Rough Draft Hero

Rough Draft Hero

here 2 read

Review
1 Stars
The Racketeer
The Racketeer - John Grisham
The only actual entertaining part of this was Grisham's "I didn't give a shit anyway" disclaimer at the end. At least he admitted it.
Review
2 Stars
Don't Worry Mama
Don't Worry Mama - Narise Konohara, Yuki Shimizu
Yaoi novels are a mind trip. They're definitely yaoi, with ukes and semes and borderline to way over-the-line rape. But they're also interesting because you're let inside of the character's minds a whole lot more than with the comics, and these stock characters are fleshed out, their motives made more clear.

This one was ... hm. I liked that the uke didn't lose all of the weight, that was interesting. I expected the author to completely slim him down to a waif.
Review
5 Stars
囀る鳥は羽ばたかな1 [Saezuru Tori wa Habatakanai 1]
囀る鳥は羽ばたかな1 [Saezuru Tori wa Habatakanai 1] - Kou Yoneda, ヨネダコウ
Yashiro is my most favorite uke ever.

Also, blink and you'll miss it, but there's spanking in this :)
Review
3 Stars
Scarlet
Scarlet - Hiro Madarame
The first story is not healthy, and it's very violent. Not something I enjoyed.

The second story is cute, though.
Review
2 Stars
かわいい悪魔 [Kawaii Akuma]
かわいい悪魔 [Kawaii Akuma] - Hiro Madarame, 斑目ヒロ
Ok. This is one of those yaoi's that is so close to being something that I would love, but it's lacking heart (and some other things).

First off, it begins with rape--or the rather the forced-seduction yaoi rape, but...come on. It's rape.

But even if we were going to set that aside as "yaoi rape" and something that doesn't seem to be traumatizing or even wrong in the world Madarame has put her characters in, there's still a few more things that are just meh.

Akiyoshi is an airhead to the point of obnoxiousness. In this particular dynamic, with Naruse being such an overbearing asshole, I wish Akiyoshi had a bit more of a spine. And what exactly does Naruse love about Akiyoshi? There's some level of affection missing, or rather it doesn't seem like Naruse is ever concerned with Akiyoshi's happiness.

I don't think yaoi artists put enough stock in showing kindness and affection towards the uke. Anyway, I'm rambling.

My main issue is what an asshole Naruse is.
Review
4 Stars
恋人未满!?, Koitomo!?
恋人未满!?, Koitomo!? - Yuu Moegi
I love when a manipulative seme gets self-conscious or loses some of his bravado, also when a uke proves to be less of an airhead than he seems to be.
Review
4 Stars
Shinu hodo Suki
Shinu hodo Suki - Yugi Yamada
I love Kegarasu (Morning Call) .
Review
4 Stars
やらしい昼下がり [Yarashii Hirusagari]
やらしい昼下がり [Yarashii Hirusagari] - Yugi Yamada, 山田ユギ
Bring Me To the Edge of the World is a favorite.
Review
4 Stars
Totally Captivated, Volume 1
Totally Captivated, Volume 1 - Hajin Yoo
I appreciate when fucked-up yaoi recognizes that it's fucked-up and that the characters recognize it's fucked-up.
Review
1 Stars
The Tyrant Falls in Love, Volume 1
The Tyrant Falls in Love, Volume 1 - Hinako Takanaga
I wish I could give this negative stars.
Review
5 Stars
Retsujou
Retsujou - Ryō Mutobe
This one has a couple of things that I loved--mostly because they're two very specific 'trope' yaoi moments that were subverted in the way I have always wanted.

Thing #1: Yes, the moment leading up to the sex was very violent, but the uke threw the first punch, and it was pretty much anger-brawling until the seme forces the kiss and rips the seme's shirt open...and then he STOPS! He looks legitimately upset that he was even close to doing anything against the uke's will. Even better, the uke then gives explicit consent.

Thing #2: This is from the second story. While they're having sex for the second time, the seme starts teasing the uke in the mean way that semes do--telling him that he has to straddle the seme if he wants to be pentrated, etc--but then the uke tells the seme that this is the last time they're having sex whichhhhhhh totally breaks the seme's confidence! He admits to the teasing, and is genuinely worried the uke will cut him off and out. I love this because usually seme's are so solid-rock with their confidence and cruelty, and they never break. It's nice to see some variation.

Side note: First time they had sex...I was not thrilled. It was borderline rapey imo... could be debatable if someone wanted to take that on, but it just did not feel entirely consenty.
Review
5 Stars
子連れオオカミ
子連れオオカミ - Satou Inoue, 井上 佐藤
You have two divorced fathers who live in the same apartment building, and they start off as friends. The art is ... awesome. I love how she does eyes, and I love the evil, self-satisfied curled little smile the seme gets.

Another plus is this doesn't feel like inherent seme/uke (even though, visually, you can tell which will be which pretty easily) but that the uke just gravitates towards being submissive, and the same for the seme with being dominant.

I love how much the seme loves the uke. That is the biggest plus with this one. So much affection.

There's a couple cute oneshots as well, including one that has a switchy couple--practically a unicorn in yaoi. Overall, this is one of my favorites.