I've been catching up on my manga reading. *purrrrrrrrrrrr*
I had something of a backlog building up, largely due to the fact that I had several volumes of PSoH and a few random others lying around unread by the time proper revision had to start, so I didn't have time to read them. So today I've been allowing myself the treat of reading piles of manga, which has been *blissful*, frankly. ^_^
Firstly, I read some PSoH. I've now read all of it that I can find translations for, which is *almost* all of it. Except, of course, the very end.
>.<
Damnit, I may know what happens in the most general of all possible terms from flicking through the end of the last volume, but I need more details! So much in PSoH can depend upon nuances of the language, it really doesn't work so well in picture only.
Still, the general feeling is - *whimpers*. I won't spoiler it for anyone out there who wants to read it unspoiled, since I think the ending is probably better to come to without expecting it, but still.... *whimpers* Can't wait until someone else I know reads it so I can angst quietly with them about it. The translator *claims* there's a hint of a happy ending in there, but I've yet to see it.
Next, I read the first two volumes of one of CLAMP's newer ventures - the one aimed at a *female* audience, thank god. *glares balefully at Chobits* And ohhhh boy is it aimed at a female audience. Hell, it might as well just be aimed at *me*, it's that well-suited to me.
For those who aren't raving CLAMP fangirls, I'm talking about 'Lawful Drug'. Which I've decided I love. Basic plot: Kazahaya and Rikuou are two ex-homeless teenagers who have been given a place to live and a job by Kakei, who owns a drug store. Both the boys have 'powers' - Kazahaya a sort of empathy by touch, Rikuou - well, it's a sort of telekinesis, I guess, but it mainly manifests as an ability to break things. Kazahaya is light haired, has a tendency to be genki and embarrasses easily, and has the biggest potty mouth you've ever read on a manga character. Rikuou looks a *lot* like Touya from CCS, and has much of his silent nature, and seems to get most of his fun by chronically taking the piss out of Kazahaya. Kakei, meanwhile, is beautiful and generally kind, but seems to have something of a concealed evil streak, and there seems to be more to him than meets to eye - for a start, he can see the future. The fourth member of the regular cast is Saiga, who looks rather like a Yakuza and wears sunglasses all the time, who hangs around the store taking the piss out of Kazahaya (this seems to be the main hobby of most of the cast) and rather-more-than-flirting with Kakei. He also cooks and sews ^_^ Whatever Kakei may be plotting, Saiga knows about it.
Kazahaya and Rikuou also have mysterious and largely unexplained pasts about girls called respectively Kei and Tsukiko. As well as working at the drug store, they also do 'extra work' for Kakei, which take the form of rather weird assignments - catching invisible fireflies, stealing sentient vases, that kind of thing. The reason why Kakei gives them such odd tasks is still a mystery.
In feel, it's probably closest to Tokyo Babylon at the moment - there's an underlying uneasiness, and it may end up going to hell in a handbasket, but right now it's cute and fluffy in the extreme. The format is pretty much episodic - while in TB this was because the chapters focused around Subaru's onmyouji jobs, in Lawful Drug it's because they focus around Kakei's odd 'extra jobs'. Through these episodic chapters run the main themes of the two boys' pasts, and Kakei's motives in setting them these jobs.
And there's a quite impressive amount of fanservice for us yaoi fangirls :D
For a start, there is the more-or-less canon relationship between Kakei and Saiga, which I *adore*. Whenever they're alone (or often when they're not) Saiga will have his arms around Kakei or be nuzzling at his neck. There's a lovely little scene when Kazahaya walks in on Saiga asleep with his head in Kakei's lap. They also have a hint of edge about them in the mysteries that surround them both. I love these two, they're probably my favourite characters. Not least because of the little AU 'bonus' section at the end of volume one, which goes something like:
KAKEI: (the father) Son, I've decided to remarry.
KAZAHAYA: (the son) Congratulations, dad! You're still young!
KAKEI: I want you to meet the person I'm going to marry...
*Saiga appears*
KAKEI: Him!
KAZAHAYA : *sweatdrops* That's a very...masculine woman, dad...
KAKEI: Son, from now on I'd like you to call me mother...
*falls off chair laughing*
Then there's the more implied attraction between Kazahaya and Rikuou, though it hasn't been referred to as more than a comedy thing yet. Of course, there are the chapter opening pictures, which almost *invariably* feature Kazahaya and Rikuou with S & M overtones. Like the one with Kazahaya wearing a collar and with his hands apparently tied and his shirt half open, in the process of taking off Rikuou's tie with his teeth. ^_^;;;;;;;;; Kakei and Saiga tend to take the piss out of them ruthlessly, like when they're fighting and Kakei interrupts saying 'now, that's enough flirting...'
And of course, there's the *pure* fanservice extra section in volume 2, which features Kazahaya empathetically 'catching' Rikuou's chocolate cravings. Then when he sees Rikuou standing in the store with a chocolate bar, he pounces him, knocks him to the floor, kneels over him and eats the chocolate from his hand, finishing with licking his fingers clean.
Uh...yeah. As we all do when we get chocolate cravings. *shrugs*
As I said, I sometimes think I fit *entirely* too well into the demographic for this manga. I wrote a text message to onee-sama after I first got an opportunity to read it, saying something along the lines of 'oh my god, Kakyou lookalike guy is a manipulative uke doctor who smiles too much! *heart*' (I was talking about Kakei). To which she replied '...are you actually a member of CLAMP masquerading as a student? Because I swear their stuff is aimed straight at you...' Damn right it is. This manga in particular.
*sighs* I wish it weren't coming out so slowly. Really have a craving to read more now, and there *isn't* any! Meh.
In any case - thoroughly recommended for any CLAMP fangirls out there, go out and buy yourselves copies and encourage them to publish some more. Lovely Mick Nekkoi artwork, lovely bishounen, good characters, lovely character interaction, intriguing plot - it's all good. My copies now up for loan ^_^
