Koujima-sensei is like a reliable, favourite franchise restaurant: You go in specifically because you know there will be those items on the menu you fancy and you are sure you will be in the atmosphere of comfortable, familiar sensations. And you know these factors will be delivered with reliable consistency.
But if you want something different than what you know Koujima-sensei offers, something that fills you up (a little more explicit or 'meaty' and gives you something to really sink your teeth into, then go and read Saika Kunieda, also an artist I find 'unique' but with a variety of powerful offerings that do not disappoint in final completion. If you know what I mean *winkity wink*
If you have read one of her stories and you enjoyed it - and you are in the mood for a repeat performance, pick this one up!
She likes her embarrassed, flustering and blustering uke. She likes her teasing and spurts-of-anger-inspired-to-action semi-aggressive seme. And she does writes them all with believable and touching -if highly theatrical dramatics- humanity.
I enjoy her sexual tension build up. She's a shining star for scenes of, what I would loosely call, G-rated non-con (in comparison to some genius mangaka's in Yaoidom.) But ultimately that is where I get disappointed. None of the stories by Koujima-sensei that I have read ever truly fill me up completely or in any sort of lasting way. I'm still hungry when I leave, even thought the food was delicious. If there is a need to see her sexual build ups culminate into some clear, completed action, be warned: -also consistently- it will never be realized. But I know that going in and I still open every one of her books with eagerness.
For this particular story, I liked the dynamics of the manipulative, confident younger seme and the -of course- embarrassed and hesitant and guilty (surprisingly older) uke. (He don't look no older, that's the god honest truth.) She does breath a multi-faceted depth into all her characters and they are so vivid and alive with emotion. I think those factors keep me connected to them, even with their similarities across stories. For example, Takafumi may have seemed self-centred in his manipulative manner, but that didn't mean his character played out in a one-dimensional manner. He had other personality components: He really did try to consider the feelings of his love by choosing to do something distasteful to him in order to bargain for something else that he knew was of value to his lover: Silence and secrecy.
Her artwork is very unique and recognizable among mangaka. It's one of those unusual styles that one either is spellbound with, or one really dislikes. I am the former. Sometimes the super-exaggerated drawings make me look at them longer and try to figure out why she choose to do it that way. I believe she is using her 'large-eyed, long-limbed, chunky sort of angles style' as a technique to emphasize what is going on in a scene. Like a hand will be drawn disproportionately large, but it is only because of the significance of the person who is seeing that hand and what it is doing. Or the way she draws her character's lips - they seem to be so pronounced. But I think it lends to the story lines expressively. Initially, I thought her faces and bodies looked awkward in a way, but now that I've read quite a few of her stories, I think it is only because i was comparing her artwork to the predominate BL styles. Now I find her facial features very intriguing and evocative. But again, there are only so many facial expressions she's gonna offer on her set menu.
Note: I believe the main story of our two boys is completely scanlated. On the contents, I noticed there were 3 other titles (not included), which I assume are one shots: "Childhood Friends," "Housemates" and "Kodomo's Talk."

... Last updated on December 8th, 2008, 1:32pm