Tag Archives: comedy

Daraku Kazouku-ron / Dysfunctional Family Theory by Tsurukame Mayo

Daraku Kazouku-ron / Dysfunctional Family Theory seems tailor-made for fans of Buddy Daddies.

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As it happens, Buddy Daddies was a guilty pleasure of mine. I watched it all in a matter of days. 

The premise of this manga is a bit different, however. In Dysfunctional Family Theory we do have two vaguely degenerate, bisexual-vibing men who end up with a kindergarten-aged girl to care for. However, in this case, they are both named by the deceased mother as maybe baby daddies of said child, Meguru. Apparently, in her will, mom stipulated that the two of them must live together for two months and allow Muguru to decide which of them she wants. There is no cheating with a paternity test, either!  

For some reason, these two men, one of whom is literally in the yakuza and regularly breaks the law, agree to abide by this.

This is one of those premises where I’m like: okay, but it’s a stretch. If I wasn’t already committing to the general ridiculousness of BL, I might mutter about suspenders of disbelief snapping.

Luckily, I’m always up for some kid fic. I have a weakness for it, actually. Which is how I ended up reading all of Bunny Drop (my review makes it clear that I am not cool enough for SOMEONE TO HAVE WARNED ME OFF THE ENDING.)

Anyway, back to Dysfunctional Family Theory. The good news is that this series is short and sweet (there are some sexy times, but the focus of this one is the relationships) being complete in two volumes. Our two mains are Sentaro, the light-haired good guy, and Touma, the dark-haired bad boy. Touma is not just the delinquent type, however. He’s actually mafia-adjacent, having been semi-inducted into a gang family.His bisexual trope seems to be: mostly girls, one guy.  Meanwhile, his polar opposite, Sentaro, is 100% the mom-friend. From the glimpses we get of his backstory as a failed musician, he very much seems like he’s running on mostly guys, one girl. This isn’t explicit, but that’s sort of how they’re portrayed.

I kind of love that we get a bisexual pairing that only works if they are both actually playing/swinging for both teams? Like, both of these men are positive that they could have been the father of this child. And they even argue about it during sex with each other.

It becomes clear, however, that it’s possible that Sentaro ended up dating Ririko (the child’s mom) by accident. Back in the day, he tried to confess to Touma, but he and Ririko were sitting at the table. Naturally, Ririko thought he meant her. So, Sentaro’s been harboring a crush on Touma for a long time. 

I normally side-eye meta moments in manga that are intentionally breaking the fourth wall, but I chuckled out loud at a moment in the first volume where Sentaro stops himself from reliving his traumatic moment. (Interestingly, this does not appear in the fan translation.I wonder why?) Here is another, however.

At any rate, I found this two-volume passably entertaining. The art is good, there is some sex, and the relationship doesn’t try to be too much more than it is. The author seems, in fact, to prefer the two men as bickering parents and that mostly works for me too.That’s much of the humor of Buddy Daddies, too, with the addition of having to show up for school sports days after an assassination. Touma almost has a few moments like that in the second volume, but never played with as much humor.

So, would I recommend it? I mean, it would really depend on your tolerance for stories featuring kids. I didn’t say much about Meguru, but she is sort of hilariously dead eyed and foul-mouthed. 

But, if you like thrown together families that find their way, this might be for you.

Zettai BL ni Naru Sekai VS Zettai BL ni Naranai Koukousei Katsu / A Man Who Defies the World of BL by Konkici

I am prepared to be hated because while I found the send-up of all the Boys’ Love tropes in this to be quite funny, the humor runs on homophobia… at least so far. So, I am hoping for this series to end in a romance for our romance-resistant hero to make up for all the “ew, gay!”

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The premise of this book hooked me immediately. It’s so meta!  Our unnamed hero realizes that he’s in a manga, and not just any manga–a BL (Boys’ Love or yaoi)!  He then goes on to explain that he’s not worried about losing his virginity because he comes from a long line of background characters. He’s a Mr. Average surrounded by stunningly attractive men and strangely indistinct women. 

I will admit that I laughed through much of the manga because Konkici-sensei very much nails all of the various BL romantic cute-meets, highlighting how ridiculous so many of them are. 

It was only when I decided to track down and watch the first episode of the live-action adaptation on Viki that I started to realize the extent to which I was being asked to participate in some fairly obvious homophobia. The manga and the TV series do expect the reader to root for our unnamed hero as he evades hooking-up–and in some cases, actively sets-up his friends to take his place. It lands much softer in the manga, at least for me. There’s a scene where our hero is stuck at an overnight/late night drinking party with people from his college who have secretly hooked-up. There are a lot of late night sexual shenanigans that happen, as they often do in these sorts of things and the protagonist is unable to sleep thanks to all the goings-on. It’s funny!  But, in the television series, the actor demonstrates his inability to sleep by making faces, “ewww” faces and, honestly? Until I watched that, it never occurred to me that the protagonist would be awake because he was disgusted by what happened. I just presumed he’d be mildly annoyed and possibly titillated, in the way that one is when you are accidentally overhearing someone else having sex.

In the TV show, there’s also just generally a stronger impression left with the viewer that gay men are predators that you have to, for instance, protect your younger brother from… 

…which does happen in the manga and now my whole experience with the live-action has completely screwed up my ability to separate it from my feelings about the manga.

I’d say that my first impression was that the manga was written with the nod and a wink of an insider, playfully poking at a genre they read and enjoy. So, you should probably approach this manga the same way and see what you make of it.  For that matter, you’re welcome to watch the TV series and come back and tell me what a humorless old bag I am and that I should learn to lighten up. 

You might be right about me? I will say that I very much DID want to enjoy the Man Who Defies the World of BL. I love the art style and, of course, the author makes some very pointed commentary about what women like to see in BL/yaoi, particularly the feminization of the “uke”–all of which is very worth examining.

So, as usual, here I am at the end of the review being inconclusive. If you are a long time fan of yaoi, you should 100% see if this works for you. 

I think I am, in fact, very likely being overly sensitive, but, you know, I always root for the gays. My queer heart is honestly far more invested in the people our unnamed hero is mocking. It’s just who I am. 

Also fair warning: there is a trans/female presenting character portrayed as a “trap.”

AV Dan’yuu Hajimemashita / Diary of a Male Porn Star by Kaeruno Erefante

I found myself in a comic book shop in Dupont Circle this last weekend and, being the pervert that I am, I ended up looking up AV Dan’yuu Hajimemashita / Diary of a Male Porn Star and then reading the whole thing on my phone over the next couple of days.

To be fair, I would have bought this one, but the bookstore only had volume 3.

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I have a weakness for manga in the autobiography sub- subgenre of slice of life. Like, I’m already so boring that I will read several volumes about a girl who learns to ride a motorcycle. And, maybe you’re thinking, “But, Lyda. This is a manga about the porn industry! It can’t possibly be boring!” I mean, sure, but also there is at least one whole series of panels about filing taxes as a porn star and the trauma our hero has about whether or not his supplemental declared income will tip off his day job that he’s doing some literal hanky-panky on the side. 

Yeah, so this is the second autobiography that I’ve read where the main character draws himself as a frog. I’m sure I am missing some cultural reference. It’s possible that it’s just seen in poor taste to draw yourself as hot and so the mangaka defaults to something sort of lumpy and nondescript. In this case, the mangaka might be making a commentary about his manhood. Kaeru (frog) no (‘s) Erefante (Elephante) would be, “The Frog’s Elephant.” There are several anime (and manga) that use an elephant’s head to represent the boy bits, so I can sort of see what he’s doing here with his nom de plume. Since, as we learn, initially the work he did in the adult video business was actually just his elephant, as it were.

What’s fascinating to me about this manga is that, while there is a lot of very crass, very explicit sex talk, the manga itself isn’t really all that x-rated. It really is a kind of diary, where we learn about the job of being a porn actor.

I actually have a friend who worked in this industry (gay porn, however,) and so I found the weird little mundane details to be absolutely fascinating. Which is probably how I got through some of the more lightly homophobic moments in this. Kaeruno does not like it when his man parts touch another man’s, even when what is happening is that they’re both being serviced by a woman. People have preferences, I guess, and straight people are allowed to be straight.  It’s just that it wouldn’t even have occurred to me to consider until Kaeruno points it out. It’s almost as if “the lady doth protest too much.” Kaeruno also is all very “awhooga” about boobies, too, which occasionally made me roll my eyes. 

Those are the drawbacks, I’d say.

However, if you want to learn about the nitty-gritty details of being a porn star, this is the manga for you. Do I recommend it? Like, I imply above, it’s not exactly sexy. It also isn’t vanilla? It’s somewhere in between titillating and taxes.

I would even say that a surprising amount of the action in this manga isn’t the sexy stuff. It’s about Kaeruno getting to know people in the industry, coming out to his family as a porn star, and trying to balance an office job and his very incidental, random porn gigs. There’s even a subplot or two about the other porn stars he tries dating.

  

This one is definitely isn’t for everyone. It was a little straight for me, but I hung on because I was interested in the day-to-day stuff. It seems to be on-going. So, if you enjoy it, there is quite a bit to read.

Urekko Model to Kaseifu-san / Popular Model and Housekeeper by Origami Chiyoko

I’ve been feeling like it’s been too long since I reviewed anything even mildly juicy, so I went looking for an entertaining yaoi. I don’t know if I found exactly what I was looking for, but there is definitely something distracting in Urekko Model to Kaseifu-san / Popular Model and Housekeeper.

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Fair warning, this manga is a 4 choma/yonkoma. These days, a lot of Westerners seem to believe that yonkoma represent some kind of archetypal Eastern storytelling style (kishotenketsu), and maybe it is, but, for me, this format has always just been “gag comics.” So, I mean, feel free to study this for your masters degree in Creative Writing, but this particular one is also just vaguely funny smut.  

As an aside, seriously. Try to imagine me having a friend of mine who has just been to a workshop about “Writing the Other,” excitedly explaining to me the mysteries of these four beats in “Asian” stories–how mysterious and strange and non-Western they are!!  And me, after listening intently, blinking in confusion and saying to my friend, “Wait. Did you just describe yonkoma to me? Are we talking about manga?” It was a very weird and unsatisfying conversation all around. I think my friend was very disappointed that his highfalutin concepts were also common in “low art,” like manga.

But back to the story at hand. 

Urkeko Model to Kaseifu-san is an original webcomic about a delightfully simple himbo supermodel named Iori who has the hots for his “uncle-type” housekeeper, Kaoru.

There is not a lot of this scanlated to-date, so the mangaka has not yet fully exhausted the humor to be found in the fact that the housekeeper is really just entirely baffled by Iori–both his interest and his intentions.

The two are an odd couple, in fun ways. 

As the chapters progress, Kaoru ends up agreeing to “date” Iori sort of under the mistaken assumption that he’s been offered an odd and confusing set of “other duties as assigned,” especially since Iori has agreed to pay for this extra time.  So, going forward, many of their interactions are almost lewdly transactional. 

Although, so far, taking money for a date is about as lewd as this yonkoma gets. 

I found it charming, though? 

 I have a fondness for May/December romances and, if, at some point, Kaoru gets into it, so will I. As far as the English scans have gotten, Kaoru still seems entirely clueless. That’s still funny? It’s just not yet terribly hot or even romantic. 

Still, who doesn’t want a rich himbo showering you with both attention AND extra hours of work?

Seihantai na Watashitachi / Pupposites Attract (Vols 1-2) by Natusna Hono

Seihantai na Watashitachi / Pupposites Attract is proof that I can actually enjoy the occasional straight romance.

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I picked Pupposites Attract on a whim at my local library. Admittedly, I judged this one by its cover because it very much reminded me of the cute, clean style of She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat. 

This manga is predicated on the fact that dogs are just cute and the people who are walking them are likely to meet. I mean? It’s difficult to go wrong with this kind of meet-cute

The story also plays up the idea of opposites. Our main heroine, Chiharu Kagura, is a petite, unimposing woman with a giant Rottweiler. Our main hero, Kiyotaka Tsujii,  is an oversized man with a tiny Pomeranian. 

Naturally, he’s a firefighter; she’s an elementary school teacher. 

What is there to say about this, really? The two just keep running into each other until there are reasons to exchange contact information. When last I left the two (at the end of volume 2) they were looking into maybe overnighting at a pet friendly hotel. A secondary romance has been introduced with Kiyotaka’s younger brother, with whom he lives and shares ownership of the little doggo,  and one of the women who work at the inn who has a shiba inu named “aniki,” (the yakuza term for big brother.). 

I think that it’s telling that the mangaka had to already introduce a second romance, given that the stakes are almost nonexistent between Kiyotaka and Chiharu. Like, they are clearly meant for each other. I don’t know HOW they will possibly screw this up. The dogs like each other! It was kind of over, as far as I was concerned, as soon as it was clear that the dogs were into it.

But, honestly? This is about the amount of conflict I am looking for in my reading at the moment. Given that I am an American during… *gestures at politics* …. this nightmare fuel, I’mjust as grateful not to be worrying about the protagonists of a romance manga, you know?

So do I recommend it? Sure, why not? The art is very cute and straightforward in a way that I appreciate. It’s not terribly complex, but neither is it too ‘wispy’ or otherwise distracting. 

You need something light and simple right now? Pupposites Attract might be for you. 

This one does have an official English language release, so feel free to look for it where you might find manga for sale. Otherwise, a link to an online version of the manga can be found in the hyperlink in the first paragraph. 

Manga Updates tells me that there are three volumes of this out in Japan and that the series is ongoing. So, if you get addicted to this, there should be lots more to come. 

Hiroware Koneko to Moto Yakuza / Ex-Yakuza and Stray Kitten by Kamimura Riddle

Long time readers of Mangakast know that I have a weakness for certain things. Yakuza is definitely on that list, but also… cats.

You guys, you guys! Hiroware Koneko to Moto Yakuza / Ex-Yakuza and Stray Kitten has BOTH.

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This manga is a lot of wholesome hilarity. However, I can’t help but feel like Ex-Yakuza and Stray Kitten is what happens when someone reads The Way of the House Husband and thinks: Yes, this, but with CUTE ANIMALS. Because, really, the schtick kind of doesn’t work. Sabu, our titualar stray kitten, spends all of his time misinterpreting Jin, the titular yakuza’s, intentions… based on his face.

And Jin isn’t actually all that scary looking?

I mean, I guess?

I think my problem is that Sabu is, like six months old. Exactly what kind of experience with yakuza could a six-month old kitten have had by this point in its life to make it immediately suspicious whenever Jin says something like “I’ve got the powder!” or “Heh. I guess I’m going to pull out all the stops!” This works when Tetsu says it in Way of the House Husband because we, the reader, are the ones making the assumptions. It… sort of fails (at least for me) here.

This is not to say that the manga isn’t funny or adorable.

It absolutely is!

I was just struck by the fact that I kind of only works because most of the readers are familiar with what’s being riffed on. We know this is a nod in the direction of Way of the House Husband. Plus, I mean, it also works because Sabu is, as the kids used to say about a decade ago, tots adorbs.

Ex-Yakuza and Stray Kitten is another one of the manga I nearly picked-up when I was out birthday shopping for myself last month. And, I would say that if what you’re looking for is something relaxing and cute, you should totally read this one. Is it especially groundbreaking? No, no it is not. Is it still funny and heartwarming? Yes, absolutely.

Sometimes we just need simple pleasures. Go ahead, indulge.

Telework Yotabanshi/Home Office Romance by Yamada Kintetsu

When I was at Barnes & Noble for my birthday, I almost picked up Home Office Romance. I didn’t because I had limited myself to two manga and also because I’m never sure about straight people romance. I ended up really liking this one.

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There are a couple of reasons to find this romance charming.

The first is the main character, Nokoru Mitsuhashi, a System’s Engineer. If you have known any engineer of any sort, you’ ve probaby met someone like Mitsuhashi. He’s nerdy to the point where you wonder if he might be on the autistic spectrum. Nerds are my people? Thus, everything about Mitsuhashi is not only familiar to me, but relatable.

Second–and I think this is critical to me really enjoying this romance–Mitsuhashi is confused by the fact he’s being persued by the love interest, Natsu Izumi.

On top of that, she makes all the moves. He’s almost always deeply stunned.

The rest of this one volume story is just a series of nice relationship moments that feel very real. The art here is very cute and suits the story. Again, I’m in such a daze from being the fulltime 24 hour PCA that I’m not actually sure I have a whole lot to say about this manga other than: Good! Comforting! Nice!

In a lot of ways, Home Office Romance is what I look for when I’m in the mood for slice-of-life. I just like seeing people doing whatever it is they do.

Apparently. a lot of people like this mangaka’s other manga Sweat & Soap quite a lot. I read the description and… I’m less convinced? But, perhaps I’ll check it out someday.

Hirayasumi by Shinzou Keigo

I had a conversation today with a friend who likes to complain that her life is boring. She claims she’s not bored by life, but that no one would want to know about the mundane things she gets up to on a day-to-day basis. I listened, but said plainly, “My friend, let me introduce you to slice-of-life manga….”

I love stories like the one in Hirayasumi. This story, at its core, is about people just trying to figure out how to live their lives.

That’s it.

And I DEVOURED everything I could find of it.

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Hiroto Ikuta is a Freeter and is, honestly, living his best life.

Freeter is a Japanese slang term which Wikipedia describes as someone between the ages of 18 to 34 who is unemployed, underemployed, or otherwise lacks a full-time job. In a different manga, this would be Hiroto’s main conflict and source of angst.

Nah.

Hiroto loves his “meaningless” life. Or, at least, it doesn’t usually bring him down. He is more comfortable than most people would be working as little as he does, in part, because he inherited a house from the neighborhood granny.

Hiroto’s eighteen year old cousin, Natsumi, comes to live with him while she’s attending Tokyo’s premiere art school (while, of course, harboring secret dreams to write manga.) It’s through Natsumi and various flashbacks to his time with ‘granny,’ that we slowly learn things abut Hiroto beyond his generally sunny disposition.

We discover, for instance, that Hiroto walked away from a budding career as an actor. Just as he was starting to get more serious roles, he became disenchanted with the constant drive towards very specific kinds of success.

Now-a-days, he just wants to be happy and make other people happy.

Except he’s turning thirty.

Hiroto has a number of birthdays in the 69 chapters that are currently online at the time of this review. Its never explicitly stated that’s why his life starts changing in subtle ways, but there is a gentle background hum of “am I living without regrets?” for all the characters we interact with in this story. There is a real estate agent who is wondering if she’s missing out by not being married. There’s all of Natsumi’s college friends who are trying to figure out how to have adult friends and relationships and wondering if art is really their calling. There’s Hiroto’s best friend who discovers he’s about to be a new dad. All of them, even what we see in flashbacks of granny, have this quiet… it’s not a desperation, but more a longing. They long to know where they belong in the universe.

This sounds much heavier than the manga is. Most of it is about how taking time to enjoy food and look at the world will FEED YOUR SOUL, no matter where your head is at.

The cast of Hirayasumi are just ordinary people going through their ordinary lives. For my friend worrying about her “boring” life, she should know that there are literally hundreds of panels of people making food, hanging out playing video games, washing up, cleaning their houses, and going to work. Everyday stuff.

And, somehow, Shinzou-sensei made me want to live there.

If you like slice-of-life, I recommend this one.

Koisuru Gokudou Onii-san / Mobsters in Love by Origami Chiyoko

This is my weird thing rearing its irresistible head again!

If I didn’t have a very strict policy of reviewing EVERYTHING I read, I would probably keep this dirty secret of mine to myself. But, alas, as it happens, I must report that I found out about Koisuru Gokudou Onii-san / Mobsters in Love today and consumed all of it I could find online in one gulp.

So embarrassing!

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I don’t know what to tell you, gentle reader. I am just a sucker for yakuza in love. I think what it is, is that I love when tough guys are really, REALLY gay.

Five minutes ago, we saw Akihiro, here, punching out someone for not paying up to the Sawatari mob and now he’s almost literally swooning over how suave his boss looks. What’s not to find charming?

There only seven chapters online so far, so all I can say about this one is that is, currently, very sweet. The entire schtick is that Akihiro is gay for his boss, and he needs to try to keep it a secret, unless he wants to die–or, maybe worse in his opinion, lose his favored station as right hand man, number two, in the organization.

The good news is that Akihiro is extremely competent. From the first chapter onwards, we see him arrive in the nick of time to save his boss from an ambush. Usually, however, it’s because he’s got something else on his mind–like, how he doesn’t want the boss thinking that he’s spending his time at hostess bars or, because he’s lookout for rumors spreading about his queerness, he overhears various coups being planned–but the end result is that Akihiro kicks a$$ and takes names.

Which impresses the boss.

Which fuels Akihiro’s fantasies.

There is a whole gamut of these kinds of gay yakuza stories–from serious to comedic–and this one, quite obviously, very clearly leans heavily into the humor of the situation. So far, it is not sexy or hot, except in those few scenes we have from the perspective of Akihiro’s fantasies. Where the scanlations cut off, the Boss is just starting to have an inkling that maybe Akihiro might be a little gay.

In fact, as a lot of these kinds of yaoi do, a RIVAL has been introduced. By chapter 5, Ritsu is introduced–the proto-typical DANGER TWINK. This young man is cute, slim, and damn near in the boss’s lap every time Akihiro turns around. Worse, Ritsu is onto Akihiro. He knows how into the boss Akihiro is and is absolutely willing to blackmail him with that fact.

But there’s a twist!

Turns out that despite how it seems, Ritsu doesn’t really give a rat’s ass if he can score with the boss. The man he really wants in his bed is Akihiro. OF COURSE, this all comes out in a near awkward kiss right outside the boss’s bedroom that gets overseen!

Will our hero and his boss ever get it together? Is there any hope of a threesome!?

It seems we’ll have to wait for the second volume to find out! This one is officially licensed in English, so you should be able to find it wherever fine manga is sold. Please support the mangaka, because we absolutely need more scintillating (and realistic) dialogue like this in the world:

But do I recommend it?

I was both sold and not sold by the art. Like, there are times when Akihiro is the mobster of my dreams, but there are other times when I feel like his rugged beauty is elusive. The boss… decidedly not my type? But, might be yours? I also can not say if this yaoi is going to “pay off,” as it were. Will we ever get more sexy times than the (actually fairly chaste) imagination of Aikhiro? I really don’t know. I mean, if this follows the popular format, we might get actual sex in the half chapter at the very end of the series (which, according to Baka-Updates, will be volume 3). Will it be worth the wait? I do find Akihiro’s antics to be extremely charming, but, as has been noted, I am stupidly soft for these tough doofus men. Weigh that into your decision.

For myself, comedy is often a tough sell. I kind of like yakuza bosses with real angst and lighter humor? But, I don’t know. I could actually see this one as an anime, so it has some real promise as far as I’m concerned.

Regardless! Enjoy responsibly!

Hades-sama no Mujihi na Konin / Lord Hades’s Ruthless Marriage by Yuho Ueji

I’m not normally the type for straight-romance, but the schtick of Hades-sama no Mujihi na Konin / Lord Hades’s Ruthless Marriage is that Hades is really NOT interested in marriage. Unfortunately, that rat b*astard Cupid stuck him right int he forehead with an arrow (as you can see on the cover of the first volume.)

This whole thing is unbelievably stupid, but I have to admit that I enjoyed it anyway.

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Look at this terrifying creature (with a literal pansy on his a$$). A person can suddenly understand everything that’s wrong with Greek and Roman mythology, if you imagine this little f*cker zipping around intentionally causing mischief.

This is basically the plot.

It is a comedic re-imagining of the literally classic story of Hades/Pluto and Kore/Persephone in which neither Hades nor Kore are particularly looking for love, but some little twink sticks his nose in. In this version, Kore is hiding out in Hades in order to escape her meddling mother, Demeter. Hades, having been shot in the head by Cupid, blindfolds himself in order to escape falling in love with the next person he sees. Thinking he’s alone, he removes the blindfold and Kore literally falls into his lap.

Cue: shojo roses and flowers in bloom!

Only, neither of them fall instantly or madly in love immediately, but Hades had requested that anyone who removes the arrow can be granted one wish. Possibly also to be a brat, Kore asks that he take seriously the search for a wife.

This completely bums out our gloomy hero, but a god is good to his word, so the hijinks ensue as Hades’ entertains absolutely all other callers, instead of the one we all know he’s destined for.

I mean, there are three volumes and I will probably stop here, but it’s actually kind of funny, particularly if you are a Greek/Roman mythology fan. I’m always interested to see how different gods get portrayed, and currently I find Poseidon to be the hottest.

Do I recommend? I dunno. I mean, silly is sometimes just what the doctor ordered, so maybe? I waffled about my feelings about the art. Sometimes, it felt too busy for me, but every once and a while I was struck by a hot/nice shot like the one above.

I kind of feel like Cupid’s butt steals every scene it’s in? But, is that worth picking it up? Up to you.