Embracing Love

[geri_chan]

I thought that I'd pimp the "Haru wo Daiteita" manga for today's post, since I just posted my first fic in that fandom. It's a yaoi manga, and the first 5 volumes were released in the US as "Embracing Love" by the now-defunct Be Beautiful. It's also known affectionately as "Harudaki" by fans. The BB summary reads:

Life reflects art for Iwaki and Katou, two hugely famous adult film stars who are considering retirement from their sordid careers.
However, when they're invited to audition for a new erotic film, they realize that this may be their last chance to achieve mainstream success. Unfortunately, things sour quickly when the director asks them to make love... with each other... to determine who will get the lead role. What follows next is a roller coaster ride of romance, longing, and passionate sex that will alter their careers... and their lives... forever!

It's really a wonderful story that departs from many of the yaoi stereotypes, including the rigid roles of masculine seme (top) and girlish uke (bottom). I was discussing this title with lore awhile back and this is what I said: "I find the latter [Embracing Love] really interesting, because the 2 characters are equals, and they don't stick to the strict top/bottom division that most yaoi stories have. Well, Iwaki is mostly the bottom, but Katou makes it pretty clear that he's fine with switching around if Iwaki wants to. I liked the way the author played around with that theme--Iwaki topping Katou in the audition, and then the dynamic of their relationship completely switches around. I remember Iwaki challenging Katou with something along the lines of, 'If you love me so much, why don't you let me top for a change?' and Katou didn't hesitate at all, saying, 'Okay, do me.' I loved the expression of shock mingled with disgust on Iwaki's face when Katou called his bluff!"

The characters are really interesting because they mature and change as the story progresses. Initially, as the summary says, they are rivals, but eventually they are cast as lovers in a TV series. Katou falls in love with Iwaki and wants to pursue a real relationship, but Iwaki is reluctant to give in to his own attraction to his costar. They both considered themselves straight before they met each other, and Iwaki seems to wrestle with his sexuality much more than Katou does, who doesn't really seem to have any qualms about falling in love with a man. Katou initially seems to be the more insecure character--it's a running joke that he's incredibly jealous of people even looking at Iwaki admiringly. He also appears to be the more emotional character, but Iwaki's reserved demeanor hides his own deep emotions and insecurities, and they take turns supporting and reassuring each other in their times of need.

Unfortunately, publication of this title has ceased--Be Beautiful had its own business problems, but there was also a controversy in Japan when it was found that the manga-ka, Youka Nitta, had traced a fashion ad for one of her manga illustrations. Both Nitta-sensei and her publisher apologized profusely and acknowledged the copyright infringement. She said that she was "naive" about copyrights and didn't realize that she was doing anything wrong, and it seems to be a case of ignorance and bad judgment rather than knowing plagiarism.

The fashion company, Diesel, made light of the controversy, saying that they found the imitation flattering, and chose not to pursue a lawsuit. However, it seems that there were other traced illustrations, and Nitta-sensei's publisher immediately ceased publication of her manga. Nitta-sensei apologized, and said that she was retiring from writing manga. So the whole fandom is in limbo right now, anxiously hoping that the controversy will blow over, and that Nitta-sensei will eventually be forgiven and allowed to resume her career. While she should not have directly traced the ads, it doesn't appear to me to be blatant plagiarism--the poses were all she copied; the story and characters are her own creation.

You can still find the Japanese manga at decent prices, and links to translated scanalations can be found on the youka_nitta community, although you must be a member to access them, as the entries are friends-locked. There are used copies of the Be Beautiful books on sale on Amazon an eBay, but they tend to be going for outrageous prices since they're out of print. Even I would not pay over a hundred dollars for a single volume, but if you can manage to find them at a reasonable price, I'd highly reccomend buying them. (Fortunately, I'm lucky enough to have bought the 5 English volumes, and I bought some of the Japanese volumes online from JP Queen.)

EDIT 11/8/08: Forgot to add that part of what I like about the series is that while it's not completely realistic, it acknowledges some of the difficulty that a gay couple faces--both characters' families have trouble accepting their relationship, Iwaki's more than Katou's. Also, while the manga is no longer officially available in the US, there are a couple of anime dvds available: "Embracing Love: Cherished Spring" and "Embracing Love: A Cicada in Winter". The latter is actually a story about two samurai lovers who were fighting on different sides of the struggle that ended the Tokugawa Shogunate and restored power to the Emperor. Iwaki and Katou eventually play these two characters in a film in Harudaki.