So, I just spent the most awesome hour reading through an online webcomic called OGLAF.COM. Here’s the author’s description:

This comic started out as an attempt to make pornography.

It degenerated into sex comedy pretty much immediately.

And yep, from the very first comic (incredibly NSFW!), I can tell you it is often pretty gosh darn explicit. But it’s often more than a little hot as well. And pretty much always really, really funny.

While it’s not gay per se (there is lots and lots of heterosexual stuff — WARNING: boobies!), there is certainly a lot of gay content as well (and many weenies to view throughout, if you like that sort of thing ).

Here’s an example:

Click to enlarge. Pixelation added by me in lame attempt to protect those subscribing to blog posts via email. If you use her art, the author has requested you include a link to OGLAF.com.

Click here to see original at OGLAF.com.

In some ways, there is an air of mystery about this comic. No “About Page”. No copyright information. No author description. I’m guessing the name of the site comes from this very NSFW comic, but that character has only appeared a few times and his creation could be very well be a ret-con. (EDIT 7/24/10: The creator just responded to this question on Twitter…) Using my Google-fu, I was able to find out who the creator is and that she is a woman, but it seems that she wishes to remain somewhat anonymous which I will respect here.

My overall review: It’s well-written and well-drawn. Both women and men are made to look powerful and foolish in equal capacity. It’s quite geeky — if you’ve ever played a role-playing game, you’ll get more than a few in-jokes. There are many little surprises that show the creator has put a lot of thought into the site (for example, there’s a really adorable 404 page — try entering a non-existant page on oglaf.com in your location bar to see it). And it’s very funny — while reading through the entire series, the time just flew by. I know not everyone can handle the heterosex, but if you can, this comic gets my strongest recommendation.

Where to start? There is an Archive page which helpfully points out which comics are NSFW and which are safer (there are a few non-sexual ones). But I suggest you start with the first comic (very NSFW) and just read your way through by clicking Next Page. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.

Oh, and be on the look out for an “Epilogue” link to appear in the right sidebar at the end of certain stories (the first one is at the end of Glove) — it’s like a hidden bonus comic.

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Art and Character Design: Manga-inspired and appealing. This is GloBL — so despite the large eyes, you should be prepared for the artwork to feel fairly Western (preview pages can be found here). Artist Amelie Belcher’s characters are wonderfully expressive which makes it easy to understand and share the emotions of this lively bunch. She has mad skills with the adorable: both man and beast look downright huggable in these pages. There’s some native-peoples-inspired art used during a story-telling section that was quite well done. And the leads are both attractive. (Although it must be said that the way love interest Abalu is drawn, he is completely indistinguishable from a woman, at least while clothed. There are even some panels where the light hits his coat such that it looks like he has breasts and an hourglass figure! Our protagonist Anituk consistently looks like a boy, though, and a cute one at that, so at least there’s some eye candy for all of us.) Overall, I found the art both pleasing and compelling.

That said, according to writer Tina Anderson’s end note, this was artist Belcher’s first “entire manga” and there are places where that shows. The action scene in the first eight pages is utterly confusing and I had to re-read it several times to suss out exactly what happened (and where that attacking shark came from!). I had a similar reaction to a scene showing a battle between seals later where there simply weren’t enough panels of art to coherently tell that story. Also, character art wasn’t always distinct enough to avoid confusion, particularly for a black and white comic. (In close up framings, I sometimes couldn’t distinguish bearded brother Nifu from Anituk’s bearded father and, more disturbingly, love interest Abalu from Anituk’s mother.) Things improve greatly as the comic moves along, so I would encourage readers who are feeling impatient with the first pages to continue — the emotionally spot-on and humorous artwork in later pages is worth the bumpy ride through the early action scenes.

Also, I should note here, that the lettering is very present — especially the sound effects — and not always to helpful effect. More on that later.

Characters: Likable and memorable. Every male character has a distinct personality with clear motivations, and while there are a few disposable female love objects for Anituk’s brother to respond to, Mom feels three-dimensional as well. (And the overall tone is certainly woman-positive, even feminist, which is refreshing in a yaoi book.) Our hero, Anituk, starts off sulky, but his intense compassion for all living things, strong need for love and excitable nature soon overwhelm his pouting around so by page 30 we are left with an adorable, boyish goofball to root for. (He actually reminded me a bit of Ryoga with how strongly he felt everything — and that’s a good thing.) Love interest Abalu is optimistic and sweet with plenty of humorous quirks; I looked forward to his appearances. And Anituk’s lusty older brother, Nifu, provides some pleasant comic relief — as well as serving as an antagonist of sorts, but only to help give contrast to Anituk’s personality. There are no bad guys in this book.

Plot: The high concept here is “Boys Love during the Ice Age” and it’s definitely an intriguing hook. We start right in the action with toddler Anituk surviving a shark attack and pick up with him a legally convenient 16 years later as he struggles to prove himself a capable hunter. And that’s when he meets a mysterious and tremendously upbeat stranger who “comes from lands far south”, who seems to take an immediate liking to young Anituk and who won’t take “Stay away from me — you’re weird!” for an answer.

There are some complications touched on here and there, but this is essentially a story of true love overcoming inexperience. And thus, while there aren’t many surprises or obstacles, it’s a sweet ride. There was a fantasy-magical component that I wasn’t expecting — and won’t spoil here — which was fun and added to the prehistoric myth vibe that infuses this work (as well as offering an opportunity for some circle-of-life messaging which seems appropriate for younger readers.) And, while there was some bodily function humor that also made me think this might be intended for younger readers, there were a number of laugh-out-loud visual gags and clever dialogue wise-cracks that had me chuckling, a rarity. Once I got past those first pages, I was engaged and looked forward to finding out what happened next.

Romance: Sweet. Writer Anderson gives us appealing leads and takes the time to make us believe that these two would really like each other, so we root for them. There’s a hunting expedition and a nice scene of poetic storytelling along with other bits of alone time that create a believable bond. I found the thoughtful way Anderson unfolded the love story a pleasant break from the usual forced angst of other yaoi books.

Sex: You don’t see wee-wees or pubic hair, but it’s surprisingly explicit (at least in terms of what happens) for what otherwise feels like a yaoi book appropriate for readers in their early teens. The characters are often naked and the sex they engage in is believable for first-time encounters. Particularly refreshing is that they don’t immediately go for anal-intercourse which in real-life is rarely a guy’s first experience. The sex scenes were too brief to get my motor running, but they did add to the overall sweet and charming tone of the romance. So, at the very least, they consistently gave a rise to the corners of my mouth.

Overall: Not without its flaws, this is a sweet and engaging yaoi comic by independent Western creators that delivers laughs and warms the heart. If you like your guy-on-guy romance to be cute and fun with strong characters who get adorably worked up and deserve to be together, it’s definitely worth the Kindle price of $4.99 and even the $8.00 pre-order for the print book. You won’t be disappointed.

Not age-rated by the publisher. Content-wise, I think many young teens would find it a good fit. With (albeit brief) scenes of oral sex and naked frottage, however, I would imagine many parents would prefer them to wait. Other publishers would probably rate this 16+. This publisher wishes publishers didn’t have to guess at such things…

Plot summary from the publisher’s website:

Romantic ice-age hilarity ensues as young whaler Anituk’s miserable life with doting parents and an oversexed wife-hunting brother is rudely interrupted by the arrival of Abalu, a tall handsome stranger who delights in encroaching upon Anituk’s angst.

So, Tina Anderson is a fellow Western yaoi creator and up to now, I’ve been hesitant to review her works. Partly this is because she has chosen subjects I know aren’t going to work for me — namely, stories of priests with nazis not to mention romances with mentally-challenged prostitutes (the latter book being, I’ve been told more than once, actually quite excellent). But mostly because she is an online friend and a good one. For my pals, unless I’m their “beta reader”, I really just want to offer encouragement, nothing more, and, in my reviews I can be, well… critical.

And there were things I found to be critical of in this book. In addition to the hiccups in the artwork, there were some logical glitches that gave me pause. On one page, our hero, Anituk, expresses extreme disbelief when Abalu claims his family has seen a land with warm water. He exclaims “They’re full of it! Because without snow and ice, there can be no life!” But, later when telling a beloved story about his family history, Anituk talks about his people coming from a land where “grass grew green… and snow only came when it was cold.” Doesn’t really track. Likewise, we clearly establish that the entire family shares a bed together each night (Abalu actually joins them to get close to Anituk), but when the time comes for our heroes to have sex, they seem to have a tent all to themselves. All nice and toasty and ready for them. In a sudden snow storm. Um, don’t those things take a little while to set up?

But let’s face — these are nitpicks. (And frankly, as a reader, I’m willing to suspend my disbelief quite a bit if it involves cute guys dropping trou.) A bigger concern has to do with the lettering of this comic.

Let me first say that lettering is hard and good lettering is very hard. I letter all the Yaoi 911 comics, it takes me many, many hours and, after those many hours, I’m still not 100% satisfied with the results. It’s an art as much as drawing and writing are — and it’s crucial because, much like sound in film, good lettering is invisible, but bad lettering will distract from the art and take you out of the story. Creating the individual balloons and tails using software is fiddly and there are elaborate conventions you must follow if you don’t want to confuse your reader. Frankly, it’s a bitch. So I have a great deal of sympathy for any creator saddled with this duty. Not easy.

Still, I found the the lettering in Loud Snow more distracting than it had to be. Right off the bat, I was put off by the font choice and large balloons — the typeface felt large and horsey to me and, as a reader, I prefer to see a lot more art and a lot less balloon and type in each panel than what I saw in this comic. My understanding is that the balloons were added after the art was created, so I wasn’t sure why they had to take up so much space and found myself wishing they weren’t covering up so much of the art.

Of course, your tastes and eyeglasses prescription may vary, so such aesthetic quibbles may not matter to you. A much bigger concern is that the balloons have no tails. (You know, those pointy things that are supposed to extend from the white circles to indicate who’s talking? Not there.) When there was more than one character in a panel, this presented a serious problem because I often couldn’t tell who was speaking. And that meant I had to re-read pages to understand the story (and there are some pages where I’m still not 100% sure who said what.) Not ideal. Moving a balloon closer to one character helps — and writer Anderson in her role as letterer does this — but sometimes it’s just not enough.

Now, I understand that there are Japanese comics that do not include tails, so perhaps it’s a stylistic choice. But many do and isn’t the advantage of GloBL that we can take the best of both worlds? I don’t care if it’s a proper curved tail or a simple black line pointing at a character — we need to know who’s saying what. Always.

Another concern with the lettering is, what feels to me anyway, an overuse of sound effects. Now, let me say that writer Anderson makes a manga-inspired choice with the sound effects I actually prefer over the Western approach — instead of struggling with onomatopoeia, she often simply uses descriptive words. So, rather than trying to come up with whatever mystical set of consonants would evoke the sound of dragging a dead seal (“SHhwweth”, perhaps?) she merely uses the word “DRAG” superimposed over a blank space in the panel. Very clear and to the point — as a reader I get it immediately and the story flows uninterrupted.

Descriptive sound effects can also be handy in a pinch where an action might not be clear in the art. Let’s face it, it can be tricky to show a physical movement in a single still panel, so sometimes it helps to throw in a “BRUSH” or a “RUB RUB RUB” to, again, keep the story flowing.

But there’s a fine line between making things clear and not trusting your artist. And when you are using sound effects for actions like “SEES”, “SMILE” and “FALLING”, you’ve definitely crossed that line. If you really can’t tell that a character — even an animal — has noticed its prey, the panel or page needs to be redrawn. And if that’s not possible, as the letterer, you just have to suck it up. Reading “SEES” or “SULK” or some other descriptive word for something in a panel that the reader knows should be clear in the art just feels intrusive.

I will say this is another thing that improves as the comic goes along, but it was something that took me out of the story on more than one occasion, even on later pages. As a writer, I am tremendously sympathetic to the temptation of going overboard with the sound effects– my most visible contribution are my words and this is my last chance to make things clear! — but a lot more restraint here would have made for a much more seamless reading experience.

In terms of the gay stuff, Anituk’s explanation for how he figured out he wasn’t like the other boys — that he really liked his own body more than the bodies of girls — also felt a bit off. In my own experience and those of my friends, it wasn’t the superior sexiness of our own bodies that we found compelling, but rather the superior sexiness of the bodies of other cute guys that caught our attention. As narcissism has often been cited as a cause of homosexuality, part of me bristled while reading that dialogue. But other than that one strange note, I should say everything else felt realistic, respectful and believable. Writer Anderson knows real, live gay people, thinks of them as real people instead of objects and it shows. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this book to a library section for gay youth.

So… after all that — do I think you should still get this book? Absolutely. Because despite these flaws, Loud Snow is just a darn good time. And that’s really what matters.

Unlike a lot of yaoi from the “mainstream” publishers, I found I actually cared about the characters in this book. Artist Belcher has taken the best of manga character conventions, namely cuteness coupled with clear and passionate emotion, and used it to great effect to illustrate writer Anderson’s likable and humorous goofballs. Even now as I flip through the pages of this manga, I continue to stumble on a facial expression that Anituk pulls as he reacts to some craziness around him that just makes me grin. And writer Anderson infuses these adorable sweethearts with motivations that are both understandable and compelling, something that 90% of other writers get dead wrong. This isn’t a complicated story, but neither were episodes of Ranma 1/2 or Tenchi Muyo or any of those other “regular clueless guy being pursued by a hottie” stories that are so entertaining to watch. Ultimately, I was charmed in the same way.

Loud Snow may have its rough edges, but here’s the thing — it’s gets all the important stuff right. Compelling characters, good humor, pleasing art and an hour of very pleasant yaoi reading. And if I’m paying money for a book that matters a hell of a lot more than production value. Yes, Loud Snow is an independently produced graphic novel and it feels that way. But it’s an entertaining and engaging independently produced graphic novel and that makes all the difference.

So, full disclosure: Tina’s an online pal, she’s the one who sent me the review copy and she’s a fellow Western creator, so I want to root for her. But here is my honest take — you should expect a few bumps, but if I’d have paid $4.99 for the Kindle edition or even $8.00 for the hard copy, I would feel it was money well spent. I think you will too.

Want a sweet story of boys living in the Ice Age that offers some good chuckles and leaves you with a smile? Then, yep, you should buy this book.

**************

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Learn More!

• Want to read about other guy-on-guy romance comics? Click on over to our list of Reviews!
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Thank you for all your kind words — a real morale booster; totally has me jazzed about our work on Tough!

So, just for fun, I decided to make a T-shirt out of my favorite panel from “No Kissing” — the one where Mike is responding to being told more than ten minutes have passed while he and Rob were making out. I love his expression here and it captures a lot of the Yaoi 911 vibe — both the realism and the humor. And frankly, I think this panel is kinda cool and edgy on a T-shirt — it’s something I’d actually wear.

I’m using RedBubble to make these shirts because, well, they’re known to be the best for this sort of thing — highest quality printing on 100% cotton preshrunk American Apparel T’s. They come in lots of different colors. And I’ve created some different flavors (with and without the swear word), so hopefully there will be something for everyone.

I’ve even added a version with the text “Time flies when you’re having fun…” for those who might want a little Yaoi 911 in-joke on their chest. Those who know our work will give you a wink and a smirk; those who don’t won’t ever be the wiser. Great way to show your support on the down-low.

There are light and dark versions of each (with the text/logo in either black or white):

And if you don’t want to be seen with the F-word on your chest, I’ve got you covered there too — T-shirts with the swear word censored and without the text bubble at all!

Anyway, these were a lot of fun to make. Please let me know what you think about them in the comments. And, if you like what we’re doing here at Yaoi 911 and want to show your support, grab one of them!

Hey! This panel comes from one of our free yaoi comics! Want to get it? It’s easy! Just fill out the form on the Free Comics page and the link will be sent right to you!

Learn More!

• Are posters more your thing? Well, we’re also offering posters of the covers of our comics at the Yaoi 911 Print Store — totally worth checking out!
• Want to read more about “No Kissing” – the free yaoi comic this panel is taken from — and what other readers are saying about it? Then read our master post Yaoi Comic “No Kissing” Is Ready For Download!!
• “No Kissing” is actually Chapter Two of our gay teen graphic novel Tough. You can read all about Chapter One here!

Guess what? The second chapter of our gay teen comic Tough, “No Kissing”, is now finished and ready for Yaoi 911 News & Downloads subscribers to download!

This will serve as the master post for Tough Chapter Two: “No Kissing”. Here is where readers should leave comments about what they thought about the comic and it’s also where I’ll be sharing the first 16 preview pages with you!

What’s the second chapter about?

The fight from Chapter One is over, the bad boys have slunk away in defeat and to celebrate their victory hunky Rob has invited 15-year-old Filipino-American Mike Castro back to his place for some Xbox and Hard Lemonade.

After a few drinks and a few fighting games, Mike is feeling relaxed and cocky. Sure, he’s alone in the bedroom of an out gay guy, but they just saved each others’ lives and Mike has made Rob promise there’s not going to be any “gay stuff” — and certainly no kissing.

But when Rob starts giving Mike a backrub, Mike is forced to question how much he can trust this older, more experienced boy. And as Mike begins to like the massage more than he should, he starts to wonder exactly how much he can trust himself…

How do I read this comic?

This is another free download for Yaoi 911 News & Downloads subscribers. Subscribers to our mailing list get sent links to our free comics and this is the latest one. So if you want to read more, just sign up — a link will be sent right to you!

But hey, sometimes email can take a while, so if you’re a subscriber and haven’t gotten the email yet, you can also find and download Tough Chapter Two: No Kissing at our new store. Simply create a new account at our store using your subscriber email address, Add To Cart one of our free comics and when you Checkout, you’ll be able to download it for free. It’s fast and easy — try it!

Get Tough Chapter Two: No Kissing right now at The Yaoi 911 Store.

Where can I talk about it?

Right here! The comments section of this post is the place to let me and other readers know what you thought. (And please do — you’re the whole reason we’re making these comics. And we love encouragement. )

What about spoilers?

So folks are able to talk about the work without worrying about spoiling the story for others, I’ve added a new feature to the blog comments: spoiler protection! It works like this. Put the spoiler text into your comment between bracketed “spoiler” tags like this

to end up with this:

So, when does Chapter Three come out?

Well, we’re working on it. Our goal is to have it finished in a few months, just like this chapter was — but my experience tells me that stuff happens so I don’t want to give a firm date until I know we’re only weeks away. That said — don’t despair, you can still get your Yaoi 911 fix before then! Our first full-length, for-pay graphic novel, Artifice, is being colored right now and that means it should be done before the Fall. So, one way or the other, we should have another comic for you in a few months — and trust me, Artifice has it all: sex, action, romance, androids, evil robopsychologists and an adorable and scrappy young love interest. It’s going to be awesome!

Please tell me what you thought!

So that’s what you need to know about our latest comic. I really do hope you like how Mike’s story is coming along. Please take a moment and let me know what you thought in the comments below!

Preview Pages

Tough Chapter Two: No Kissing written by Alex Woolfson. Pencils by Vitto. Colors and cover art by Winona Nelson.
© 2010 Alex Woolfson. All Rights Reserved.

Want to download the entire 35 page comic? Well, it’s easy! Just fill out the form on the Free Comics page and the link will be sent right to you!

Enjoy reading articles like these? Don’t miss out! Get Yaoi 911™ blog posts emailed right to you — for free!

Learn More!

• Curious about the very first comic we finished (and that we’re also giving away for free)? Then read all about our boys and sorcery story, “A Shot in the Dark”!
• Wondering why the heck I’m making a yaoi book? Check out Why This Gay Man Is Creating Yaoi!
• Want to read about other creators’ yaoi? Take a look at our in-depth Yaoi Reviews!
• Interested in creating your own manga? Start with How to Write a Full Comic Book Script and How to Find the Perfect Yaoi Artist for your Graphic Novel!

All right — so close!

I know I said we’d have the second chapter of Tough ready today, but it turns out we still have just another couple “i”‘s to dot and “t”‘s to cross before we send this 35 page full-color yaoi comic out to the nearly 13,000 (!) subscribers of the Yaoi 911 News and Downloads mailing list. It’s tempting to rush things to make our deadline, but I’d rather make sure everything works and runs smoothly (meaning that I actually have gone through and tested everything) before I click that SEND NOW button. Because once I click it, there’s no turning back!

So, in the meantime, to tide you all over, I have a special treat. Here, for your viewing pleasure, is the cover art for “No Kissing” — painted by our very own kick-ass artist Winona Nelson! (Who also did the colors for “No Kissing” — and IMHO kicked ass there as well!)

(Click on the image to see a bigger version.)

I really think she knocked it out of the park with this one. And hopefully, seeing her awesome work will whet your appetite for Chapter 2. (Out sometime this week!)

(And hey, if you want to receive this comic when I send it out, please make sure you’ve signed up on our Free Comics page. Tough Chapter Two: “No Kissing” is another free comic from Yaoi 911.)

If you like what you see, please let us know in the comments! We live for encouragement! (And right now, as we hustle to get everything finished, a little encouragement would be a very nice thing…)

UPDATE 5-3-10: I’ve just posted Winona’s painting on our print store. Check it out.

It’s finally here! The first chapter of our seven chapter gay teen yaoi comic Tough is now finished!

This will serve as the master post for Tough: Chapter One. Here is where readers should leave comments about what they thought about the comic and it’s also where I’ll be sharing the first 16 preview pages with you!

What’s this first chapter about?

Tough starts with 15-year-old Filipino-American Mike Castro being dragged into a fag bashing by a bunch of older, wilder boys. Mike knows it’s wrong and tries to stop it, but that just makes things worse; the older boys turn on him, forcing him to either beat the cute gay boy they’ve cornered or face the same fate. Can Mike figure out a way to save this guy and himself? And could this really be the start of a romance?! Read Tough: Chapter One to find out!

How do I read this comic?

This is another free download for Yaoi 911 News & Downloads subscribers. Subscribers to our mailing list get sent links to our free comics and this is the latest one. So if you want to read more, just sign up — a link will be sent right to you!

(You can also find and download Tough: Chapter One at our new store. If you’re a subscriber and haven’t gotten the Yaoi 911 News & Downloads email yet, you can create a new account at our store using your subscriber email address, Add To Cart a free comic and when you Checkout, you’ll be able to download it for free. It’s fast and easy — try it! Tough: Chapter One at The Yaoi 911 Store. )

Where can I talk about it?

Right here! The comments section’s of this post is the place to let me and other readers know what you thought. (And please do — you’re the whole reason we’re making these comics. And we love encouragement. )

What about spoilers?

So that folks are able to talk about the work without worrying about spoiling the story for others, I’ve added a new feature to the blog comments: spoiler protection! It works like this. Put the spoiler text into your comment between bracketed “spoiler” tags like this

to end up with this:

So, when does Chapter Two come out?

Chapter One is where we meet our heroes (and villains) and set things up. Chapter Two deals with the aftermath of what happens and it’s where the yaoi really gets cooking. If you want more kissing — and I know you do — I promise, you won’t have to wait long. The next chapter delivers the goods.

Chapter Two is already completely finished and will be sent out to subscribers on May 1, 2010.

Please tell me what you thought!

So that’s what you need to know about our latest comic. I really do hope you like the beginning of our story. Please take a moment and let me know what you thought!

Preview Pages

Tough: Chapter One written by Alex Woolfson. Pencils by Vitto. Colors by Vincent Lee.
© 2010 Alex Woolfson. All Rights Reserved.

Want to download the entire comic? Well, it’s easy! Just fill out the form on the Free Comics page and the link will be sent right to you!

Enjoy reading articles like these? Don’t miss out! Get Yaoi 911™ blog posts emailed right to you — for free!

Learn More!

• Curious about the first comic we finished (and that we’re also giving away for free)? Then read all about our boys and sorcery story, “A Shot in the Dark”!
• Wondering why the heck I’m making a yaoi book? Check out Why This Gay Man Is Creating Yaoi!
• Want to read about other creators’ yaoi? Take a look at our in-depth Yaoi Reviews!
• Interested in creating your own manga? Start with How to Write a Full Comic Book Script and How to Find the Perfect Yaoi Artist for your Graphic Novel!

Folks are always asking me for more yaoi videos and these classic edited cutdowns (with amusing commentary by the clip’s editor) certainly deliver.

(Found the Karin video on sakurapassion’s The Yaoi Review while trying to use Google to find information on the Handley case which I knew was on my pal Jen’s site, also called The Yaoi Review. Oh, that wacky Google…)

Happy Valentine’s Day!

[AEP] Yaoi Moments in Anime Karin

Humor, gay tea time and vampire action — lots to like

[AEP] Yaoi Moments in Anime: Evangelion

Sadly dubbed and the commentary is full of typos, but Evangelion is a classic! (Spoilers, depressing drama & way over the top pseudo-philosophy)

Well, that was a bummer. How about some Yaoi Kisses (and, um, grungey Rock) to refresh the palate!

Best damn Yaoi Kisses!

That’s better. Now on to one of my favorite manga series ever–Genshiken! And my personal dream-boat, Sasahara! (Although he’s much cuter in the manga, IMHO…)

And finally, something completely different. The guys from Papa to Kiss in The Dark cut to that I Like To Move It song. So very wrong on so many levels. Yet strangely appropriate that my Handley search led me to it.

yaoi move

Hope these vids added a little something to your Valentine’s Day!

So on Saturday, TheYaoiReview (recently moved to San Francisco) took me to a BBQ at Deb Aoki’s house. It was a delightful time with tasty food (chicken and edamame rice!) and fun, geeky conversation that lasted several hours. Gia of AnimeVice was there — as vivacious and trenchant as I remember her being from previous YaoiCon encounters — as was Jason Thompson, author of the must-read Manga: The Complete Guide, who greeted everyone, including yours truly, with an enthusiastic and sincere “Wow! You’re the one responsible for (the Yaoi Review/Yaoi 911/Kasumi/etc.)?!” (Very flattering — must remember to invite Jason to all future BBQs I attend…)

The ride up with TheYaoiReview — quick-witted, insightful and stylish as ever — afforded the opportunity to deepen a friendship with my new neighbor while opening up my mind to stunningly novel uses of cream cheese (and I thought it was just for bagels!). Once arrived, I sat next to the delightful Surt Lim, writer of the Del Rey fantasy-shojo manga Kasumi, and swapped stories about the benefits and pitfalls of being a Western writer working with foreign artists — a rare and validating experience. And I finally got the pleasure of meeting About.com’s Deb Aoki in person and discovered she is a wonderful, generous host with a private manga library whose bookshelves rival those of Kinokuniya Bookstore in San Francisco’s Japantown. So generous a host, in fact, that she wouldn’t let any of us leave without placing some personally-selected manga choices into each of our hands and thus I wound up leaving the party four mangas richer than I came. (Thanks, Deb!) So, I thought I might take a few moments to give some quick reactions to a couple that I’ve read during my Sunday recovering from all the fun and food.

Once Upon A Glashma was the first book I sunk my teeth into — the tagline of “Before wizards or magic, the world was filled with girls. But one day, the girls disappeared and only wizards remained…” was intriguing and the art was just too adorable to resist. Alas, adorable art is all this book has to offer. First of all, despite a cover that screams taciturn seme and cuddly uke and a premise of “a world without girls”, this is not BL. Rather, it is what I what I like to call faux-BL: a completely slashable premise with no sex, no kissing (of other men, that is) and only the vaguest, most easily deniable innuendos that some guy-on-guy loving might be occurring somewhere far, far off-stage.

Second, the story is a confusing mess with cliché relationships. The first chapters throw us in the middle of the action with little explanation — our heroes, magic-investigating government agents, are seen fighting a dragon, wrestling with an exploding man or fighting a trash monster with almost no set-up — and the resolutions that are offered to these crises feel rushed. The artwork, while beautiful, unfortunately makes the action difficult to follow and the characters’ behavior — mostly consisting of hot-tempered “sempai” Gotanda bullying wimpy underling Nippori — is consistently baffling. (Why exactly does Gotanda treat Nippori this way? He’s seems to have done nothing to deserve it. I constantly had to refer to previous, better written works in my head for an account of why these characters would treat each other as they did. ["Oh! I bet here she's going for an Roy x Ed dynamic but with a bit of Al thrown in..."]

This manga has a ton of great ideas and intriguing characters, but creator Kumiko Suekane just doesn’t take the time to flesh them out. Even the obligatory humor chapter — where a bunch of frat boys try to convert our heroes into beautiful girls complete with maid uniforms — feels perfunctory and rushed. Only in the second half, when we start to learn the reason why all the women have disappeared, does some form of coherent storytelling start to take hold — but even in these final pages, the answers feel hurried, one-dimensional and cliché. I would love to read a well-written fantasy-yaoi with clean-lined characters as cute as the ones depicted in these pages — and perhaps if this had been three volumes instead of one, that could have happened here — but I can only recommend this book to you if don’t have to pay for it and you are desperate for reading material. As one reviewer put it, “read it at Borders.” (For other takes, the author of MAYBE YOU’RE LOOKING FOR ANOTHER BLOG… finds the book “craptastic… in every sense of the word.” Otaku News has a bit more patience with it.)


Chocolate Surprise, on the other hand, is very much true BL where the seme is always the dark-haired one and the ukes always, always cry out “No!” during sex (no matter how much they were begging for it in the beginning). A collection of nine short comics, the character art is nowhere near as good as Suekane-sensei’s Once Upon A Glashma — not only is the linework somewhat dull and predictable, the ukes are very, very feminine, often chicks-with-dicks level feminine which kind of makes you wonder why Lily Hoshino bothered telling these as yaoi stories at all. (As one woman at the BBQ put it, “Hoshino-sensei should just throw a skirt on the uke and be done with it!”)

That said, the sex is as explicit as I have ever seen in yaoi, in all senses of that word — not only do you get hard-core activities, but what’s happening is always clear and almost nothing is obscured. You get to see it all — including pubic hair, a rarity in my yaoi journeys — while the sex still manages to hold on to the delicacy and sweetness we would expect from a yaoi work (with these tender first encounters, no one would ever mistake this for bara…) I have to admit it — despite the feminine (and often very young) depictions of some of the characters, I did find many of the sex scenes actually hot — and if it’s enough to get my motor running, I would imagine that hard-core yaoi fans will need to keep some extra heart medication on hand, just in case. Finally, the storytelling itself, while not especially memorable (each of these stories are first-time love encounters involving one very interested boy and one not-so-interested-oh-I-guess-I-really-am-interested boy) is solid with often quite satisfying endings (narratively as well as romantically).

I wouldn’t buy this book for a night of great literature, but if you can get past the feminine character art and are looking for a little one-handed meditation, it’s definitely worth your $12.95. Gay boy Alex says “Check it out.” (That said, while it got my boat afloat, Connie C. of Manga Recon was “singularly unimpressed” with the book, finding it “explicit in a way I was not comfortable with”. [Perhaps highlighting a gay boy/fangirl divide?] Read her short take for a different perspective.)

Ultimately, I found myself wanting the best of both books — the lovely artwork and cool ideas behind Kumiko Suekane’s Once Upon A Glashma coupled with the more accomplished restraint and actual guy-on-guy loving found in Lily Hoshino’s Chocolate Surprise. Who knows — perhaps I’ll find what I’m looking for in the other two books Deb lent me: Saemi Yorita’s Brilliant Blue and You Higuri’s Ludwig II.

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Art and Character Design: Very skilled and compelling. While keeping true to yaoi conventions, Kunieda-sensei shows a very strong sense of anatomy and layout and moves from a semi-realistic shojo style to fun and cute super-deformed and chibi depicitons seamlessly. Her semes look convincingly masculine and handsome and her ukes have the expected bishonen feminine beauty while still looking like dudes. It’s always easy to follow the action and understand what the characters are feeling. And the sex looks believable and hot. This is top-notch yaoi art.

Characters: They’re definitely yaoi characters, so there is some simplification of motivation going on here (i.e. they want the gay sex and go all the way immediately and frequently) but despite that, in the first, much longer story, our heroes feel exceptionally believable. A big selling point of this book is the sensitivity and skill Kunieda-sensei uses in introducing us to two very different gay men: one is ostensibly straight and dreams of pleasing his grandparents by finding a wife and creating a traditional family; the other is moody, flamboyant and openly gay. Neither are angels, but they are very likable. And both have strong and weak points that complement each other. You could easily see meeting them in real life and thus the story itself feels credible and the plotting natural. Secondary characters likewise have depth and I’m happy to say that the female characters are consistently strong, wise and appealing.

In the second story, though, while the characters are certainly cute — and I’ll admit I’m a sucker for little lost lamb ukes — the sense of realism suffered from the shortness of the story and perhaps some timidity in showing us what a relationship between two teenage brothers would actually be like. The interactions rarely felt honest. Unlike in the first story, I had a hard time believing these boys were anything other than figments of Kunieda-sensei’s (skilled) imagination.

Plot: The first and longest story follows the relationship of two high-school teachers who find themselves co-workers after a drunken, anonymous night of sex. The central question is: can these two overcome their differences and find love?

One of the great pleasures of this book is that Kunieda-sensei avoids false drama. (O.K. — there is one huge scene of false drama, but it’s essentially a practical joke on the reader, so we’ll forgive it.) When the characters are in conflict, their actions and reactions are completely believable for guys their age — nowhere does it feel like a character is freaking out just for the sake of the plot. This lends a feeling of realism to the work that’s refreshing and keeps you from feeling like your time is being wasted with contrived misunderstandings and hurt feelings just to fill pages. This is the story of two guys with very different personalities who fall in love and the conflicts they have with each other stem believably from those differences. Overall, their love story kept me wanting to turn pages to see what would happen.

The second story in the book feels much more pedestrian and familiar. It concerns two teenage brothers (one’s adopted, thus offering the obligatory “real incest” escape clause, though technically they are at least half-cousins — phew!), three years apart, who fall in love and hide their feelings until eventually everything comes out one night when they are forced to spend time alone. While their chibi versions do summon up the adorable, I found their actions not very believable, especially the younger uke, who is calmly and casually aggressive about wanting sex with his older brother. Unlike the first story, this felt more like fetish yaoi (albeit very sweet fetish yaoi) than an honest take on their relationship. There are some clever bits — including a baby rabbit made out of snow theme — but it all felt fairly contrived after enjoying the natural arc of the previous story. And there’s some false drama about an abortion of all things. Pity…

Romance: In the first comic, you like the characters, they seem right for each other and yet nothing is a foregone conclusion — this is a fun, believable love story.

The second story is definitely high on the adorableness factor — had the characters been believable, it might have moved me more than the first. But as I said, things feel rushed and contrived and, seeing as the heroes have been living as brothers since they were very small, it’s hard to believe that they really have any chance of living happily ever after now that they are acting on their feelings. Some sweet scenes to inspire your fantasy life, sure, but little more.

Sex: A few brief but definitely hot encounters. Despite the glowing cones of light (sorry ladies, no actual weenies here), I found the posing of the sex more realistic than what one usually sees in yaoi and, more importantly, the passion of the encounters felt palpable. Also unlike a lot of yaoi, nothing was confusing — you always knew what these guys were doing — without the sex ever becoming truly explicit. I personally need more than a few pages of sex — and a fair amount of set-up — to really get my motor running, but since 7-page-and-under sex encounters seem to be de rigeur for yaoi books, if you usually find yaoi hot, this book definitely delivers.

Overall: Likable, non-cliché characters with real depth, great art and an exceptionally solid and credible love story make for a great read. Despite a somewhat weaker, more conventional B-story, this book is definitely worth your $12.95.

Rated 18+ Mature.

Plot summary from the publisher’s website:

Kento Kumagaya wishes for just one simple thing: to have a happy family with the ideal housewife, loving kids, and kind grandparents all living together, happily ever after. Life, however, has other plans. Enter Akira Kazuki, a smart, beautiful and unrestrained gay man who shatters Kento’s dream with a single night of wild and passionate homosexual sex. This is a romantic, sweet and funny story between two different people (in more ways than one) who unexpectedly find the same future together.

So I picked up this book because it has an excellent reputation for being great yaoi storytelling and I’m pleased to say it didn’t disappoint. Yes, I might be hating on the second story a bit in my summaries up above, but that’s mainly because it pales in comparison to the first story. (And, like other “brother” yaoi stories I’ve read, it felt like it failed to live up to the potential of its provocative set-up. That said, unlike Brother which used the sibling relationship as purely fetish, Kunieda-sensei mostly uses it as a vehicle for a type of sweet protector-innocent dynamic which is actually far more compelling.)

The first story, “Memories of the Future”, starts out with a straight-guy seduction scene which certainly has the feel of traditional yaoi — the guy is swept away with the gay passion nearly immediately which as we know from (very NSFW!) amateur porn ain’t really how such things happen. (It actually takes more than a few great kisses to overcome years of internalized homophobia.) But that nod to convention aside, from a gay male perspective, these characters felt quite real to me as did their sex and romance. The openly gay character, Akira, utters the occasional self-loathing statement such as “A gay man like me can’t even dream of a normal family” but such bitter words make sense based on who he is and what he’s experienced and I never felt like they expressed the author’s personal view.

Also, as I said above, the women and girls in this book, while being secondary characters, don’t get short shrift. Kento’s “girlfriend” Yukie, while only seen in a few scenes, is nobody’s fool; his grandmother is as wise as we’d expect for her years — even the high-school student “rival” is at least as put together and level-headed as our heroes while still having an independent and vulnerable emotional life. It’s refreshing to find female characters in yaoi who are more than obstacles or set-dressing, but rather feel like real people.

Finally, I found the creator’s little “Assorted Ramblings” comic at the end to be charming and funny. She apologizes to the reader for her “shortcomings” in Boys Love art — not at all necessary, of course — and then goes on to discuss the challenges of drawing pubic hair and underwear. Cute! Despite her “inexperience” in the Boys Love genre, she seems very likable. That little peek into her psychology alone makes me want to read more of her work.

All in all, this book is definitely one of the good ones and thus joins Little Butterfly, Rin and Seduce Me After the Show as yaoi books I would recommend without hesitation. If you haven’t already read it, it should be the next book on your list.

(Other reviews of Future Lovers: Deb Aoki over at About.com is less charmed than I was by the first story, but still finds it to be fairly solid and superior to the second story. Julie over at Manga Maniac Cafe loved the book [but gives some spoilers in her review]. Kuriosity’s Lissa Pattillo, writing for Comic Village, found the book “refreshing” and a “pleasant surprise” and especially liked the humor and pacing [and she does an excellent job of explaining what's great about the art]. Finally, Melinda Beasi writing for There It Is, Plain As Daylight blog, finds Future Lovers to be “one of the most engagingly natural boys’ love stories I’ve read” and offers some nice insights into the characters.)

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Learn More!

• Want to read about other guy-on-guy romance comics? Click on over to our list of Reviews!
• Looking to see how Japanese gay male creators depict hot man-on-man sex? Take a look at How To Find Bara In English!
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So, things are coming together nicely for the release of our next free comic, the 35 page gay teen romance-and-rescue story, “Tough”.

And now I have something very exciting to show you. As I’ve mentioned before, “Tough” is the first chapter in a two volume, seven chapter graphic novel also called Tough (it gets its title from this first chapter). We’ve been working hard on it and it should be ready for download shortly. Well, in the meantime, our artist Winona Nelson has just finished painting the cover art for the book and here it is! (Click on it for a larger view.)

Now, I asked Winona to create an image with our heroes combining the themes of “romance” and “danger” with the specific plot elements of the first chapter and I think she did a fantastic job. Totally nailed it.

(And I especially like the fact that there are layers of meaning to it — at first you see the kissing, and then you see the dangerous shadows and then you see that one of the boys himself (Mike) is also carrying a bat!)

IMHO, it’s intriguing and beautiful, just like a book cover should be… (I’m of course biased, but if I saw a book on the shelf in a bookstore with Winona’s art on it, I’d definitely pick it up and give it a look!)

Having this artwork finished also marks the first time we have an actual item for sale. (Woo hoo!) If you like this painting, you can get a very high-quality print (poster) made of it over at Imagekind. (A perfect way to show off your love of yaoi and style up your crib!)

While there are more flashy sites out there, the thing I like about Imagekind is that in addition to having the best quality paper and printing in the business, they also have very high quality framing. (I’ve bought four prints from them framed, and Imagekind’s framing was superior to what I got here in San Francisco for my other prints.) So, even though I have this art up with other places for sale, Imagekind is the printer I’d recommend if you’d like a really beautiful, very high-quality print for your wall (and especially if you’d like it nicely framed). In addition, they offer a 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee — which also earns my respect.

And another nice thing about Imagekind is that you have the option of getting a “greeting card” of the print where you can actually resize the art — and thus focus directly in on the boys kissing. For just $4.99, greeting cards are the easiest, most affordable way to own this art.

EDIT: And now, due to popular demand, we’ve created a version of the art with just the kissing — for those who want to focus on the romance without any distractions. You can find that image here:

If mousepads, mugs and postcards are more your thing, we also have a Zazzle store. And Zazzle goes out of their way to make things easy to find and buy on their site with all the bells and whistles an independent creator like me could want. Just check out their crazy flash panel:

You can pretty much get anything you can think of made into a product with your art at Zazzle. Personally, I want the skateboard!

Anyway, that’s the latest on the Yaoi 911 comics front. I hope you like what you see. If you have a moment, please let me know in the comments what you think of Winona’s work!

Hey! Wondering what happens in this story? No problem — we’ll be giving away this comic for free! (When it’s done, that is!) Want to make sure you get the free download links to this comic when it’s finished? Well, it’s easy! Just fill out the form on the Free Comics page and the link will be sent right to you!

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Learn More!

• Curious about the first comic we finished (and that we’re also giving away for free)? Then read all about our boys and sorcery story, “A Shot in the Dark”!
• Wondering why the heck I’m making a yaoi book? Check out Why This Gay Man Is Creating Yaoi!
• Want to read about other creators’ yaoi? Take a look at our in-depth Yaoi Reviews!
• Interested in creating your own manga? Start with How to Write a Full Comic Book Script and How to Find the Perfect Yaoi Artist for your Graphic Novel!