< Ze Volume 1 (Yaoi) >
< Ze Volume 2 (Yaoi) >
< Naughty But Nice (Yaoi) (Deux) >
< Yokai's Hunger >
< JUNJO ROMANTICA Volume 9 >
< You Will Drown in Love >
Yuki Shimizu,Yuki Shimizu
price:$5.10
801 Media, Inc.
Usually ships in 24 hours customer 's review (A brilliant read!)    
(A good start to a great supernatural yaoi series from the creator of "Love Mode")    
(its ok)  
(Good Begining)    The story in Ze revolves around a number of characters and couples. The first volume starts when Raizou, a good natured student, starts working as the housekeeper for a rich household. It turns out that the members of the family are kotodama users, which means that they can cast spells/ curse people. Basically, using kotodama results in injury, so each user has a non-human `kami-sama', who exists to heal them. I don't really want to say too much about the plot but the story is about the different relationships around Raizou and his own relationship with Kon, a quiet, aloof member of the household.
Yuki Shimizu is definitely one of my favourite yaoi mangakas and I picked this up as big fan of her other work (including Love Mode). If you haven't come across her work before I definitely recommend it!
As with her other work, in Ze, the characters and story have a lot of depth. The artwork is also beautiful. There are quite a lot of characters in the household, which is a bit confusing at first. It took me a while to get into this series but once I got a grip on what was going on and who everyone was, it has just really grown on me. Although not completely explicit, there are a lot of hot, passionate scenes. If nothing else, Yuki Shimizu's work is always a guaranteed hot read!
The overall setup seems similar to Love Mode, in that different chapters/ volumes seem to focus on different couples. (The first two volumes are mainly dedicated to Raizou and Kon.) There are some darker themes but at the same time there are also a lot of light-hearted moments, which makes this an easy, entertaining read overall. In these volumes, Raizou, who is a very sweet, simple guy, especially breaks things up. The story between him and Kon is really moving and cute, I loved it!
Overall, this is a really engaging, hot read, with a lot of depth. If you're looking for something a little bit different, I definitely recommend it!
Ze volume 1 is just the first one out of a fairly long series (volume 7 is already out in Japan). So, it starts fairly slow, with a lot of characters introduced, and is fairly low on "yaoi action". I've already read a few subsequent volumes in the original, and though my Japanese is quite basic, I enjoyed the series quite a lot so far. There's a good reason why 801-Media branch of DMP (which specializes in fairly explicit (M/M) yaoi titles) picked up this series as opposed to their "June" (more "softcore") brand: things really start heating up in the next volumes. My current favorites are volumes 3 and 4, which are fairly hardcore. There's a lot of non-con and rapes between major characters (NOT Raizou and Kon, though) in volume 3, for instance, and there are some strong SM undertones in the relationship between the characters there. Yuki Shimizu does shy away from drawing sex scenes with the "obvious" frontal nudity, but little else is concealed, and her art style is just plain hot and sexy. So, overall, "Ze" is more explicit / "darker" as compared to "Love Mode", in my opinion. Also, the supernatural theme is quite interesting and original (there are no "shapeshifters" in this series, and it IS quite different from "Fruits Basket", for example), and becomes much less confusing with further volumes. So, if volume 1 disappointed you somehow, I do recommend to try further volumes, as it gets more exciting. And if you're hesitating whether to buy it based one somewhat lukewarm previous reviews, go get it! :) "801 Media" did a very good job with this edition (though, alas, no dust jacket after January 2009 for all their titles...): the translation is not awkward, no obvious typos or slips, and there's a color page, as it is usually the case with their books. I'm looking forward to their further publications of this series: volumes 2, and 3 and 4 are scheduled to appear later this year. I dont know what to really say about this one but that it bore me a litle.So many things was placed on the platter , too many characters introduced, I find myself having problem focusing on the plot or plots.There is an attempt to deepen the characters but its not working very weel. It looks like there will be a volume two but volume I does not createl a pull to make me want to read volume II.The idea about human paper dolls are basically shikikami to me. One thing I really liked ,are the illustrations.Their pretty. This book has a very mild to mild moderate sex content.No "parts" are illustrated. "Fruits Basket"??? Did I read the same manga?? I wouldn't say this is like Fruits Basket. There is isn't anything about the Zodiac and shapeshifters in at least the first volume. Raizo is taken on as a housekeeper which is about as close as it gets, again at least in the first volume.
Ze is a series of volumes with volume 1 introducing us to some of the first few. We are introduced to a lot of characters and can be somewhat confusing at first. On re-reading many of the characters are more easily recognizable. It might be helpful to list out who's with whom. The premise behind the series seems interesting, interesting enough for me to read subsequent volumes. The graphic scenes are mostly non-explicit, though there are exposed br**sts. There is some r*ape but not between two of the main characters. If Fruits Baskets was done as a yaoi manga, it might look something like this... Raizo has recently moved into a strange mansion upon the death of his last living relative. Given room and board in exchange for taking over the household chores for the half dozen residents, Raizo slowly comes to realize that the house is hiding some pretty dark secrets. Are his housequests more than what they appear? And will his attraction to the lord and master Kon prove hazardous to his health? Rerations < Ze Volume 1 (Yaoi) >
< Ze Volume 2 (Yaoi) >
< Naughty But Nice (Yaoi) (Deux) >
< Yokai's Hunger >
< JUNJO ROMANTICA Volume 9 >
freaks
< Idol Pleasures (Yaoi) (Deux) >
< Love Machine (Yaoi) (Deux) >
< Part-Time Pets (Yaoi) (Deux) >
< Chocolate Surprise (Yaoi) (Deux) >
< Ze Volume 2 (Yaoi) >
< Kirepapa Volume 1 (Yaoi) (Deux) >
Fuhri Misasagi
price:$2.80
Aurora Publishing
Usually ships in 24 hours customer 's review (Attack of the Tiny Book!)   
(Idol Pleasures)    Okay I'll admit it. I was a little horrified when I got my shipment from Amazon and realized that the book is TINY. Tiny as in short. The story only takes up 155 and then there's a short afterword about the making of the book. Initial shock aside though I enjoyed Idol Pleasures. It's short but it tells a pretty decent story. The characters were cute and Hisaya surprised me more than once. I really liked him. I just wish it had been longer. And maybe had a little bit of sex. I get the feeling the sex scene would have been pretty interesting. As the story goes Koju is the young "cool type" idol and Hisaya is his middle aged manager. In fact, Hisaya is only a manager at all because he was unemployed and his older sister dumps the job on him. Nevertheless Hisaya is a generally cheerful kind of guy and actually manages to befriend Koju, a miracle in and of itself. The befriending quickly turns into romantic interest for Koju but Hisaya repeatedly puts him off. And so goes the story which revolves almost exclusively around their (lack of a) romantic relationship and has very little to do with Koju being an idol. Most of the idol stuff is peripheral. But while doing his managerial duties Hisaya gradually begins to accept the feelings of his young (would be) lover. Actually that's the best part of the book. When Hisaya finally snaps and teases Koju back I nearly dropped the book. I was pleasantly shocked. Otherwise the story kind of hovers around somewhere between decent and really good. Some of the characters are little more than cardboard. There were also a number of things in the character histories that could have been used for great dramatic effect. Hisaya has an ex-wife and daughter as well as a previous job that he quit for largely undisclosed reasons. Koju had an unhappy childhood with a neglectful mother. Unfortunately for the most part the story doesn't touch on these things. It stays more on the light and sweet level which I'm largely okay with. It makes up for it's fluffiness with humor, lots of chibis, and spicing it up every so often with a hint of knock your socks off sexiness by Hisaya. It really is just a shame we don't get to see any real action here. The art in Idol Pleasures isn't the best I've seen but it's pretty good. Not as flowy and natural, it leans a little more towards the stiff side with some sparse backgrounds. The chibis are cute though and give it nice personality. The translation also seems pretty good. I didn't notice anything majorly awkward or any typos so we're good there. This may not be a groundbreaking yaoi but I'll definitely be keeping it on my shelf. Actually it would be nice to get a sequel to Idol Pleasures. There's enough in the story to keep me interested for another round. Besides, I would still like to see Hisaya in action if you know what I mean. Here's hoping. I Loved this book. It's so cute watching Koju hit on and cling to Amagi. Though I think it would have made more sense if instead of his old partner showing up. To have Amagi take a sick day koju show up after work to take care of him and find his ex wife just leaving. you know to add more jelousy and have Koju watch amagi sleep and take over caring for him. Or Since he didn't know amagi's background. Have Amagi take down someone who threated or tryed to attack Koju. In a way everyone else in the studio would be so shocked, scared,and impressed that they'd stop calling him an old man and show him more respect. This book although lacking in sex is a cute,sweet story. That I hope continues and I recomend it. Idol Hands Are The Devil's Playthings? Hisaya Amagi is a mature, older man with a perpetual smile on his face (though strained at times) who wants nothing more than to calmly cruise through life. That is, until his sister harasses him into becoming the manager of popular idol, Koju Yagihashi. Though Hisaya tries his best to maintain his cool mask, he can't escape Koju's advances and longing gaze. Little does Koju realize that the cool, calm and collected Hisaya is a hot, passionate wolf in disguise! Rerations < Idol Pleasures (Yaoi) (Deux) >
< Love Machine (Yaoi) (Deux) >
< Part-Time Pets (Yaoi) (Deux) >
< Chocolate Surprise (Yaoi) (Deux) >
< Ze Volume 2 (Yaoi) >
freaks
< Body Language (Yaoi Novel) >
< Caged Slave (Yaoi Novel) >
< Sleeping With Money (Yaoi Novel) >
< Better Than A Dream (Yaoi Novel) >
< Sweet Admiration (Yaoi Novel) >
< I Want To Be Naughty >
Aki Morimoto,Tsubaki Enomoto
price:$8.95
Digital Manga Publishing
Usually ships in 24 hours customer 's review (Waste of time) 
(Hot and fun)    
(Loved it!)    
(Absolutely hot!)    
(A must read)     I do like yaoi mangas and novels, and I could name some real gems among mangas. The novels on the other hand serve a somewhat lighter, entertaining side, but still they can be judge on their own merits. With that in mind I have found some novels pleasant, other amusing, others sexy. Unfortunatelly, "Body Language" is nowhere there because it's bad. I mean really bad, and I'm explaining why:
Writing style: It was the most lazy, amateur text I have ever read. It felt more like a sketch or notes for an unwritten yet novel than anything else. I am surprised there was a publisher willing to take the risk.
English text/translation: The English text had grammatical mistakes and there were words gone missing, which at points made it difficult to understand what a sentence was supposed to mean.
Story and characters: The supposed story is simply a pretext for sex scenes which lead to more sex scenes, and so on. Nothing wrong with sex scenes in general (they are more than welcomed if they are well-written), only that here we have an endless, boring and much predicted repetition of the same thing over and over again. The description of sex scenes has nothing to do with "sultry", as the back cover inform us, as most of them defy any aspect of aesthetism --or "cuteness" if you want-- with some blunt details that sound at least gross.
The characters are by far the most unrealistic found in this genre -- even for those women readers who want to kill some time off. How a heterosexual (Yuichi) who sleeps with every single female around goes to bed with his best friend (Kanae), makes then a sudden turn and even offer him flowers --red roses, mind you-- is something I cannot fathom. As I can't fathom either, using my logic at least, why Kanae thinks he has more chances to be with Yuich for a long time if he pretends to be the sluttiest of the sluts than admitting he is not.
If you don't care about a little bit of realism in stories and sex of *any* kind is your thing, then buy it. Otherwise, you'd be better off buying some other novel.
I give this novel two stars only for the beautiful illustrations by Tsubaki Enomoto, and nothing else. I'm sure this story could probably had been more interesting in the hands of another writer. No, of course it's not a great literary masterpiece, but it does what it intends to do. It makes you smile a little, pant a little and go awww..... I like how Yuichi goes from being a "player" to a faithful boyfriend. We all can figure out it's because he didn't really like girls in the first place. When he finds the boy of his dreams (Kanae) he becomes the perfect mate. This has the most sex of any yaoi novel I have read to date! The scene in the restroom, the scene on the train(who hasn't wanted to have sex in a busy public place, but be completely unnoticed?), and the scene where Kanae thinks he has been cheated on are hot, hot, hot!! True, no human being could keep up the pace that they do, but it's fun to imagine.... It arrived within the estimated range in good conditions. Plus it was a great book. One of my favorite yaoi novels. Thanks! Personally I thought the book was great. The author catogorized it 'erotica', so naturally the novel is filled with deliciously sexy scenes. And they were HOT! I've never read a more stimulating yaoi novel. You should buy this book. I liked the story and it never got boring! The scenes reminded me of something that you would more daydream about rather than doing. It definitely wasn't realistic but it kept me interested throughout the entire book. The sex scenes were graphic and there was a lot of them, which was good. I really liked the characters too. The translation wasn't too bad either. Kanae is a university student whose "cold beauty" has led people to spread nasty rumors about his promiscuity. In truth, Kanae is a virgin, and is secretly in love with the Don Juan of the campus, Yuuichi. Poor Kanae would do anything to be with Yuuichi, even if it meant a merely sexual relationship with no feelings involved. But when the opportunity arises, can he settle for anything less than love? Rerations < Body Language (Yaoi Novel) >
< Caged Slave (Yaoi Novel) >
< Sleeping With Money (Yaoi Novel) >
< Better Than A Dream (Yaoi Novel) >
< Sweet Admiration (Yaoi Novel) >
freaks
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