Customer Reviews

Only The Ring Finger Knows Volume 1: The Lonely Ring Finger (Yaoi Novel) (v. 1)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The original novel of the popular BL manga is finally on American shores. This has got to be one of the most anticipated BL releases of the year for me, and I was not disappointed. Setting aside the awkward cliches and predictable plot, the story is absolutely beautiful.

If you enjoyed the manga version of this story, you will definitely enjoy the novel. It is divided into two parts. The first part, Only the Ring Finger Knows, follows very closely the story of the manga. Or, should I say, the manga followed this story very closely. This was fairly refreshing, as often a story gets condensed when it is transferred into a visual medium.

If you haven't read the manga, but are interested in the genre, you may very well still enjoy this title. The premise of the story is that Wataru Fujii, a second year high school student accidentally switches rings, a symbol of romance and fad at his school, with the very popular third year Yuichi Kazuki, who is renowned for his gentle kindness and good looks. Kazuki's attitude towards Wataru is anything but kind, and it leads the two down a two week long path of misunderstandings, confusion and heartache, all of which revolve around their "coincidentally" matching rings. Part one is very tame, only describing a couple of very sweet kisses and dealing primarily with the boys' conflicted emotions and their complicated relationship.

The second part, The Lonely Ring Finger, occurs less than two months after the first. Kazuki is studying for his practice entrance exams for college and this causes their already strained relationship to become even more difficult as the two are not as able to spend time together. Things are complicated further when Wataru "loses" the ring that Kazuki exchanged with him, and lies about it.

Part two is considerably more heated than part one was. If more graphic depictions of [...] romance make you sqeamish, I suggest passing on the novels and stick with the manga, which stops the story after part one. If they don't make you sqeamish, the end of part two will be a beautiful climax to a beautiful story.

The translation is lacking in some places, and the numerous typoes were annoying to someone like me who is a stickler for such things, but in all, the experience was not unpleasant. The illustrations were few, but they were in fact drawn by the same illustrator as the manga, and include depictions of scenes that are not in the manga.

The read actually takes some time. Most of the novelized manga I have read so far have been very quick reads, sometimes taking as much or less time to get through than their manga counterparts, but this smaller than normal sized novel took me several hours to get all the way through.

All we can really do now is wait impatiently for volume two to come out.

I fell in love with the Only the Ring Finger Knows manga way back when it was first release and there was about a total of 3 BL titles avaible in the US. Imagine my delight when I realized that the novel was finally coming to the US (especialy after a few thousand names were signed on an online petition, including mine).

The novel is split into two chapters. Those familiar with the manga, will quickly realize that the first chapter is the same story. However, it is still a joy to read and guage the subtle differences. The kisses are described so... passionately it'll make any fangirl swoon ('cause I sure did). The translation has improved slightly from the manga but you'll notice that some of the phrases are identical.

The second chapter contains a new story that follows the romance between Wataru and Yuichi. The basis of the second chapter is that a first-year girl holds Wataru's ring for hostage after speculations about his relationship with Yuichi. The ending is as sweet as it can get and it'll definately fit the tastes of long time fans.

New art is scattered between pages and the last one is definately a treat. All in all, definately a five out of five.

I absolutely love this novel! The story itself is great to begin with; not that the manga didn't do a wonderful job bringing the characters to life, but it didn't continue the second part of the novel which was about Wataru and Yuichi's time together as a couple.

The first half of the novel titled "Only the ring finger knows" is similar to the manga, so i won't elaborate more about this part. The second part titled "The lonely ring finger" is what you should look forward to (i know i did!).

"The lonely ring finger" is a continuation of Wataru and Yuichi's relationship after they became a couple; how they try to spend time together without revealing themselves to their peers in school, a bet that is out-of this-world, etc, etc; in my opinion, this second part tells more about their "human" side and their struggles to stay together (like how any other normal couples would) despite all the mishaps and lies.

Other than a few typo errors here and there, i find this novel a joy to read and have; it's a must-have for you yaoi fans out there! I can't wait for the second novel to be released in July!!!!

if you love the manga the you'll love this one. I miss all the illustrations but there are a couple that any fan of yuichi and wataru would love. I specially love the colored picture in the beginning where yuichi hugged wataru in the rain. this happened in the second chapter, after they are already a couple. they were meeting by the park near yuichi's house and it was raining. that was a cute scene, but i also love the confrontation in touko's shop, especially when Miho, the first year left and wataru started as if to go after her because it was already dark and she shouldnt be out alone. But yuichi hugged him from behind, and said, "dont go!" "Dont you know she's in love with you? so dont go." then there's the last picture. and the bet, let's not forget that!! I cant wait for the second novel translation. I have the original japanese version and the drama cd's. Any fan of yuichi and wataru would love these novels, i sure did!!

I love these books. I really like the normalness of this novel I guess. It's not some fantastical story with demons have sex with pretty boys. It's an as true to life story as you'll get. I can;t say anything on the poor translation quality. My mind overcompensates and fixes most typos and syntax erors automatically. Ona few occasions I had to stop but if you're like me you shouldn't have any trouble.

It's all the rage at Wataru's high school for rings. Worn on the middle finger, it is fashion that signals one is single. Worn on the ring finger, it signals that one is taken and that a matching ring is paired with it on your beloved's hand. Wataru has a ring himself. It is quite special to him, having been lost once and mysteriously reappearing on the top of his desk at school days later. While he likes his ring, he doesn't understand the furore over the whole idea f the matched rings as he has never felt the inclined to thus match up with anyone. This most likely was the final nail in the coffin for his brief relationship with his last girlfriend. She was nice enough, but became very demanding, leading to arguments. The last argument was over the very issue of refusing to wear paired rings with her.

The significance of this eludes his classmates however. All they see is Wataru and a ring. They know it is the same ring he wore while dating the girl, and think he is a pitiful figure, a jilted lover still wearing his half a former pair. Things begin to change however when a trip to bathroom to wash his face leads him to take off his ring in order not to lose it. An upper classman is there, Yuichi Kazuki. The prince of the school, he is athletic and extremely intelligent. In addition he is known to be exceedingly easy to get along with, and extremely polite. So polite that although he turns down every single girl that confesses her affections for him, he does so graciously. The same Yuichi that Wataru's best friend is currently soured about, as the girl he was about to gift with paired rings unceremoniously dumped him as she decided she loved Yuichi.

Not that this is Yuichi's fault, and Wataru does not begrudge the young man as he did not solicit nor accept the young lady's affections. But he is startled beyond belief when the ever gentle Yuichi speaks to him in a viciously sarcastic manner, leaving him reeling with shock. Wataru can't help but want to put his ring back on and leave as quickly as possible. But something is wrong. His ring is now too small and will only fit on his ring finger. The mystery is abruptly resolved when Yuichi creates a stir by coming to his classroom and asking for him. It seems they have the same ring, and he wants his back. Suddenly the gossip shifts. Wataru surely must have broken up with his girlfriend because of the ring that he bought himself to pair with Yuichi, a rumour he quickly seeks to dispel. The events that follow this attempt are beyond his wildest dreams, and set in motion a tenderly endearing story of a cruelly teasing friendship tinged with longing that blossoms into the intensity of one's first true love.

Known in Japan as Sono Yubi Dake ga Shitteiru , the series proved to be enormously popular upon its début in 2001, not only spawning five novels in the series, of which "The Lonely Ring Finger" is but the first, but a manga adaptation of this volume. The English translation was one of the inaugural titles for Digital Manga Publishing's June prose novel line up and had sold well over 30,000 copies in the US alone when it reached its third printing not quite one year after seeing print and garnering an award nomination for Best Young Adult Novel by the American Library Association that same year. Why all the furore? Well, what is not to like? With well rounded, realistic characters filled with normal insecurities and personal ambitions, this is a story peopled with personalities that echo people we have encountered in real life. While it is set in high school, with teen-aged protagonists, it is by no means aimed only at the young adult market. Author Satarou Kannagi weaves a tale of universal appeal, one of the first steps into adulthood and the search for love and acceptance. Most of us have searched for not just someone we could love and spend our lives with, but who is truly a soul mate. Few of us are so lucky, but the dream lives on as an ideal. This is the story of one such love, where two hearts connect and it becomes apparent that the two rings are not mere fashion accessories but forge a truly symbolic link between their very hearts and souls.

Like most true loves, it is not without obstacles. Firstly, they live in Japan, and are in high school, two things that stand in the way of universal acceptance of their same sex love. Wisecracking best friend Kawamura , Wataru's sister Karin, and Yuichi's cousin may be accepting and non-judgemental to various degrees, but homosexuality still carries a bit of a social stigma in Japan, and one that families generally are keen to avoid. Add in the own search for personal identity by their fellow classmates, with its knee jerk reaction and gossiping attention to anyone "different" and you have a potential recipe for disaster that is keenly felt by ones so young and struggling to come to terms with their sexual identity. Can they face the obstacles before them, shielding one another from potential hurt, and realise the joys of finally becoming truly one? It's a question Wataru and Yuichi have to ask as they make themselves remove their rings in public in an attempt at hiding the truth from disdainful eyes. An action that makes them feel the pangs of tortured love, as they gaze upon their now lonely ring fingers.

As a prose novel, it is not overly long at 206 pages, and despite having first been written in Japanese, doesn't suffer from any odd stilting of the phrases or other confusing translation issues. DMP employed one Allison Markin Powell to complete the translation effort, and she did so quite well. The words flow gently and emotively, sliding into ones mind like silk and seducing the reader into turning page after page in anticipation. The frontispiece is graced by not one but two full colour glossy illustrations by Hotaru Odagiri, who also illustrated the manga adaptation. Also scattered within are occasional full page black and white illustrations by Odagiri sensei, strategically placed at crucial junctures within the plot and greatly adding to the emotional punch packed within. With a sturdy binding complete with a crease resistant spine, overall it is a magnificent presentation of a novel that has gone on to be regarded world wide as a shonen ai classic.

As DMP's first Novel translated because of its popularness as a Manga I would have expected DMP to take a little more time to make this Novel perfect. There are a couple of mistakes and whatnot and confusing areas (due to lazy translation) but overall it's a beautifully written story (mainly contains everything in the Manga of the same title) and the images are gorgeous.

It's a light BL Novel atm, doubt it'll reach a Yaoi Label. And goes for 4 volumes.

But this is a deffient buy for anyone who is looking for a Novel to add to their Yaoi/BL collection.

I guess most of us pick up this novel because we enjoy the manga version.
I like the manga but I love the novel more. This novelist's expression of the boys' budding love is simply beautiful. Thankfully the translation did not let us down even though more editing would have been appreciated. I could not help regretting not knowing Japanese (sigh!).
Vol 1 has 2 stories. The manga is based on the first story but even the pleasing graphics and faithful adaptation could not beat the expressive words depicting the angst and romance in the novel.
And of course there is the second story which is even more emotional and the last part when our 2 boys finally consume their love is touching and warmly romantic and described with a fluid grace. This second story was never published in any manga form.
For the price, the novel is definitely worth its weight in gold considering I have no qualm about spending close to $10 bucks for the manga.
Glad there are 2 more volumes to go in this beautiful series. After reading "Don't worry Mama" and this, I am hungry for more translated Japanese BL/Yaoi novels.

if you're reading this, then like me you probably loved the original english graphic novel and were eager for more. i enjoyed reading the new story w/ wataru and yuichi, but it definitely wasn't as great as the original story. i found myself really missing the artwork (of course) and i enjoyed the new illustrations (about 7 of them), but the new story is more drawn out with less plot and less scenes with yuichi. also, there were quite a few distracting typos and the translation is very awkward at times. i'm definitely going to be reading the next novel (although i still wish we had more graphic novel adaptations of them instead), but i hope the translation and story are a bit better.

I fell in love with Only the Ring Finger Knows with it's initial manga release. It was a beautiful story not only about young love, but a love that developed and grew stronger and more passionate as time went, despite the fact that it seemed a forbidden desire. Only the Ring Finger knows separates itself from the typical BL manga in that the couple is forced to struggle with being accepted by society, as most gay couples ultimately have to. Wataru and Yuichi's relationship is also more drawn out and heartfelt in the novel, and the brand new pretty illustrations scattered throughout are definitely a treat. While the translations were awkward at points and by no means perfect, the overall effect of the manga still transferred to the novel, and you truly feel the pain of Wataru's broken heart, and then relief when they finally do end get together and overcome everything. It's a lovely read and definitely worth buying, especially if you're a fan of the manga. (And if you haven't read it, this is a good start too)