Atomic Love

Author: Momo Hachigo
Imprint: Vari
Publisher: Outou Shobou
ISBN: 4-7567-1236-3

Reviewed by Jeanne

A collection of stories, fluffy and romantic, covering a wide variety of worlds. Starts with the son of a millionaire kidnapped for ransom, whose kidnapper reminds him of the horse his father made him give up, and continues from there. We go through the world of part-time workers/ part-time band members, formula 1 racing, pachinko wagers (winner takes the guy's virginity), and the inevitable schoolboys. The first story and the racing one have sex scenes- in fact, the racing one begins with a guy waking up in bed with the boy he picked up the night before whose name he doesn't know, and goes through some twists and turns thereafter. The pachinko one, oddly, doesn't have sex-- it's not your run of the mill yaoi, whatever the premise may sound like.

I rather liked the totally chaste school boy two-parter, where the serious second year student is given the job of making sure his rambunctious classmate doesn't get himself expelled before third year because of his constant fighting with outsiders. This he does by getting the scrapper to promise not to fight when Serious-kun is there to see him do it-- and then sticking to Scrapper's side like glue. Scrapper is actually one of the more likable otoko-rashii pure-hearted two-fisters to come my way. The orders to keep him on the path of virtue come from the student council president who's always seen with a bishy-looking long-haired council member, function unknown but guessable. I at least got the idea that council pres had more than an inkling of what would happen when the two second years found themselves in each other's company day in and day out, and the impression was heightened by Longhair's intervention at a critical point. Now there's a sidestory I'd like to read.

The interior artwork isn't up to the level of the cover, IMHO, but neither does it grate particularly - and I say that as one who is not a fan of the feathery delicate Fuji Shin'ichi style of drawing, which this closely resembles.