. But I couldn't dislike this character, because he just never let Tohru down. Between these two characters, a strange kind of tenderness grows as they learn to listen and respond to one another, and give what the other will be willing to accept. (Even if Tohru needs a bit of a kick from his friend to figure out how to reach Fujishima at first.)

If I have a complaint, it would be that the book kind of ended in uncertainty. If I didn't already know there is a second book, that might have made me very hesitant to pick up another of Konohara's books. It was a lot of angst and heartache to go through on both characters' behalf to have the ending so far from a sure thing.

As for the illustrations, I really liked the careful attention to detail and I kind of whish there were more illustrations. I thought it was nice to see a few of the other characters given face time in the illustrations. It's a nice change to see some different moments from the story other than the sex scenes. It gave me a great insight into the moments and character interactions that meant something to the author.

A nice Surprise: This came in the form of the two short stories at the end of this book. I wasn't expecting this bonus, so it was great to get the double treat of "Class Reunion" and "The One I Love" Both short stories feature the love affair between Kurokawa and Taniguchi, two men who knew each other during high school. The stories are written at the beginning of their re-association and at the beginning of thier love affair, and they are both very sweet and touching in the way these two very different men find each other and learn each other, and make the decision to love. As much as I liked Cold Sleep, these two little gems at the end really made me smile.

This review originally written for Kuriousity.com: http://www.kuri-ousity.com/2010/10/re...

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hm. Where to begin.
Okay, basic plot. Tohuru loses his memory. A very expressionless man, Fujishima, is taking care of him. We get no feeling of Fujishima---he is very bland, and Tohuru often wonders why this guy is taking care of him; providing him care, money, and keeping his past buried.

Turns out Tohuru was in a car accident and the other person involved was killed. He wasn't a very good person in his past (he uncovers this by going back to where he was living before his accident).

He starts up a slow friendship with Fujishima, thrilled when he discovers the man likes cakes. Ummm, okay, whatever.

Tohuru starts to believe that maybe Fujishima and him were lovers, which would explain why Fujishima insisted on playing caretaker. (okay, a drunken kiss confirmed that for him).

So later, Fujishima gets stabbed by a lady who is the mother to the boy that was killed in the car accident. While he is recovering, Tohuru finally confronts him about them. Practically crawled into bed with him like a horny teenager, while Fujishima protested. A lot.

I really doubt it was the book's intention, but I think Tohuru was a controlling bastard in his previous 'life' and was a dominant one in the relationship and Fujishima was living in fear that he would get his memories back.

Book abruptly ends.

Short story included with my copy, but I don't care to read any more of it.

The writing style...very amateurish, but it seemed fitting for a book about anime characters. And that's all they were, characters. Didn't seem real at all to me, so I couldn't make a 'live action' movie play in my head while watching, but just flat drawn characters.

No suspense, just disappointment.

[Chocobox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amnesia!! (Shut up, I know I have weird fetishes.) Seriously, the relationship moves pretty slow, because the main character doesn't remember anything, and the love interest is terrible at expressing his feelings, but the cute moments are all the more adorable because of it. (CAKE LOVE EEEE.) I held off on reading this for a while because I was worried about the lack of ending (it's part of a trilogy), but it actually leaves off in a pretty good place. Some questions are left unanswered, yes, but it's not a horrible cliffhanger or anything. There's also a two chapter short story (one-shot + 書き下ろし) included, and I really liked that, too. The one-shot by itself would have been a little unsatisfying, but the second chapter was totally adorable. [note from later: decided to stop with this book after hearing about the rest of the series, which sounds like crap.]

[Mizuki · Rating 5 out of 5]

The three parts series is so realistic yet dramatic! The romance is a slowly developed one with all its painful, heartbreaking twists and turns! The characters are realistically written and you got to understand them a great deal even though they might not be always likable.

I love Narise Konohara's novels to pieces! She's such a master-storyteller in the field of YAOI novels!!!

[Elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A better plot than I was expecting, with several twists and tropes turned on their head. I thought I knew where it was going, and the previous history between the amnesiac Tohru and the self-confessed 'old friend' Fujishima who takes him in, but I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong. Both characters weren't the standard stock tropes to be found in these sorts of novels, both being a bit softer and more emotional (Tohru at least) than is usual. Tohru bring the one who wants to talk and share things while Fujishima remains silent and cold is also a straight up role reversal.

I found it easy to empathise with Tohru and his frustration over his amnesia and Fujishima's silence. His irritation over other people telling him what was best for him was also very believable. I was happy to see him find his own new goals and things that made him happy, rather than relying on stories of what his previous self had wanted to do.

If there was any real complaint is that's there is zero smut, which is truly odd for these sorts of novels. Can't I get this level of characterisation and development but also some sex scenes? Why is it always only one or the other?

Rating: 3.5 stars, rounded down.

[Aramiheartilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The abrupt but happy end to this book is apparently because this is part of a series. Unfortunately the other two are very hard to come by and were not in the collection I got this one from (unless someone picked them up before I got there, hope they already had a copy of this!!) I’d only want to read the second one anyway as apparently the third is kinda brutal in a way I do not miss from early 2000s Yaoi >< still, for it’s time this was very reflectful and even had consent… I wish that wasn’t such a high bar for this period of time, even with the cultural differences.
Anyway, I thought this would be the one dude loses his memory, his ‘friend’ who takes him in is really is lover etc etc but that’s not actually the case. So this does get points for surprising me.
I liked the characters, I found the explanation for things believable and their interactions real enough.
It can be read on its own as long as you don’t mind a pretty abrupt ending and the extra bonus short stories were lovely too.

[Kain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went into this book with great expecations and although the main book itself was well written, charming and funny I found it ended very abruptly and without any proper conclusion. So my review had originally meant to be three star just for that but while writing the review I noticed its part of a Series! So my mind can now quiet itself knowing there may be more answers to my questions, more to the story to unravel and thankfully more to read!

Class reunion - Mini story at the end of the book about two completely different characters, sweet, bit slow to start but not much can be done about that as it was a short short story. Still worth a read.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this when I was younger. I can't remember details, but maybe clueless me liked it. I admit that when I was younger these books were a guilty pleasure. I had a religious family, so I used to hide these BL books.

This isn't a manga, but I'm putting it in the manga shelves, because it is found with the manga at the store.

[Mosley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I jokingly called this novel NyQuil because it was so boring it could put you to sleep. Nothing really happened in this but then I learned at the very end in the afterwards that this is part of a three novel series. I can't imagine it being drawn out that long. There were so many things I wanted answers to but didn't get and I don't think I really want to rush to get the next novel.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartwrenching.

[Rafaela (dragonsandpaperbacks) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, it was a little dull and it only got interesting in the last few chapters. The short story was asorable, though, I ooved it!

[a*s*h · Rating 4 out of 5]

i actually really liked this one...

this book has two stories in ...well, two storylines, one about an amnesiac called tohrou and his enigmatic roomate, fujishima, who avoids telling tohrou anything about the past. the second storyline followed kurokawa and taniguchi, two high school classmates reuniting 20 years after graduation.

i liked both stories. they surprised me with how unexpectedly grounded they were. i liked how tohrou's turmoil over his amnesia is developed, the loneliness and lashing anger. i also liked the supporting characters and the way we get to slowly see tohrou build friendships and habits even in the short amount of space. it managed to make the passing of time work so that the romance itself also felt somewhat gradual and slow-burn-y. the characters of both tohrou and fujishima worked well; they didn't feel like cookie-cutter bland characters; they each had something distinctive and real about them, which was so much more than i expected. the romance was also interestingly developed (save for...the hospital scene...) but i did root for it enough that when their storyline ended i was actually disappointed and didn't expect to like the second storyline as much.

but i think i liked the second storyline even more. if i liked the grounded-ness of the first storyline, the next two short stories, the first being set at the school reunion where kurokawa and taniguchi reunite as adults, and the second following kurokawa and taniguchu gradually becoming the friends they never really got to be during high school and more, was even more well-done. i related way too much kurokawa man. he's so melodramatic, but so repressed as well that he was just a fascinating character.

i really didn't expect to have as much thoughts and enthusiasm about this book as i did so this was a great surprise.

random note: the translator did a pretty good job, imo. it was a little funny to have the dialogue so colloqualised -- tohrou letting loose a lot of americanisms made me a smile, and reminded me of the yu-gi-oh dub giving joey wheeler a super heavy brooklyn accent -- but still liked it overall because i felt like the translation was really trying to get across in the best way the characters' more contemporary and naturalistic dialogue.

[Hannah Tryon-Mueller · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Cold Sleep”, by Narise Konohara is a story about a Tohru Takahisa, who lost his memory due to a car accident. A man named Fujishima shows up randomly and says that he knew Tohru and will be taking care of him. Tohru is a little unsure at first but begins living with him. He realizes that Fujishima is really quiet and is a little hard to get along with. Along the way, Tohru decides to try to get his memory back, but can he?

The plot of the story was really good. When I read it and something strange happened, it made me want to read more! I couldn’t put the book down. The way the story is written makes you feel like you’ve known the characters for a long time. As the story progresses, you start to feel more attached to the characters and understand how they feel. I recommend Cold Sleep if you’re someone who likes mystery.

[Bouvardia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not stand the ending of this book. It was a cute story of a man who lost his memories and is taken in by someone whom he doesn't remember but claims to be a friend. As time goes by Tohru grows hungry for the truth and when he finds out the horrible reality that was his life, he goes off to try and have sex with Mr. Fujishima and everythings perfectly okay after that.. even though Tohru found out that he had killed someone and was devestated by this only moments before! The author could have taken a much better path in ending the book but didn't and it left me annoyed. The only reason I didn't get rid of this book was because it had a short story at the end called "Class Reunion" which I thought was cute.

[HoodJoshi666 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like Tohru. I feel for him not knowing who he is. I liked that he was mean before the accident but is now nice, albeit it is a forced change.... This novel makes me question if people are truly themselves without their memories? Fujishima what are you hiding from him? Were you lovers in a past life? I genuinely enjoy the mystery on how Tohru and Fujishima know each other. Tohru really likes and adores Fujishima. Fujishima's love for sweets despite appearing to be cold and stoic reminds me of Old Fashion Cupcake.

[Reader17 Der · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this novel it is about Takashisa who was in a car accident and when he wakes up he doesn't remember anything. Fujishima is a gentleman that takes him in. He tells Takashisa that they where friends. This story is about Takashisa trying to get his memory about, the mystery of who he is and who Fujishima actually is. The changes he goes through.

[usagi ☆ミ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kind of expected more, but even though it put somewhat of a good twist on the seme/uke standard format, it seemed like the author was afraid to deviate from it and explore. And that could have worked better.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first i couldn't get into it but as the story goes on it got so much better and ended up being a good read. This will be a re-peat read.

[Extinction (Quasar) · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far, my most favorite BL novel series. And it's quite good and kept me entertained enough to finish the entire trilogy. Glad I own it.

[ederinko (rin) · Rating 3 out of 5]

no back door moments lolol