i'm not a huge fan of this mangaka, and this setup is pretty typical. not the worst yaoi, but not one i'm going to keep. adding to manga bookbox.

I'm claiming this from spacedog's Manga/Graphic Novel bookbox. I've enjoyed some of the author's other work, including How to Control a Sidecar, How to Capture a Martini, and the Hero Heel books.

This book pleased me, especially with the bait-and-switch setup: the first chapter is about cousins Yuuichi and Shuu, who've dabbled in a sexual relationship but now are being set against each other by their overbearing grandmother. She's fixated on finding a proper heir from the male line, but the cousins were born to her daughters, and her only son disappeared years before. There's a girl who was fathered by the grandmother's husband, with another woman, and Grandma wants one of the cousins to marry her and combine the bloodlines. But the guys still have eyes for each other...

All this sets up some fun family drama - and then it's resolved with a quick decision on the part of the young woman, taking her out of the equation. The next chapter opens twenty years later, with Grandma still in charge - though of course very old now and quite frail. She still hopes to work out the "proper heir" problem somehow - and now Shuu and Yuuichi turn up with two more potential candidates: young Kaoru, son of the runaway step-daughter, and Ryuugo, son of the long-missing uncle!

Given the nature of the book, it's no surprise that Ryuugo and Kaoru strike sparks, but there's a lot going on behind the scenes - among them, Kaoru being the only-semi-willing sexual partner of one of the family's senior agents, who is not very kind to him. We also learn of the grudge Kaoru has towards the matriarch, and the truth behind Ryuugo's father's disappearance and long separation from the family. Some anguish ensues, but there's more emphasis on finding ways to repair the damage to the clan before Grandmother passes away - and when the secrets come out, it looks as though things might work out after all.

Still later, Ryuugo and Kaoru are living together - but, apparently, not as a couple - and an old threat comes back to put them at risk. Luckily, Ryuugo's not as irresponsible as he likes to pretend...

The final section returns us to Yuuichi and Shuu, still happily together after all that time - though the artist doesn't draw them looking any older than in their first appearance, which is rather a shame. A slightly more realistic look at 45-year-olds in love might have been a nice touch!

I'm putting this book in the manga/graphic novel bookbox, which will be on its way to its next stop soon. Enjoy!

*** Released for the 2017 Keep Them Moving release challenge. ***

Taking out of the box as I kind of like the artwork, except for the super long figures, and there seems to be a good plot behind the yaoi part.

While the older couple Yuuichi and Shuu are mostly just gratuitous sex, the storyline for the second generation, Ryuugo and Kaoru, is not too bad.
And yes I agree - while the artist said it was a challenge to draw a 40-year-old couple, well, I guess those two age incredibly well...
Set aside for the manga box coming soon.

Putting into the bookbox - graphic novels Yaoi

We live the lives we have to,

and sometimes you can throw fate to the wind
and sometimes you just can't.