Hey, Class President! vol. 1

Review by Kris

For any yaoi reader you know that when you have an all-boys school there is going to be hooking up. In Kaori Monchi-sensei’s Hey, Class President! there is plenty of sex to go around.

Kokusai and Chiga have been in the Judo club together but recently Kokusai has been elected as class president. It seems that the school’s tradition in to elect the most wanted guy. And that guy is Kokusai. Kokusai gets to select his vice president and that lucky soul is Chiga. Chiga doesn’t understand why on earth anyone would want to elect Kokusai as the class president. He’s slow and clueless to things that are going on around him. He’s a stalker and pervert magnet and he’s always being groped by strangers on the train. Now that Chiga is in the picture he keeps creeps at bay. Chiga is a known womanizer and never has a shortage of girlfriends but since he can’t seem leave Kokusai alone he finds himself attracted to Kokusai as well. What will happen to these two?

With Hey, Class President! I’ve found it hard to explain the plot of the story because I don’t really understand what is going on. Not only do you have the things going on in the school and the dealings with Kokusai and Chiga but you also have other things going on outside of school. There seems to be a stalker making the rounds in Kokusai’s neighborhood and actually has set his sights on Kokusai. Since this is the first of four volumes we won’t find out who the stalker is for a while. One thing I have figured out is Monchi-sensei writes whatever she wants regardless of whether it makes sense or not.

Right now I don’t know if I like the series. The story is kind of all over the place and doesn’t make sense in some places but that might clear up as the series goes on. The art is definitely unique and you can tell immediately that it is Monchi-sensei. The sex is hot and plentiful towards the end (you get a lot more in the second volume.) And I must say that this has one of the longest self loving scenes I have ever read in a manga. Dang!

With this being an 801 Media release you know the smut factor is going to be high and with this one it is definitely smutty. I like 801’s productions values. The books are about the same size as the Japanese originals and they always include a full color cover sheet. One thing I really liked was the font choices. Normally I take it for granted, but when the font is off it really pulls you out of the story. 801 (and DMP in general) always do an amazing job on their translation, cleanup, and design.

Do I recommend this title? Well… it’s still early in the series. Since it doesn’t make much sense to me right now doesn’t mean I’m ready to give it up (besides being obsessive/compulsive like I am once I start something I finish I have to see it through.) So let’s all give this a chance, cool?

Black Sun

Review by Kris

Gerun Fortress – home to 200 Monastic Knights is on the verge of falling to the enemy, 20,000 Middle Eastern soldiers under General Jamal Jan. To save the lives of his men Prince Leonard de Limbourg offers himself to Jamal as a prisoner of war to spare the lives of his men. Jamal takes him up on the offer but forces himself on Leonard and rapes him in front of all his men as punishment. As they travel from Gerun Fortress back to the capital city Jamal uses this opportunity to continue forcing himself on Leonard and pounding him into oblivion.

Once they arrive to the palace and even though Leonard is a prisoner, Jamal seems to treat Leonard as though they were lovers. Leonard won’t have any of that and wants to humiliate Jamal in front of his own men. To no avail, Jamal doesn’t seem to be embarrassed while being paraded down the hall completely naked and with a hard-on. As time passes, however, it seems that the more time Leonard spends with Jamal he falls in love (Stockholm Syndrome anyone?). Trouble seems to be waiting for Leonard and Jamal in the form of the former commander at Gerun, and the Sultan of the Kingdom that they are in (there isn’t any mention a city).

Black Sun is quite the porny manga. If you like extreme detail in everything this might be something you would enjoy. The story (or lack thereof) leaves much to be desired. I found the raping a little hard to swallow (fangirls, get your minds out of the gutter). I know that this is a common plot point – the whole falling for your tormentor, but I still have a very hard time with it. The story consists of embarrassment, rape, torment, and sex and very little else. I realize that the Crusades were a black mark in history and this could be a really great setting for an amazing story, but it seems that Ogasawara-sensei failed to grasp it. The only thing I truly enjoyed was the extra story called “My Elegant Day.” It’s a brief story told from the point of view of a black panther that lives in the palace. It was quite humorous.

The art on the other hand is truly amazing. The characters are all gorgeous even the old Sultan. Everything was drawn with exquisite detail both background, costumes, everything. When I mean everything is drawn in detail I mean EVERYTHING! There is little censoring of the images so don’t be shocked in detailed penises. Not much shocks me anymore, but I did find myself taken aback by the in your face nature of it.

This is 801 Media’s first dust jacketless release. It is still beautiful but by removing the dust jacket where are they going to put the 801-chan comic? Even though there isn’t a dust jacket the price is still $15.95. I now feel like the price is a bit of a gyp, but I guess because they take big risks when it comes to licensing I’ll overlook it, for now. If the quality continues I won’t have a problem. But if they allow the quality to fall and continue to charge the higher price I’ll have a few choice words to say about it.

I can’t say I recommend this title. Even though the art is beyond fantastic the story really drags it down. You make the decision if you want to read this title but you can’t blame me if you don’t like it, I warned you!

Review by Linda Yau

Falling Into Love is a collection of four stories by Takashi Kanzaki. The author is also the creator for Love+Alpha, His Arrogance, and Heavenly Body, which Kris has written an earlier review for.

The first story in this collection is the title story, and this covers two chapters. Hisashi is a new model, who has entered the modeling world as an amateur. Ever since he has seen him in high school, Hiashi has a pre-existing admiration for the modeling agency’s top model Tomohito. He surely did not expect for Tomohito to come onto him, and their relationship begins from there. Now the only issue is, does Tomohito even love him, or is more focused on his younger brother and having Hisashi only as a casual lover?

The second story is titled Prepare Yourself, and the couple in this story is Katsuki and Nakaba who work as detectives in Nakaba’s father’s agency. They are undercover as tutors in their current assignment. Katsuki has been abused by his older brother years earlier, and now confronted with the client’s father, will this dreg up more painful memories of his past?

I Want To Be With You is the third story about high school student Taichi, and his uncle who he affectionately calls Kyou-nii. In reality though, they are lovers and Taichi feels that he must grow up faster in order of being with the one he is in love with. Nearly all the male characters in the story, seem to be attracted to Kyou-nii, leaving Taichi pretty jealous.

Love’s Recommendation is the fourth story and is about Kayama and Atsumu. They are both classmates, and striving to enter medical school. An issue though is Atsumu’s jealousy toward Kayama, who is the genius and definitely following his family’s footsteps, a shoe in for medical school. Now Kayama has said that he loves Atsumu, and what will happen in their relationship?

Falling Into Love, actually has a follow-up story with His Arrogance, continuing with Tomohito’s younger brother. Unfortunately though, I wasn’t fairly too impressed with this collection of stories. I felt that the stories were too rushed, or were incomplete. The third story is actually quite impossible, since familial relationships that closes, would be illegal. I guess the story I liked the most, was the fourth story where there was some minor angst and emotion. There were scenes of sex, and blanked out nudity according to Japan’s censorship laws. Perhaps other readers would have a different reaction than I did, but personally, I felt misled by this book.

One thing I will not find criticism with is the printing quality, 801 has never really disappointed me with the quality they produce, as there is a color page in the beginning.