Location: Osaka, but in a rural area Likes: Professional baseball, Salmon Dislikes: My stomach, sea urchin, salmon roe Recent News: I’m gargling diligently
Well that was hot. Funny, terribly cheezy in a soap-opera way, but cute. I want to read the rest of the series now! A beautiful duo of the romantic trials and errors of a young Buddhist monk and his childhood friend a tofu salesman; and the monk's older brother and the dry cleaning boy. I mean the set up right there even.
“I’d rather whittle your funds down little by little over time than empty your pockets in one go with a big purchase.”
Such are the kinds of thoughts that pass between lovers in 26 year old Miza Kenji’s mind. Really, Drano-laced curdled milk would win in a personality contest with Kenji. The love and devotion that Yoshito displays for him would be totally implausible were it not for Kotetsuko’s skill not only in characterization, but playing each character off of the others. In this case, Yoshito’s personality, even though he’s a sweetheart, is just as bent as Kenji’s, but in the opposite direction. He’s willing to take any abuse in the dim hope Kenji might say a kind word to him. We’d be reading a manga about sociopathic manipulation if it weren’t for Kotetsuko’s ability to find the tipping point where normalcy devolves into absurdity - and, then, balance the entire storyline on that tipping point.
I feel almost guilty finding the result so damn funny.
In the meantime, our other Buddhist Priest hottie, Miza Yuuji, has finally settled into a fairly stable relationship with Saburou. It’s this stability that let’s him start thinking about how to stay in touch with Saburou on a more regular basis.
Yes, let the world beware, but the curly haired uke we all adore has bought a cell phone.
But Kenji and Yoshito take center stage in this volume. After going on about how Kotetsuko eschewed melodramatic imagery with over the top graphic effects, what did we get in the fourth book of the series? Melodramatic imagery with graphic effects. In this case, I’m thinking the exception proves the rule. Kenji and Yoshito are far from normal personalities, with the one being a selfish narcissist, if not a full out sociopath, and the other a desperate, overly emotional masochist. It would be hard to depict these two in the comparatively staid, even handed style she uses in a good deal of her other work, or even with Yuuji and Saburou in this series. Kotetsuko gives herself free reign in allowing her graphic effects give expression to the very unique personalities of Kenji and Yoshito, and the result keeps the storyline light, funny, and buoyant.
Em fa moltíssima ràbia quan la trama d'una sèrie tan llarga com aquesta no va enlloc, et deixa un sentiment d'obra inconclusa, que no aporta gaire, fútil, sense un recorregut clar. Això és justament el que passa en aquest còmic amb dues històries BL de dos germans monjos budistes amb dos nois del poble on viuen, excompanys de classe. Els 4 protagonistes són molt carismàtics i atractius, així com també ho són les il·lustracions, però el context es menciona de puntetes i la trama no avança, és un xiclet interminable. Des del desconeixement més absolut i la influència sufocant de la moral cristiana no em deixa de sorprendre la naturalitat amb què dos monjos s'emparellen amb homes i hi mantenen relacions sexuals (que si bé són explícites, m'esperava molt més). És una llicència de l'autora o té certa versemblança? Sèrie amena, però que deixa un regust agredolç molt frustrant :(
I have to appreciate Saburou's patience in dealing with Yuuji's innocence, hahaha.
Yuuji is really something else, with his mix of naivety and being airheaded ... and the funniest part is him chanting sutras in every panic situation. I can't handle how adorable he is!