Customer Reviews

Red Blinds the Foolish (Yaoi) (Deux)

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

 

 

Est Em's works are at best an acquired taste. Differing greatly from the art styles and storylines we have become accustomed to with the hordes of mainstream yaoi titles from famed artists such as Hinako Takanaga, Yamato Nase, Naduki Koujima etc., being churned out every month, Est Em is a relatively new BL artist whose art style consists of bold contrasts of black and white (no shades of grey) with clean panel layouts, characters contriving of adult masculine men and storylines that tend to take place within the lower and higher ends of the artistic world (dance, music, art, etc.) In Red Blinds the Foolish, you can expect the same perpensity toward binaries. Death/Life, Dominant/Submissive, Black/White, Win/Loss, etc. Aurora Publishing helps emphasis the visual contrast with an excellent cover illustration, crisp white pages, seamless binding, and faultless diction. All of this, of course, taking place in an international setting involving Spanish Bullfighting. If you're a yaoi fan tired of mainstream fluff, or if you're someone who appreciates art and a bit of the forbidden, Red Blinds the Foolish, and even her other work that was released by Aurora Publishing, Seduce Me After the Show, serve as an excellent examples of higher end manga (intellectually and stylistically).

est em's first collection, "Seduce Me After the Show", was good, easily one of the best BL titles published in the U.S. so far.

This one is even better.

It might be best to think of est em's work not as BL, but as literary short stories that happen to be in the BL genre. It may not be to every reader's taste, but it is storytelling that is undeniably elegant and powerful.

The title story and its prequel, "Corpse of the Round Table," are about as perfect as it gets in terms of plot, pacing and characterization. "Baby, Stamp Your Foot" is the weak sister of the bunch, but it's compensated for by "Tiempos extra" and "Lumiere." The fact that this author can so convincingly depict the disparate worlds of a Spanish bullfighter, an English shoemaker, a French dancer, and a football hooligan is nothing short of astonishing.

And the art? It's not pretty, but it is beautiful. This is where Deux's higher production standards are very much appreciated: the paper and printing quality show off the art to its full effect. And thanks are due to Matt Thorn for a translation worthy of the original's quality.

In this collection of stories about men and their passionate commitment to their work (and play), est em shows once more that she is probably the mangaka most suited to detail such passionate men. As always, her art is crisp and clean with nothing extra. The very whites and blacks seem to convey the passionate emotions of her characters.

In the main story a matador and a butcher who was raised to love bullfighting find an exhilarating love together. But Rafita Alonso, known as "the Red Matador," finds his steps are faltering after he begins to care deeply about Mauro. Will he have to sacrifice his love to pursue his passion? And Mauro has his own deep currents that push him toward his own destiny.

In other stories, we have a soccer referee and a violently enthusiastic fan; and two old friends, one of whom may have a foot fetish.

est em excels by giving us characters who live on the edge but keeping them firmly rooted in reality. If you loved Seduce Me After the Show and An Age Called Blue, you're sure to enjoy Red Blinds the Foolish. But if you haven't read anything by est em yet, give it a try. You're in for an amazing experience.

This collection is better than the mangaka's previous release. 4 stories here and the main story Red Blinds the Foolish about a young fearless bullfighter and his butcher is very unique and well done. The sex here is sensual without being hard core, both characters and plot lingering long after I finish it. This one has 4 chapters though the 4th chapter is a flashback of the butcher's young life which is strangely stirring.

I like the second story too about an older guy and his younger lover who has a fetish for shoes. A little twist at the end makes this little story really stands out.

Not too impressed with the 3rd story on a guy crazy about soccer and one guard who has an eye for him.

The last story about a writer taking care of a sick old man including writing down the old man's story does strike a chord. This one is strangely sad.

A good collection indeed and once you get used to the mangaka's artwork, it is distinct. I especially like the artwork in the main story and the second one.