GAY MANGA

Misaki and Usagi have been living together for over a month now, but suddenly a beautiful editor named Aikawa enters the picture, leaving Misaki to question his love for Usagi. pp. 200 #180924

The second instalment of the Junjou Romantica manga franchise brings us the more of the same two couples we first met in volume one. But while the cover once more features Misaki and Usagi-san, a large portion of the book actually focuses on the lives of Hiroki and Nowaki in the Junjou Egoist arc. Plot wise, the stories here run in a parallel that gives symmetry, as each couple face a personal crisis of self, and realise the deepness of their true feelings for one another.

In the case of Misaki, he has now been living with Usami-san, nickname Usagi, for one month. His older brother Akihiko is obviously comfortable with the tutoring in exchange for housework arrangement with his childhood friend that he has made on Misaki’s behalf, and has simply left them to it. For Misaki, however, things are not quite so simple. In close quarters with Usagi everyday, the emotional repercussions of what occurred between them in the first volume just keep escalating. It all comes to a head when a beautiful woman names Aikawa suddenly unlocks the front door and simply walks into the house. She is Usagi’s editor, and she appears to have full run of the house. She bosses Usagi about, and even escorts him to evening dinners and functions. Prior to one such event, Misaki feels a great unease when he witnesses Aikawa straighten Usagi-san’s tie. What is this feeling? Realising he has, as he puts it, gone into jealous virgin girl mode, he once again flies off the handle, at himself this time. Nothing for it, he is a man, and men drink! Yup, this is good beer. Oh, is this Usagi’s shirt? Mmmm…Usagi smell…Misaki discovers that you can’t go on lying to yourself or the other party when you get caught dozing off, lovingly clutching their clothes. But does that mean he is ready to accept these feelings?

This is also the dilemma facing Hiroki. Used to his typhoon-like boyfriend, Nowaki, breezing in and out of his life, he is somewhat bereft when an entire year passes without hearing from him. Refusing to move in case Nowaki decides to appear, Hiroki nonetheless storms to Tokyo’s Narita airport in a rage when he receives a letter informing him that Nowaki is returning to Tokyo after being away for an entire year. WHAT?! He expects to just breeze back in like that? Why the hell did he not mention he was going? What follows is an unforgettable scene whereby Hiroki, in front of hundreds of travellers, walks up to Nowaki, and beats him over the head before storming off in a huff. Even more amazingly, Nowaki doesn’t retaliate, and instead, shows up at his front door wanting to stay. Ugh, it’s no good, it HAS to be Nowaki, and so he lets him in. What ensues is a series of misunderstandings cleared up, new misunderstandings arising, and at last, a showdown between two strong egos that seem to need to clash in order to mingle. Will these two find a middle ground, and understand each other’s way of loving?

Once more mangaka Nakamura Shungiku-sensei brings us two delightfully endearing snapshots of the relationships and personal development of the four protagonists. Misaki is still rather disingenuous, and tends to over think things, but shows some real depth of character when he decides to self examine himself and reassesses his position on relationships. Usagi-san is still the over the top eccentric rich guy, but this time we get to see more of the real Usagi, who tries very hard to consider the feelings of others, even though he refuses to allow that to get in his way THIS time. The way he steps back and takes the time to talk and explain things to Misaki rather than simply bulldozing onwards provides a nice contrast to the impetuous Misaki, and gives this couple with a nicely balanced dynamic. Likewise, here we get to see more of the reactionary Hiroki. Unlike the quiet, going along with things Hiroki we glimpsed during the main Egoist arc of the first volume, we see that reactionary ego that first showed itself when it instigated the events that precipitated the emotional breakdown that led to his first meeting in the park with Nowaki. Indeed, this side of Hiroki is pretty important, as his self absorption causes himself great trauma once more. Not that Nowaki is without fault, as his own breezy approach to life and own ego stirs up quite a bit of the storm too. Here we discover insight into his own deep seated insecurities that trigger his unusual behaviours and the resulting fall out from his absence. I found myself shaking my head at these couples a bit, and more than once laughing at some of the silly trivialities that they get hung up on. This did not stop me rooting for them however, as they are simply terribly suited to one another, so one keeps wanting them to get things sorted.

For those not in the know though, I will point out that this is not a sweet little story with just words, anxious glances, and hand holding. This is yaoi, shonen-ai (male-male pairings) with sex. It is very much an adult’s romance novel, and because of this, Tokyopop’s BLU imprint places a Mature rating upon the cover