Yaoi Recommendation: Virtuoso di Amore

Virtuoso di Amore
Uki Ogasawara

This is a great title. Ogasawara's art is detailed and extremely passionate. This particular story centers on Kenzo, a failed concert pianist who has recently been hired by Lorenzo, an eccentric theater owner, to be his personal musician. Kenzo learns that Lorenzo is actually his older friend from his prestigious music academy. Lorenzo crumbled under his own genius and turned to drugs ultimately leaving the school. Kenzo had his own breakdown on stage and left the concert circuit forever. Kenzo is almost immediately seduced by Lorenzo, who uses his sexuality to advance his theater, and begins to want Lorenzo to be his alone. Lorenzo very badly wants Kenzo to perform again so he works out a deal with a German maestro he's sleeping with to incorporate Kenzo into his next show. Reluctantly he agrees on one condition: that Lorenzo plays with Kenzo as a complex piano duet. Kenzo decides to accept the challenge on the condition that Lorenzo will be his exclusively after the concert. However, Lorenzo is only able to perform while taking dangerous drugs with a tendency to escalate his suicidal tendencies. The story watches the two of them overcoming their demons to harness the genius and passionate love within.
I always enjoy a non-traditional yaoi plot line and this is definitely one of them. There is no weeping uke or ridiculous kidnapping situation, instead the story creates a unique atmosphere that almost transports the music off the page. Outside the work of Miyamoto Kano, drug use is hardly ever explored in yaoi and so it is always interesting to see a character struggling with addiction. The story is only enhanced by the superb art. The sets and backgrounds involve an uncommon level of detail and sets the bar for aspiring mangakas. I highly recommend this for anyone looking for a refreshing, well-drawn yaoi to add to their collection.

Sexy Teachers

In celebration of my last week of classes, here is a collection dedicated to those sexy teachers that go the extra mile to reach out to students.

Sexy Teachers

Recommendation: Close the Last Door

Close the Last Door
by Yugi Yamada

I can't stress enough how much I love this immensely popular title. Some people are put off by the cover art, but let me say that it hardly does the book justice. This is an incredibly funny and likable story from one of yaoi's best authors. Her stories are original, romantic, and hardly ever fall into the old yaoi stereotypes. In Close the Last Door, Nagai is at the wedding of his long time crush, Saitou. He's extremely upset and drinks himself stupid at the reception. While at the reception he meets Honda who takes care of him when he passes out and takes him to a hotel room to recover. Nagai and Honda develop incredible chemistry as Honda tries to console the poor man. They end up kissing and Nagai passes out again. In the morning he heads for home and who should be waiting but a crying Saitou. His new bride ditched him before the honeymoon to run off with an old lover. The rest of the book follows Nagai as he develops an increasingly romantic relationship with Honda while trying to console his old crush. Things really get complicated when Saitou starts making passes at Nagai.
This book does have a sequel but June is having trouble obtaining the rights to it because it came out just as the magazine that published it went under. No one's sure if it will even be released in the U.S. I have the raw scans of it so I kinda know what happens but don't let that stop you from enjoying this great book. If you downloaded my Brotherly Love collection then you already have the spin-off book about Honda's brothers called Into Your Heart Through the Door. Also make sure to check out the OVA subbed by Aarinfantasy. Only the first part is out so far but it is HOT!

Yaoi Recommendation: Allure

This is a new feature for my blog. I will give my recommendations of yaoi manga that is for sale in the U.S. ***It's always good to support the artists and promote yaoi in America.****


Allure
by Yuri Ebihara

This is one of my all time favorites. Yuri Ebihara has a wonderfully graceful style with elegant artwork. This story in particular is captivating because of its use of fate and tragedy. The story centers around Kai who lost his sight when he was young. The book starts right as he receives a cornea transplant. When he wakes up the first thing he sees is his beautiful surgeon Hizuki. From then on he can't stop obsessing over the doctor, even forgetting about his family and girlfriend. After investigating he finds out that the cornea transplant he received was from Hizuki's lover who died in a freak accident just hours before the surgery.
This is one of those stories that you regret there only being one volume. It is published by Drama Queen and unfortunately their releases are sometimes hard to come by. They publish only a few works every three or four months. Their last new release was in September. But still they do some of the highest quality releases with each title having a beautiful dust jacket and lovely art. Most people remember them from their super popular release Brother, which is a must have for yaoi fans. They just put out a second edition of it.
So if you can, go find Allure. You won't be disappointed.