Part of me wonders if I even have to post a review for this series, as it already seems incredibly popular. It really doesn’t need an extra push from me—the cover and description already seem to be doing the trick. However, there’s no rule on the blog that says we can’t talk about things we love that are already extremely popular, so I’m still gonna go for it anyway.
Kabukicho Cat Honey is a BL manga by writer/artist duo Nekojita Udon and Toriumemaru. This is actually their second book together, their first being My Private Love Actor (プライベート・ラブマイアクター) which is also released by B.Pilz and localized in-house. While it’s hard to say going off just two releases, it would appear the two mostly work together on BL projects, though Toriumemaru has also done some illustrations for a couple BL novel series and is currently working on a horror josei manga.
The story of Kabukicho Cat Honey follows a young man named Haru. Haru works in Shinjuku’s gay district as an escort, and is popular as a specialized top since he’s quite tall. He’s not just popular with the men, though—the hostesses who also frequent the bar his brothel runs out of love him as well, and so one night they invite him along to a host club with them. Haru doesn’t understand host clubs—he doesn’t get the appeal of being lied to with sweet nothings—but is forced to go by his boss since he was invited by paying customers.
There he meets Shinya, the number two host. His first impression of Shinya is that he seems arrogant and far too friendly, but they quickly bond when they realize they have the same phone case of an indie band they both love. Just as Haru lets his guard down, though, Shinya starts asking him about his work as a prostitute—and why he specializes in topping when he’s so obviously the perfect bottom. Lean build, slender hips, slim neck, beautiful face, soft hair—Shinya makes it clear he would gladly ravage Haru and make him squirm.
As I’ve mentioned both on here and on Twitter before, when it comes to whether or not we can fulfill a license request, the best bet is to check if we have a history of licensing from that publisher. If we’re already releasing series by a specific publisher, it already means we have a relationship and contract with them, which makes it significantly easier to request titles. If we don’t have a contract with them, well… we will still gladly request the license, but the chances of obtaining the license can be a lot slimmer for a variety of reasons (some of which I discuss in my post about digital vs. physical publishing). But, this is just to say, there’s a reason we have a lot of content by certain publishers, and little to none by others.
For those who don’t know, you can find the publisher and line on the manga itself via logos on the cover, insert pages near the beginning, or backpage credits at the end. You can also check the description on the product page:
Also, the publisher and publishing line aren’t the same thing. For instance, B.Pilz and Tulle are both separate lines under Brite Publishing, and both aim to provide different content, if only slightly. A more clear-cut example is TAIYOH TOSHO‘s HertZ and Craft lines—HertZ tends to offer more standard, shorter BL stories that can be contained to one or two volumes, whereas Craft tends to run longer, more chaste, plot-driven content. There is some overlap between the lines, of course, but that’s simply because it’s hard to put all stories into clean boxes—one BL might be long and story-driven but very sexual, and vice versa.
Lately, when I’m sending out our licensed projects for translation, one BL publishing line that’s been catching my eye more and more is: KiR Comics! It’s not a rare occasion at all that I’m flipping through something thinking “damn… this is The Good Content…” and I find myself distracted reading the full chapter, get to the backpage, and it’s KiR! A few recent ones (and spoiler on content that’ll be coming later this year ): Dekisokonai no Love Song by Akota, Kyou mo Kimi ga Toutoi by Hiiro (coming soon!), Eye Wink de Korogashite by Akari Hayashi, Ato Mou Sukoshi de Koi na no ni! by Sanma Tarou… the list goes on, really.
KiR’s manga don’t seem to have too strict a theme, but they often tend to be a bit on the lightly gritty, very sexy side—but not always. KiR also tends to host a lot of lesser-known or debuting artists, which is exciting for me personally since I love discovering new BL mangaka to throw myself behind.
The manga I noted before are all things to look forward to in the future, but for now, I was thinking I’d put together a post recommending some of my favorite current KiR releases that you can read in English. Also, this would be a great time to point out that their website actually has an “overseas” section that lists all their books that have been licensed and in what languages! A very nice feature for non-JP readers; thank you, KiR Comics staff!
So without any further ado, my personal five picks that I’ve really loved from KiR Comics!
Blooming cherry blossoms be damned, Japan has been in a rainy mood lately. It’s probably the kind of situation when most people would like to indulge in something uplifting, like a comedy or happy song; but, if you’re anything like me, you prefer to consume media that affirm the rainy season tenfold. That’s sometimes the appeal of sad, dark stories, after all. Which is why this humble purveyor of angst embarked on another exploration through the Renta! catalog, not to find our many cute, sweet, domestic, sexy omegaverse manga, but the stuff that shows people utterly under the thumb of a society governed by biological urges.
Which means of course, here’s a hefty content warning for the most ruthless things omegaverse might offer—if you’re looking for something to scatter the rainclouds rather than darken them, how about Sou’s April Fool’s post?
Kaoru Watanabe’s work was first introduced to me through my job at Renta!, quite early in my career here. When I was first assigned her I Might Be Your Fan, But I’ll Never Fall For you!, my first impression was that her art is incredibly unique and beautiful, but her characters weren’t necessarily to my tastes. However, after starting to read it, I was hooked—their personalities made me fall in love with her characters, and eventually I came to love both them and the storytelling so much that my own tastes didn’t even matter—or more like, my tastes evolved to include “anything by Kaoru Watanabe.” I’ve now read everything by her that I can get my hands on.
Thus, I want to introduce you all to the BL powerhouse that is Kaoru Watanabe.
If I had to sum up the intense appeal of Kaoru Watanabe’s work in one word, it would simply be: “sensuality.” Her stories have a lot of humor to them, and great pacing and comedic timing. But when it comes to the relationships, it’s truly the push and pull of their feelings and biases and fears and desires that truly makes Kaoru Watanabe’s work. This adds a lot of sensuality to her stories, because things tend to move quite slow between her characters—in their relationships, as well as in the bedroom.
It’s not like I have a particular preference for omegaverse. I don’t really go out of my way to find it. It finds me. That’s how I’ve come to review omegaverse works twice on our sweet BLog. So, I guess, why not also tackle one of its many offshoots, the Dom/Sub-verse? I mean, as an afficionado of the darker stories that romance has to offer, clear-cut dom/sub dynamics aren’t just music to my ears, but the additional element of mind-control is the cherry on top of the fucked-up yet oh-so-delicious cake that this trope could be.
So, considering that I recently discovered Fuyu Touji’s“My Bias is a God!?” (coming on English Renta! soon) I decided to explore the Dom/Sub-verse through their previous work, “Pain, Sweet Pain” which has been in my reading list forever. Just as the title implies, this story is both sweet and painful, so join me if you’re down for that.
Spring is just about ready to, uh… spring here in the northern hemisphere, and Japan loooves the season (minus people with allergies… we feel for you ); it’s hard not to get caught up in admiring the cherry blossom trees, wanting to try sakura-flavored EVERYTHING at cafes and restaurants, and enjoying the warm weather.
In Japan, springtime is also associated with transition and new beginnings; students begin the new school year in April, and many job transfers occur around the same time, meaning all the hassle and excitement that comes with moving. There’s also a romantic aspect to the season, with many believing that spring is the season of new love and romantic aspirations
Then, of course, there’s the association with youth and all its lush opportunities. There’s a reason “springtime of our youth” is a popular phrase, and the word for “youth” in Japanese, seishun (青春) even contains the kanji for “spring.”
In the spirit of blooming romance and the riveting trials and tribulations of youth, I’d like to introduce a BL manga that wonderfully showcases the beauty of young love — featuring lovestruck schoolboys who just happen to be pure-hearted delinquents! The lovely cover for this story shows exactly what you’re in for — two hot guys making things even hotter together!
That’s right. We’re talking, once more, about what’s building up to be a masterpiece by author Yanase Seno (stylized in lower case), “Double Beastly Trouble”: the tale of two beast-men joining the military so as to reach the top… and to harass a deeply troubled young man. We’re not too many chapters in so far, be it in Japan or our English release, and yet it’s already sucked me in with its multi-dimensional characters, the developing mysteries around their relationships, and the unassumingly delicate world-building that promises so much more to come.
If my prior mini-rant on this fantastic story left a lot to be desired, come with me to delve even deeper into this tale of military power struggles and hot, but also adorable nekomimi (‘cat’, in this case, ‘beast-eared’) men.
Below be spoilers, so don’t go rummaging like these two >:0
We’re in the heart of winter here in Tokyo, and the days are cold and… wet, with little snow but plenty of rain . What with the cloudy skies and frigid air, I think it’s the perfect weather to snuggle up inside with a cup of hot cocoa (or your beverage of choice) and some good BL. My BL tastes lean towards the feel-good and fuzzy-inducing, so anything on the fluffy side would probably be my go-to for days like these.
One BL artist in particular that comes to mind when I think of soft, comforting, and heartwarming BL is Toworu Miyata — a quickly rising star in the BL manga world, some of whose works have just recently become available in English through Animate International. I couldn’t be happier about this, as I’ve been a fan of theirs for a while myself, and I’m sure there are plenty of readers across the world who will adore Miyata-sensei’s cute and touching manga.
Today I’d like to spotlight two of their works — plus a fun bonus chapter — which are now available in English. Hopefully by the end you’ll understand why I think reading Miyata-sensei’s manga feels like drinking a nice, warm cup of cocoa on a cold day. If fluff is your game, you’re in for a treat!
Today is Valentine’s Day, the day we celebrate romance and relationships—whether our own, or other people’s. For those of us who aren’t in a pair and also don’t have Galentine’s Day plans, one common way to celebrate is to binge rom-coms, and for a lot of us fujoshi the best equivalent is spending the evening reading BL.
So I have one tooth-rottingly sweet BL from the Renta! catalogue to recommend—and it’s about chocolate, so two birds with one stone! Sweet Bitter Sweet is the story of Mashiba, an office worker with an incredibly hectic life. He likes to stave off the doom of his countless hours of overtime with chocolate, and has become somewhat of a chocolate connoisseur. Thus, when he sees a new chocolate shop has opened, he’s desperate to go. After many days of missing his chance due to working past the store’s business hours, he decides to leave work in a “timely” (albeit still quite late) fashion—only for the shop keeper to announce he’s sold out for the day.
But the shopkeeper, Minemura, takes pity on him and invites him in to sample some of the new chocolates he’s been developing. After finding out Mashiba has quite the palate for chocolate (and is very passionate about it due to his workplace circumstances), he asks Mashiba to help him research and develop new products for his store.
As they begin to spend more time together and grow closer, Mashiba finds himself just as interested in Minemura as he is the chocolate—and even begins to fantasize about kissing him, among a meriad of other things. But does a plain, tired, boring salaryman like him have anything to offer a handsome chocolatier?
This is definitely the type of BL that could give you a sugar rush, it’s so absurdly sweet and cute. While Mashiba is silently fretting that Minemura only sees him as a friend and could never possibly be interested in him, poor Minemura is constantly dropping hints about how much he loves spending time with Mashiba and how he’s fallen for him. The reviews seem pretty divided on Minemura’s meddlesome friend Hayasaka, though—some hate him, and some seem to think he added a little extra spice.
The art is clean and crisp and very expressive. I’d also highly recommend this to those who’re fans of the “ordinary guy” type of bottom, since Mashiba is just your everyday tired salaryman. Minemura is definitely the “prettier” of the two, so this is a double-whammy for those who enjoy the plain bottom/hot top combo. The ero scenes are pretty minimal, with the building tension between Mashiba and Minemura taking center stage, but it’s still nothing to wag a finger at.
Overall, a very cute story that encapsulates the sweetness and bitterness of falling in love—the giddiness of looking forward to seeing them, the loneliness when they’re not around, the distress of not knowing how they feeling about you, the comfort and security of requited feelings… all of that makes up the full bundle of love, and this manga conveys it wonderfully.
Anyway, I hope everyone has a nice Valentine’s Day! I know for some it can be a very bittersweet holiday, especially since they’re a lot of social pressure to not spend it alone. But I’ve found it can be the perfect holiday for self-care—treating yourself to your favorite foods, taking a nice long bath, getting cozy in bed, and immersing yourself in the BL you love!
It’s the beginning of February, and you know what this means—it’s the beginning of spring! Uh, wait, no. Or, actually, yes. According to the old lunar calendar in Japan, the 3rd of February (or the 2nd, every four years) marks the separation of Winter and Spring, and is thus called setsubun (節分、”seasonal division”). The next day is officially considered the first day of spring, which is often associated with new beginnings, much as the New Year itself. So Setsubun, as a festival, has a lot to do with cleansing the previous year, to carry on into spring with good fortune.
But there’s also something sinister that happens during this crossing point from one season to the next, and, considering festivals like Walpurgisnacht and such, various cultures seem to agree on this: between seasons, the spirit world approaches our material world, so wandering spirits get too close for comfort. Thus, people had to come up with ways to ward them off.
Setsubun has its origins in the Chinese rituals of tsuina, but it got to its current form during the Muromachi period (1336-1573). Aristocratic households would throw beans into the open air to drive evil spirits out of their home. The practice apparently originates from a legend about a monk on Mt. Kurama, Kyoto (THE hub for a lot of demon legends) that blinded a demon with beans to escape him. The word for bean, “mame” (豆) is pronounced the same way as “demon’s eye” (魔目) and the word is close enough to “mametsu” (魔滅), meaning “destruction of evil”. Hence, the connection between beans and demons.
From the Edo period onward (1603-1867), the practice became a standardized tradition to ward off evil. The ritual is called “mamemaki” (豆まき, bean scattering) and people throw roasted soybeans (fukumame, 福豆, fortune beans) out of the front door. In a somewhat more fun version, the male head of the household will wear an ogre mask and people get to pelt him with beans to drive him out of the house. Either way, people chant “Devils out! Fortune in!” (Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi! 鬼は外! 福は内！) to welcome in good luck, while driving out the ill-intentioned demons. Alternatively, you can join in the festivities at a Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple, where the priests will throw beans at attendees; in the bigger venues, celebrities and sumo wrestlers are invited to join in and the events are televised; and, in Kyoto, the festivities also include dances performed by geisha apprentices.
There are other, less known practices, like tying roasted sardine heads to holly sprigs and affixing them to the gate of a house, in order to scare away the demons; or eating a soybean for each year of one’s life, plus one to count in the good luck of the next year; or, you could eat an over-stuffed, long sushi roll in total silence, while facing in the direction determined to be lucky that year (a custom popularized by convenience stores in recent years.)
(Fun fact, in case you’ve encountered this in your Japanese folk/pop culture content: Watanabe no Tsuna, an imperial retainer, is known for slaying a bunch of powerful demons, so families with the surname Watanabe don’t need to practice the ritual, because it’s believed that demons will instinctually stay away from any mention of that name.)
Okay, the bean-pelting is good and all that, but we cannot talk about Setsubun without talking about the protagonists of this auspicious day: oni. They’re a kind of yokai (evil spirit), demon, orc, ogre, or troll in Japanese folklore, their own species of supernatural being in itself. The traditional depiction of oni is as murderous, man-eating monsters hell-bent on causing humans all sorts of trouble, either through trickery or direct violence. In recent years, that depiction seems to have softened somewhat, with folktales about them performing good deeds spreading, as well as their connection to bringing in good fortune.
These horned supernatural creatures have become mainstay figures of Japanese culture, so, of course, they couldn’t be missing from BL! In honor of Setsubun, here are a few works on the Renta! catalog that are all about spicy demon shenanigans:
After Suoh, a struggling novelist, pawns a tiny box that was a family heirloom, his already poor luck takes a turn for the worse. First he trips, then all the money he got scatters in the wind, then he almost gets hit by a truck only to wake up in a strange old man’s house. Taking pity on him, the old man offers him a place to stay—but it turns out this house holds the same demon who’s been haunting his dream. When Suoh accidentally frees him, the demon Jin is desperate to get his powers back—by “devouring” Suoh’s “lifeforce” AKA drinking his bodily fluids. Thus starts a home life where Suoh is desperately dodging Jin’s attempts to pin him down and jerk him off. However, as Suoh sees more of Jin’s softer side as the demon protects him from all the ghouls lured in my his scent, he finds himself disliking Jin’s advances less and less.
Kurama, a goblin and guardian of the mountain, simply wants to maintain the beauty and peace of his home. One day, he stumbles into the abode of an intimidating gang of demons who have moved to the mountain, and quickly finds out they’re not as scary as they seem. In addition, he is struck by the beauty and kindness of their leader, Hijiri, and falls in love at first sight. But that night, as he’s patrolling the mountain and reveling in the bliss of his newfound crush, he spots his “pure and gorgeous” Hijiri getting railed by another member of his gang. Heartbroken but undeterred, Kurama decides to shoot his shot with the sexy demon, but is Hijiri ready to embrace his feelings…?
(As a personal recommendation note, the demon bottom is basically the BL embodiment of the Big Tiddy Goth GF meme and I cannot get enough of him He wears BLACK NAIL POLISH, I TELL YOU.)
Legendary author of the “Reamed on Livestream” series Merino is back at it again, this time with a new — and very unique — take on the famous Japanese legend of Momotarou, the boy born from a peach. In this BL iteration of the brave children’s story hero, Momotarou is a hedonistic and sadistic playboy who can’t be assed to do much of anything but is extremely horny all the time. Alongside him you’ll also find all the familiar characters from the classic tale, such as Momotarou’s dog, monkey, and pheasant companions, and of course the demons of Demon Island — one of which Momotarou sets his sights on, and proceeds to torture in every kinky way you can imagine. If a tanned tsundere ogre in a tank top and shorts being tied up, humiliated, and ravaged from all directions by the king of DGAF (unless fucking is involved) sounds up your alley, be sure to check it out.
Hot and stylish, this is all about the star-crossed romance between a demon and a human, narrated with tons of sexiness and humor. The Onigami Shrine is dedicated to the worship of demons, who access the physical world through a sacred tree and protect the local human community. Higure, the son of the family tasked with protecting the shrine, is up for a surprise when he turns eighteen, as the sky darkens, thunder booms, and a young demon appears in front of him with a proposal—to make Higure his wife! Well, thing is, Higure does want to get married to Kouen, the demon he had met in childhood and has been in love with ever since, but… not quite the way Kouen had in mind. In an art-style and character designs similar to shonen manga (unsurprisingly, as Yusatona is a huge fan of my own favorite Boku no Hero Academia, if their second Twitter is any proof) , this story is definitely recommended as a first foray into spicy BL; the folklore underlining the plot is an added bonus. All the demons featured are fleshed-out with entertaining personalities, which makes me hope we could see more of them… but the series seems to be at an indefinite hiatus on chapter 3. *sniff* Still, for a quick and easy fix of steamy BL, Yusatona’s human x oni couple’s got you covered.
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A very nice feature for non-JP readers; thank you, KiR Comics staff!
); it’s hard not to get caught up in admiring the cherry blossom trees, wanting to try sakura-flavored EVERYTHING at cafes and restaurants, and enjoying the warm weather.
. What with the cloudy skies and frigid air, I think it’s the perfect weather to snuggle up inside with a cup of hot cocoa (or your beverage of choice) and some good BL. My BL tastes lean towards the feel-good and fuzzy-inducing, so anything on the fluffy side would probably be my go-to for days like these.
He wears BLACK NAIL POLISH, I TELL YOU.)
rentaBLog 