insaneneko

I did not think Koi ni yottemo written by Hizaki Yuu and illustrated by Kohji Tatsuru is particularly good. I just wanted to share the pretty pic from it. ^^; Basically the book is about a seme who works at a restaurant who keeps picking up from the alley behind the restaurant a customer whose tolerance to alcohol has recently changed and keeps getting rip-roaring drunk and taking him to a place where he can rest in peace. The seme at first has no romantic/sexual interest in the customer, but it wouldn't be a BL novel if things didn't change fast. Too bad it bored me to tears...I don't remember the end. Maybe I didn't finish it. *shrugs*

Other books I read not that long ago:

Sabaku no tsuki ni dakarete written by Itou Yuki and illustrated by Sera is classic Arabian "romance." This kind of story totally drove me nuts because it's not my thing, but judging from the quantity in the market it must be popular. Anyhow, uke works at the Japanese embassy in some small oil-rich Arab country. He is approached for sex by seme, a very rich and powerful prince. I think the seme's "pick-up line" was something like "Come with me." He expects uke to obey (happily) like everyone else who's willingly spread their legs for him....and is shocked when uke turns him down scornfully. He decides he's going to teach uke a lesson and make uke his. He pulls some strings and imprisons the uke. He throws luxury and comfort at uke while forcing him to have sex with him. A lot. You know, lots of sex makes a good uke docile and happy. I think it's pretty obvious where this story is going...there's a bit of a "twist" (such as it is) thrown in because our dear prince is "cursed." The uke makes a credible escape attempt but in the end succumbs to Stockholm Syndrome masking as love. Last but not least, the art's not bad.

Renai Shoumeishou written by Sakiya Haruhi and illustrated by Machiko Madoka is a much better book than the two I talk about above...Too bad it is spoiled by a bad beginning. Basically this is about a nice gay guy and the formerly straight-divorced-father he falls in love with. It's a classic angst-fest fueled by misunderstanding and a complete lack of communication...that didn't have to be this way. The author makes the mistake of starting things off with the uke deciding to end things. He thinks his relationship with seme is some rebound fuck buddy relationship and he can't take it anymore because he's actually in love. The book then goes back and shows the past, of how they met and all that happens. It's all rather sweet, especially since the seme is a devoted father of a really cute kid (I'm such a sucker for that kind of thing). If only it wasn't overshadowed by the angsty beginning of the novel that tells us where all this sweetness is headed for. In any case, uke tries to break things off. This is when seme gets a clue (he's not the most perceptive person in the world) and things work out as expected. I wouldn't even mention this book except that in the second story the seme does such a wonderful romantic declaration of love. A sincere one. It's the kind of thing girls read romance novels for. I also did like all the characters in the book (including the seme's ex-wife, in spite of the fact that she was completely unrealistic). The uke is sweet and cheerful, with a bit of an issue of really showing how he feels due to his not so good past with men. The seme is a bit dopey but well-meaning and kind. He's not stupid or completely dense, but the combination of him and an uke who tends to suppress negative feelings ends up with (at least with this author in this book) in angst-fest. I do like this artist quite a lot, even if she does draw the men a bit too thin at times. She also gets to draw the cute son! She's the same artist who illustrated Kodomo no hitomi, a book with a sweet father-son relationship I adore (and have already squealed about previously). XD

...Saying that, my post has nothing to do with the holiday. Hope everyone in the U.S. is enjoying the odd mid-week day off!!

First some fandom stuff:

Moment by kishmet is a wonderful TezuRyo AU in which Tezuka is a photographer and Ryoma is a model. Ryoma's attitude is in full force here, with Tezuka the resolute guiding force. They clash and slide sideways and end up all jumbled together.

The God of Go Singles Ad by flonnebonne and bookshop is retarded. Shiny, yes, but totally retarded. And cracked.

Then some BL:

Mada ai ni todokanai by Hizaki Yuu and illustrated by Asou Kai is about salarymen Naganuma and Chiya. Naganuma had mentored Chiya from when Naganuma had been a part-time worker in college, and had thought of him as a cute, big puppy. But when Naganuma sees Chiya in a suit, looking all grown up and hot, he is struck by Cupid's arrow. But after much thought he decides that a) they are both guys and b) Chiya is the son of a company president, so there was no future for them even if he said something and Chiya didn't reject him. He will treat Chiya the same as he always had...or try to. Unfortunately, this is a BL novel so things can't be so boring simple. One drunken night one thing leads to another and they kind of fall into a physical relationship. While Chiya insists that he's in love with Naganuma, Naganuma takes the attitude that he'll go along with Chiya to mutually get each other off in the absence of girlfriends. Of course this causes much internal angst, but Naganuma amazingly manages to stick to his story pretty much all the way through. I was pretty impressed at how manly Naganuma was despite the usual torment of unrequited love that makes almost all uke weepy/snivelling and annoying. The story is very straightfoward and very predictable, but because Naganuma and Chiya weren't stupid and weren't forced to act in some grand tragedy by the author I enjoyed reading this. It also didn't hurt that I happen to like the illustrator a lot:

( Two pretty pics )

Another nice aspect is that their physical relationship didn't include anal sex, which seems to be de rigueur in BL. Unfortunately the novel did fall into the typical anal sex = consummation of love convention at the end, but...I didn't say this novel was particularly original, did I? :P

And last but not least, some music. I've been listening to some great stuff lately:

bleu sky by moumoon
This group is produced by Nagao Dai of DAI (Do As Infinity), and in a way the sound reminds me of DAI. Possibly a cross between DAI and YUI? It is...breezy and slightly folksy and terribly addictive. I have got to find more of their music...Check out the music video of their single "Flower" on youtube.

Kiss Goodbye by Wang Lee Hom
Lovely Chinese ballad. As the title suggests, it sounds like a sad song. According to this translation the lyrics are exactly what one would expect. It's just a pretty, pretty pop ballad.

Moi...Lolita by Alizée
She's apparently a successful French singer, the protege of Mylène Farmer? This is the big hit from her first album. Fabulously addictive if too...consciously sexy? ^^;

Invisible Ink by Aimee Mann
The way she sings in this song reminds me of Vienna Teng a little bit. It's a lovely, simple, folksy song. (I didn't make the connection immediately, but I have a fabulous live cover version of Coldplay's "The Scientist" by her. Damn, she kicks ass!)

Hm, looks like I've gone for four different languages and styles. I'd share more but I'm sick of uploading. :P