Mangaka Spotlight

Focus on YOSHINAGA Fumi

By RIKO

Cover scans courtesy of Seishinja

People have different reasons for reading. I'm a printed matter addict, and I read to satisfy my need to feel happy and forget the rest of the world. So consequently most of what I read has a happy ending or a resolved ending. In Yaoi, I look for something that makes me happy, sort of the *love conquers all* type of story, or in other words, "fluff." Well, I do love angst, but it's difficult for me to feel satisfied if the problem doesn't get resolved in the end. So talking from that back ground, I would like to recommend YOSHINAGA Fumi to you. She's a fairly new professional mangaka, although she has been doing Dojinshi for a while.

Yoshinaga's manga are not wordy, but they convey a very comfy and warm feeling mixed with sly humor. Her stories are not sagas, but about the every day lives of the main characters and the development in their relationships. The attractiveness comes from how she presents the feelings and nuances of the relationships between the characters. It's very subtle but very well done.

Yoshinaga's usual form of story telling is a series of short stories that go mostly forward into the future but sometimes venture into the past to give background to the characters of the story. Most of the stories (episodes) can stand on their own and have their own charms. But when taken all together, they add up to a GREAT READ!

Her art style is not flowery (there are hardly any flowers at all in her backgrounds!!) but the characters are very delicately and carefully drawn to reveal the nuances of their feelings. Personally, I think she does the most sensual and erotic mouths and tongues, ever. Her sex scenes are not as explicit as some other Yaoi mangakas'; nevertheless, her characters' flushed faces, slightly opened mouths, and tense limbs are as expressive as if she'd drawn the whole scene-- or perhaps even more so.

[One Memorable Scene] In Aitowa... (3 below) there is a story where the main character Antoine walks out on his butler Claude. Antoine is jealous of the feelings Claude has for Antoine's father, who was the first man Claude ever loved, even though there was strictly nothing but a master/servant relationship between them. Antoine, however, cannot help but feel slighted.

Unfortunately the weather is terrible outside and when Antoine wakes up he finds himself lying in bed with Claude at his side. (He got pneumonia, almost died and did not wake up for three days) Once Antoine wakes up, Claude looks at him and says: "Anata ga sonomama kami ni mesaretara watashi mo shinu tsumoride imashita" [if you were taken by God, I was going to die myself] He holds Antoine tightly and reverently whispers "Ahaa shu yo! kono yorokobi wo dou yatte anata ni kansha sureba ii no deshou ka" [Dear God! How can I render my thanks to You for this joy]

Hearing those words, Antoine realizes how much his butler loves him, and once Claude leaves him, he masturbates while thinking of those words. (This is a very sexy scene with no dialogue) The depth of Claude's feelings is also a sort of revelation to us readers too, because he is usually so cool, calm and collected. I think Claude is one hell of a sexy guy and she has many, many more like him. I hope you can find your own favorite one in one of her books!

Published Manga List
This is as far as I know
The more asterisks, the more explicit the yaoi (IMO)
No asterisks means it is not explicitly Yaoi (BUT they are great to read!)

1. Tsuki to Sandaru [Moon and Sandals] vol.1**
Houbunsha Kaon Comics
ISBN 4-8322-8018-X

2 gay couples and their daily lives.

Kobayashi is a 17 yr old high school student who falls for his Sensei first but gives up when he finds that he is already long taken by another man, Hashizume. Next he falls for "Giant" and relentlessly pursues him until he finally gets him. "Giant" (sorry forgot his real name) is the older brother of Kobayashi's classmate Rikuko. At first Giant is his tutor but later becomes his lover.

The other couple is a high school teacher and his lover who is a Japanese cooking chef (an 'itamae') Though these two lived for years together their "first time" happens when the teacher is influenced by the other high school couple.

2. Honntou ni Yasashii [Sincerely Kind] ****
Biblos Super Be-Boy Comics
ISBN 4-88271-641-0

First of the Claude and Antoine series.

The young very gay French earl Antoine pursues Claude his butler, but gets rebuffed every time until the revolution breaks out and finally Claude confesses his love to him.

3. Ai to wa Yoru Kizukumono (I'm aware of love at night) ******
Biblos Super Be-Boy Comics
ISBN 4-88271-949-5

Continuation of the story of Claude and Antoine after they elope to Germany. Many hot sex scenes!

4. Sorufehju [Solfege] ****
Houbunsha Kaon Comics
ISBN 4-8322-8054-6

Story of a very young promising singer and his voice teacher who seduces him. A bit of angst but a very good end.

5. Ichigennme ha Yaruki no Minpo [1st period is civil law with enthusiasm] ***
Biblos Super Be-Boy Comics
ISBN 4-88271-813-8

The story of several law school students and their friendship. It is interesting to see the main character's gradual recognition of his attraction to men and his growing relationship with a gay friend. In the last story when the friend talks about having sex with him, the main character replies "only as a friend." And I liked that ending. (Although I would love to read more of this series!!)

6. Kodomo no Taion (Children's body temperature)
Shinshokan Wings Comics
ISBN 4-403-61512-0

Heartwarming series of short stories about a father and his son. The father is very sexy! No yaoi, but there is one story about friends of the father where I'm suspicious about their relationship. (I really liked the story, too)

7. Kareha Hanozono de Yume wo Miru (He dreams in the gardens)
Hinshokan Wings Comics
ISBN 4-403-61558-9

Sort of a fantasy series set in the middle ages with a boy music player as the story teller.

8. Jakku to Jeraru [Jacque and Gerald] Vol. 1***
Biblos Super Be-Boy Comics
ISBN 4-8352-1012-3

One of my favorite stories which is appearing serially in Be-Boy Gold magazine. It's set in France just before the Revolution. It is about Jacque who was once an aristocrat, but was sold to a whorehouse by his father (now dead) to pay his debts; and Gerald, a well to do bourgeois who becomes his first lover. When Gerald first met Jacques he was a spoiled brat of an aristocrat, full of misplaced pride in his birth, who was *taught* his place as a whore by Gerald. Gerald, however, pays Jacques' debts and frees him, challenging him to try to live on his own without relying on his aristocratic birth. Later when Gerald is about to interview a new servant boy, he finds Jacque has applied to the job. Gerald of course hires him and from there on the story of Jacque and Gerald starts.

Although Gerald did have sex with Jacques in the very first story to teach him about the "real world" outside his wealthy experience, he never touches him afterwards, but teaches him about life. Right now in the series appearing in the magazine, Jacque has grown up and is trying to deal with the growing confusing feeling he feels towards Gerald. Some of the episodes remind me of TPM slash, if you know what I mean. I highly recommend this story!

9. Tsuki to Sandaru [Moon and Sandals] Vol2*****
Houbunsha Kaon Comics
ISBN 4-8322-8111-9

Continuation of 1. Full fledged FLUFF and SMUT. Basically, what happens to these two couples after they fell in love. The high school couple are now both working and the teacher-student couple have now decided to come out to his parents. I especially liked the episode where "Giant" who now works as a high-class bureaucrat in the government comes out to his female senpai.

10. Seiyou Kotto Yogashiten [Western Antique Pastry Shop]
Shinshokan Wings Comics
ISBN 4-403-61588-0

The story is serially appearing in Wings magazine and has just started. This volume basically introduces the characters. It is about a pastry shop(a cafe) and the people who come there. There are three main characters. One is an ex-top salesman whose family has a lot of money and who decides to open a pastry shop. The second is an excellent pastry chef with a bit of problem: every single male he makes a move on falls in love with him. The third is an ex-champion boxer who loves sweet things and gets hired as an assistant to the chef.

The chef and the owner used to be classmates in school. The owner was the first man the chef fell in love with, but turned him down with an awful word. The chef however started his illustrious "gay life" from there and now has fully recovered from being so brutally rejected. Thus, the chef can work with the owner who is the only man who ever resisted his charms.

The characters are quirky and funny and I especially love the chef who is described as a "gay fatal," like femme fatale. Also, all the sweet delicacies being described is heavenly. I have to confess, after I read the book I went out and gorged myself on pastries. I am looking forward to seeing how the relationship changes among the three of them.