Loved Circus

by Nemui Asada

Mangaka très appréciée au Japon malgré sa jeune carrière, Nemui Asada débarque en France avec son titre le plus abouti!Depuis quelque temps, Kei fréquente Momo, une prostituée dont il est tombé amoureux. Afin de l’aider à sortir de cette vie de misère, il décide de payer ses dettes. Malheureusement pour lui, il va faire de mauvais investissements et perdre tout ce qu’il avait. Sans argent et endetté à son tour, Kei, totalement désespéré, tente de se suicider. Un nouvel échec qui va lui ouvrir les portes du Cirque, un établissement sexuel qui regroupe quatre hommes, gays, qui vivent et travaillent ensemble. Malgré leur situation, chacun d’eux garde l’espoir d’avoir une vie meilleure et de trouver l’amour. À leurs côtés, Kei va découvrir une autre vision de la vie. Cet électrochoc lui permettra-t-il de rebondir?

Genres: Manga, Yaoi, Boys Love, LGBT, Romance, Queer, Comics

224 pages, Paperback

First published December 25, 2015

About the author

Associated names : あさだねむい

Name (in native language) : 朝田ねむい

Zodiac : Scorpio

Reviews

[Lauren Lanz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Swept away by a circus crew, this main character was not…. (I definitely made assumptions based on the title…)
Loved Circus follows Kei, an unassuming man buried in debt after spending his money to help a call girl he’s fallen in love with. Living in his car and on the run from loan sharks, Kei contemplates suicide, though he is saved from death by the employees of Circus—a male brothel. With no other way to repay the money he owes, Kei is coerced into working for Circus, becoming quickly acquainted with the strange bunch that call the place home.

────── {⋆★⋆} ──────

This story was certainly unconventional, though entertaining as ever. Each member of Circus was enjoyable for their charisma and banter, which made it even better seeing Kei find his footing through their easy friendship. I could have sworn there was a romance in Kei’s trajectory, though the ending didn’t really fulfill as much as I expected in that sense. The art style was really eye-pleasing since it felt familiar to me (I’ve read a few webtoons with a similar style). Overall, a quick and enjoyable read!

Thank you to Netgalley for sending me an arc!

[Nel · Rating 2 out of 5]

asada was trying to fill in a bingo card with that plot, i bet.

[Cherlynn | cherreading · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really enjoyable slice-of-life manga from start to end. The male brothel setting was unique to me but I loved all the characters and the found family trope. The main cast had such incredibly satisfying character arcs and I was firmly rooting for everyone. There were sad and bittersweet moments but also funny and tender ones.

I've never read a yaoi manga and wasn't aware of the genre when I requested this on Netgalley, but I'm glad to have Loved Circus as my first. It's such a meaningful and beautiful read about hope, living and love. Makes me wish there was a second book or volume!

Thank you to the publisher for the Netgalley ARC.

[Curious Madra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to see a salaryman be kidnapped to work in a circus sex shop but plot was rather wobbly in parts. I do like Shiro and Kei’s relationship tho..

[Fenriz Angelo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to TokyoPop for giving me the arc of this manga through NetGalley.

I know Nemui Asada's zombie BL work so when i saw this was going to be published i didn't hesitate to request it to see how's this one.
The beginning was interesting, but as the author herself says, the execution of the story could have been more polished.

The development of the relationship was very lacking to me, and i'm not convinced of the last pages tidying everything up. It was entertaining nevertheless.

Edition wise, my only complain is the fact that the SFX is translated beside the kanji and not the SFX design translated itself. Idk if it something that's work in progress or TokyoPop doesn't translate that part of the mangas.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the most beautiful things I've ever read. Top fave.

[Claudio De La Rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

When they ask me what’s my favorite trope so I just say “all of them”

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Original Review 7/12/2022*
Hmmm. Maybe more of a 2.5 Also triggers for a lot of things: suicide, sex work, blackmail, s/a.

Kei has ended up in heavy debt after falling in love with a call girl and wasting all his money on her. One day when he's living in his car, hiding from loan sharks, he contemplates suicide, but a group of men intervene. Kei wakes up tied to a chair surrounded by men who tell him they have a job offer that will help him pay off his debt. This job offer ends up being at a brothel called Circus that only caters to male clientele. Kei is now navigating this new life and trying to pick himself up again.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. There were parts I liked, but more that I didn't. I'm not quite sure what this book set out to do. It was another one that doesn't have too much romance. There is some at the end between Kei and one of the other Circus boys (I don't remember his name... Shino?) and there's that romance with Joe and the former employee which was weird. I don't think this is really meant to be a romance though. It's more about a bunch of guys trying to get back up from their struggles.

The whole vibe of this story was just off. The ending was kind of a shock. I think the relationship between Kei and the other guy wasn't developed enough for me to care about it. They just threw his backstory in and Kei developed feelings for him throughout the story, but I couldn't feel or understand why that was. I'll probably check it out again when the physical releases in December, but idk. 'Twas not for me.

*Reread 11/6/2023*
So I finally reread and my rating is still a 2.5, but rounded up instead of down this time. When I read it the first time I remember it being a lot darker than it felt this read. Don't get me wrong it's still a dark story, but idk maybe I've been further desensitized that it just didn't feel that bad this time.

I still don't understand where the romance came from. I can kind of understand the romance from Shiro's perspective since he observed Kei when he was Momo's client and wanted that kindness and passion for himself. From Kei's perspective it's a little iffy, but with the whole Momo thing, maybe Kei fell for Shiro, because he wants to be a fixer. He wants to be with someone who he can take care of or "save" and Shiro is that. Idk it's odd. I think this needed to be a little longer. The ending was a bit rushed and there were a lot of characters and moving parts that it felt like it was missing a lot.

I liked it a little more this read, but it's still not really for me.

[Rachel ♥⁷ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this title.

Finding himself in a heap of trouble, Kei attempts the unthinkable after his girlfriend leaves him with a pile a debt and loan sharks out to get him. He finds himself saved by the men of Circus, a brothel that caters to male clientele.

Kei faces new challenges with his new position, learning about himself and the way the real world works. Through the ups and downs of relationships, debt, and general life- Kei works alongside his new friends as they keep Circus up and running in the red light district. He soon realizes that ending his life was the worst decision he could've made, and finds solace with his new friends and life. Working his debts off, he soon realizes one of the brothel workers may mean more to him than he knows. Is this budding relationship genuine, or is Kei falling for another ploy- just like his ex-girlfriend?

We learn the true meaning of desire and love in this story- a oneshot aimed towards adult readers. It had the perfect amount of fluff and a great ending. Some parts were rushed, but overall a really good story. 4/5 stars.

[IvyInThePages · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.56 leaves out of 5
Characters: 3/5
Cover(plus art): 4/5
Story: 2.5/5
Writing: 4.75/5
Genre: Yaoi
Type: Manga
Worth?: Eh

Hated|Disliked|It Was Okay|Liked|Loved|Favorited

First want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review. I was going into this manga thinking one thing and it showed to be something else. Kind of disappointed to be honest. It wasn't my cup of tea, though I do like some elements it had it wasn't something I would pick up again or recommend unless someone is looking for a palate cleanser.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked what this manga was going for, but it didn't really work for me. Shiro is meant to be a pivotal character, but doesn't really show up until about halfway through the manga. I think it would have hit harder had he actually been more present throughout the whole story.

[Caitlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Love Circus was certainly interesting. This manga had many little spins and turns. Overall, it just wasn’t for me.
Thank you Net Galley & IPG for the ARC in exchange for an honest review of content.

[Brianna🖤 · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️3.5 stars⭐️

[Kiwi · Rating 3 out of 5]

i like it as a story, but i don't think i can say it was a "love story" or a BL manga in the conventional sense, since we barely see the focus being on the supposed MC and ML. however, as a story, i think it's really well written and the characters are all interesting (even if they might suck as actual people, they're still interesting to read about). and of course the story is filled with "problematic" stuff since it is about sex workers after all, but it's not in a sexualized way or making a fetish out of it. it's still not completely without faults in its portrayal, but it does deal with it in a lot more realistic (is that the word?) it at least a more levelheaded way than most in the genre do.

[Cassandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the relationship could have been developed a little more but all the characters were so interesting. I think it is easy to feel overwhelmed and weighed down by life but this dark themed manga (sex work/trafficking/suicide/crippling debt) this group of people find hope and support each other when they find their way back to each other. I like the friendship between the four of them, it was really sweet. I think if this had been two volumes all the topics and relationships could have been fully fleshed out.

4/6 stars

[Bettina · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐️ It was quite good for the most part, but I really didn’t like the ending that felt rushed and didn’t really make sense with the rest of the story in my opinion.

[crybby · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Honey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es uno de los mangas más fumados que me he encontrado, comenzando con... ¿Qué clase de padres compran los dos prostíbulos cerca de donde murió la mamá de su hijo adoptivo para que él pueda alimentar su morbosidad?

Pese a eso me gustaron otros personajes como el señor cliente calvo (uno de los primeros que aparece), además de los otros dos trabajadores del prostíbulo

[Claus Tamburini · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't expecting the ending! Don't pick this manga if you are searching for a smutty yaoi, because this isn't.

[Sol · Rating 4 out of 5]

This manga took me to a completely different world and I really adored living in it with all of them.
Being alive means you have endless opportunities to change and grow, so don’t give up.

[Raquel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Loved Circus follows Kei, a man who finds himself in extreme debt after being scammed by a call girl. Not knowing he was scammed—and feeling like he failed her—he attempts to commit suicide only to be saved by Shiro, a man who works at Circus—a male brothel whose clients are all men. After meeting the men who work there they convince Kei to work at the brothel in order to pay off his debt. While he finds the work difficult Kei enjoys his time with his three coworkers, especially Shiro who he finds himself drawn toward. The more he learns about Shiro though, the more he realizes he doesn’t really know him at all.

This wasn’t a terrible BL, I don’t hate it by any means. I just found it lacking. The story had potential but was wrapped up too quickly. Due to this quick pace, it ended up feeling like Kei started working at Circus and then two weeks later quit even though much more time passed than that. This is because not much happened between him being hired and then quitting. The events that did happen ended up feeling anticlimactic because of the snappy resolutions. This manga definitely suffered due to the pacing. It needed at least one more volume, but with how many characters there are I feel like it could’ve easily been a three to four volume series.

I liked all of the characters, which is why I’m disappointed that more wasn’t done with them. Kei made for a good protagonist because he was a genuinely nice guy that was easy to root for, and Shiro was immediately intriguing due to all the secrets surrounding him. The other two men of the brothel were great too. There was Joe who is a very chaotic individual and then Rin who is much more practical. Those two had an amazing dynamic that made me ship them together, but sadly they weren’t a couple. Joe ends up with another man who plays a super minor role. I probably would’ve come to like Joe’s boyfriend if their storyline hadn’t been so brief, but as it is you barely learn anything about him. The only other characters of note are the Ringmaster, who owns Circus, and his wife Maria. They are relationship goals right there.

The main couple—Kei and Shiro—barely interact throughout the story so I had a hard time caring about their relationship. How was I supposed to believe Kei loved Shiro when they had few moments between each other? And when they do get together we barely get a kiss between them! How can this manga about a male brothel not even show the main couple kissing once they get together?

The best part of the entire manga was the art. I loved all of the character designs. Shiro and Maria’s were my favorite, but all of the characters were serving looks. Despite my disappointment with this story I would totally be up to reading another manga by this mangaka because I enjoy their art style.

[Ryofire · Rating 3 out of 5]

This might be a case of wrong audience or something, but the fact that the main pairing really isn't central for most of the story and the set-up is kind of clunky was kind of frustrating. The art is nice and I like the premise - down on your luck guy has to do hard thing to clear his debts - and I'm interested in reading more BL that involve sex workers, but the story just doesn't hold up. More of it is for a character who's otherwise barely in the narrative and guy who's pushed so hard to be interesting but just isn't. And because their story is central and the lead's isn't, the protagonist just ends up being kind of flat, and the love interest feels incredibly... tertiary?

I also got excited at the idea of the viagra plotline, but that got dropped so quickly. It would have been a lot more interesting than what actually happened. The same can be said of the female sex worker not remembering the lead when they meet up again. Nothing good gets developed in an enjoyable way and we're kind of just infodumped after the fact.

"Twittering Birds Never Fly" also deals with a character dealing with erectile dysfunction, so it was interesting to see that, and obviously that's a longer manga, so of course this won't be as well developed. But it's a lot better than this. And it also deals better with semi-suicidal men who work out their feelings with wild sex. For manga that do a better job with sex workers, "Natsume Wants To Be Trained" by Mamita is far better, especially involving sex training.

It's unfortunate because I enjoy the way the narrative explores kinks and raises the idea that you don't need trauma to enjoy something (though sometimes that does inform kink preference) and that there is shame in society about kink and providing a safe space for people to explore that is important. It also doesn't ignore the dangers of the sex industry with a focus on the lack of protection for workers and the dangers they face from clients due to the way prostitution is treated by the the government and society. While also acknowledging that many workers can make a lot of money in the business and enjoy it regardless of how much they make. It kind of feels more like the mangaka wanted to just write a story about a weird brothel more than they wanted to write a romance, and that's fine and interesting, but it doesn't make it a very enjoyable boys love manga.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.**

Please review content warnings for this work.

Loved Circus by Nemui Asada is a manga aimed at adult audiences. Readers follow Kei, a guy who was swindled by the sob story of a brothel employee and wound up taking loans he couldn't repay. Kei finds himself saved by Circus, the brother company to the one he took out loans to pay. Circus has all male employees and all male clientele. Kei is offered a job at Circus to earn out of his debt.

As with many manga and graphic novels that deal with such topics, the navigation of adjustment for Kei is sped along, rationalized by him owing the company his life. However, Kei didn't know what he was getting into by working at Circus and was very much tossed into the deep end. Many readers may have problems with the issues of consent for Kei throughout this manga.

The group cast of Circus employees were all lovely characters. Shiro, Joe, and Rin all really contributed to the enjoyment of this work. The art style and choices for character design really did add to the story and meshed well with the plot lines presented.

One volume gave very little room for character growth, which caused some pacing struggles. From my understanding, this volume is a bindup of previously serialized work which may have made this pacing less prevalent by nature of the chapters not being back to back.

My rating was ultimately affected by the pacing and how very few of the plot points presented ever got effective resolution. I did enjoy my time with Loved Circus and wouldn't hesitate to read more from this author.

[Angelica Dominguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all I want to thank netgalley for providing me with this manga.

loved cirus tells us about Kei, who after meeting a girl ends up in debt since he wanted to help her, however he is not able to pay his debt so he decides to kill himself, but his attempt is stopped by some men from a boys' bar, For things in life he ends up working as a company boy.

start by saying that I love the story, they are short chapters, read in one sitting and with an ending that I did not expect for one of the protagonists.
Kei is a sweetheart, he wants to help, he trusts people and even though he has already been scammed, he is still willing to help people. then we have shiro who grew up in a brothel, he thinks that for people not to abandon him he must have sex with them, the relationship with Kei will be complicated, but his resolution will be beautiful. since she will learn that it is not necessary to prostitute herself to be happy.
then we have joe, who is the craziest of all, who works in the brothel because of a debt and because he likes sex, and finally rin who came to work at a circus because of a debt.

Finally we have the owner who is the ringmaster and his wife, the two open a circus in order to make Shiro happy, since he does not know any other reality, they try to help him as much as they can.

As I said, they are short chapters, but they leave you wanting to continue reading, the drawing is beautiful, I do not regret having read this.

I give it 5 stars out of 5.

[Katheryn Haskell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not what I was expecting in many many ways, and damn is there a lot to unpack here, so hang tight.

First of all - trigger warnings. There is a lot of implied sex (which makes sense, based on the plot). There's a few moments where you see some of what's going on, but that's few and far between. BUT if uninvited sex, sex work, or fetishes are not for you - skip this one. There's also some trauma issues with dead parents and traumatic upbringings.

Now, I don't think the plot is bad, but it's pacing was weird. It seems like most of it was just we have sex, that's our job, here's our dailies lives. But the very beginning and very end moved way fast and it didn't seem like the end was gonna happen that way at all, or that the beginning really was relevant. I think it needed to be more fleshed out (haha).

The characters were nice, I enjoyed the multidimensional aspects of them a lot. Each make was different and had different skills for the shop and stuff, it was cool. The characters were probably my favourite aspect of the manga.

I know I say this a lot, but this one should have been either an anime or a series. There was so much that could have been said and done, and it's unfortunate that there were rushed portions. I enjoyed it for what it was though.

[Olivia Wenzel · Rating 2 out of 5]

***Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review***

After falling in love with a call girl and getting duped into giving her all his money to pay off her “debts”, salaryman Kei has officially hit rock bottom. One night Kei attempts to kill himself, but instead he gets swept away by the men of Circus (a brothel that caters to male clientele). Unfortunately this ended up not really working me. I was intrigued by the premise and first 20% or so, but it quickly lost me after that. One shots always tend to be a little lacking for me. There’s only so much relationship development and world building that can happen in less than 250 pages. One of the main reasons why I couldn’t get invested in this story was that I didn’t love the main characters and found myself not really caring where their storyline went. I loved all of the side characters though, to be honest they were the only thing that kept me reading until the end.

All in all, this didn’t work for me but I’d recommend it if you’ve historically enjoyed Tokyo Pop’s one shots in the past.

CWs for blackmail, suicide attempt, violence, sex work, and non-consensual sex

Story: 2/5

[Scipio Kento · Rating 4 out of 5]

"There are plenty of ways to live and I finally felt like I could rise to the challenge."

:4.25 stars:

I really loved this story. It only gets 4.25 stars because I wish there had been a little more to it (Possibly a second volume to really fortify the story instead of just a one-shot). Getting a small glimpse into these character's stories was so heartwarming. I appreciate how the author brings these characters into light and gives them dignity. Through this narrative, the author reminds us that people are still people and no matter where you come from you can find yourself between a rock and a hard place. We all deserve respect of our choices and I feel that is represented well here. Shiro's choice to stay in a place that brought him so much trauma and yet brought him so much comfort. Kei's choice to give all of his money, happily burying himself in debt because he thought he was helping someone in need. These characters made decisions with hard consequences. With the camaraderie that developed between them within the Circus, these characters helped each other to continue navigating forward, each bringing their own unique method to the table.

[James Garman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the English version of this of course. Kei is an ordinary guy but gets mixed up with a woman who is using him for his money. Her name is Momo and she works at a place called quai or close to that. It is for prostitutes to work their trade so her use of Kei is not exactly out of her normal line of work but the only problem is that Kei thought it was truely love.

While Kei is out feeling sorry for himself and thinking his life is a total waste, Joe and another young man talks him into working for the same place they work for. After all, he has no money having lost it to Momo and no job. It turns out that he is now a male prostitute who works with men. He has a hard time but gradually gets to love the people he works with and feel a real friendship.

He finds out how he has managed to pay off so much of his debt, he received a great deal of help with that but eventually two of the 4 workers decide to leave so Kei ends up leaving also. He goes away and comes back and everything at the old place is different. He may just have found the love of his love after all.

I recommend this because of the fact that it is a truly loving story with a good morale, even if prostitute is looked down on by some, there is good to be found in this group as this is in any group.

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

A gritty story about brothels in Japan. A Naive man falls for a prostitutes story. She lays it on thick for him and she asks him for help. The man wants to help her, so her sales all his stuff, and borrows money from a loan-shark to help her. Surprise, she takes off and he's stuck with the bill. He's about to commit suicide since he can't pay back the loans when some people rescue him.

He's introduce to life in the circus where he can earn back money and pay off his debt too. He meets some co-workers who become like family and he gets happy for a change.

It's about the people and nothing is very graphic. Still, it's gritty and all about the life in the circus. For mature readers only. It's a decent story. I liked the characters and it was interesting. To me, one of the most interesting parts was when Kel, the MC, runs back into the prostitute, she didn't even recognize him. That was heartbreaking.

I had no clue it was this sort of story before going in. I thought it was about a circus. Don't be fooled by the title, it's not about a real circus. The brothel is called Circus, now you know.

[tortie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was weird, both in premise and execution. The concept of someone attempting to commit suicide, and then being rescued and forced to work at a brothel is a bit insane, and felt even crazier as I started reading. I like that they addressed how Kei wasn’t really into men, I thought that made it a bit more… realistic. But I didn’t quite understand the nature of the relationship between him and Shiro because of that, and I also felt like Joe’s sudden romance felt so out of place and rushed? Idk. Very trope-y (which can be fine of course) and also a bit ridiculous in parts. But I do appreciate all of the humanization and context given to the characters, that was juicy. Shiro’s entire character and storyline felt so crazy to me though, especially the random twist ending. And am I supposed to ship Kei and Shiro by the end? Did they get their happy ending? I’m still unsure how to feel. Also it was interesting how explicit of a story this was, but with no nudity or actual sex scenes besides hinting at it. I can really only recommend this with a bunch of caveats, and for people who already love the genre.