Customer Reviews

Jazz Volume 4 (Yaoi) (v. 4)

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

 

 

The ending of this series sort of fizzled for me. There was virtually no passion and the characters were behaving very boringly for the situation.

There was a lot more personal internal angsting on both Narusawa and Naoki's parts. They both seemed resigned to abandoning the relationship even though they each wanted to be with the other. It was annoying, not suspenseful.

When everything finally came together and Narusawa spectacularly made a scene in front of his own boss (an act that I think in the real world would have resulted in a far greater problem for the doctor; I don't even want to get into the danger to his career not only about having been with a man, but a younger man and one of his patients) the couple finally settles into the kind of trust-based relationship one would have thought they would have developed while living together in America for years. This in itself sort of left a bad taste in my mouth. All of a sudden Naoki gets it and grows up and Narusawa, having realized why he has kept people away and how Naoki is different, has no problem just letting his younger lover wander off on his own. Maybe they were comfortable and felt secure with each other at the end, but I didn't feel that way. Maeda created this new source of conflict in the relationship and used it as the out-note for the series. What the hell? Where's the part where I feel good about having read through four volumes of this thing to see these two guys be happy at the end?

The one sort of love scene outdoors in the volume felt like it shouldn't have been the only such scene in the book. I kept waiting for the bonus love scene at the end where the two men finally sleep together as a legitimate and stable couple, but alas, we were left hanging.

It also seemed like many of those background characters who had been nothing more than set-dressing until now started to be featured more dominantly, and I have no idea why. Particularly this one guy Narusawa was friends with in America, Michael. He serves the very important plot device purpose of helping Narusawa work through his emotional issues about the relationship (a role his obviously understanding Japanese doctor friend Takino could have done just as well), but he also inexplicably serves as some sort of plot twist when Naoki sees him kiss Narusawa. That scene felt so forced and unnecessary. The emotional turmoil surrounding Naoki's jealousies and insecurities could have served just as well without this overly complicated scenario.

I felt like there were a lot of these overly complicated scenarios in the last volume, too. Like every twist one could throw at the struggling couple was thrown: jealous misunderstandings with other men, jealous misunderstandings caused by female friends hanging around, fear of competition from arranged marriages, fatherly disapproval, job offer abroad threatening to separate them, and of course the ongoing social stigma against male coupling. I could have liked the story more if the turmoil in the last volume had stayed internal, not thrust at them from the outside. All of the existing external issues carried over from the last volumes (parental disapproval and the "incident" in volume 2) would have been more than enough to carry the end of the story through, and would have made it possible to do it more thoroughly.

I would also have liked to see the carryover issue about Naoki's father actually be addressed as a legitimate and still existing problem for the couple. It's great that they're finally happy and secure with one another, but that pesky thing about Naoki's father disapproving of the relationship is conveniently ignored in favor of the ideal of their promising future living together happily ever after in Naoki's father's building when Naoki returns to Japan.

If you're really into this series I'm sure you will appreciate the finale. If you were as torn and frustrated as I was after volume three, you might want to pass. If you're checking out this series for the first time, I'm not really sure what to tell you. If you like a lot of complicated angst and characters you might just go for this series. If you don't go for non-con, take a pass.

I have finally bought and read the 4th volume to this series, and can now honestly say that it was disappointing. The first thing that gets to me is that both characters seem to suffer from an extreme inferiority complex. The younger character, especially, doesn't mind taking his own frustrations out on his older partner by taunting and both physically and mentally abusing him to the point of tears. In turn, the older partner blames his own lack of self-worth for the horrible behavior of his younger lover. I felt like I was reading about a twisted relationship between two very unstable guys that could at any minute have a complete mental breakdown.

The one thing that kept me going till the end of the series was that there were some promising story lines. The story eventually built and left you kind of at a cliffhanger that would be resolved in the 4th volume. But to be honest, even that volume was disappointing. Although the physical abuse had reduced, the younger character continues to mentally torture his partner. His resolve is that he is only "teasing him a bit." But come on!! His lover can hardly function at work and is almost literally tearing himself apart because of this behavior. I was hoping that the 4th volume would finally show the older man standing up for himself, but it seems that the author was intent on keeping him feeble till the very end. And to add insult to injury, the storyline reveals some past information about the older man that explains why he is willing to stay in a relationship even if it tortures him. So to end this review let me tell you this: It's not the worst thing out there, but it won't ever make the best sellers list either. I don't regret reading all the volumes, but if I could do it again, I would have probably stopped at number 1.

I finally get volume 4,and it leaves me thinking, "Is this it! Is there any more!" Then I finish the book and discover that it is the end. No fair! I want more of some scenes played out more througly to complete the thought in some areas! It felt like a cut-and-paste kind of like ending. But, it had to be good in some areas for me to give it a 4 star rating! Try "Our Kingdom", that's good!

The Jazz series is neither too light or too heavy with the yaoi content. Great for those that are just getting into the yaoi scene.