Customer Reviews

Brilliant Blue Volume 1 (v. 1)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This one is a lovely surprise. I enjoy the small town setting where everyone knows everyone's business with warm interaction among the characters. As for the 2 guys, they are appealing and likable.

Shouzo feels trapped and opts for the city. Years later responsibility calls and he returns to his hometown to manage his father's construction business. He is resentful but his well intentioned workers and old friends soon won him over especially one past chubby school mate, Nanami who has grown into a pretty guy.

Nanami's character really gets to me. He is simple but with his little surprises, almost child-like, an air-head and not bright when it comes to dealing with people. Yet he is a genius in maths but unable to focus on words and has a flair as an electrician, following in his father's and 2 brothers' footsteps. Nanami could cope with life in his small town where he is loved and protected by family and friends.

But there is a disturbing secret. The story is for most parts enjoyable in its warmth and lightheartedness but when Nanami's plight is revealed it becomes totally absorbing and really tugs at my heart strings. A little spoiler here: I have no problem with seme-uke non-consensus but if it is a 3rd party I get totally irked. More so when the victim in this case is a bit dim witted and the culprit is a manipulative cold creep. Nanami's helplessness and inability to escape as he is manipulated is deeply touching.

The developing bond between Shouzo and Nanami is well done and heartwarming and filled with fun moments. (Shouzo's dream is hilarious). Not to reveal too much but Shouzo to Nanami's rescue is one moving scene yet sadly comical.

This story is a wonderful surprise and I enjoy the lively artwork too. Well done "DMP Doki Doki" and I wait impatiently for more on Shouzo and Nanami.

Saemi Yorita brings us a gently romantic slice of life story to life with characters that feel like neighbours in our hometown. At once familiar, yet not clichéd, she breathes life into the often tired "stupid person gets caught by smart person" scenario so often used in romance manga across the genres. Nanami is far from being an idiot, despite being widely regarded as stupid. Shouzo himself proves this point by tutoring Nanami until he passes his electrician's license. Rather, he is a bit slow to learn some things if written down, but with numbers, diagrams, and hands on things he is more than capable. His gentle naiveté comes from being a smothered youngest child, shielded from life and indulged by his family. Sadly, their belief that this was the right thing to do was reinforced by his lack of academic achievement at school, and his lack of a social life led him to not understand many things before falling into the hands of a predator, as despite his age he was left stranded emotionally in the realm of early adolescence.

The friendship between the two men is touching, with the effects having far reaching consequences as it forces Shouzo into putting down roots he meant to plant elsewhere. Coming to realise that he feels responsibility not only for his family but the friends he has there, Shouzo begins to re-evaluate his life and makes a decision that will set his path in life. As for Nanami, being urged towards greater self responsibility while being supported by his good friend sets the stage for his first steps towards true adulthood and wakening maturity.

While this is categorized as being a Boy's Love title, bar the predatory incident with the visiting business acquaintance, nothing really happens. Life unfolds naturally here, perfectly reflected in the unpretentious art, and as the volume comes to a close, we come to understand that Nanami is awakening in more ways than one. But will he be able to handle what is happening within himself and how will Shouzo and Nanami's family react? Those are left for later, hopefully to be answered in volume two. I look forward to it.

Shouzo Mita is just an average guy. He grew up in a rural area around Kanigawa, Japan. People who grow up in small towns either do one of two things: live there forever or get the heck out as soon as possible. Shouzo did the latter. The small-town boy moved to Tokyo to make his own way in life, managing construction work. Everything is going just fine until he receives a call asking him to return to Kanigawa. His father injured his back and needs Shouzo to manage the family construction business for a while.

Returning home is filled with nostalgia and a little bit of resentment. The town seems to have remained the way he left it, for the most part. Still the same faces, still the same places. Only one thing has drastically changed, and that is an old childhood acquaintance named Nanami. Nanami used to be a pudgy, drab, clumsy boy. Now he's a blonde bishounen (pretty boy) straight out of some girl's romance manga. Personalitywise though, Nanami is till naive, sweet, and constantly hungry.

Shouzo and Nanami instantly reconnect as friends, but when a client returns to Kanigawa, Nanami starts acting differently. At first, Shouzo things Nanami has a secret girlfriend; but he soon discovers that this old associate has been emotionally and sexually abusing Nanami for a long time. Shouzo helps Nanami put an end to it, which ignites a small flame in his heart. The two remain solid friends, but each secretly desires just a little bit more from the other.

Brilliant Blue is a sweet, soft romance that moves slightly faster than a snail's pace. Let's call it turtle's pace. In a way, it's a relief to see a yaoi manga that doesn't instantly define its homosexual characters based on their sexuality. On the other hand, the pacing is too slow to make a solid debut volume. Once the story unveils Nanami's secret relationship, it starts to pick up and make a bit more sense.

So far, this is a fairly "safe" manga, meaning that it's not very explicit (the publisher rates it 16+). At least for now it's not. If anything, it can be a bit immature and cutesy. This may appeal to younger readers, but leaves the more mature ones looking for something a bit more serious. Though if the art style and characters were more serious, would it lose its charm? Hard to say. Overall, Brilliant Blue is far from anything brilliant, but perhaps future volumes will offer quality drama worth reading.

-- Courtney Kraft

First off, Nanami is a guy so if you are not into BL or Yaoi this is not for you. Shouzo returns home after several (7?) years to help out at his father's construction company. He is reluctant about this and for the first part of the manga he continues to think about leaving. He meets up with Nanami whom he hasn't seen in all that time. Nanami does come across as somewhat spacey but he's a genius at math and electronics. Shouzo comes to care about Nanami though I'm not sure how this series is going to play out. I liked this manga and look forward to the continuation.

Just a warning here, I think I would call what happens to Nanami with an associate is non-con because of Nanami's "innocent" nature. There isn't any thing explicit, though you can guess what happened.

Shouzo Mita is thinking of changing jobs when he receives a great offer from an old acquaintance of his. But when Shouzo's father unexpectedly hurts himself, he finds himself going home to help for the month he has before his new jobs starts, as he and his father are actually in the same line of work, both construction managers, just until his father can return to his business. Although some things have remained the same, Shouzo finds that some have changed, and one of those is a boy who works for his dad, a boy that Shouzo went to school with, by the name of Nanami. But back then, Nanami was a chubby little boy, and now - well, now he looks right as if he stepped off the cover of a shojo manga. The trouble is, that Nanami is not exactly the brightest bulb in the box, although he means well. He's just too trusting for his own good.

Synopsis:

Shouzo is uncomfortable with being home again, and he can't wait to be able to leave, to start his new job. But as soon as his dad gets out of the hospital, he overdoes it, not even wearing his back brace, and he ends up right back there again. In the meantime, Shouzo and Nanami are getting to know one another again, renewing their acquaintance. Nanami isn't overly bright, but he's very sweet, even if he's not too ambitious. In talking to him, Shouzo comes to feel that he should be more responsive to his family's needs, so he decides to move back home after all, in order to be a bigger help, giving up his other dreams.

One day, Shouzo finds the lunch which Nanami has forgotten in his haste, so he takes it to the other's home, but he isn't home yet, and so he ends up talking to Nanami's dad, who explains a few things, like Nanami's weight loss. While Shouzo is there, a woman comes by looking for him, claiming he has taken her daughter from the park! She adamantly paints a picture of the young man as a pedophile of the worst sight! Shouzo is determined to get to the bottom of things, in order to help his friend. The truth, when it comes out, turns out to be ugly indeed, but not for Nanami.

Shouzo takes Nanami to the grocery store to shop for a bbq he is going to throw, to hopefully raise the worker's spirits. He is embarrassed when Nanami asks for a sample of food from a lady in the store. Yet he can't help but think that if Nanami lived in a larger city, he is good looking enough to be in the entertainment industry, that maybe he is wasted there. The bbq turns out well, and Nanami is a help to Shouzo as much as he can be, considering his propensity for doing things that aren't always bright.. Shouzo learns that a client, Douwaki, is coming into town the following week and Douwake is anxious to meet and work with him. Also, a distant relative of Shouzo's learns he is back, and shows up at the bbq. She wants to start setting up marriage interviews for him!

The meeting with Douwaki goes well, and he seems to be satisfied with Shouzo and his work. Afterwards, Douwaki encounters Nanami on the street. It appears as if these two are acquaintances. Douwaki entreats Nanami to have dinner with him, saying he is lonely, and talks Nanami into going up to his hotel room, on a pretext, where he more than puts the moves on him. Nanami tries to protest, says he shouldn't, but Douwaki confuses him too much to resist, which is pretty much non-consensual considering that Nanami is not really in a position to give informed consent. Afterwards, Shouzo notices something odd about Nanami, but he assumes it's because he's found a girlfriend. The closer he gets to Nanami, the more he realizes that something is really wrong, and finally he decides to figure out what it is. When Nanami's father reveals a family secret to him, Shouzo knows he has to do something about what is going on.

When Shouzo questions Nanami as to whether he has a first class or second class electrician's license, he learns to his dismay that Nanami possesses no license at all! Egad! That won't do, not at all! Nanami says he knows his stuff, it's just that he failed the test. Shouzo decides that the electrical work will go to Nanami's father and brothers for now - until Nanami studies very hard and takes the test. While he's at it, Shouzo decides to study for his home builder's license, and the two become study buddies! Can Shouzo get the dim-witted Nanami to actually pass the exam this time, or will he go mad trying?


This type of manga is not my normal cup of tea, involving as it does the premise of the dumb uke. No doubt about it, Nanami is slow, and possesses almost a childlike innocence, one which Douwaki takes advantage of for his own sexual purposes, with the claim that they are both adults. That is true, chronologically, but not mentally. Douwaki is taking advantage of Nanami, which is shameful. I love the showdown between Shouzo and Douwaki - and the way Shouzo threw Douwaki's own words back at him.

I have to say this manga surprised me, as I found myself getting into it. Shouzo thought he knew where he was going and what he wanted to do, but he came to his family's aid in a time of need, and became reacquainted with Nanami in the process. I think he is learning more about himself and his relationship with his family, and he is also falling in love with Nanami, who is becoming more and more important to him, the more they are together. Nanami is slow but he's very sweet and trusting, and pretty. He gives dumb blond a whole new level of meaning, though. Hopefully Shouzo will rub off on him, and help him develop some street smarts and survival skills.

I liked the dream Shouzo had where he was surrounded by little Nanamis, child like clones, like he was in some weird nursery and responsible for taking care of them (this scene is illustrated on the back cover of the manga). The story is both sweet and funny and serious, encompassing all facets of life and love - the good with the bad. Also hilarious were the scenes between Shouzo's father and his good friend, who was responsible for his being hurt in the first place, although he did mean well. The artwork is nice, and chibi Nanami is just plain adorable. It's a good story, and it's developing well, and although I know what I'd like to see happen, I'm not really sure what will. I'm looking forward to the next volume, and hoping for the best.