You can blame Anoka County for its promotion of Comics Plus for the in-coming flood of yaoi reviews.
Dirty Darlin’/Don’t Call Me Dirty is a love story between a homeless guy and a liquor store attendant who self-describes as having terrible taste in men. There is a weird amount of plot in this, and so I am not at all surprised that it spawned a spin-off called Daddy Darlin’/Don’t Call Me Daddy.
SPOILERS
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We are introduced to Shouji Mita when some neighborhood kids complain about the fact that the old man who runs the next door candy store is sundowning again, and they can’t rouse him. Being the grumpy but kind-hearted guy Shouji is, he goes over and rings up the kids. All the while he complains that his current lover–a married man–is not answering his calls or texts. Even the five year olds are like, “Dude. You have got to pick better men!”
While everyone is giving Shouji crap, a big hulking homeless guy appears at the door. The homeless guy wants to know what’s the most filing thing he can buy for what looks to me like a five yen coin. Shouji, despite being horrified by how dirty and smelly the man is, not only helps him out with a cup of ramen, but immediately kind of falls for him.
What follows is both pathetic and sweet.
Shouji ends up noticing the homeless man around town, a guy who he thinks is named Hama, around more and more. They get up to a bunch of antics together, some serious–like when Hama is falsely accused of stealing candy bars from the candy story–and some light. Eventually, in a surprise to no one but Shouji, his married man dumps him and then Shouji is faced with untangling his burgeoning feelings towards Hama. Is it true love or is it just pity?
For his part, Hama would mostly just like to be left alone. Also, he seems to have mostly been straight before watching some gay porn after Shouji starts hitting on him.
Hama has, of course, his own tragic backstory of how he ended up on the streets which, by the end, is resolved by the weird amount of plot previously mentioned, specifically the candy store’s old man’s son (who I’m sure is the love interest along with Shouji’s blogging dad in the “Daddy” spin-off.) By the end he has cleaned-up but good and the two end in an HEA.
The manga goes to some length to underscore the metaphor–Shouji has been told by many of his terrible lovers that anal sex, specifically, is unclean and that gayness is “dirty.” Hama, meanwhile, represents the unclean of society in a more literal sense. Both of them are considered dirty, but are actually deserving of our sympathy.
It’s a nice sentiment, if a bit heavy-handed. The manga sort of tries to parse out some issues around homelessness and personal autonomy, but honestly Shouji is so clingy that he basically inserts himself and “saves” Hama, kind of whether or not Hama really wants to be saved.
I enjoyed it. The art is decent and the kids who hang out at the candy store are kind of worth their weight in comedy gold. The story is largely plot-driven and sweet and the only sex we get is implied with the addition of a totally safe-for-work post-coital scene.
Shouji really does have terrible taste in men, however, because it’s clear that even with Hama he hasn’t really figured out how to make anal sex not painful. First of all, my dudes, there are so many more things you can do! Second, go slow! Take your time, stretch things out. No need to go from zero to sixty… or ever! You don’t need to ape the patriarchy, Shouji! Penetrative sex is not the only real sex!! Have sex in a way that is fun and painless for both you and your partner OR FIND A BETTER PARTNER!
/rant
Anyway, the story is complete in one volume. It has been officially translated into English and you should be able to, as I did, find it in your local library or via the Comics Plus app.
