The Man Who Doesn't Take Off His Clothes 1

Don't Worry Mama #2

by Narise Konohara, Yuki Shimizu (Illustrator)

Anna Kaitani led an unremarkable life in every sense —cursed with a girl’s name and a total disinterest in the stressful world of work projects and corporate greed, he only accepts a position at a prestigious cosmetics company to appease a well-connected uncle.  However, a chance meeting with an old high school pal proves to be the motivating spark that Kaitani craves.  Suddenly, spearheading the risky design plans for a brand-new men’s line becomes Kaitani’s passion...and his boss, the snobbish and demanding Section Chief Fujiwara, seems hell-bent on killing his dream!  Why are these two merciless men torturing one another?  And what will finally happen when their rivalry violently binds them together? 

Genres: Yaoi, Manga, Romance, Contemporary, Light Novel, M M Romance, Japanese Literature

234 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 2005

Reviews

[Chocobox]

Seriously, why didn't Kaitani ask about why Fujiwara was calling him Anna? Was it a coincidence (a recent girlfriend was named Anna)? Did he figure it out on his own? Did he used to know Kaitani (extremely unlikely, considering some things that I won't mention)? WHAT? (And no, I still don't know. Kaitani doesn't seem to be thinking about it at all, so I wonder if we'll ever find out?)

I'm totally in awe of this author that she could go almost 200 pages without the characters so much as showing any sign of attraction for each other. And Kaitani's turnaround was SO sudden, but I totally bought it. I think it kind of relates to what Yuuichi was saying, about how when you think a person is nice, you start seeing the nice side of them...Ah, but now I'm getting into the second book, so I'll shut up. (Speaking of Yuuichi, all the times they were out at the bar, complaining about Fujiwara, I kept expecting Yuuichi to say something like, "If only he'd get stuck on a deserted island for a couple months...")

I LOVED the whole scene where Fujiwara comes to Kaitani's apartment to pay him off. SO BRILLIANT. It was funny anyway (except I felt bad for the caterpillar man Fujiwara when he cried), but when Yuuichi showed up, I nearly died laughing. Wait, no! The best was when Fujiwara throws the camera into the river and bursts out laughing. I don't know why Shimizu drew the totally boring picture of them standing with all the money on the ground when there were so many more visually interesting things going on in that scene.

I would like to say more, but my thoughts are all jumbled up with the second volume now. I really, REALLY want to hit Kaitani

What's interesting about this book is that both Kaitani and Fujiwara do things that make me hate them MORE than the characters in DWM...and yet I'm still enjoying the book(s), characters and all, like crazy. I think I will name this the House Effect.

[Reader17 Der · Rating 5 out of 5]

These novels are about Kaitani who works in a cosmetic company and his boss section Chief Fujiwara. It goes into how Kaitani doens't like his boss, the things he doesn't like about him. Fujiwara is always talking down to him and telling him to clean up his appearance. Kaitani wants to have a dragon design approved for the bottle they are making for a product and Fujiwara will not listen. It is actually the first thing that has actually made Kaitani want to work harder and find out the information for this to come about. Since Fujiwara will not listen Kaitani tries to blackmail him. I liked in these volumes how Kaitani actually grows up and starts to take steps to better himself and his work habits because of his boss.

[Zhana · Rating 5 out of 5]

***Български***
Чудесна книга в жанра yaoi. Главните герои бяха интересни и добре развити. Историята беше завладяваща. Въпреки че изчетох книгата сравнително бавно, тя е една от любимите ми в този жанр.

***English***
Great yaoi novel. The main characters are both interesting and well developed. The story itself was very captivating. It took me a lot of time to read this book considering that I read that kind of novels for a few hours but still this remains one of my favorite yaoi novels.

[Xena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, so you have to read the second volume to really get the full picture.

[Danna · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I really like this yaoi novel. I was a little unsure at first but after finishing the second volume, you do get tot see why both benefited from each other. The main characters are complete opposites but then they better each other along the way. Their banter was hilarious.

The second volume has intense sex scenes.

[Leila Anani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anna Kaitani is a junior salesman in a cosmetics firm - His hard-line but insanely handsome boss Fujiwara drives him nuts. Things come to a head when Fujiwara refuses to go with a product design Kaitani has worked really hard on. Kaitani gets his boss drunk and then takes him home, strips him, takes compromising photos and blackmails him. Fujiwara turns up on Kaitani's doorstep trying to buy back the photos and ends up bound and gagged - A friend turns up, sees the bound Fujiwara and Kaitani is forced to lie and pretend they are lovers into BDSM sex games. His friend rather than being shocked is delighted and invites him to an exclusive gay bar - where the owner gets a huge crush on Kaitani and decides to make a play for him. Freaked out, Kaitani further blackmails Fujiwara into going to the gay bar to get the owner to back off seeing he already has a boyfriend....

This one has a really interesting plot with two fascinating male leads and it's nice to move away from the clear cut seme/uke archetypes - both these men have very strong personalities and play a cutthroat game of dominance and submission. Have volume 2 to hand as well because this really is only half the story and I can't wait to find out whether this will be happily ever after or something much darker....

[Kamons · Rating 4 out of 5]

สรุปคือเป็นเรื่องรักๆ ในที่ทำงานระหว่างพนักงานหนุ่มกับหัวหน้าแผนกผู้เพอร์เฟค
เหมาะกับคนชอบอ่านคาแรกเตอร์หัวหน้าแผนกสุดหล่อ ผู้เย็นชา เอาจริงเอาจังในเวลางาน แต่พออยู่บนเตียงกลายเป็นฝ่ายรับที่เร่าร้อน เซ็กซี่ แต่ตามใจคู่ขาสุดๆ เลยจ้า กับอีกฝ่ายที่เป็นหนุ่มสไตล์นักกีฬา เวลาทำงานคือสุภาพ ยอมตาม รักหัวหน้าเหมือนลูกหมาเชื่องๆ แต่พอบนเตียงคือคนคุมเกมเด้อ แล้วก็มีโมเม้นที่ช่วงแรกๆ เกลียดกันน่าดูเพราะต่างฝ่ายต่างไม่ชอบการทำงานของอีกฝ่าย ฝ่ายนึงจริงจังฝ่ายหนึ่งเหลาะแหละเลยอคติใส่กันน่าดู จนลูกน้องหนุ่มถลำตัวไปทำเรื่องแย่ๆ อย่างแบล็คเมล์เจ้านาย แล้วก็เลยเถิดไปมีอะไรกันเข้า แล้วก็ดันรู้ตัวทีหลังว่ารักเขาเข้าแล้วเลยต้องตามจีบ
เล่ม 1
ชอบเพราะมันคือความรักในวัยทำงาน คือต่างคนต่างทำงานกันจริงๆ อ่ะ แต่เล่ม 1 นี้ช่างดำเนินเรื่องช้าขัดใจเราจริง อาาาา เมื่อไหร่จะสป๊าคกันเล่าเธอ แอบขัดใจไคทานิที่จะยึดติดอะไรกับขวดมังกรนักหนา แถมใช้วิธีแย่ๆ แบบนั้นแบล็คเมล์ฟุจิวาระอีก นี่มันขัดขนบตัวเอกเป็นคนดีชัดๆ

เล่ม 2
คือรู้ใจกันแล้ว ตามจีบกันล่ะ เมื่อไคทานิรู้ใจตัวเองก็ต้องจีบฟุจิวาระให้ได้แม้วิธีการมันจะ…ร้ายๆ หน่อยก็เถอะ จริงๆ ก็แอบขัดใจกับวิธีการจีบหนุ่มของไคทานินี่มันวิธีของตัวร้ายชัดๆ

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this when I was younger. Why? I don't know. I only have vague memories, but I liked it. I feel like by todays standards, it would be problematic in ways. Putting it in manga shelves, because that is the section it is at in bookstores.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is anything but a Yaoi it had no context showing it to be anywhere in that genre honestly it should have been called how to get even it was boring and I don't expect myself to get the rest of the series.

[HoodJoshi666 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the love-hate relationship Kaitani and Fujiwara have in this novel. This reads like a classic Konohara Sensei book, but I feel like the translation did not do her justice, and the character depth seems to be lacking for me. I also wish there were more sex scenes....I am interested in seeing how these two fall in love in the second volume. The main theme in this novel is to not count out the person you hate, they might be the one you love .... which is a major theme across many of Konohara Sensei's books which is why I love her writing.

[Gabriela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Off to volume 2 but I don't get why it finished there??