Tag: Translated

Books

Book 679: Our Dining Table – Mita Ori

Geoff W

This is another great introduction into manga in that it’s easy to follow the reverse (for western readers) style of reading any type of book. The lack of explicit sex and (often internalized) homophobia also make this more appealing to western audiences that might not necessarily want to read/see something that explicit.

I think I’m narrowing in on a type of yaoi that I enjoy reading. This is a lot like Go for it, Nakamura!, in that there’s a purity around 95% of it. It’s so stinking adorable and this is definitely one of those books where you read a page/panel and put the book to your chest and sigh with a goofy grin on your face.

Continue reading “Book 679: Our Dining Table – Mita Ori” →

Books

Book 672: Go for it, Nakamura! – Syundei

Geoff W

Adorable.

I could probably leave it at that, but since this is a blog and not just Twitter, I won’t.

Go for it, Nakamura! is a Japanese manga that’s on quite a few Best LGBT+ manga lists, so I thought I’d give it a try. I honestly wasn’t sure if it was going to be closer to My Brother’s Husband, Vol. 1 and My Brother’s Husband, Vol. 2 or more like Don’t Be Cruel #1 and #2 or #3 and #4. Thankfully, it was more like the latter, with no sex scenes (these are high school kids after all).

Continue reading “Book 672: Go for it, Nakamura! – Syundei” →

ARC, Books

Book 649: A Hero Born (Legends of the Condor Heroes #1) – Jin Yong

Geoff W

I was already thinking about requesting this on NetGalley when I received an email from the publisher, so I thought “why not?”* I might’ve been sucked in by the advertisement that this was the Chinese The Lord of the Rings, but I can neither confirm nor deny that. (It totally was—we all know it.)

I wasn’t sure what to expect going in to the book, I honestly kept putting it off because I assumed it would be way too hard to read. When I started the book to find dozens of pages of prologue, character lists, and historical information I started to get worried this was going to be more tome-like (i.e. Dickens; This was also initially published serially in a Hong Kong newspaper) and less like the martial arts movies that made huge splashes in the late-90s/early-00s in the US (think “Hero”, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, “House of Flying Daggers”, etc.).

Continue reading “Book 649: A Hero Born (Legends of the Condor Heroes #1) – Jin Yong” →

Books

Book 632: My Brother’s Husband, Volume 2 – Gengoroh Tagame

Geoff W

My Brother’s Husband, Volume 2, if possible, is even more perfect than Volume 1. We pick up with the story where Yatchi is continuing to digest what it must be like for LGBTQ+ individuals to come out and not be accepted. He’s internalizing everything and applying it to his own relationship with his daughter.

As Yatchi is doing he comes to the realization that he may not have fully accepted his twin’s sexuality. He finally acknowledges that they grew apart and that it wasn’t Ryoji’s growing distant and physically moving to Canada, but that he became distant with his twin as soon as he came out.

Continue reading “Book 632: My Brother’s Husband, Volume 2 – Gengoroh Tagame” →

Books

Book 631: My Brother’s Husband, Volume 1 – Gengoroh Tagame

Geoff W

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this one with my only previous interaction with Gengoroh Tagame being through the book Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It. Was this going to be a super hot and heavy x-rated story? Was it going to be all about bulges and beefcakes? I mean look at the cover Yaichi and Mike are stacked.

I would’ve read it either way after some of the other super intense definitely x-rated manga I’ve read over the past few years. I was pleasantly surprised that this story is designed less for the erotica fans of Gengoroh Tagame, than for the general population that might like manga but might not understand LGBTQ+ individuals or even be homophobic (which I would’ve known if I read the blurb).

Continue reading “Book 631: My Brother’s Husband, Volume 1 – Gengoroh Tagame” →