Fake, vols. 1-7 (Sanami Matoh)

[chomiji]

At the beginning of this police buddy series, handsome young Caucasian-Oriental investigator Randy MacLean has just been assigned to the same New York City precinct as brash, good-looking detective Dee Laytner, who is told that this is his new partner. Dee, who is obnoxiously confident and decisive, forcefully romantic, and pretty completely uninhibited, begins crushing on his new partner almost immediately. Quiet, steady Randy - whom Dee quickly starts calling by his Japanese name, Ryo - is extremely confused by his partner's displays of affection, which rapidly escalate to stolen kisses, but doesn't seem to be able to get mad at him. As they solve crimes (yes ... they - fight - crime!), often risking their lives, Dee's interest in Randy remains fierce and steady, while Randy is gradually forced to confront the truth about his own romantic preferences.

The story is further complicated (or enriched, depending on your point of view) by the two orphans Randy takes under his wing. Bikky, the mixed race son of a drug lord who dies during Dee and Randy's first case together, is ferociously protective of his new not-quite-father and resents Dee's advances. He also has a puppyish crush on Carol, the young blond pickpocket who joins Randy's household a bit later. Far more unlikely is the fact that Carol - at 13 years old to Bikky's 10 - actually takes this quite seriously and seems to return his affection. Bikky and Carol's adventures with their school friends - and sometimes with criminals - often intersect with Dee and Randy's work.

Let's face it - as a crime series, Fake is pretty damn silly. The portrayal of New York City is often so far off that it's utterly hilarious. The way that the other cops tolerate Dee's over-the-top demonstrations of affection for his partner - and the equally showy antics of another young officer who has a crush on Dee - is ridiculous. The Bikky-Carol storylines sometimes have some rather squicky elements, especially when they flash forward to where Carol is 18 and Bikky 15. But the relationship between Dee and Randy has an emotional intensity - and even realism - that completely appeals to me, and by the end of this short series, I was definitely in my happy place.

Potential readers should note that this shounen-ai series becomes yaoi toward the end of the final volume. The rating is "Older Teen - 16+" - but not everyone's parents will be equally calm about what's shown "onscreen" at that point.

Fake, vols. 1-7 (review)

Actually, those Dee/Randy sex scenes - especially the last one - are really interesting in terms of storytelling technique. If you know what's likely to be going on, it's pretty clear what's happening, frame by frame, but a naive reader is not likely to be able to get more than the basic information that they take their clothes off (well, Dee mostly rips off Randy's - he's like that) and have sex - somehow. That's probably how the publisher got away with the rating.

As noted, the BIkky-Carol flash-forward love scene, which stops before any clothing is removed (well, she's in a demurely sexy nightie the whole time), is rather more disturbing to me. OK, Carol, you waited 'til you were 18, and I doubt Bikky is about to complain - but he's a child of 15, young lady! You're now an adult, and you need to learn to think with your brain instead of your crotch ... . (Got news for you, Matoh-sensei: it's still statutory rape in most jurisdictions even if the junior partner is the boy.)

Another thing that's interesting about the series and my reaction to it is how little lingering angst there is. Yes, there are angsty situations - where Dee is trapped in a school building that's rigged to blow up and Randy has to wait for him outside, for example, and when Randy has the chance to confront the man who was responsible for his parents' deaths - but neither character has a lot to regret about his past decisions, and their self-images are in pretty good shape. So although I enjoyed it immensely, I don't think I'm going to be spinning Fake stories in my imagination the way I do Saiyuki and SDK stories. There's simply not much left to resolve, and therefore no story.

The drawings are a little odd, probably because of the time in which they were drawn (original publication was in Japan in the mid 1990s) - they're slightly stylized in a way that jars a bit with the NYC setting and police theme.

If you've read and liked the series, you'll probably enjoy the author's little "two years later" special, which smillaraaq pointed out to me. Thanks, smilla! The drawings in this more recent piece are noticeably more refined (to my eyes, anyway) than those of the original series.

Comments

[chomiji]

Finally got a moment to go through all those! Yeah, too bad it wasn't a bit naughtier - I really like her when she gets naughty. She has the best-looking kisses I've seen so far in manga. The last scene in vol. 7 was really awfully good that way - very sensual. (I can imagine Ryo was protesting at various points, though, until the sensations got the bets of him - I mean, he got really freaked out that time Dee was licking him all over ... .) But those were interesting stories she was telling.