Customer Reviews

Seduce Me After The Show (Yaoi) (Deux)

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

 

 

I'll be honest; I hemmed and hawed when it came to this title. At first I was all gung-ho but upon finding out there wasn't a lot of graphic sex, I decided to pass. Then I started to hear some good things about it and started to reconsider. Obviously, I changed my mind, hence my review.

This book surprised me in a lot of ways. The stories are different... way different from your typical yaoi. If I had to sum up this book in a few words it would be that it is a grown up version of boys' love. The stories are mature, the writing minimalistic and what isn't said is where the story is really at. The author's illustrations are drawn in what I would call a spontaneous sketchy way that works for her characters and allows them to emote in a way very seldom seen. There are seven stories or chapters in this volume but some are with the same characters so there are really five distinct stories. I won't go into detail about each since they are pretty short but to give you an idea of the types of characters included, they range from an actor/dancer couple, a painter and gallery owner, fellow rock musicians and a set of twins. Not all of the stories are actually boys' love. The twins story is very interesting and different but I don't feel their feelings towards one another are anything beyond two siblings alone in the world. Plus, there is a twist to that story so I recommend rereading it once you finished as it makes more sense once you've read the ending.

As I said earlier, the stories and couples are different from your traditional BL fare. The author doesn't shy away from reality when designing her characters or the real situations they could face in life. The emotions are real and as a reader, it is nice to feel them along side the character. The book cover is boldly done in red, black and white and fits with the inside illustrations, which are also boldly done with minimal use of mid-tones. As far as sex is concerned, there is only one sex scene but it was well done and fit in nicely with the story and the characters. Translation was good and the speech bubbles were clear and easy to follow. If you're hesitant to grab this title but have access to physical copies at your local book store, grab it and take a flip through. It's not often we get something so original that is also interesting at the same time (even without the sex).

Character Design = A+ (for originality & emotion)
Plot = A-
Book Design/Illustrations = A- (different but it works)
Sex = B+ (minimal but nice)
Translation = A

Overall Grade = A-

It wasn't what I expected; it was very much like reading an anthology of literary short fiction--but in manga form. The stories were subtle and poignant. I particularly liked the first stories, from where the anthology title is taken. There was something delicate in the storytelling and though the art is not traditional manga style, it had an elegance about it. I finished the story with the twins and immediately re-read it to have the full effect with the twist. I also thought the story with the flutists was sweetly subtle, if sad. As I said, it wasn't what I expected it to be, I did find I liked it for what it was.

If you prefer BL that's fluffy, sweet, soapy, hardcore or just plain silly, you can stop reading this now and go look up anything Kitty Media publishes.

If you prefer BL that's thoughtful, emotionally engaging, gracefully written and skillfully drawn, you can stop reading this now and go press the little "Add to Shopping Cart" button.

est em does literary work in the same vein as Ono Natsume (somebody license this woman, please!) and Yoshinaga Fumi. Which is to say that if you're looking for a crack fix, this isn't it, but if you're looking for something intelligent and innovative and affecting, this should please you in spades.

And many thanks to Deux for the flawless translation and solid production of the book.

This is very different from the usual manga that is available. It is very thoughtful and the characters are interesting and well developed. If you like something well-written and unique this is highly recommemded, especially if you want to add some variety to your manga collection.

To say that standalone volume Seduce Me After the Show author Est Em is to the boy's love (BL) genre as Ursula K. Le Guin is to science fiction, as translator Matt Thorn suggests in his lengthy endorsement on the back of the Deux Press edition of the manga, is a little bit of an exaggeration. He was her former professor at Kyoto Seika University, and he is, as he himself acknowledges readily enough, biased. But he was only exaggerating a little. She is, without question, a mangaka who shows tremendous promise.

And her stories in this volume are likely to impress. The best of the five self-contained storylines across seven chapters happens to be the most conventional; Est Em is able to sublimate the occasional lack of creative confidence behind the genre codes of BL. "Rockin' in My Head" is practically perfect. The story is about a starving guitarist who loses a bandmate and a rock vocalist named Pete on the same day. Said guitarist decides to go drink his miseries away...and meets Pete's disillusioned ex-guitarist Joe. As it turns out, he adores Joe even more than Pete, and they become lovers because he reminds Joe of Pete. The story is drawn with an edgy, hard-wearing style that keeps a story that might otherwise rank as wish-fulfillment fantasy--boy scores childhood crush--from being too saccharine. Another of the short stores, "Café et Cigarette," also trades on romance fulfilled--the artist protagonist finds both inspiration and adoration from the gallery owner he falls in love with.

Est Em changes things up, however, and not all of her stories have blissfully romantic, happy endings. "Twilight Cicadas/A Winding Kyoto Lane/Steamy Summer's Night" has a perversely long title and a tragically unconsummated romance. In this story, an elderly gentleman returns to his hometown of Kyoto from Tokyo for a festival. He meets plenty of old friends but soon discovers that the man he most wanted to see has recently passed away. They had been in love but, tragically, were unable to fully admit it to themselves. So now, many years later, his only consolation is the man's grandson--who looks just like him, of course--and the nostalgic sound of his flute. The story and its art are quiet, elegant, yet terribly poignant...especially considering how happily-ever-after has become the BL norm.

The manga's title piece, "Seduce Me After the Show" (and its prequel, "Curtain Call"), is the most ambitious. Est Em takes a stab at complex characters here, and she is not, alas, wholly successful. About two rising stars, a dancer and a movie director, the plot describes their romance as a choreographed display while drawing upon allusions to the opera Carmen. The director, it seems, cannot resist enacting a forbidden relationship with a man who actually loves him (but refuses, cynically, to admit it, knowing that doing so transgresses unspoken boundaries). Obviously, the story is wildly ambitious in its narrative construction, and despite some gorgeous visual experimentation with Carmen's skirt, Est Em perhaps overreaches here. Still, it--along with the rest of the stories in Seduce Me After the Show--points to a talented artist unafraid of experimentation and risk, and it is safe to expect great things from Est Em in the future.

-- Casey Brienza

...I think it's fair to say R.Parklane's review is not fair. It's sort of the equivalent of complaining that Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons "Watchmen" is not like the work of, say, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. If you are looking for comfortable, familiarly formulaic yaoi, you may be disappointed with this book. But if you like beautifully drawn, thought-provoking, and moving comics, that also happen to feature hot guys in love, you won't be. I say I'm biased because I'm the supervising translator of this book, and Est Em is my former student and good friend. If you have already read, and enjoyed, this book, you can look forward to her next volume, "Red Blinds the Foolish," which is set for release from Deux/Aurora in December 2008 (and which I'm translating at this very moment).

Oh, and R.Parklane, you need to re-read "Nero" and "Monochrome" carefully. These stories are not about "a pair of twins very much in love, who died tragically and now roam the earth assuming different life forms." Ney and Nye are literally and precisely what they appear to be in the final panel of each story. You might want to look up "Anthropomorphism" on Wikipedia.

Ohh!!! Nero was my favorite story of the bunch. So loving, sweet and yet sad! Actually all the stories give off such deep underlining emotions. Things that can only be read 'in between the lines' and on the characters features. I want more!

Ok, maybe I am not in the best position to give this anthology a fair review because I like more clear cut story lines. I can live with not "HEA" endings but the endings must at least be clear, which is not the case in most of the stories here. I will not categorize this Western Yaoi, it is more a graphics gay fiction. I can overlook the rather awkward artwork (maybe I could not appreciate the style) but not the sadly lack of romance in most of the stories. 5 stories here.
The main story with the same title as the book is pretty good. It is a bittersweet love story between a famed ballet dancer and a renown actor. I like the story line but not the ending, which really leaves me wondering. This could have been much better if it is longer.
The story of an artist who lost his touch is somewhat lacking. Too short to really stick and is it meant to be romantic ?
The one on a young musician lamenting about a dead rock star and trying to convince an old faded musician to join his band is just a story reminiscing about the past...
The one which stands out in this anthology is the story on a pair of twins in black. Nothing is really revealed about their background but as a reader I will labelled them a pair of twins very much in love, who died tragically and now roam the earth assuming different life forms. Very subtly done and even artistic with a melancholic touch. If you like to let your imagination runs with you, you may like this too like I do.
Lastly a bittersweet Japanese love story of lost love. Again too short to make a mark but the romantic side of me could appreciate deep longing and regrets over a love which was forsaken for the sake of upholding traditions. This may meant to be a Yaoi contribution.
OK, so it is not bad at all but I was really looking for more romance, love and HEA. Not one which I will reread except for the one on the "ghost" twins.