Title: Itokodoushi

Author: Ogura Miki

Publisher: Biblos ISBN: 4-88271-678-X Date: 1997

Number of volumes: 1 - A5 sized volume (approximately 21 x 15 cm) Cost: 648 yen

Reviewed by Katchan

For those of you who are faint of heart, please hit 'back' on your browser. 'Itokodoushi' means 'Cousins', and this story is about a pair of them, and yes -- that's incest.

For the rest of you who stay, I'd like you to meet Toshihiko and Tatsuya, the one and only couple in this one-tankoubon story. Toshi is gay and content with that; it's not clear in the story whether or not his family knows; but it would appear that his uncle (his mother's eldest brother) swings at least a little bit that way, so the family may in fact be open about it. Either way, Toshi's not remotely ashamed of his orientation, though neither is he particularly flamboyant. Tatsuya, on the other hand, is not sure whether or not he's gay. Yes, he lives with Toshi while he goes to school. Yes, he sleeps with him sometimes. Yes, he has frequent sex with Toshi. But he's still not sure he's gay.

Doesn't stop him from performing fellatio to distract Toshi from a telephone conversation with his mother, of course.

The story is not for the feeble-stomached; it's not 'pretty' and it doesn't gloss over what the boys do. They screw, plain and simple. Toshi's always horny. When they're done, they clean up. They use condoms. They discuss issues that come between them -- such as the time Tatsuya complains that fellatio hurts his mouth. But it's real and it's funny and it's not all sex. They go to an onsen on a day off; they go to Disneyland for Golden Week. Tatsuya is challenged by his college entrance exams during one particular arc. When one of Toshi's basketball team members talks about Toshi's mysterious 'girlfriend', Tatsuya -- at home, fending for himself -- sneezes, and the instant ramen noodles he's eating are projected through his nose...

One of the detracting points of this series (besides the aforementioned ramen-through-the-nose incident) for some people is the fact that it's done in a four-panel strip format, rather than a 'regular' manga format. The arcs are simple and short; there isn't a lot of angst in it. The four-panel format works fine, as the majority of the jokes are one-liners, and Ogura-sensei seems to have mastered putting a great deal into one single panel. The last story in the book is in a regular manga style, rather than the comic-strip format, proving that Ogura-sensei is also a more than competent mangaka in the traditional style. The art is unique -- it's not drawn the way a lot of yaoi and shounen ai and shoujo manga are drawn, which is, I suspect, one of the reasons it's not a wildly popular series. Someone once said to me, 'It's too cute for a yaoi manga'. I think the 'cute' art style meshes perfectly with the fact that the story revolves around the humourous aspects of the boys' lives.

It's a worthwhile read, and for those who don't insist on having wispy bishounen and a great deal of angst, a great addition to your manga collection!