A scholar mentioned this manga in an article, years ago. This manga was also surprisingly popular among some of the gay community for some time. Being unable to read Japanese, I’m grateful to Hotcakes for bringing this to the masses as I could only rely on third-rate translations for a long time.

Nemureru no binan brought back old and painful memories for me when HIV and AIDS exploded in the gay community, during the 1980s and 1990s. It’s dated and pales in comparison to most “lauded masterpieces” but it was extremely realistic in its portrayal of a gay relationship, for its time and still is. For daring to include a topic like HIV/AIDS when the media or even the gay community didn’t even dare to mention it, it was something many could relate to.

To the young lady called Calstine, might I suggest toning down your views? If you really desire free speech but refuse to respect people’s freedom to read and do what they want to while you sneer and launch sermons at people and topics you find undesirable, perhaps you should do some growing up. It’s a free world for everyone else too.

THIS is the kind of BL manga I've always been looking for - realistic, based not in some fantasy world of cookie-cutter ukes and semes and pointless smutty shenanigans, but in a real world where people have to contend with social issues and have to build actual, meaningful lives for themselves.

I also really like the art, although some might consider it dated. I think it really suits the characters and the style of the story-telling, making this manga truly pleasurable to read. The unusual setting (NEW YORK <3) makes this awesome, too.

I highly recommend this. A very rare manga!

Thank you, HotCakes, for scanlating this!

... Last updated on March 4th, 2010, 11:05pm

Oh goodness me! I really like this story. It's very down-to-earth and realistic: no over-drama, no hysterical plays or pretensions at "romance" or at interactions. Also, it feels like the story is building up and the ending feels like it'd be very satisfying and sweet.

This is just standard yaoi and probably worse. Richard and Tomoi fit the classic seme-uke dynamic to a tee, with Richard playing the part of the callous seme and Tomoi playing the emotional-uke role. It also feels riddled with stereotypes (this was written in the 80s by a Japanese woman who lived in Japan, not NYC, and to hammer it home again, it's not bara, i.e., written by a gay and bisexual man).

There is a scene early on where they have a stalker and Tomoi gets stabbed in the stomach -- this is not realistic at all. Then in another scene, Tomoi thinks Richard is cheating and runs out with a fruit knife in his hand (it ends up Richard is just hugging his son). Tomoi has serious issues with Richard's open relationship mentality and Richard implies he's acting like a hysterical woman in regard to infidelity ( Tomoi is valid in wanting a monogamous relationship; the same way Richard is valid in his wants -- it's the way he puts Tomoi down for it and acts like he's crazy for it that's annoying & very to-type of Richard as the 'seme' ). It's all just yaoi manga Drama, with a capital D.

Not only that, the beginning implies Tomoi "develops" homosexuality as a result of his upbringing ( "Thus, my character developed in such a way that I now find it easier to be around men." ) How Tomoi treats his friend Yukihiro is also awful. Tomoi kissed Yukihiro without consent while he was asleep. Tomoi feels zero remorse from this (actually he remembers it fondly). Yukihiro is reasonably put off by him but still polite (not because Tomoi's gay but because, hello? What an effing violating thing to do to someone, especially a friend).

The only thing I can give props to is touching on the topic of HIV/AIDS, but it BARELY addresses it. C'mon, people. How they address it: it's implied one of Richard's former lovers is sick, Richard goes to a brief seminar on HIV/AIDS where it's mentioned those with loose sexual lifestyles are at higher risk of acquisition, Richard's former lovers dies of AIDS, Richard becomes scared of getting AIDS and runs off to Germany, and he suggests Tomoi goes back to Japan (which Tomoi decides to do, mentioning he will continue to harass his friend Yukihiro when he gets back home to take his mind off Richard).

Absolutely not realistic and the high advertising that it is really makes all the bad parts more prominent. This isn't even a good story - the romance isn't believable (Tomoi acts like they had this beautiful grand romance and it's just not that), the pacing is bad, plot threads are everywhere and it's hard to know what to focus on, and then the ending was just bizarre. Again, I appreciate the attempt to talk about HIV/AIDS in a time when everyone wanted to ignore it or cast it as a sin caused by a lack of morality (maybe this is what the author was trying to do when Tomoi equates monogamy and only have one sexual partner with morality -- but...this just makes the manga a bit...homophobic...and in line with mainstream views...I dunno, it's not a well-written manga either.)

... Last updated on May 21st, 2023, 10:34am

My first classic BL, and it does feel..kinda refreshing.

(-)
Too flat. Not slice-of-life enough to be slice-of-life, but the dramatic moments aren't drawn more dramatic.
Some moments make me "eh?", like Rickert's son...I can get the implication, but... still.
The AIDS issue cracked me out. Oh, well; 1982!
Tomoi, while not trapped from current BL conventions...I got the feeling he's made from stereotypes about gay people.

(+)
Probably everything else.

And Tomoi is a totally funny character, despite all his flaws that would make me punch him right in the face if I ever see him.

This is one of those manga that is so flat and dull you're left wondering at the end "Why did I even bother?"
Admittedly, it is about 90% realistic; and lacks the contrived, sugar-coated fake happy endings that plague the BL of today...but honestly, I've never come to appreciate the absence of realism in conventional shounen-ai manga more than when I was reading this.

Nemureru Mori no Binan is not particularly deep or touching - nor is it funny or witty. It resembles a homosexual-themed, much less skilfully-written version of Asano Inio's manga - featuring very believable characters and their 'real adult' life-styles which succeed in doing nothing more than putting me to sleep.
A little surrealism is important for any story; since if fiction was so realistic...well...it wouldn't be fiction anymore, now would it?

And both protagonists are - to put it simply - hateful. Richard is the worst kind of pervert - he thinks cheating on his partner is natural, and feels no remorse whatsoever regarding his actions. When the AIDS issue came to light, my guess is that we were supposed to feel at least slightly sympathetic. But I only found myself thinking; "Serves him right, that slutty ba****d!"

Tomoi, on the other hand, is an arrogant, annoying and thoroughly immature man - making it impossible to feel for him, even in light of the obvious hardships he has been through.

I've encountered characters with much greater flaws than these two (like, say, Nakoshi and Ito from Homunculus) and have understood and appreciated their three-dimensional personalities; but Akisato Wakuni obviously does not possess Yamamoto Hideo's skills as a writer.

If you're looking for a realistic shounen-ai manga that is so much more thoughtful, likable and funny - following the lives of characters you can actually sympathize with and care about, try Kinou Nani Tabeta? Don't waste your time on this.

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^To the the gentleman called kevintheman: I'm "refusing to respect people’s freedom to read and do what they want"? When and how did I do that? I'm criticising the characters in this story and critiquing the mangaka's writing style from my personal point of view -- which is what this section is for. I did not target any real people, consumers of this site or otherwise, except in the general "do/don't read this" sense that everyone else does. You're the one who can't seem to make a comment without casting aspersions on another commenter's views (and character!) in the process. But I apologise if something I wrote inadvertently insulted your lifestyle; that was not my intention.

... Last updated on November 24th, 2015, 7:15am