Gunji by Gengoroh Tagame

Quick Rating: A+

Purchase: Amazon

Blurb: Gengoroh Tagame is one of the greats in the manga scene. Up to now, most of his works have been published exclusively in Japanese. Bruno Gmunder is proud to present Gunji in English for the first time in his gay manga series. Also included: Ballad of Oeyama, a short story by Tagame.

Review: The Bruno Gmunder English language release of Gunji contains a four part story called Gunji and the oneshot Ballad Of Oeyama. 

These two stories are pretty different from other Gengoroh Tagame manga I've read. Gunji was originally published in Kinniku Otoko, a magazine chock full of BL/yaoi type muscle men stories. That said, there's an emphasis on romance over pornography, along with textbook BL nods, BDSM, and gay elements.

Gunji is the story of a runaway masochist sushi chef whose owner comes to collect him from the new restaurant he's been working at. Lots of violence, pain, humiliation with a splash of twisty dark obsession involving a shop family's son where Gunji used to be a sushi chef apprentice. Ballad Of Oeyama is the retelling of a Japanese legend put in terms of prejudice and being open to new experiences. 

Although both stories really knocked it out of the park imo, I most enjoyed the afterword where GT discusses his thoughts about creating content for a magazine whose readership and authorship is made up of about half women. He also mentions the difficulty of depicting hair color between races, an element GT updated in his completely revamped edition of Ballad Of Oeyama.

So. If you were left skeptical after reading Endless Game and/or Passion like me, and still looking for a nice mix between muscle men and standard BL fare, definitely give this one a shot. The price is steep, but you get some amazing content and color artwork... especially the right flap, which is a full color depiction of Gunji. Drool worthy. Yum!

My one detracting comment would again have to be about the handling of SFX. The English is placed on top of the Japanese SFX with a large, distracting stroke around the text, obscuring much but not all of the original SFX. The translations are not very useful either, typically a literal romanisation of Japanese onomatopoeia like [GAT... ...T!].

Disclaimer: none

Boys, Be Ambitious! by Saburo Nagai

Quick Rating: A

Purchase: Sublime Manga

Blurb: When gorgeous transfer student Kazuma moves in to the ramshackle Akeboshi High Boys' Dorm #2, he immediately attracts the interest of resident airhead-with-a-heart-of-gold Masaji. Kazuma relentlessly rebuffs and abuses the other boy, but Masaji refuses to give up! After all, he just wants to be friends. Determined (for some reason?) to keep trying, Masaji chips away at Kazuma's abrasive aura, but could this sweet-and-sour feeling be what he thinks it is?! A super go-get-'em boy and a hot-and-cold beauty in a coming-of-age rom-com that includes a cast of colorful characters!

Review: Boys, Be Ambitious is HILARIOUS. And palate cleansing, after a streak of simpering schoolboy romances. There's a lot of physical comedy and jokes, and I was left wanting MORE. 

You'll see some people comment that the story relies heavily on humor and doesn't have much else going for it, and there's no explicit scenes or sex. And those are valid reasons to not like this comic, okay. Buuut, I have to admit that I liked this comic more than most of the Miki Araya and Sakurai Shushushu comics I've read. Sometimes their comedy went over my head, or I didn't find it very funny, but Saburo Nagai's work really hit the mark for me.

Hope someone licenses Smells Like Teen Spirit. Boys, Be Ambitious is a great introduction to Saburo Nagai, but Smells Like Teen Spirit showcases the real bread and butter of her craft!

Disclaimer: none

Castle Mango 2 by Narise Konohara and Muku Ogura

Quick Rating: A+

Purchase: Amazon

Blurb: Ever since he spotted Yorozu with a girl at the fireworks display, Togame has put distance between Yorozu and himself. Yorozu is already anxious because of Togame’s abrupt curtness when his mother suddenly collapses. Yorozu secretly manages the love hotel, worried about his family’s finances. And as if that wasn't enough... his precious hotel burns down?! 

It’s the moving conclusion to the story of two reluctant lovers who won't face their feelings for each other.

Review: Hope you're wearing waterproof mascara when you read this one ladies and gents, it's a tearjerker. It's no secret, if you've read many of Konohara Narise's novels, that she likes to give her characters shitty lives. Fortunately for this book, the characters' painful pasts are redeemed through the power of love. (Or are they?) Ogura Muku's illustrations were emotionally compelling yet still cute and beautifully drawn. 

Yorozu wasn't my favorite character in the first volume, but his actions to help his family and come clean about why he started dating Togame in the second forced me to like and become invested in him. Togame brings out his emotionally stunted schtick in volume two, but who could blame him once you hear his whole ugly background. Especially his reasoning that he should give Yorozu the chance to grow up and be a conventional salaryman or whatnot. Tsundere boys, two please.

And the way Yorozu can't take a hint when Togame begins to distance himself, wow. Cue the waterworks. Despite Togame trying hard to enforce the distance, he can't help but step in and help Yorozu when he's making bad choices and/or when tragedy strikes.

Even the bits between Togame and Yorozu's brother got to me. The little guy is drawn with such cute facial expressions, and their scenes together are very touching. At the same time I was crying a little inside for Togame's little brother. 

My only nitpicks would be that we don't get to see much of a HEA for these characters. It's a shame that they couldn't squeeze a third volume out of Castle Mango. :(

Crossing my fingers for River's End novel to be licensed and released! It'd be wonderful to read more of Togame's sob story tbh.

Disclaimer: none

Endless Game by Gengoroh Tagame

Quick Rating: B

Purchase: Amazon

Blurb: Gengoroh Tagame is one of the stars of manga. His stories are among the best in this genre and until recently have only been published in Japanese. Bruno Gmunder is pleased to publish two of them in English for audiences around the globe. - Gengoroh Tagame is one of most succesful artists of bara-manga. - In May 2013, a compilation of his work was published successfully in English for the first time. - His work explores the issues of men's sexuality, domination, and submission. Trend: Adult comics.

Review: Endless Game is light on story but full of hot, raunchy sex. I felt like I was checking off a list of how many sexual scenarios, positions, and toys could be fit into the pages of one volume. Very steamy, very well drawn. 

Going from memory, here are some things that happen in the comic: rimming, double penetration, backroom sex, sex for money, multiple partners, vibrator wands, anal beads, dildos, nipple clamps... even sexy go-go boy dancing.

There was a surprising amount of colored art. Enjoyed that, and the continuity of this volume much more than The Passion, but at the pricepoint ($25-35) I can't recommend Endless Game to anyone but a diehard fan.

Very minimal complaint: I was annoyed with the way sound effects were handled.

Disclaimer: none

My Cute Crossdresser by Mitohi Matsumoto

Quick Rating: A

Purchase: Amazon

Blurb: What happens when a bunch of nerdy guys (without girlfriends) get together to try to catch a perverted predator on a crowded train - and decide to run a sting operation? But, how would they do that? Who or what would they use for a decoy to catch this predator? Oh, we know! Let's dress up one as a girl! Yes - HE is a SHE! He looks so cute! He's just perfect and anyone would fall for him! Including his classmates!

Review: This was my first Project-H title about crossdressing school-aged boys. As a BL enthusiast I wasn't sure what to expect of the genre, but I'd like to assume this was a very light, very moe introduction. My Cute Crossdresser's stories are very engaging and have lots of lusty crossdresser moe fantasizing and flirting! "Raising Decoy" (crossdresser and school chum team up to entrap train perverts in the name of justice) and "Spilled Milk" (pent-up schoolboys take turns kissing a male classmate asked to wear various girly costumes) are my two favorite stories, and occupy a little more than half of the book. The other stories are good too, just not my kink (cheerleader, actress, and alien bait).

Curious readers should keep in mind that there's no penetration or junk peeking out of panties (though the boys do have nice panty-encased baskets). This book is a flirty, fun read despite its lack of H scenes. I rabidly endorse My Cute Crossdresser as a gateway title for BL readers who want to explore other erotic manga genres!

Disclaimer: none