Category Archives: BL

Apricotsushi Reviews: The Man of Tango

When I first saw the cover of Man of Tango, I was sure it had to be bara, or gei comi, a genre of manga distinct from boys’ love (hereafter BL) due to it usually targeting a gay male audience rather than women. The author, Tetuzoh Okadaya, however, is most definitely a woman, and more importantly, she was explicitly approached by an editor to write a BL story, which resulted in The Man of Tango. I’m always excited to see BL that shakes up the genre (that’s what I’m writing my thesis on, after all!), so her unique style combined with her comments about being inspired by bara visionary Gengoroh Tagame had me very excited to see what The Man of Tango had to offer.


The Man of Tango is a one-shot manga about the life of tango aficionado Angie, a man that despite his deep passion for dance has never been able to awaken his true spirit, nor find a life partner. But since this is BL, all that changes when he meets Hiro, a nondescript half-Latin, half-Japanese businessman who soon finds himself drawn in by Angie’s charms. Angie reminds Hiro of his home and youth, but not all of his memories are positive. Hiro soon finds himself opening up to Angie in more ways than one, simultaneously being drawn into the mystical world of tango and gay romance.

First, I have to point out that The Man of Tango does a lot of great things that you don’t see in BL very often. Aside from the love-it-or-hate-it art style, it’s one of the few BL stories I’ve read that prominently features a female character who isn’t being used as a catalyst for disaster between the male couple (usually in the form of a third love interest, jealous ex, etc.). Instead, Angie’s tango partner and roommate Bene is a warm, appealing female supporting character, which is most welcome as a breath of fresh air in the otherwise male-dominated BL genre.

Of course, the other major draw of The Man of Tango is in the subject matter. It’s clear that Tetuzoh Okadaya appreciates the art of tango, and I felt like even I learned something about the art, or at least had a greater appreciation for it, by the end of the story. I also loved the fact that both of the male protagonists are older, with Angie being in his late thirties and even sporting some facial hair (though I suppose you could say that’s a Latin stereotype). The story is also appropriately mature, though it borders on dark, especially when delving into Hiro’s childhood, so those looking for a happy-go-lucky romance may find it too heavy. Personally, however, I really enjoyed the more mature themes.

It’s the fact that The Man of Tango does so much well that makes the areas where it stumbles all the more frustrating. I am never a fan of the “but I’m not gay!” line appearing in BL, but The Man of Tango takes it to an extreme by also having Angie take advantage of Hiro when he is drunk (see above image), making Hiro’s subsequent revelation that he has feelings for Angie and has already engaged in X-rated activities with him not romantic in the least. Not only did Angie’s sexual advances on Hiro when he is inebriated make me dislike him, but Hiro’s constant “I’m not gay, but I like you!” admissions felt especially juvenile when compared to the other issues the story tackles, which made me dislike him, too. So, in the end, while I enjoyed a number of the overarching themes of the story, both male protagonists were obnoxious and the story did not convey the feeling of a great, timeless romance by having a relationship building out of a non-consentual first sexual encounter. I’m not saying that non-consentual sex has no place in a mature storyline, but in this case, it just wasn’t handled in a satisfactory manner (in fact, it wasn’t even regarded as non-consentual by any of the characters).

The Man of Tango may not be for everyone, but I still think it does a lot of interesting things and I hope to see more from Tetuzoh Okadaya in the future. Most importantly, let’s see more older protagonists, mature themes, female side-characters, and interesting art in BL! I just hope we can move past non-consentual sex and “only gay for you” shenanigans sooner rather than later.

Disclaimer: A copy of the manga was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review

No, Thank You!!!: A BL game with bears?!

While I was doing some research for my thesis (yes, really), I stumbled onto a rather interesting upcoming boys love game called No, Thank you!!!. Why is it so interesting, you ask? Behold:

Whoa, there! Who got chest hair and massive pecks in my BL game?! 

Now, please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but the above photo is probably the closest I’ve ever seen any from of BL media come to depicting a bear. And the man in the above image isn’t the only bear-like character in No, Thank You!!!:

These burly manly men are far from what you normally see in BL media, which generally feature lanky, often effeminate “pretty boys,” so who exactly is this game being marketed towards? Well, the official website explicitly states that it is a “boys love adventure game,” and it has been featured in a number of magazines aimed at BL game fans, so we can rule out the possibility of it being an advent-guarde bara game (bara being a term used for media with homosexual characters that is aimed at a male homosexual audience). The men above certainly look like they could’ve been pulled straight out of a bara magazine, though!

Of course, not all of the characters are bears –– the two pictured above are pretty standard BL fare, in my opinion (main protagonist is the one with the black hair), but the game’s’ premise is that all of the characters are actually semes (tops), which are generally considered to be the masculine/dominant men in a BL romantic pairing. This leaves me to wonder if the creators decided to inject a little bara into their BL game, as there are a small number of BL/yaoi fans that like bara, as well. Or, you could argue that perhaps they’re trying to hook in the regular bara-loving crowd. Either way, I love to see different types of characters portrayed in these kind of games!

A funny result of the addition of muscly men into a BL setting is that some more “traditional” fans will likely balk at the sight of body hair. No, Thank You!!! has covered its bases, offering a special “body hair on/off” button that allows players to change the on-screen hair levels instantaneously! How cool (and totally weird) is that? I guess everyone wins… except for some of the men:

source

You can probably tell what’s going on in the above mini-manga (aka 4-koma) without a translation, but in case you’re interested:
Panel one: CUT! “Okay, good job guys!”
Panel two: “Next we’ll do the without-body hair version!” “Okay!”
Panel four: “It––” “It––” “It––” “…was just a dream!”
Bottom: The body hair is up to you.

I’d be really interested hear from both bear/bara fans and BL fans about what they think abou this game! It’s scheduled for a Japanese PC release sometime this spring. If you’re interested in seeing more images/learning more about the game, head to the official site here (be warned, some content on the site is NSFW!).

Note: It’s come to my attention that my first example might be more appropriately be described as a “muscle bear.” I hope no one is offended by how I’ve used the term – I just wanted to point out that these are the most bear-like characters I’ve ever seen in a BL game, whereas bara media depicts characters that could easily be labeled as “bears” all the time.

Call for Localization: Poe no Ichizoku, Kuro Bara Alice

There can never be enough manga in English, so in honor of this week’s vampire Manga Movable Feast, I’ve picked two vampire titles that I’d love to see released out west some day… And yes, they’re both shojo manga!

Poe no Ichizoku (The Poe Clan)
Poe no Ichizoku is an extremely influential manga series by Moto Hagio that was serialized in Japan from 1972-1976. What makes Poe no Ichizoku particularly interesting is how it deals with themes of guilt and love, as there is a very clear love “triangle between” Edgar, Allen, and Edgar’s sister Marybelle, as well as the isolation they face as immortal vampires. The double-negative of this series being nine volumes long and “old” means that it’s likely to be very low on publishers’ lists, but if Fantagraphics can localize Hagio’s Heart of Thomas, then I say someone should give Poe no Ichizoku a shot! I could definitely see this series being on a college course syllabus someday.

If you don’t mind the fact that it’s an academic essay, I highly suggest reading “Everlasting Life, Everlasting loneliness: The Genealogy of The Poe Clan” by Satoko Kan, which can be found in volume 38 of the US-Japan Women’s Journal. 

Kuro Bara Alice (Black Rose Alice)
I was surprised to find that this series is already licensed in France and Germany, so I wonder why an North American publisher hasn’t picked it up yet. Kuro Bara Alice is an ongoing shojo series by Setona Mizushiro, a prolific manga artist who has previously only had her one-volume work X-Day published in English. The overarching premise sounds something like a reverse harem in that an all-male group of vampires, called a “nest,” require a female to give “birth” to their successors. Alice has been selected to be one such female, but she has a choice between one of four of the vampire men to fall in love with… Okay, it does sound a little, hrm, interesting, but it seems to be doing fairly well in Japan, and it looks like a great, more “mature” alternative to the likes of Vampire Knight.

Are there any vampire manga you wish were localized into English? Share them in the comments!

Chic Pixel Holiday Giveaway!

For a bit of a festive treat, I’d like to take the opportunity to thank both the regular frequenters of Chic Pixel and any newcomers for taking the time to read what I have to say by offering a little giveaway contest. I really appreciate any and all comments and just knowing a handful of you read all the way through my posts makes it worthwhile. 

So what am I giving away, you ask?
Since Chic Pixel really is all about my favorite hobbies (namely BL manga and all sorts of popular and lesser-known video games), I thought I’d do things a little differently by offering not one, but two prizes: 
First up is a copy of volume 1 of Crimson Spell, a BL manga by Ayano Yamane! (contains graphic sex, entrants must be over 18)
The second prize pack is for all the Japanese game enthusiasts out there: choose this option and you’ll get a rare Arc Rise Fantasia pin set and an El Shaddai goodie pack, which includes a pin, illustration card, and a sticker! These were scored by my amazingly cool mom at E3 2010 and 2011, and I’m pretty sure you won’t be able to find them for sale anywhere else.
Entry terms: 
  • Leave a comment on this entry stating which prize pack you’d most like to win (entrants are only eligible to win one or the other). Remember to leave a way for me to contact you!
  • For an additional entry, promote this contest and/or my blog via Twitter, Facebook, or however you’d like! Just leave a comment every time you tweet/post about it so I can keep track of your entries! (maximum of 5 additional entries)
  • Contest is open to anyone in the world and closes promptly on Friday, December 9th at 9 pm EST 
Good luck! 

Introduction to Boys’ Love Games

 

I could spend a whole entry (or entries, even) explaining what boys’ love, or BL, is, but for the purpose of keeping things short I’ll provide a simple explanation: BL/yaoi/shonen-ai is a sub-genre of Japanese manga, written by women for women, that focuses on the romantic and often sexual relationships between men. The genre has expanded to games, and since I feel in the mood to talk about BL games (thanks to The Gay Gamer, who inspires many of my posts these days), that’s what I’ll be covering today. This is by no means a definitive guide or anything, I’m just getting things started.

Have you ever heard of the genre of games called “dating simulation”? If you haven’t, it’s because they are virtually non-existent in the west, due to presumed lack of interest, I would believe. They’re very popular in Japan, though, with names like Love Plus for the DS garnering all sorts of international news coverage for spurring some men to do various amusing public proclamations of their love for the game such as marrying their virtual girlfriends.

Well, just as there are dating sims for heterosexual men, so are there dating sims for women (bet you didn’t know that). Not only are there games for girls where you control a female avatar as you try to win over the love of the man of your choice, but there are also games where the main character is male. These are BL games.

Most BL characters could easily be mistaken for girls.

Most BL games are relatively explicit in nature, and are thus limited to PC-only releases due to the strict ratings system for game consoles. Nevertheless, there are a few tame BL games available for consoles, mostly the PS2 and PSP (yes, they still make plenty of PS2 games in Japan).

Perhaps the most popular BL game developer is Nitro+chiral, with titles like Lamento and Togainu no Chi garnering tons of fans in Japan. You can find censored versions of Togainu no Chi on the PSP and PS2, but Lamento (see first image) is too explicit to port, so it remains PC-only.

But never fear! There are, well, two English BL games (I was convinced there were more but as of writing this I did a 30 minute Google search and couldn’t find anything else). Absolute Obedience for the PC is one, and in my opinion, the better-looking of the two. JAST USA, the company behind the localization, is also behind the first BL game commercially available in English, Enzai. Sadly, though the company has since localized quite a number of male-oriented eroge (“erotic games”), these two titles remain the only BL they’ve released so far.

BL games are, on the whole, visual-novel style, meaning you’ll mostly be reading through dialogue and textual descriptions, occasionally being prompted to make a choice, and then for all your efforts you’ll be treated to a number of lovely CGs along the way. Characters are, on the whole, fully-voiced, and voice actors play a significant part in the popularity of the games themselves in Japan. Each game features numerous potential partners for you to choose from, some varying in difficulty as to how tough they’ll be to “get.”

In closing, I’ll confess that I’ve never really played a BL game. Sure, I know a lot about them, and I own the PS2 version of Togainu no Chi, but I haven’t played a significant amount of it. I have played the heterosexual, or otome, counterpart to BL games, where you play a female avatar who is out to find herself a male partner, simply because I quickly tire of visual novels. When I play a game, there is only so much reading I want to do! Otome games are much more interactive, for whatever reason, and offer various stat-maxing options and mini-games to keep you interested enough to play them through until the end. But I’ll save that for another post! Here, have some Togainu no Chi! Let me know who you’d go for if you were to give it a play.

Who would you pick? (image courtesy of NCSX)