ターンアップザワールド

by Panda (熊猫), 熊猫

ある日バンドマンの遊は、ライブ帰りに川端慶太という怪しい男に出会う。
バンドマンなのに、女が苦手で童貞な遊を気に入った川端は、
克服方法として「1回セックスしてみれば」??と提案してきた!
しかも、なぜか遊が押し倒されちゃってーー!?

Genres: Boys Love

Kindle Edition

First published February 3, 2020

About the author

Panda is a Japanese mangaka.
Please also see 熊猫.


**
Please keep "Panda (熊猫)" to disambiguate from other author with same name.

Reviews

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, that's the last of the Panda manga on my shelf (I got a signed copy of her new work which would ship next week though and I'm so excited even though it doesn't come with any benefits). My friends, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel: I have 2 more unread one-shot BL manga + the 2 volumes of Killing Stalking that arrived recently and once that's done I am all caught up. I might even be able to read novels later.

Anyway. 「 Turn Up the World」is about You, guitarist and vocalist of indie band QB. The band has a small following and is doing pretty well, but they're nowhere near making the world-shaking songs You had promised to make with a friend. That's what the title is referencing, btw. When he was in middle school, You's friend decided to make a band and make songs that would 'shake the world'. This friend stopped making music, but You kept on with their dreams. Put a pin on this, we'll get back to it later.

You has a couple of female fans, but he's not really good with interacting with girls so he doesn't want anything to do with them. One time he made a bit of a scene outside the live house with a well-meaning fan and an older guy steps in to sort it out. Things happen (guy accurately guesses You is a virgin and that's partly why he's so skittish around girls), and somehow, You ended up in a hotel with the older man and getting taught the joys of dry coming.

Yeah, honestly I laughed too. Panda has this pattern with her works: the seme is usually a very suave, fashionable older man with a lot of cash, who teases the uke a lot and generally controls the situation.

You does correctly call what happened to him as rape, which Keita (the older man) brushes off with meat and beer. If you do not care for dub/noncon, steer clear from Panda's works because it usually comes with the 'controls the situation' type of seme. (Not all of them are like this, though.) If you read my previous review on Satomaru Mami's 「おさななじみ UMA」, you know the shitty seme is my jam so this is right up my alley.

I think it's cute to see the uke get all flustered, but Panda also does this thing where the seme is also framed from the uke's perspective as beautiful and desirable. Like I said, Keita is suave and fashionable. The kind of sexy that makes You wonder why Keita even bothers to be with him. And like, Panda is not the only mangaka who does this, but our inclinations and tastes line up so her seme is super effective for me.

Anyway, a very small mini story here is You writing a song with his friend in middle school, but then being left alone to pursue this 'turning the world over'. It's that kind of grand dream that kids have, and I think the manga does a pretty good job of scaling it down (adult You asks Keita to stay and watch the whole live performance because he would turn Keita's world over. I mean, maybe you can't change the whole world, but rocking one person's world is not bad either) and having You get over this block and maybe getting further ahead with his band, who knows.

Also it turns out Keita has heard You play before when You was younger. It's the little details like this that tickles the imagination, honestly.

Anyway, I had a great time and pacing problems can be forgiven because I like the characters and their rapport.