Chigusa Kawai

Georges is well-liked by everyone at his school. He helps everyone feel at ease, but he also keeps everyone at a distance due to feelings of guilt about the lives his father has ruined. Then a transfer student named Robert arrives and begins shaking everything up. Robert seems determined to dislike Georges, telling him that he knows his purity and perfection are only a mask and that he's going to rip away. Even so, Georges is determined to befriend him, forcing Robert to confront the things show more about his own past that Georges reminds him of.

I only bought this volume because I found volume 2 in a used bookstore clearance section - I didn't realize at the time that they were the first two volumes of an out-of-print 7-volume series. This could have been tragic if I'd read this first volume and loved it, but (thankfully) it was only so-so.

This was melodramatic Catholic schoolboys shouting at each other and having emotions. I'm not sure why the author decided to set things at a Catholic all-boys school rather than just a regular all-boys school. Maybe for extra guilt plus the whole "purity" thing? From the look of things, it might even be set in an alternate universe - in the afterword, the author wrote "The common language spoken in the story world is (supposed to be) Esperanto." My guess is that the author wanted to avoid setting it in a real-world location so as to not have to worry about accuracy as much.

This volume was pretty much nonstop drama. First, Georges met Robert, who seemed to view unmasking Georges' negative side as a personal challenge. Then another transfer student, the son of a duke, arrived, and Georges was made his "official friend" - yet another character determined to provoke Georges into revealing that he isn't as good and kind as he seems. Except he is - his "dark side" is just guilt over the lives his loan shark (?) father ruined. After that, it was back to Georges and Robert, but digging more into Robert's past, which seemed to involve a girl whose death he may have been responsible for and who Georges apparently resembles.

It wasn't boring, but it was a lot. And unfortunately the artwork sometimes made things more confusing than they needed to be. Georges' friend Henri looked an awful lot like Robert - there were a couple times when I thought Georges was walking with Robert when it was actually Henri, and the primary thing that helped me tell the two apart when they shared a scene together was their ties. Henri kept his neat, while Robert's was usually untied.

As far as DMP's "Yaoi Manga" line on the cover goes: If you're looking for steamy BL, you won't find it here. So far there's some tension between Robert and Georges, and Robert kissed him once (which both he and Georges later passed off as nothing). Unfortunately, I tend to prefer sweeter/more romantic BL, and Robert and Georges' interactions have been primarily angry due to whatever baggage Robert is carrying. We'll see if that improves or gets worse in volume 2.

Extras:

The volume has a removable jacket. The cover underneath includes some extra artwork and a one-page extra comic in which one of Freddy's classmates teases him by pulling his hair up in pigtails while he's napping. There's also an 11-page preview of the next volume (which confusingly includes several panels from volume 1 - why??) and a 2-page afterword by the author that includes four character profiles. Georges' age at the start of the volume was apparently 14 while Robert's was 17, which honestly makes Robert look even more like a bully.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

Ever since meeting Robert, Georges has started to open up a little. He's always been friendly but a little unapproachable. While his friend Henri appreciates the changes he's noticing in Georges, it bothers him that Robert was the one to inspire them. Does Georges really view him, Henri, as a true friend, or would he act just as friendly with anyone else?

Next is a story about Georges meeting a boy named Chris who works for a charity. Robert and others warn Georges that the charity Chris show more works for is really a front for a group that's up to no good, but Chris seems like such a nice guy that Georges can't bring himself to doubt him.

After that are two stories still set in the same world, but starring, I think, very minor characters from the main story. Erwin accidentally runs into a girl named Cecile, who becomes convinced that he's her soulmate. The volume wraps up with a story about Erwin's friend Joshua, who has an unrequited crush on the dorm Patron.

I foolishly thought that volume 2 would continue on from where volume 1 left off, but no. Instead of digging more into Robert's baggage and whatever similarities he saw between the girl he knew and Georges, or in any way focusing more on Robert and Georges' interest in each other, a quarter of the volume dealt with Henri, a quarter of the volume with Georges and some entirely new character, and half the volume focused on a completely new set of characters. It's the kind of thing I might have expected to see near the end of this 7-volume series but not in volume 2.

Thankfully, I wasn't particularly attached to the primary story threads introduced in volume 1, but it was still a very confusing way for this series to continue. The best part of the volume was probably Henri's story, which developed his character a little more and showed him struggling with jealousy and hurt over whatever was brewing between Georges and Robert.

Unfortunately, things just went downhill from there. The story with Georges and Chris wasn't necessarily bad but felt like a waste of pages. Chris wasn't being introduced as a new recurring character, so the entire point seemed to be that Robert's automatic cynicism was smarter than Georges' idealism and trust.

As for the story with Cecile and Erwin, I'll grudgingly give the author points for including a prominent female character whose purpose wasn't to be the fujoshi who squealed over the possibility of the two guy characters getting together. However, aside from that I really didn't like her. Her first reaction, when she heard that Erwin and Joshua might be a couple, was disgust. She hurled homophobic insults at them and stormed off, only apologizing after she learned that Erwin really wasn't gay and in fact was a bit interested in her. And even then, she only apologized to Erwin and not Joshua, who was actually gay. Speaking of which, what kind of friend was Erwin, getting together with a girl like Cecile? I wouldn't have blamed Joshua for being hurt and angry at that particular pairing.

The final story wasn't awful in the way I was braced for, but it still wasn't great. Joshua had a crush on the dorm Patron (dorm parent, I guess?), a much older man. The Patron didn't encourage this, thankfully, and was actually completely clueless about Joshua's feelings. Instead of just being a story about a boy struggling with an unrequited crush, however, it turned into an exploration of the roots of that crush.

Spoilers from here on out: basically, Joshua unknowingly connected the Parton's kindness and comfortingly large hand patting his head with memories of his beloved grandfather. Realizing this completely threw Joshua off. Was he really in love with the Patron, or did he just long for comforting adult? I'm not sure he exactly settled on an answer, but one of the conclusions he seemed to come to was that he had a fetish for guys with large hands. The story ended with him deciding to go after a younger guy with large hands, and uhh...okay.

This is the last volume in this series that I own, and that doesn't bug me in the slightest. I won't be continuing on with this series.

Extras:

The volume has a removable jacket. The cover underneath includes some extra artwork and a one-page extra comic in which a bunch of characters freak out after Erwin catches a cold. There's also a 2-page afterword by the author, which includes four more character profiles.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

La Esperanca revolves around a Catholic boys' school. The main character is outwardly very cheerful and inwardly very angsty. The secondary character is anti-social and cynical.

The first volume hints at deep-seated family secrets that cause the boys to act the way they do and it is very prettily drawn. I found the story uninspiring.

This is a really intriguing and cute start to the series. Aristide Lang (aka Alice) has been specially admitted to a prestigious music school. Rumors are swirling around Alice that he's the 101st student -- only 100 students are ever admitted, and Alice has talent but can't even read sheet music! It's a mystery as to how he got in, but it's interesting to find out how along with the challenges he faces.

This is an underdog story set in the musical world. For fans of Nodame Cantabile or for show more someone looking for a comedic fun story, I say give this a try. show less