Manga Review: Twittering Birds Never Fly, Volume 1, by Kou Yoneda

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: June

Release Date: 2014

Volumes: 6+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. June Manga.

Volume: 2.

 

Goodreads Synopsis:

 

 Yashiro is the young leader of Shinseikai and the president of the Shinseikai Enterprise, but like so many powerful men, he leads a double life as a deviant and a masochist. Chikara Doumeki comes to work as a bodyguard for him and, although Yashiro had decided that he would never lay a hand on his own men, he finds there's something about Doumeki that he can't resist. Yashiro makes advances toward Doumeki, but Doumeki has mysterious reasons for denying.

Yashiro, who abuses his power just to abuse himself, and Doumeki, who faithfully obeys his every command, begin the tumultuous affair of two men with songs in their hearts and no wings to fly.

 

Review:

 

Yashiro is in charge of this chain of yakuza, and while he's stoic and strict, he's also a masochist and likes toying with people. When Doumeki comes to work for him as a bodyguard, Yashiro starts playing with him, taunting to see if he can do things with him, which mainly ends up being in the exhibitionist sense.

I've liked some of the things I've read by Kou Yoneda in the past, so I was really hoping to like this. But yakuza type stories aren't really to my interest. And then, the way that the characters all seem to stay distant and never show any emotions, doesn't really do anything for me. I'm a little intrigued in where this is going, but I'm not connected with it at all so far.

Manga Review: Storm Flower by Runa Konjiki

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: June/DMP.

Release Date: 2012.

Volumes: 1.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. RightStuf.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Sagano and Hazime Itirou face off at school and in their private lives, where traditions such as flower arranging and tea ceremony carry heavy responsibilities. With the weight of these things and the accompanying dark emotions, love can only com

Review:

This volume follows a boy, scarred from an experience with a woman, and how he slowly overcomes that with someone new in his life.

This was actually pretty good. I appreciated that we got a full story for one couple here, that the main character actually had some serious issues to overcome and got some focus on it. I thought it was portrayed pretty well, actually, and the artwork was pretty good.

Overall a fine one-shot yaoi volume.

Manga Review: Author's Pet by Deathco Cotorino

Rating (Out of 5): ~2

Publisher: June/DMP

Release Date: 2008

Volumes: 1.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

High school student Yuta bumps into a man outside the train station, injuring him. The man's name is Tsubaki Nishijima, occupation novelist. In exchange for crippling his arm, Tsubaki demands Yuta work like a slave every day!

Review:

This volume has several stories in it. The title story is a couple chapters, and it stars a guy who starts ghost writing for an author when he's at fault for the guy getting hurt and unable to write himself. This is a bit dramatic but just okay, as the author ends up taking advantage of the guy, with a rude, cocky attitude.

None of these stories really stood out for me, and the one that did wasn't very good. I didn't really like any of the characters, the story wasn't very well written, and the artwork wasn't very good; it was all a bit one-dimensional.

Manga Review: Return of the Prince by Junko

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: June

Release Date: 2018.

Volumes: 1.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. June Manga.

Goodreads Synopsis:

At his sister's wedding, Satake Kou is reunited with his cousin Fumihiro, who used to be dumb and fat as a child. Now that Fumihiro has transformed into a charismatic prince, Kou is undeniably self-conscious, but has no idea of Fumihiro's high regard toward him since they were little. Fumihiro's admiration has turned into something entirely different now. How will Kou respond to Fumihiro's feelings? Adachi has been friends with Ritsu since they were children. Suddenly, Ritsu starts acting completely different, and the reason for that change seems to be Ritsu's new sempai, a troublesome guy. Adachi slowly realizes that he feels more than just friendship towards Ritsu... but is it too late?

Review:

Seeing this was by Junko, I wanted to pick it up. Not having read any of their yaoi stuff, I was curious. The art was good, as expected. The story was okay.

The first story featured a cousin romance, which I wasn't too keen on. Honestly, none of it was too memorable. I think it was a fun read, but nothing stood out. Decent stories, but nothing more than a kiss in any of the one-shots. That doesn't surprise me too much, either, though, now that I think about it.

Mostly just meh.

Manga Review: Don't Rub Yourself Against My Ass by Sakira

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: June Manga/801

Release Date: October 2016

Volumes: 1.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: June Manga. RightStuf.

Goodreads Synopsis:

DON'T RUB YOURSELF AGAINST MY ASS GN
Ten years ago, Detective Jin saved Anri from a kidnapping. Anri has grown up and wants to show his gratitude to the one person who's ever cared about him in an ass loving way. Featuring heated sexual tensions aroused from a dominating young master and a bara uke detective with some fun time sex toys.
In My Ass Is In Love, Kenji enjoys solo anal masturbation and can't cum without it. One day he's caught by his brother's best friend, Yuta who wants to join in while sporting a massive hard-on. In the Last Trap comes Liz, the innocent flower with a charismatic secret side to him. He may look like a fragile uke but is actually a devilish seme with some hardcore S&M tendencies!

Review:

I was not super impressed with this.

I got it by backing the kickstarter, and I'm glad I did that. The quality of the book is good, and I like that there's a dust cover and a color page. But yaoi books seem very hit or miss with me, so I'm not too surprised.

There's a lot of sexy times, some force and tying up and toys. One of the characters is a bit whiny. I didn't really care for any of the characters, or the plot line, honestly.

It was an okay read, and the artwork was nice. Most of the sex was all right, too, but some of the forcefulness of it seemed a little iffy.