Manga reviews: Awaken Forest and Falling into You

[geri_chan]

Here are two more yaoi manga reviews, although it's more of an anti-rec than a recommendation...


I like stories about writers, so the summary of Awaken Forest by Yuna Aoi sounded appealing enough: a young editor, Yoshimori, meets his favorite author Suga-sensei at a book release party, but finds himself more drawn to Suga's handsome brother and assistant, Masato, and is captivated by Masato's "lonely smile." He has the chance to meet both brothers again when he is sent to Suga's home to retrieve the writer's overdue manuscript, and is ordered not to return without it.

However, the story quickly takes a darker turn: Suga spends most of his time in a wheelchair, and since Masato believes that he's responsible for his brother's injury, he feels obligated to do whatever Suga tells him to, which includes waiting on him like a servant, having incestuous sex with him, and even raping Yoshimori when Suga becomes jealous of the growing attraction between Masato and Yoshimori. It actually turns out to be more dub-con than non-con, but only because Yoshimori gives in because he wants Masato so much that he's willing to accept being with him even in such a horrible manner.

The rape or near-rape, depending on your point of view, is the catalyst that finally causes Masato to break free from his brother's manipulation, and he pledges to never hurt Yoshimori again. I won't spoil all the details, but for such a dark story, it had a surprisingly happy ending, and I thought that Yoshimori was way too forgiving towards both brothers.

There are two other stories in the anthology; one was "Loose Bonds," and it seemed like it was going to be a sweet though not particularly original story about an ostensibly straight young man who has a loyal friend who secretly loves him and is always there for him when he needs help or comfort. However, it had a surprising and chilling twist ending that was very effective in that I didn't see it coming, but in hindsight, the hints had been laid out. Not really my cup of tea, but it was very well written for the type of story that it is, and I have to admire the writer's craftsmanship in this creepy little tale.

The final two-part story is a love story between a young master and his servant. It was actually pleasantly humorous but not particularly memorable. There are hints of dub-con, or at least potential dub-con, because of the master-servant relationship, but it's clear to the reader (if not necessarily the master) that the servant is in love with the master. And at least the master does care about the servant and is sincerely appalled when someone points out to him that the servant might feel like he can't refuse his master. He's arrogant and a bit dim-witted, but not really a bad guy deep down. An average story, and the art for the book overall was pretty average, too.

Nothing really stood out for me in this book except for "Loose Bonds," and I kind of wish I hadn't wasted my money on it. Still, at least it didn't make me as angry as the next book...

***

Falling into You by Takashi Kanzaki is another anthology. The title story is okay, although again, not really my cup of tea because it has the sort of arrogant and overbearing seme character that I find really annoying. A young man named Hisashi is captivated by the famous male model Tomohito, and even becomes a model himself because of Tomohito. However, when he finally meets his idol, he's offended by Tomohito's high-handed, arrogant "advice": "What a waste. You'd be usable if you you changed your look," are Tomohito's first words to Hisashi. He tells Hisashi that he should cut his hair and that he's wearing "too much color" on his lips, and then proceeds to wipe it off by giving him a kiss. Hisashi is outraged, but drawn to Tomohito at the same time, and he can't help wanting to impress the older man. On top of that, Tomohito has an extreme brother-complex, and Hisashi is jealous of the little brother that Tomohito dotes on.

At least there's no non-con in this story, though. As arrogant as Tomohito is, he doesn't force Hisashi to sleep with him or follow his advice--as Tomohito rather annoyingly points out to his lover. It's Hisashi's choice to do so, although he is compelled in a sense by his obsession with Tomohito. Still, there seemed to be a power imbalance because it seems like Hisashi needs Tomohito more than Tomohito needs him, and Hisashi worries that Tomohito is just playing with him. I was close to hating the story, but what saved it is the little hint of vulnerability and insecurity that Tomohito shows towards the end, when it becomes clear that he really does love Hisashi.

The next story, "Prepare Yourself," is about two young men who work for a private detective agency. They're friends and "sex buddies," but of course they have deeper feelings that they aren't willing to admit to just yet. This is partly because one of them is dealing with the trauma of past sexual abuse (not explicitly shown). It was a decent, though not outstanding story, and at least the characters didn't annoy me the way Tomohito did.

The next story, "I Want to Be With You" was pretty squicky, since it dealt with a teenage boy having a sexual relationship with his (maternal) uncle--and Dad has the hots for the uncle, too! It was written as over-the-top humorous rather than serious, but incest is just not my thing.

The final story, "Love's Recommendation" is the one that really pissed me off and made me want to rip up the book into little pieces. Atsumu is an insecure young man who is studying for college exams with his friend, Kayama. He envies Kayama, who is smart and confident and seems to have everything that Atsumu lacks. Kayama is in love with him, and Atsumu actually likes him, too, but doesn't have the confidence be in a relationship with a guy and is afraid to let himself really care about Kayama.

Kayama promises to give up on Atsumu and asks him to come over to his place one last time before they go their separate ways. Atsumu should be relieved, but finds himself feeling hurt that Kayama seems to have lost interest in him. However, after luring Atsumu over, Kayama handcuffs, blindfolds, and rapes him, taunting him cruelly the whole time. Atsumu's body responds even though he's horrified by his friend's betrayal in typical "I rape you but you like it" yaoi fashion, but that's not the part that made me want to tear up the book. Atsumu is furious, but looking back on the rape after the fact, he realizes that he could feel Kayama's tears falling on his face during the rape and remembers Kayama saying, "Sorry, Atsumu" right before he passed out.

Atsumu realizes that Kayama was deliberately trying to make Atsumu hate him so that Atsumu could make a clean break and let go of him--and WTF?!--Atsumu is grateful and realizes how much Kayama loves him, and he runs after Kayama, not just to say that he understood why Kayama did it, but to apologize to him and thank him, and say that now he has the courage to be with Kayama and love him! He doesn't say it in exactly these words, but basically he says, "Thanks for raping me--I realize now that you only did it because you love me and I'm sorry for making you do that!" I'm so outraged that I'm at a loss for words! I could accept it if this were a dark, twisted story in which one character raped the other to push him away, in some misguided notion of trying to help him, but it was portrayed as being completely selfless and romantic and--argh! I have never hated a story as much as I hate this one! I've seen lots of rape and non-con in yaoi manga, but this one really takes the cake!

I had set this book aside in my "to sell" pile, but now I'm thinking that it might be unfair to pass it on to some unsuspecting reader. Then again, it seems like a lot of yaoi fans do like non-con: I've seen lots of positive reviews for "Breath" (reviewed in this earlier post), which is about a guy blackmailing another guy into being his sex-slave, but at least that story is supposed to be kind of dark and all the main characters are pretty messed up emotionally. Anyway, this story is highly un-recommended by me!