灰とダイヤモンド(1)

Haito Diamond #1

by Mika Sadahiro

Otoji is searching for his older brother in seedy, urban Yokosuka. During this search he meets up with Joe, a fashionable prostitute who eventually joins him with his search. Along the way Joe aquaints him with the wonders of sex and prostitution, and the flexibility of being both seme and uke! But while Otoji deals with the search he and Joe face the darker side of their lifestyle.

Genres: Manga, Yaoi

Paperback Bunko

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

SADAHIRO Mika: 定広美香

Her Doujinshi Circle is called "Affluenza".

Debuted with "Sein" in 1988 in Bessatsu Puff magazine.
Her career began with a few yuri fantasy series.

Alternate Penname: KIRISHIMA Ruka.

Reviews

[Juushika · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars, rounded up because why not. On the search for his missing brother, an average teenage boy falls in with a hustler working in the seedy edges of a US naval base. This is a hot mess, bordering on incoherent--and just so, so good. It smushes together an excess of BL tropes and required twists and overreaching plot arcs, and I wish these were given more room to play out--the twists in particular have a habit of undermining interesting preceding developments without being fully developed themselves. But each madcap arc stays alive in the characters' backstories, and it builds a relationship which is wholeheartedly committed to being an absolute trashfire. There's this scene where Otoji accidentally fires a loaded gun during sex which becomes I consider emblematic: it's an incredibly stupid and hopelessly exaggerated display of passion--and then the bullet hole remains there, part of the mess of Joe's trashed apartment, a testament to their lives and the type and degree of their love. Fittingly this is some of Sadahiro's best art, which is deceptive because it's an older manga and the art grows along with her--but the character design really comes into its own, the sex scenes have a particular windswept, grasping intensity, and the debris of their lives sells the sleaze and multicultural/international setting. What is good media, anyway? is it not enough to really love a thing/someone, love it stupidly, love it sometimes because it is stupid, love it for its absolute commitment to being itself?

[Rosenblue(retro comics & classic literature deserve more love on GR) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure why this book is rated high on Goodreads from anyone who isn't a hardcore fujoshi who enjoys edgy comics.
This story is filled with plotholes,annoying characters and nonsensical drama just for the sake of the Otojo and Joe to have an argument and then resume to their usual "activities"
Speaking of which the amount of sexual encounters and interactions in this story at the beginning was randomly paced and extremely unnecessary plus there is some unnecessary pedophilia going on.
It seems that both of the main characters are underage so I'm confused as to why they are allowed to roam about and get involved with gangs and prostitution.
This story reminds me of Kaze to ki no uta in many ways:
toxic,dysfunctional relationships between the "goody main character" and the "tragic pretty boy", underaged drinking of alcohol and smoking of tobacco,one of the characters being a prostitute for some reason, unnecessary incestuous relationships that are oddly paced & extremely graphic and parents are nowhere in sight.
Oh and don't get me started on the dubious consent and scenes that were clearly not consensual.
This nonsense of a supposed straight character being suddenly gay because of a sexual interaction he didn't even want is such a overdone trope in Japanese manga.
The situations that occurred in this story are absolutely ridiculous.
I couldn't sit though most of this story mainly because of the sexual situations and dramatic monologue so I started to skim through the story because I couldn't be bothered with all the unnecessary sexual encounters.
I wanted more actual romance and storytelling instead of multiple sex scenes between characters who haven't even confessed to each other.
Usually I never skim through stories but the sexual scenes were almost painful to read and they appeared often so I was constantly skimming by.
Maybe in the future I will properly read all 4 volumes but for now I have no patience nor the time to read each chapter thoroughly.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Lovely story, though confusing at first.

[Anna C · Rating 3 out of 5]

The flexible uke & seme, lol.