This manga tears down so many barriers I didn't even realise I'd when I read. Usually I don't go for manga with this style, but I decided to try on a whim and it doesn't disappoint!

The "ambiguous feelings" category is right though, romance isn't the focus in this, but that's why I like it even more. In fact, because of this, I get to enjoy the growth of the characters, the flow of the story, and how the rivalship/friendship blossom and take centre in it.

Even a person who knows nothing about bike racing would come to love the story, especially with how the characters are written— they sure do love racing and it's potrayed beautifully!

Anyone looking for typical shounen ai, or even yaoi will have to skip this one. It's more a slice of life with a racing theme. Personally i liked the plot, but it did frustrated me a bit that the romance was murky even at the end.

This is nowhere near your typical BL because the guys are too boyish for the story to be even remotely romantic. If it hadn't been for the first chapter and a couple of other scenes here and there, Yarouze would easily have qualified as slash shoujo.

If you're expecting dramatic love confessions or something, don't read this - you'll only be disappointed and give it a low rating. Though there are three very slashy pairs (Kusanagi and Fuwa, Kusanagi's brother and Jin Kouga, the company president Ekuni and his secretary) - none of them are canon. In fact, this is the only BL I've ever read which eventually made me forget it was supposed to be a guy x guy romance (nice!)

As for lifeincircuit's complaint about the lack of an actual pairing; I personally find it more believable this way. Because, no matter what Fuwa says or thinks it's obvious that he isn't gay (or even bisexual); his thought processes are weird in that he seems to think if he likes someone, he must want to sleep with them too...and it's what he's been doing for heaven knows how long. This is what we seem him skirting around in the first couple of chapters; and Kusanagi, with his canonically stated complete disinterest in romance, puts up with it only because he's determined to keep Fuwa with him (this makes better sense in context).
But I love how at the end of chapter 2, Kusanagi decides he wanted to be Fuwa's partner -- not his experimental subject, and Fuwa decides he'd rather have a friend than a toy.

His one-track-minded obsession with motorcycle racing is what I love about Kusanagi, and what sets him apart from the protagonists of most shounen-ai manga. It makes him so much cuter than the so-called 'cute' boys you find in all those other BL, because his is a cuteness that doesn't feel forced for the sake of gaining the "Kyaaa factor", as I call it.

The plot is good, and not at all typical. And yes - it actually has a plot. Quite a novel concept considering how 99% of the manga in this genre focus solely on the sappy, mushy romance between two utterly unrealistic depictions of teenage boys (who don't behave like any boys I've ever seen). Not so this one. Each character has something interesting about him; and save for the ambiguous sexuality issue that lifeincircuit mentioned, they have very fun personalities.

I love the way Ishihara Satoru does both "good boy" and "bad boy" characters and actually manages to pull it off without making the good boy an annoying, whiny brat or the bad boy a hateful bas***d. It isn't something most mangaka can do, believe me.

In short - a very funny, very tough manga with plenty of grit. The jokes tend to veer off towards the trashy yaoi region every so often, but if you can put up with that, this is one of those rare shounen-ai manga which is actually worth reading twice. I even found myself wishing that it had been longer. If this was het romance instead of almost-BL, it could've gotten at least ten volumes or so. (But in that case, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much...)

A little hint to would-be readers; take note of the English translation of the title. Kusanagi's last line on the last page of chapter 10 will have a better impact on you if you do. (And no, it isn't anything perverted -- I don't believe the Japanese context carries that kind of meaning at all; it refers to aiming towards achieving some kind of goal with spirit and determination)

... Last updated on December 4th, 2011, 9:27pm

Good story, good characters, just barely shounen-ai. I would have liked at least...something. I wasn't looking for hardcore yaoi action(quite the opposite, actually), but it's kind of one of those "everyone is just a little bit gay" worlds. Meh. I don't regret reading through the whole thing, but I was a little let down that no one ever *really* gets past close friendship.

Yarouze! is one of those few-and-far-between BL manga with a wonderfully boyish feel to it. Ishihara Satoru is probably quite the tomboy herself (if her freetalks are any indication), so it doesn't surprise me that she seems to know exactly how to write a shounen-ai which feels like a romance between two guys and not between a guy and a girl trapped in a male body.

That being said, there's very little romance in this story. No proclamations of undying devotion after having known each other for two days; no "I love you! Please don't leave me!"s; and no annoying, clingy, whiny boys who behave like lovestruck 12-year-old girls. What's not to like?

Another great thing (and from what I've seen of this mangaka's works, it's her field of expertise) is the characters. Kusanagi is the kind of focused, unwaveringly ambitious boy who is difficult - if not impossible - to find in a BL manga. It really makes him very endearing. Fuwa's evolution from an irresponsible playboy to someone who actually bothers to take life seriously is very nicely done, without the melodrama which usually precedes such personality changes.

A definite positive aspect, at least in my eyes, is how this isn't one of those stories where the 'sports' tag is simply a gimmick that deceives people into reading a cliché school-boy romance under the impression that it somehow has something original to offer. After the first couple of chapters, Yarouze! becomes a motorcycle racing manga with BL undertones - not a BL manga with a motorcycle racing theme that eventually disappears into oblivion and is hardly ever mentioned again. This makes it very much unlike standard sports BL, in the best possible way.

A note to future readers: don't expect any explicit expressions of affection from Fuwa or Kusanagi (especially the latter), but I do recommend paying attention to the little things: in Yarouze, actions (not sexual actions, though, so take your mind out of the gutter ^_^) speak louder than words.

... Last updated on March 1st, 2015, 6:23am