Three additions to the Oyaji BL Primer

I’m chipping away at my backlog of additions to the Oyaji BL Primer with three new titles: Mada Ai ga Tarinai (the working man), Shinjuku Lucky Hole (the bad boy), and Negaigoto wa Hidamari de (now that’s an old man!).

Mada Ai ga Tarinai by Nishida Higashi
Inoue Masayuki is a middle-aged, divorced HR manager with a surprising problem–there’s an anonymous complaint accusing the talented, younger manager Kitahara Akihiko of sexual harassment. Inoue approaches Kitahara to investigate and just when his suspicions start to clear, a nude photo of Kitahara is sent to his cell phone. A cat-and-mouse game evolves between the two–Inoue can’t dismiss, yet won’t be easily fooled or manipulated by Kitahara. And Kitahara sent the nude pic himself–to lure Inoue into bed.

It’s fun watching Inoue’s conflicting attraction grow into determination to show Kitahara that he has more appeal than just money and good sex. Even the scheming Kitahara can be oblivious and caught off-guard.

Shinjuku Lucky Hole by Kumota Haruk0
Hiyama Kumi is a former porn star who manages an adult film company with his partner, Sakuma. They met in a non-traditional manner. In order to repay his father’s debt to the yakuza, Kumi was sent to live and be “trained” by Sakuma so the young Kumi could appear in gay films. Eventually, Kumi starts to develop feelings for Sakuma and schemes to release him from the yakuza world.

Kumi is indebted to Sakuma, who lets others know that Kumi is his. Sakuma is intimidating and possessive in his own way. Kumi may sleep with people for a living, but crossing over that professional line into personal feelings is a good way to bring out his scary, threatening yakuza side. They have an interesting dynamic, both in their past and present. The present storyline features them as two hot oyaji, of course.

Negaigoto wa Hidamari de by Katsuragi
Nakakouji  Tomohiko and Shiomi Haruhito have been friends all their lives. Now in their 50’s, Tomohiko blurts out that he wants Shiomi to marry him. Thinking his secret crush on Tomohiko is blown, Shiomi panics. However, Tomohiko just needed some help to deflect a marriage proposal. Now that the secret is out, will it ruin or transform their long companionship? It’s a bit comical and very sweet story about “silver love.”

Update to Oyaji BL Manga Primer – The Bad Boy and more

Here’s another update to the Oyaji BL Manga Primer with some long overdue additions. These short updates make it much easier to handle that big entry.  Unfortunately, there’s only two entries so far under the “bad boy” oyaji, but they are two great ones and I couldn’t leave it be.  I forgot how much I enjoyed Division.

The Bad Boy

Division by Nishida Higashi
Tanaka is one of Nishida Higashi’s bad boys, as evidenced by his elaborate back tattoo and missing pinkie.  Desperate and on the run in a foreign country, an innocent lawyer latches onto Tanaka, for better or worse.  Tanaka is cunning, but unstable and unpredictable.  On a whim, he might help you out. On a different whim, he might leave you to be gang-raped.  One minute he’s smiling and calmly eating dinner, the next he’s stabbing a guy in the hand with a fork while laughing his ass off.  Despite that (or because of it?), there’s still something thrilling about Tanaka that attracts the other man (being stranded in hostile territory with no language skills probably helps).  Ever had a psycho boyfriend?  He’s got nothing on this oyaji.

Aiso Tsukashi by Yamada Yugi
Previously a side character in Takaga Koi Daro, Sawaragi gets his own love story in Aiso Tsukashi.  Sawaragi is a former yakuza who was recently released from prison.  He decided to leave that part of his life behind until a former inmate, Shuuya, shows up on his doorstop with nowhere else to go.  Sawaragi is the strong, silent type, but has a soft spot for lost kittens, both the furry and human kind, and reluctantly takes in Shuuya. Yamada Yugi oyaji are always great.  There’s more oyaji scattered throughout her oneshot collections.

More Random Oyaji

Saka no Ue no Mahoutsukai by Meiji Kanako
Lee is a magician who is much older than he looks (and he still falls within oyaji range!). Normally serious and somber, Lee seems particularly world-weary due to past circumstances, but there’s a young apprentice to keep his cottage bouncing with curious energy. Lee lives a rather austere, simple life for a powerful wizard and mostly keeps to himself.  However, others seek him out, including many magical beings, other wizards (not all friendly), and even royalty. Meiji Kanako has numerous older men in her manga–just make sure you’re familiar with her odd style before plunging in!

Hana wa Saku ka by Hidaka Shoko
Sakurai works long hours at an advertising agency and doesn’t have much time for anything else.  Nothing else even seems worthy of his attention or motivation–until he meets a younger artist.  Sakurai is an adult–practical and level-headed. He doesn’t blindly fall into love/lust, but can’t deny there’s something there and must work up the courage to pursue it. A beautiful love story for a beautiful man.

Update to Oyaji BL Manga Primer – The Crack-tastic Oyaji

Since I’m still actively hunting the glorious oyaji scattered throughout BL manga, I figured I should actually update my Oyaji BL Manga Primer. I’ll post new additions separately before editing them into the main entry, so people can easily tell there’s been a change.  I have more oyaji manga on the way as well!

As stated before, these are selected picks that feature an older man.  There’s a short description of the oyaji and the manga itself listed.  It’s not all-inclusive, just manga that I particularly liked and felt worth including.  For now, here’s a few new additions to the list.  As I make new categories, a few things might get shuffled, like Oyajina! in this case.

The Crack-tastic Oyaji

Shachou Momoi-kun by Nishida Higashi
Watanabe is a hard-working, older manager who is targeted by the new company president (who is seemingly there to find a boyfriend more than actually work~). He’s an earnest, kind older man, but also a workaholic demon when necessary. Instantly attracted, Momoi weasels his way into Watanabe’s life. Since Watanabe has lived his life until recently as a straight husband, he isn’t sure how to feel about the situation, despite his growing attachment. Shachou Momoi-kun is a funny gag manga with a few serious moments. It tears down the fourth wall and has a half-naked man dance on top of it (sadly, not the oyaji). There’s also a randomly serious side-story included that has an oyaji vampire. Bonus salarymen oyaji everywhere, as expected from my Oyaji BL Queen (sorry Naono Bohra).

Liechtenstein Hakase no Karei Naru Nichijou by Shingyouji Tsumiko
This is the crack cocaine of weird oyaji BL manga.  Liechtenstein is a brilliant biotech company owner and professor.  He’s also naive and sheltered to the point he doesn’t know how to use public transportation.  This little lamb falls right into the sadistic arms of his younger admirer, Shumiia.  Liechtenstein is subjected to subway molestations, fake proctology exams, elaborate spy setups, and more.. including a random tentacle plant.  This is the only BL manga I own that contains tentacle porn (NSFW, duh), which is more comical than anything, if you believe that.  Being a huge masochist, Liechtenstein didn’t seem to mind much at all~

Oyajina! ~Chinatsu to Tomoe no Baai~ by Hiiragi Nozomu
How you can improve upon the already awesome oyaji character type? Stick teenage girls in older male bodies and watch the ensuing hijinks and budding romance. Fluffy teenage love, but now with more old man facial hair! This is what fangirl dreams are made of. Full entry here. A continuation will be released in February.

Shiny New Releases: Koi Suru Savanna

The shiniest, most desired book of the day is Koi Suru Savanna by Yamazaki Dodo.  This series is recommended by Yamashita Tomoko (who also publishes in Feel Young).

Koi Suru Savanna is a love story about a good-looking young man who indiscriminately gets involved with many different women, earning him the title of “beast” from his female coworkers.  He claims he’s looking for a suitable partner he can become crazy about.  He then meets the poker-faced Houjou who casually responds to his advances.  What exactly is she thinking?! She sounds like an interesting character to tame the women-eating animal.

The tank also contains her work, Silica Gel.  Wait, what’s with that title?  The context likely refers to its use as a desiccant in those packets that tell you “do not eat contents!”  The chemist in me is curious.  :-p

This month is also great for new tanks from old favorites:

• Nakamura Asumiko released a new tank, Tetsudo Shoujo Manga, which contains short stories previously published in Melody and Rakuen Le Paradis (so shoujo and yuri content).
• Ono Natsume (bass0) has a new BL tank, Al to Neri to Sono Shuuhen, featuring characters from her previous work Kuma to Interi (more Faust please, brb dying).
• Morimoto Shuu releases the first tank of Moon Trick (2/20).
• Nishida Higashi finishes up the month with Suki ni Naru to Kowareru (2/26).

And I’m not even done browsing upcoming releases!  Fantastic!

December 2010 Manga Recommendations

I just can’t keep up with writing an entry for every great thing I want to mention.  My career keeps me very busy and it’s only going to get worse.  It’s frustrating.  Instead of letting everything die, I need a more sustainable approach.  So in addition to the occasional previews, I’m trying a new format:  a monthly (?) recommendation list.

Ten manga of varying vintage and demographics/genres will be picked.  The titles will likely range from obscure to moderately known.  Expect both raw and translated works.  Basically whatever catches my fancy.  At least one pick will be a title I want to write a full entry for, but may never get a chance to do so.  Others will be works that recently left a very positive impression on me.  Others will be older titles that I enjoy and think others should as well.

To keep it workable, I’ll only list a small amount of general info.  Genres/demographic will be specified, along with my own “important to me” manga types, and a few brief points for each title.  As usual, I’m opinionated as it keeps things interesting, so deal or leave~  If a title catches your eye, it’s up to you to seek it out!  Buying it is the most likely answer–radical idea, I know.

December Manga Recommendations:

Oyaji BL Manga Primer

At some point, you get tired of reading manga about 16 year old kids.  You crave something different.  The further you get away from age 16, the more prominent this feeling can become.  Thankfully, there’s a trend within BL that gives us some grown, adult men and it’s been growing in popularity:  the oyaji!

“Oyaji” literally means father, but is also casually used to refer to middle-aged men. The lower age limit to qualify as an oyaji is typically early 30’s.  Common oyaji “cues” include visible signs of age like wrinkles around the eyes and mouth, an established family, and, of course, crotchety old man behavior (my favorite).   Within manga, there’s certain character types associated with this term.  The majority of oyaji seem to fall within the 30-45 year old range, particularly for BL.

Yamada Yugi teaches us oyaji moe points

First, if you’re completely new to this subgenre, here are some of the most highly regarded mangaka that reliably produce fantastic older men.  Their works are a great place to start and are relatively well-known, so I’ll only briefly mention a few of their relevant works.

• Ono Natsume (basso)- noticeably older, professional men
• est em – all types, very versatile
• Yamashita Tomoko – natural characters
• Suzuki Tsuta – one of the best at the gentle,  sweet type
• Nishida Higashi – mostly salarymen (this is a good thing).  Kudos for having real oyaji, including some in their 50s (and still hot!)
• Naono Bohra – her oyaji feel more fetishy, but there’s many and a wide range of them

This would be best titled “shin’s Oyaji BL Primer” because it isn’t all inclusive (too much!) and I’m blatantly playing favorites.  Hey, what can I say–it’s my blog and I think I have decent taste in oyaji. ♥ I’m not including everything, as I’d actually like to finish this list at some point (yet I know I’ll add to it later).  So this will be an overly large manga snippets post describing my favorite oyaji within those works.  And boy do I love my oyaji.

So here’s some hand-picked BL works that I’ve enjoyed which feature an older man, whether top, bottom, in the middle, on the side… I don’t discriminate!