Japanese title: 愛玩男子ラブグロウアップ Aigan Danshi Love Grow Up
Love is in bloom in over 200 pages of in-your-face beefy man action! The manga follows the many antics of Midori Sasaki, a young man running a greenery store. In addition to selling plants from his small shop, he also delivers to various offices. His business isn’t faring well (understandable, in this economy), so his side gig is offering special “escort services” to rich businessmen to supplement his income.
Things suddenly take an unexpected turn for Midori when his top client, an I.T. CEO named Eiichi Iwasaki, asks him to date his younger brother, Mizuki! Apparently, their parents are pressuring him to date, but none of those dates have been fruitful. Midori’s first encounter with Mizuki leaves much to be desired, with Mizuki insulting his job, life choices and lack of money, but still sleeps with him. Not to spoil too much but the more you read, the more gets revealed about their backgrounds, personalities and how money and social status has shaped each of their views on relationships and intimacy. While I felt like the two clashed like oil and water because of their differing views at first, seeing them eventually develop a close relationship and Ikuyasu’s gorgeous art made it a truly enjoyable story! Ikuyasu is very skilled at drawing buff men, and combined with the characters’ expressive faces, fluid poses, and steamy sex scenes, you are in for a real treat!
Part two follows Yuuma Shiroyama and his budding relationship with Eiichi from part one. Yuuma makes deliveries for his family’s boxed lunch shop. Though diligent and hard-working, his family is in dire straights due to his father’s medical bills. He catches Eiichi’s eye by chance when making a delivery to Eiichi’s office, who immediately accosts him for sex. To Eiichi’s surprise, Yuuma instantly agrees, and without spoiling too much, that initial encounter leads to a truckload of assumptions, misunderstandings and not the happiest of conclusions… at first! They do eventually end up as a couple, but it’s quite the hurdle for them both to overcome.
Another delightful part of this comic is all the little side stories included. Again, I don’t want to spoil the fun, but there’s a lot of six degrees of separation going on, and later you get to find out more about Yuuma’s and Eiichi’s families! Highly recommended if you like a mix of humor, drama, fluff and naughtiness! The characters are the true driving force behind this story and is a testament to how you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Midori seems like a money-hungry, morally grey sex addict, but he has a gentle streak, truly cares for the plants he sells, and struggles with forming meaningful relationships outside of sex. I thought Mizuki would be just another dime-a-dozen rich snob type, but despite his gruffness and extreme lack of tact, his love runs deep.
Eiichi struggles with balancing societal expectations as the eldest son of a prominent family and CEO of his own company, along with being naïve, as he’s lived his entire life never knowing what it’s like to have financial troubles. Yuuma, despite giving off strong innocent and shy vibes, is fiercely independent and stubborn. There are also a few allusions to flowers and plants in describing some of the characters, befitting of the title. I hope you’ll give this a read; it’s well worth your time!
When our campaign team decided to hold a fan-letter campaign in honor of HANASAWA NAMIO’s “The Foxy Mouse’s Romance”, I read it to find out more—and then I threw a curse on my colleague that’s been blessed with preparing it for our website, because damn, do I wish I had his luck.
Writing this review to introduce more and more people to the sheer beauty that is this manga, I’m seriously struggling. There are just no words to describe how perfect it is. All I can think to write is an endless string of squealing. It’s that good.
Omegaverse meets the Food Chain
For the uninitiated, ‘omegaverse’ revolves around the idea of a ‘secondary genre’—omega, alpha, beta—based on as-of-now debunked animal behaviors around mating. Betas are the ordinary majority; alphas are bold, aggressive and at the apex of social hierarchy, while the rare omegas suffer through a phenomenon called ‘heat’ that causes them to exude pheromones that make them sexually irresistible to alphas.
Now, throw humans originating from various animal species that retain predatorial/prey dynamics into that mix and you’ve got HANASAWA-sensei’s “The Foxy Mouse’s Romance.”
It follows the story of Sachio, a mouse omega working as a manga artist in a young men’s magazine, and Ukano, a fox alpha and his editor. The dangers implicit in a mouse omega and a fox alpha having to work together are not lost on either of them, especially Sachio who’s painfully conscious of his place in the bottom of the social ladder—and the food chain. Not only is he a sexual target for the alphas around him, but also actual food for predators—especially to Ukano, as mice constitute a fox’s main meal.
But, while Sachio may have his guard up against his editor, Ukano seems unyieldingly determined to pursue Sachio for love rather than for his stomach.
But first, let’s rant about that world-building
I cannot—cannot—overstate that it’s HANASAWA NAMIO-sensei’s world that stole my heart above all else. There are elements familiar to any reader of omegaverse (pheromone blockers, neck guards, secondary-gender clinics, the concepts of a ‘heat’ and a ‘rut’, etc.) but sensei’s animal-kingdom spin on it elevates everything to a different level.
Laws govern peoples’ animalistic, voracious tendencies. Omega-only spaces offer a safe night out. When someone is in their animal form, humans can understand their words only if their own animal ears are out—and, there are even little cards that state, “I have my ears out because I’m looking after someone, thank you for your understanding” to be worn in public in such cases. Grooming salons cater to one’s animal-form fur. Cab drivers must state their species and secondary gender on an ID card for the safety of their passengers. Diseases and phenomena surrounding the animal families or one’s secondary gender also exist, as do various intricacies surrounding sex between predator and prey.
All of it is proof that this universe exists beyond our two characters. HANASAWA-sensei could easily write other stories featuring this same world; and, on this point, the characters that surround our two protagonists are interesting on their own, too. The treacherous civet could have an extra tidbit, Sachio’s two mangaka friends, Tomo and Momoi, could have their own side-stories; I’m personally intrigued by the head editor of the publishing house.
That’s the beauty of this world; every detail that jumps out of the pages amuses and intrigues, and every panel serves the purpose of delving deeper into it all. Which also brings me to the matter of the art—besides being GORGEOUS, it’s also masterfully used to the utmost to tell this story. The paneling is on point. The expressions are fantastic as it is, but it’s the attention to detail that makes this world and the characters come alive, such as Ukano’s eyes dilating when he gets turned on. Anytime Sachio is hand-held in mouse form, you can almost feel the weight of his tiny, pudgy body in your own palm. The art accompanies the writing and dialogue perfectly, which is what makes this world so believable and the characters so relatable and easy to understand.
From (natural) enemies to lovers
Have you ever tried to sleep, only to end up staring at the ceiling with bloodshot eyes, wondering why the Hell you said x-y-z that one time? Then you’re bound to somewhat relate to our mouse protagonist. Who hasn’t wallowed in negativity at least once?
Though cynical at first glance, Sachio’s core is kindness. Despite a traumatic situation with his college friend Tomo, Sachio had always been willing to forgive him. Similarly, he comes to love Ukano, so even when a dire misunderstanding occurs in ch.4, Sachio is ready not only to forgive him, but also to get closer to him. His negative mind twists everything to take others’ mistakes onto himself, not just because he’s self-deprecating to a fault, but also due to his love for others.
Now is the part where I will do my best to describe Ukano without rambling incomprehensibly. I’ve written in other posts that dark stories and vaguely yandere characters are my forte, and, let me tell you, Ukano strikes a perfect balance between being a normal, loving boyfriend but also having this menacing, darker side to him. His loving devotion to Sachio doesn’t override his ‘foxiness’. The art itself often reminds us of his more devious nature via a grey shadow over his eyes. Sachio, at the start, is constantly on his toes around him, and we see that even others get an uncanny feeling from the wily fox.
But, it’s when we see Ukano’s perspective that we get, in my biased opinion, some of the greatest gems in this story. In a scene that explores what it’s like being a predator in this world, Ukano recalls a time that Sachio, too exhausted to keep his guard up, transformed into a mouse in front of him. Ukano transports him home in a bed made of his handkerchief (so. cute.) and that’s when we get this beautiful internal monologue: “Life is sacred, and I was holding someone’s whole life in my hands. That’s how humbled I felt. At the same time… I thought about how I could crush him easily if I wanted to. The sadist in me reared its ugly head. ‘I want to eat him.’ ‘I want to protect him.’”
Compare this to the time that Tomo surrendered to his wolfish instincts and you’ll see how Ukano shines: he’s deeply aware of his nature, but he understands it’s in his own hand to curb his urges. Just like a quote from a certain anime I love goes, “Taking responsibility for oneself is the basic qualification for being human” and truer words have not been spoken when it comes to this universe of beings teetering between human and animal. The line that divides the two is exactly this capacity for taking responsibility, and Ukano’s always on top of that. Contrariwise, when Tomo and Sachio reunite for the first time, Tomo literally runs away from his responsibilities, forcing Sachio to shoulder the blame for everything instead. Ukano could and would never.
Darkness, more darkness, and fluff
Whether or not I realized it at first, perhaps the thing that personally drew me to this story is that it hits that perfect sweet spot between tooth-rotting sweetness and grim darkness. The art is adorable, the interactions hilarious, the romance is great and the love between our two characters is true, but it all coexists with the bleak implications of an omegaverse world and the danger that one could lose control and literally eat their loved one. And, perhaps the best/realest thing about it is that those dangers don’t magically disappear after Sachio and Ukano become a couple; even if it’s through humor, the reader is constantly reminded of that possibility, just as Sachio and Ukano themselves are.
From the first few pages, the manga doesn’t pull any punches. Starting with a kid-friendly show explaining animal families and secondary genders in a squeaky-clean manner, the story soon contradicts this cheaply manufactured narrative with Sachio’s mother calling to tell him that his mouse omega sister got fired from her part-time job for getting into heat in front of an alpha customer and almost getting assaulted/eaten. Our mouse protagonist himself works as a mangaka because it allows him to stay cooped up at home (mostly), away from danger. And the story continues with various examples of how perilous, inconvenient, and downright unfair it is to be born as a mouse and as an omega.
Nowhere does it get more obvious than in the juxtaposition between our two main characters, not just in their obvious difference in status, but also in their thinking. When Ukano stands up for Sachio and the latter thanks him, Ukano thinks anyone would have done the same, but Sachio corrects him that no one would. ‘Foxiness’ aside, Ukano’s mindset is positive, proactive, that of someone who’s strong and therefore able to act for others without weighing any consequences first; Sachio, on the other hand, has had no other choice but to see the world—and his place in it—in the most negative light, existing as literal prey.
Due to his trauma and negative worldview, Sachio takes the blame and compromises on everything, out of love and the idea that it’s his justifiable place to act that way. While that mindset might seem odd to a lot of readers, it makes sense for Sachio as a character to think so, and it’s very pleasingly contrasted with Ukano’s worldview. “The onus is on me as an alpha.” he tells Tomo, his most direct foil in the narrative. While Sachio surrenders to the possibility that he could be devoured at any given moment (and it would be his fault, according to him), Ukano actively takes steps to ensure that he’d never hurt the one he loves, to embrace that danger and then boldly defy it.
At this point it’s rather obvious that I’m rambling, but I can’t help it because there’s so much I could say about “The Foxy Mouse’s Romance”, even going into every single scene I adore (the horrible misunderstanding in ch.4? The jump in ch.5? the hand-holding heavy with implications in ch.7?? The fur-grooming session in ch.8???). If you enjoy elaborate worlds and multifaceted characters, if you fancy a dose of angst in your fluff, if you love stories about (dangers aside) wholesome couples, please give “The Foxy Mouse’s Romance” a chance. And, while we’re at it, why not show HANASAWA NAMIO-sensei your love through Renta!’s fan-letter campaign? All you need to do is either fill in the form here or tweet using the hashtag #SqueaksForSensei. I’m deliberating on sending something too (after I find out a way to convey my admiration in fewer words than this long blog post).
If you’ve read “The Foxy Mouse’s Romance”, what do you love most about it? What are your thoughts? Favorite character? Join me in rambling about it in the comments!
This title was one I was fortunate enough to encounter when I first started working at Renta!, and I’m glad I did! The art is flat-out gorgeous, for starters. Omoinakaba tends to draw her men extremely fit, and I am very much on board with this choice! This one has left a strong impression on me, and I am excited to share my thoughts with you.
Enter Tokio, an unassuming bellhop at an upscale Tokyo hotel. One day, he and his coworkers get a sudden briefing from their boss about the arrival of a rich oil tycoon, Azam. While Tokio is contemplating the somewhat bizarre instructions on how none of the staff are allowed to be alone with him in closed spaces, Azam and Tokio meet by chance at the hotel’s entrance, where Azam abruptly declares that Tokio will be his “bride!”
The story has a light-hearted and humorous introduction but goes dark very quickly. A warning that it contains scenes of sexual abuse against a child and attempted murder and is not for the faint of heart.
As the story progresses, you discover that Tokio and Azam knew each other as children. Tokio spent part of his youth in an unnamed Middle Eastern country due to his father’s job, where he met and got to know Azam. The scenes with them as children are plain adorable and its heart-breaking as darker events are revealed. Many years have passed, and while Azam clearly remembers their brief time together and is eager to reunite, Tokio has forgotten, causing more tension between them.
One thing I like about Omoinakaba’s works are that her ukes are very much power bottoms, power capital P. You’d think meek looking Tokio would be bottoming here, but it’s the brusque, aloof Azam taking it up the bum! He’s no pushover in bed, though he shies away from kissing early on. Tokio’s no cold fish in bed, either! He’s eager to please and have Azam moaning and writhing in pleasure.
Whereas I generally prefer the softer, fluffier side of BL, this story is just the perfect mix of gorgeous art, humor, drama, intrigue, eroticism and the complications of human emotions. It’s not as simple and clean as “childhood friends reunited as lovers, a few hijinks, happily ever after.” There’s a reason why Azam is so eager to reconnect with Tokio, and why Tokio forgot about their time together (and it’s not because he got amnesia from a head injury). This delves into the more twisted parts of relationships, though the two have very strong chemistry and it’s a delight whenever they’re on the page together.
More eagle-eyed readers might pick up on some quirks, such as Azam’s headdress being slightly off from a traditional ghutra and Azam being drawn holding glasses of champagne. While the story never flat-out states where Azam is from, it’s implied to be Saudi Arabia, due to the style of clothes he wears and his status as an oil tycoon. I chalk it up to typical perceived depictions of Middle Eastern countries in Japanese media and it does not detract from the story. If you’re looking for some BL that tosses most common tropes out the window, look no further! Give this one a try! It’s short but will have you glued to your screen til the end!
Have you ever fallen in love with a fictional character? Chances are, if you’re reading this blog, it’s not so foreign of an idea (I would hope). Hotaru Dies Tomorrow tells the story of a high school student, Saneatsu Asada, whose parents give him a novel he becomes engrossed with; it’s a dreamlike Murakami-esque book about a girl, Hotaru, who could be straight out of a Sylvia Plath novel.
For those who don’t know, 801 can be read as ya-o-i in Japanese so, among the otaku masses, August 1st is known as Yaoi no Hi or Yaoi Day. While the phrase yaoi has mostly outstayed its welcome, slowly shifting over to “BL” even in western fandom as yaoi begins to feel more and more antiquated, it’s still a word with a lasting impact so it still feels fitting that this day be referred to as Yaoi Day.
In honor of this joyous occasion, the four members of Renta!’s BLog team have decided to write small personal snippets about our history with BL, and what BL means to each of us!
Like “the real meaning of Christmas,” but make it BL!
To delve deeper into the history and evolution of BL, the Kadokawa Culture Museum in Saitama is hosting a well-curated exhibition, titled, “BL Evolution: From Pioneers to Global Phenomenon ―Tracing the 50 Year History and Impact of Boys’ Love through Manga, Literature, and Media”. Sou and I decided to brave the one-hour train ride from the Renta! office, to give you a detailed report on what’s up.
The museum, established by the publisher Kadokawa, permanently hosts the Manga and Light Novel Library on its first floor, as well as the impressive Bookshelf Theater on the fourth. Rainy day be damned, the modern shrine on the museum grounds was also worth a visit, especially to get a good-luck charm for keeping deadlines (surely, an invaluable must-have for every mangaka).
The exhibition divides the evolution of BL as a genre into three eras. Numbered hearts with arrows piercing through them point visitors each step of the route, and famous voice actor Toshiyuki Morikawa narrates parts of it in his mellifluous voice.
First comes the ‘June’ era. ‘June’ was a women’s magazine founded in 1978, which focused on stories of male-male romance. It fostered many BL authors who basically pioneered the depiction of homosexual love in manga, preceded in literature by the books of Mari Mori. A timeline of BL publications, anime productions, visual novels, drama CDs, etc. adorns a huge wall, tracing the long history of BL. Across from it, a glass case protects old ‘June’ magazines with covers by BL trailblazer Keiko Takemiya, manuscripts, drama CDs, and even albums by David Bowie or books by Herman Hesse, as a collection of not only artifacts from the history of BL, but also of the manifold media that influenced the genre in its infancy.
Speaking of the great Takemiya-sensei, her gorgeous art serves as the exhibition’s key visual. The exhibition also displays parts of her project Genga’(Dash), which is dedicated to the reproduction of original manga manuscripts. It is led by her, in collaboration with the International Manga Research Center of Kyoto Seika University and the Kyoto International Manga Museum (worth a visit, by the way!). Not gonna lie, seeing manuscripts from the ‘70s, reinvigorated in such a way, made my manga-loving heart giddy right off the bat.
And we were only starting. The exhibition then explains the ‘Yaoi era’. Most BL fans might already be aware, but a refresher never hurts: ‘yaoi’ is an acronym for the phrase “Yama nashi, Ochi nashi, Imi nashi”, a.k.a. “no climax, no punch line, no meaning”. Essentially, it came to refer to manga fanfics (doujinshi), created just for the pleasure of creating itself, without a care for plot, development, art quality, and so on. The first usage of the term is said to be in a doujinshi published in 1979, followed then by the ‘yaoi boom’ of the later 1980s, characterized by the birth of “coupling”/”shipping” of male characters in major shonen manga. Apparently, the first manga to facilitate such a rise in shipping doujinshi was Captain Tsubasa, which the exhibition highlights through maps of Comiket throughout the years (Comic Market = Japan’s biggest convention which caters to doujinshi artists and fans alike), increasingly more and more overcome by Captain Tsubasa doujin artists. This section included everything that I love: a culture of independent artists creating for the fun of it, and shonen manga. Couldn’t ask for much more.
Subsequently, as yaoi culture expanded from Japan to the rest of the world, so did BL culture as a whole. That’s what the third and last section, ‘Blooming BL culture’ focuses on. From the early 1990s, BL manga and novel magazines were launched one after another, Kadokawa established its Ruby Bunko label for aesthetic BL novels, and more and more authors active in both BL and non-BL works made their debut. The exhibition also features examples of just how far broad the reach of BL has become, expanding into a transmedia franchise that’s recognized and followed by people all over the world (otherwise, Renta! and this blog wouldn’t exist!). In this finishing part of the exhibition, there are even posters and trailers of the movie adaptation of the manga “BL Metamorphosis”, about a young girl and old woman forging an unlikely friendship through their shared appreciation for BL. There’s also a huge wall displaying various BL (such as Tamekou-sensei’s ‘Lala’s Married Life’, Nagisa-sensei’s Kabukicho Bad Trip, Sorai-sensei’s Our Not-So-Lonely Planet Travel Guide), in a display of just how big and diverse the genre has evolved to be!
For anyone interested in visiting the exhibition, it’s on from May 20th to July 16th at the Kadokawa Culture Museum, in Saitama. The nearest station is Higashitokorozawa, accessible through the Musashino line. It’s definitely worth the train ride, even through the early June rain!
Welcome to the official BLog of Renta!’s in-house localization team! It’ will be run by four’s run by two members:
Ames. Likes cats, cafes, and mobile games. Tends to like pretty fictional boys, and fluffy cute stories or stupid ero ones. Current favorite BL mangaka are Shikke, Jimi Fumikawa, Coco Aino, and Hakase. Spends free time co-oping in Genshin, and wandering Tokyo.
Sou. Loves memeing and discovering new series to gush about. Enjoys karaoke, anime, doujinshi, cute animals, and cheese. Prefers BL that warms the heart, tickles the funny bone, and/or assaults the tear ducts. A sucker for sweet semes and spicy ukes.
What is EbookRenta!? EbookRenta!, or Renta! for short, is the digital manga publishing branch of PAPYLESS GLOBAL. PAPYLESS was one of the first companies in Japan to publish and popularize ebooks. While the Japanese site is oriented toward general audiences, EbookRenta! is specifically marketed to English-speaking manga fans interested in BL, shojo, and mature romance (commonly known as “TL” in Japan)—though there are also other genres available on the site. If you want to know more about Renta!, please check out our about page on our official site.
Why BL? While we carry a variety of genres on the site, we wanted a space where we can—as fans rather than just employees—recommend and talk about the BL we work on. We also see this is a space to bridge the gap between Japanese and Western BL cultures, introduce people to the process of localization, etc. with BL as the jumping-off point.
What kind of content can we look forward to? This blog will have a a wide variety of content, from collab cafes, con reports, manga reviews, artist showcases, interviews, explainers on Japanese fujoshi culture, and more. If there’s ever any type of post you’d like to see more of, or something you’d like more info on, feel free to let us know.
rentaBLog 