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How To Control a Sidecar
Naive and easy-going Kousaka is a bartender at a local popular hangout place. One night, a couple--a young mischievous, spirited guy and a rich, handsome and well-groomed man walk in. Kousaka noticed that they seemed a bit odd being together-but little did he know, they weren't there for happy hour drinks! They were there to approach Kousaka and to be a part of their 3-way relationship. When he finally realizes that he is wanted by the two-Kousaka finds himself embroiled in a messy love triangle! Now what will he do? Kousaka wants out of this relationship...or does he? A spinoff from "How To Capture A Martini"!
200 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2010
1 person is currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
Makoto Tateno
179 books123 followersName (in native language): 立野真琴
Birth Date: March 23
Also writes under the pen-name of Shinjuku Tango.
Makoto Tateno is an extremely prolific mangaka, having created 30+ series of manga in both the shoujo and BL genres. However, she is probably most well known amongst English-speaking audiences for her yaoi series “Yellow,” published by DMP. She debuted in 1986 with the short story "Yuraete Tamago Boys," published by Hana to Yume.
Birth Date: March 23
Also writes under the pen-name of Shinjuku Tango.
Makoto Tateno is an extremely prolific mangaka, having created 30+ series of manga in both the shoujo and BL genres. However, she is probably most well known amongst English-speaking audiences for her yaoi series “Yellow,” published by DMP. She debuted in 1986 with the short story "Yuraete Tamago Boys," published by Hana to Yume.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 8 reviews
August 25, 2017
3.5 stars
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August 25, 2017
3.5stars
June 30, 2018
Trigger warning for rape.
Hiding the rest under a spoiler tag because of that.
Hiding the rest under a spoiler tag because of that.
July 7, 2010
Kousaka is a part-time bartender at the Maria Elena, which he realizes has a strong attraction for those men of the gay persuasion. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but he just happens to be straight himself. And if he sounds familiar, it's cause we met him once before, in another Makoto Tateno manga,
How to Catch a Martini
.
Kousaka was not always aware of the gay men around him, including his two co-workers, Shinobu and Naoyuki, who are a couple. Then there are these two guys that come in together, every day. Fumi is the younger one, with light effeminate features, while the older, Kanashiro, is darker and has the looks of a business executive. Between them they appear to have quite the thing for Kousaka. They visit him once a day, to admire his bartending skills, and to have him mix them each a drink. Every day the same thing - a sidecar, which is composed of brandy, white curacao and lemon juice. They also make blatant attempts to get the bartender to go with them outside of the bar. When they discover that Kousaka has won a bartending award for a drink called the traveler, he suggests they try it if they are interested, but they stick with the old reliable sidecar, which Kousaka finds baffling. Especially as neither one actually finishes the drink.
One night, after the bar is closed, Fumi returns - alone. Kousaka mixes him a traveler, and he brazenly kisses the bartender, then requests he not tell Kanashiro, even as he disappears, leaving a baffled Kousaka. The next day, as he is walking off his confusion, Kousaka encounters Kanashiro sitting alone on a park bench, enjoying green curry from his favorite stall, which is only open one day a week. He invites Kousaka to join him. Kanashiro already realizes that Fumi returned to the bar alone, and it doesn't seem to bother him, in fact he seems to encourage it, which only confuses Kousaka even more as he had assumed they are a couple - aren't they? And then Kanashiro kisses him . . .
A furious Kousaka thinks they are simply messing with him, so the next time they come in, he changes things - he mixes them their drinks, but differently, to allow for their individual tastes, thinking that they will appreciate them more. But the plan backfires, Fumi tells him, "You're nothing like him," before he runs out, and Kanashiro runs after him. He returns after closing, drenched and angry, blaming Kousaka for what has happened, for sending Fumi searching for HIM again, an obviously fruitless effort. He perpetrates a terrible act of violence upon Kousaka, one that is bound to leave scars, and confusion. Kanashiro takes him back to his place, but Kousaka leaves the next morning, after collecting evidence of his rape, and runs to Shinobu and Naoyuki to try to pick up the pieces.
Kanashiro continues to come to the bar, as Kousaka says he has no wish to deny the owner his trade, but he has nothing to do with him, until finally Kanashiro breaks down and tells him the whole story - of he and Fumi, and a mysterious third man, for whom Fumi still hungers. Will this justify what he did, or allow Kousaka to make any sense of it? And can they even possibly start over again, on different footing?
In How to Subdue a Stinger, the may be straight but not sure any more Kousaka finds himself being courted by two men - Fumi and Kanashiro! The two have reconciled themselves to drinking drinks they actually like, instead of holding on to the sidecar habit. They visit him every day, and keep asking the bartender which one of them he likes more. He refuses to answer the question, or even consider it, being straight, of course. Kousaka meets Kanashiro at the park bench again, and has lunch with him, sharing his green curry. And suddenly, Kousaka is quite talkative, all things considered. Of course Fumi is upset when he learns of the lunch date, and wants one of his own. Privately, Kanashiro urges Kousaka to placate the boy and eat with him. Wow, this is all just so confusing. He meets Fumi for lunch, and the boy talks him into going to a love hotel, from which he texts Kanashiro with a picture of them. And the address of the hotel. Kanashiro hastens there, but doesn't have the nerve to go inside, waiting outside instead, assuming the worst. When Kousaka exits the hotel, he finds the other man waiting - and asks him to take him to his home. He's reached some conclusions and he wants to share them.
In How to Seduce: XYZ, Kousaka and Kanashiro are a couple, and learning how to be so more and more all the time. Kousaka is even teaching the other man bartending techniques, although of course he isn't as good as the professional. Kousaka promises Kanashiro that if he learns to make either a "Balalaika" or a "White Lady" good enough to impress him, he'll fix him the best drink he's ever had - an XYZ, as in "this is it". "There is no sweeter drink than the happiness I taste with you."
Read this review and others at Yaoi Radius http://yaoiradius.com/?p=383
Kousaka was not always aware of the gay men around him, including his two co-workers, Shinobu and Naoyuki, who are a couple. Then there are these two guys that come in together, every day. Fumi is the younger one, with light effeminate features, while the older, Kanashiro, is darker and has the looks of a business executive. Between them they appear to have quite the thing for Kousaka. They visit him once a day, to admire his bartending skills, and to have him mix them each a drink. Every day the same thing - a sidecar, which is composed of brandy, white curacao and lemon juice. They also make blatant attempts to get the bartender to go with them outside of the bar. When they discover that Kousaka has won a bartending award for a drink called the traveler, he suggests they try it if they are interested, but they stick with the old reliable sidecar, which Kousaka finds baffling. Especially as neither one actually finishes the drink.
One night, after the bar is closed, Fumi returns - alone. Kousaka mixes him a traveler, and he brazenly kisses the bartender, then requests he not tell Kanashiro, even as he disappears, leaving a baffled Kousaka. The next day, as he is walking off his confusion, Kousaka encounters Kanashiro sitting alone on a park bench, enjoying green curry from his favorite stall, which is only open one day a week. He invites Kousaka to join him. Kanashiro already realizes that Fumi returned to the bar alone, and it doesn't seem to bother him, in fact he seems to encourage it, which only confuses Kousaka even more as he had assumed they are a couple - aren't they? And then Kanashiro kisses him . . .
A furious Kousaka thinks they are simply messing with him, so the next time they come in, he changes things - he mixes them their drinks, but differently, to allow for their individual tastes, thinking that they will appreciate them more. But the plan backfires, Fumi tells him, "You're nothing like him," before he runs out, and Kanashiro runs after him. He returns after closing, drenched and angry, blaming Kousaka for what has happened, for sending Fumi searching for HIM again, an obviously fruitless effort. He perpetrates a terrible act of violence upon Kousaka, one that is bound to leave scars, and confusion. Kanashiro takes him back to his place, but Kousaka leaves the next morning, after collecting evidence of his rape, and runs to Shinobu and Naoyuki to try to pick up the pieces.
Kanashiro continues to come to the bar, as Kousaka says he has no wish to deny the owner his trade, but he has nothing to do with him, until finally Kanashiro breaks down and tells him the whole story - of he and Fumi, and a mysterious third man, for whom Fumi still hungers. Will this justify what he did, or allow Kousaka to make any sense of it? And can they even possibly start over again, on different footing?
In How to Subdue a Stinger, the may be straight but not sure any more Kousaka finds himself being courted by two men - Fumi and Kanashiro! The two have reconciled themselves to drinking drinks they actually like, instead of holding on to the sidecar habit. They visit him every day, and keep asking the bartender which one of them he likes more. He refuses to answer the question, or even consider it, being straight, of course. Kousaka meets Kanashiro at the park bench again, and has lunch with him, sharing his green curry. And suddenly, Kousaka is quite talkative, all things considered. Of course Fumi is upset when he learns of the lunch date, and wants one of his own. Privately, Kanashiro urges Kousaka to placate the boy and eat with him. Wow, this is all just so confusing. He meets Fumi for lunch, and the boy talks him into going to a love hotel, from which he texts Kanashiro with a picture of them. And the address of the hotel. Kanashiro hastens there, but doesn't have the nerve to go inside, waiting outside instead, assuming the worst. When Kousaka exits the hotel, he finds the other man waiting - and asks him to take him to his home. He's reached some conclusions and he wants to share them.
In How to Seduce: XYZ, Kousaka and Kanashiro are a couple, and learning how to be so more and more all the time. Kousaka is even teaching the other man bartending techniques, although of course he isn't as good as the professional. Kousaka promises Kanashiro that if he learns to make either a "Balalaika" or a "White Lady" good enough to impress him, he'll fix him the best drink he's ever had - an XYZ, as in "this is it". "There is no sweeter drink than the happiness I taste with you."
Read this review and others at Yaoi Radius http://yaoiradius.com/?p=383
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 17, 2011
Sometimes you look at a title and wonder what the hell the author was drinking when they came up with that one. In this case, a sidecar is not a motorcycle attachment it is a drink that was preferred by a dink of a lover who we never meet which is good because he left a huge wake of emotional carnage when he decided to fuck off. He had been in the middle of a ménage a trios, which really isn’t a healthy relationship to begin with, but in his sudden disappearance he left his little twinkie, Fumi, caught up in a destructive pattern of behaviour and his seme, Kanashiro, is at a loss to do when Fumi takes off for days, nay weeks, at a time searching for the ass who abandoned the both of them.
Enter Kousaka who has the unfortunate luck of having the same face as the dink who dumped everyone. Not that Kousaka is naive he just isn’t self-aware. Come on. Really? How could you not know that you bartendered in a gay bar? Fumi and Kanashiro take turns hitting on Kousaka while ordering the sidecar drink that neither of them like until Kousaka changes their drinks and triggers Fumi’s flight response. This ends up with Kanashiro punching out Kousaka’s lights then non-con in the employee lounge. It is only after this that Shinobu (How to capture a martini) has any redeeming qualities in my opinion by taking care of his co-worker and then acting as a guard dog whenever Kanashiro comes back to the bar.
This does end in a HEA but it’s a bumpy ride which it should be. Non-con should never be glossed over and easily forgiven. At the end both Fumi and Kanashiro break off any lingering emotional ties with the dink and work out that Kousaka has nothing to do with their former lover. Sounds silly but when you’re on the rebound you do stupid things.
Enter Kousaka who has the unfortunate luck of having the same face as the dink who dumped everyone. Not that Kousaka is naive he just isn’t self-aware. Come on. Really? How could you not know that you bartendered in a gay bar? Fumi and Kanashiro take turns hitting on Kousaka while ordering the sidecar drink that neither of them like until Kousaka changes their drinks and triggers Fumi’s flight response. This ends up with Kanashiro punching out Kousaka’s lights then non-con in the employee lounge. It is only after this that Shinobu (How to capture a martini) has any redeeming qualities in my opinion by taking care of his co-worker and then acting as a guard dog whenever Kanashiro comes back to the bar.
This does end in a HEA but it’s a bumpy ride which it should be. Non-con should never be glossed over and easily forgiven. At the end both Fumi and Kanashiro break off any lingering emotional ties with the dink and work out that Kousaka has nothing to do with their former lover. Sounds silly but when you’re on the rebound you do stupid things.
November 23, 2015
Dubcon (dubious consent) is a common theme in BL manga. Usually I take it as what is the intent of the people involved and the situation. In most cases, its the fact that we're - as the reader - privy to the internal thoughts of the people so the issue of consent can be cleared up because we're given internal and external information.
This manga though out and out has rape between the two characters that are supposed to be the love interests. Not only does the main character not deal with his rape or report it, but he continues to see the other man! States that he's just going to "pretend that night never happened" and not to move on with his life or deal with things but so that he can start a relationship with his rapist!! This manga does have what others usually don't and there's two friends of his that are telling him to report it and asking him why is he still seeing the man etc but he tells them to stop and let him handle it how he wants.
Rape is a serious event. I have no problems with it being in stories but how its handled is important. If you are going to have it in your story, its your responsibility to handle it well and to have reasons for what you're doing. I usually enjoy and like Tateno-sensei's works but this made me ashamed of her choices.
This manga though out and out has rape between the two characters that are supposed to be the love interests. Not only does the main character not deal with his rape or report it, but he continues to see the other man! States that he's just going to "pretend that night never happened" and not to move on with his life or deal with things but so that he can start a relationship with his rapist!! This manga does have what others usually don't and there's two friends of his that are telling him to report it and asking him why is he still seeing the man etc but he tells them to stop and let him handle it how he wants.
Rape is a serious event. I have no problems with it being in stories but how its handled is important. If you are going to have it in your story, its your responsibility to handle it well and to have reasons for what you're doing. I usually enjoy and like Tateno-sensei's works but this made me ashamed of her choices.
July 8, 2011
What?!? I'm sorry, but what? How is that a good start to a relationship? How is that a good start to ANYTHING?!?
My mind is boggled that people could actually like this storyline. Rape isn't funny, nor is it something that should be taken so lightly.
My mind is boggled that people could actually like this storyline. Rape isn't funny, nor is it something that should be taken so lightly.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 8 reviews