Takumi-Kun, vols. 1-3 (Shinobu Gotu and Kazumi Ohya)

[chomiji]

vol. 1: June Pride / vol. 2: Barefoot Waltz / vol. 3: Tales Out of Season

Takumi Hayama (the book uses the Western name order) is in his second year as a middle-class student at a prestigious, isolated European-style boys' boarding school, formerly attended mainly by boys from elite upper-class families. He's a troubled soul who, in addition to his other difficulties, has a crush on popular, charismatic Giichi Saki, whom everyone calls "Gui." He's lucky in a couple of respects, however: a good number of the boys at the school are in relationships with each other, so no one thinks he's weird, and in addition, Gui returns his affections. The series thus far is a sweet, gently sensual soap opera. In the first volume, the boys begin their romance, and Gui gets to the bottom of Takumi's traumatic past (which is genuinely traumatic, actually). In the second, a musician who is visiting the school turns out to share his past with both Gui and Takumi, and then events at the school festival teach Takumi a few things about relationships. In the third, the boys get to the bottom of a mysterious death that has haunted the school for several years.

It's made clear that Takumi and Gui's relationship is physical as well as romantic, and there's plenty of kissing, clothes coming undone, bare chests, and cuddling under the blankets in bed, but nothing is shown explicitly: the equivalent with a straight couple would be a very soft R rating. There are some faint elements of dubious consent at a couple of points, and Takumi's secret is definitely an issue worthy of the parental advisory on the cover.

With the exception of the emotional resolution of Takumi's problems, it's all been pretty fluffy. That's not to say it isn't enjoyable, if pretty boys kissing is your type of thing. But this isn't the sort of story that inspires deep thought, and it doesn't linger in my mind very long. Takumi is drawn with enormous shoujo-girl eyes, as are any other boys who are (I presume) meant to be in the uke role in a relationship (the boy who's stuck playing the princess in the play in vol. 2, for example, but also the visiting violinist). And you could substitute straight teenaged couples for the boys in just about any of these relationships without changing any element of the plot except the formal dormitory sleeping arrangements.

Takumi-Kun, vols. 1-3 (review)

I'm not thrilled that Gui takes advantage of the fact that Takumi is sick and feverish to press his suit near the end of vol. 1, but I have a feeling that this is a staple of the genre: the more passive partner needs something to lower his (or her) resistance so that he or she doesn't have to feel guilty about going all the way. (If not sickness, then trauma or alcohol or whatever.)

There's not much else to say about these - they're comfort reading. The story might get a little deeper with revelations about Gui's relationship with his family: he doesn't like to talk about it.

Comments

[chomiji]

Yeah, U.S. publishers seem to be gradually picking up various manga they think will sell, often going into the back catalogs of the Japanese publishers, back several years. I'm not surprised this one is on the list - it has that dreamily nonspecific but sensual feel that younger teens would find just right. I wonder if the movie had the same atmosphere.

[chomiji]

Yes, I can see that! Presumably there was a lot more about Takumi feeling left out and having flashbacks - that would fit.