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Last Portrait
Yamato works for his father's company under Sakaguchi-san's supervision. Sakaguchi-san will soon become Yamato's brother-in-law. However, Yamato harbors a secret affection for him, and on the day before his sister's wedding, Yamato privately confesses his feelings to Sakaguchi-san.
200 pages, Paperback
First published June 22, 2005
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About the author
Akira Honma
22 books37 followersAkira Honma (本間アキラ, Honma Akira) is a Japanese manga author, mainly of Boys' Love genre.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 9, 2018
I wanted to love this book. The cover was so full of deceit...
The first story, "Last Portrait," is actually a very small chapter in the book. And it's the better story, about an artist who falls in love with a man's hands, but then finds out those same hands belong to the man engaged to his sister. It's a beautiful story, but incredibly rushed. It could have been fleshed out and made into a nice, long, angsty manga on its own. It's a shame it wasn't.
The rest of the book is kind of a buddy-cop story, except one man is a cop-gone-criminal who is on death row but helping to solve one final case before his execution. This one is just a tiny bit a love story, and almost entirely a convoluted crime plot. Typically I am a huge fan of buddy-cop crime dramas but this one is ridiculous. It is clear the author knows nothing of the subject.
The buddy cop team stakes out a gay bar and points out that there is a "back room." Well, that's not unheard of. But what do they think is going on in there? OBVIOUSLY a drug deal. (Seriously???) So they pretend to make out until the drug lord comes out of the back. Then they shoot him. No warning that he's under arrest; they just shoot the guy like that's common practice.
Probably the worst thing about the manga, though, is the total lack of editing. The way the main character's name is spelled continuously changes back and forth from "Narumi" to "Nuh-roo-mee" (with dashes). The author (or translator) tries to create a wiseguy accent by throwing in random apostrophes and saying "yous guys." The story also switches around between 3 different fonts, one of which I'm pretty certain is a derivative of Comic Sans. It just cannot be taken seriously.
The first story, "Last Portrait," is actually a very small chapter in the book. And it's the better story, about an artist who falls in love with a man's hands, but then finds out those same hands belong to the man engaged to his sister. It's a beautiful story, but incredibly rushed. It could have been fleshed out and made into a nice, long, angsty manga on its own. It's a shame it wasn't.
The rest of the book is kind of a buddy-cop story, except one man is a cop-gone-criminal who is on death row but helping to solve one final case before his execution. This one is just a tiny bit a love story, and almost entirely a convoluted crime plot. Typically I am a huge fan of buddy-cop crime dramas but this one is ridiculous. It is clear the author knows nothing of the subject.
The buddy cop team stakes out a gay bar and points out that there is a "back room." Well, that's not unheard of. But what do they think is going on in there? OBVIOUSLY a drug deal. (Seriously???) So they pretend to make out until the drug lord comes out of the back. Then they shoot him. No warning that he's under arrest; they just shoot the guy like that's common practice.
Probably the worst thing about the manga, though, is the total lack of editing. The way the main character's name is spelled continuously changes back and forth from "Narumi" to "Nuh-roo-mee" (with dashes). The author (or translator) tries to create a wiseguy accent by throwing in random apostrophes and saying "yous guys." The story also switches around between 3 different fonts, one of which I'm pretty certain is a derivative of Comic Sans. It just cannot be taken seriously.
August 24, 2017
A favorite author of mine, I have the paperback copy from DramaQueen which I treasure. I love the sophisticated artwork. Another publisher that I wished I owned more of their books!
January 16, 2018
Liked the second story more
December 21, 2025
Both stores were super cute.
August 24, 2007
Every now and then you find a manga that's everything you're looking for. "Last Portait" was that manga for me. I'd heard of Honma Akira before so I knew she was more known for her story-telling than for her sex scenes and while I do enjoy a good romp, I had to pick this one up. I wasn't disappointed. The two stories in this volume are thoughtful, mature and well-paced.
The first story about a thwarted artist and his engaged love interest, takes a familiar concept and manages to make it fresh and thoughtful. The second story about an introverted FBI agent and a criminal on death row is much more fast-paced and original but Honma Akira never sacrifices the character development for the sake of the plot like so many mangaka seem to do. Her men are not the polar opposites that often dominate yaoi. just very human characters with their own vulnerabilities.
The art is clean and crisp, the sex scenes tastefully done. This is definitely a 5 star read for me. Honma Akira is now on the top of my favorite yaoi mangaka's list. Highly recommended.
The first story about a thwarted artist and his engaged love interest, takes a familiar concept and manages to make it fresh and thoughtful. The second story about an introverted FBI agent and a criminal on death row is much more fast-paced and original but Honma Akira never sacrifices the character development for the sake of the plot like so many mangaka seem to do. Her men are not the polar opposites that often dominate yaoi. just very human characters with their own vulnerabilities.
The art is clean and crisp, the sex scenes tastefully done. This is definitely a 5 star read for me. Honma Akira is now on the top of my favorite yaoi mangaka's list. Highly recommended.
December 5, 2013
Okay, first of all the title story for this was shorter than the side story, and the side story, in my opinion, was far better than the main story. Strange how it worked out, but what can you do? I loved the art. The style was absolutely beautiful and had me hooked. The first story was good, and I liked the positive ending where the two character had to sacrifice a little to be happy. Their relationship wasn't just happily accepted like in most manga.
The side story was great, though. I loved Narumi and Keith and I loved trying to figure out just what Keith's motive was. I didn't see it coming at all. Brilliantly done. I wish there was more with these two because I'd read an entire series about them.
Kind of like FAKE...
The side story was great, though. I loved Narumi and Keith and I loved trying to figure out just what Keith's motive was. I didn't see it coming at all. Brilliantly done. I wish there was more with these two because I'd read an entire series about them.
Kind of like FAKE...
October 9, 2008
I enjoyed this volume.
September 30, 2019
Beautiful
March 30, 2011
Rather depressing story, but that's love isn't it. A spider web, once trapped, you can't escape.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews