Dog Style

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But waiting here without a promise is a lot harder than waiting here with a promise. - Miki

My favorite kind of yaoi would be delinquent-themed ones, mostly because the guys are tough and stubborn, and I like fight scenes, and this manga was pretty much the rest of the ones under this theme - except that the story and twists left something more than the superficial pleasure left by other titles.

In Dog Style, Chiaki is tough, stubborn and good in fighting with his fist. Miki is his opposite: he's used as a hostage, he's good at running away and he's good in ... fighting with his frankness (and he only uses his fists when required). Chiaki fell in love with a person who saved him; Miki remained in love with a person who left him when he needed him the most. Their differences ran deeper than that, and their attraction was something that really wasn't supposed to happen in the first place.

Despite all that, they fell in love anyway.

What I loved most about Dog Style would be how, in the course of their relationship from sex friends to lovers, they make all kinds of mistakes which would leave most couples broken down but they managed to get back together. Chiaki went as far as calling Miki a 'broken human toilet', and Miki ALWAYS gets caught in an unwanted kiss by the person he loved. With the help of the people who hurt them the most, they managed to keep their hands holding the other's.

Motoni-sensei's art is simple and almost comical at times, but she manages to capture the right kind of mood with her type of drawing. The dialogues are rough, but evenly distributed which makes the story easy to read and follow. The panelling is well done - it manages to catch up with the occasional plot compression and expansion. The sex scenes are straight-forward and rather tough and more manly than the usual (think of guys cursing each other, acrobatics, and cracking jokes at the height of passion lol) and it's awesome.

So if you want to read something with good plot, steamy action, and not-over-the-top romance, Dog Style is for you. 8D

Teru Chiaki and Miki Terayama are high school students who belong to different years but, somehow, happen to constantly stumble upon each other in some pretty unusual situations. It's not like they are fighting together; since the odds are against them, it's more like they are running from danger together. Chiaki and Miki aren't friends, so they are quite amused finding out that their very best friends are actually brothers. That aside, those very best friends are exactly the reason why these two feel so lonely as to not care if they have to share their hideout anymore. Unexpectedly, Chiaki, the delinquent, and Miki, his ... promiscuous sempai, become buddies in the midst of danger and loneliness. They feel at ease with the other and their time together is the perfect scape from their difficult situations. Soon, in what seems the most logical next step, their games take fooling around to the next step; Miki and Chiaki have become sex buddies.

This story is funny, a bit violent, sexy and sometimes a bit sad. Add to that the fact that this is an equally standing couple, with a manly bottom and probably the shortest top around; now we have the perfect recipe for an unique yaoi. Not only that, there is a fair amount of humor and some fights that throw a shounen feeling to the mix. This is indeed the perfect example of a good delinquent's yaoi; sometimes you are having so much fun that you might forget that there was a pretty steamy sex scene around the corner.

These two are just having fun and enjoying their freedom together. They don't have an explanation to their easy relationship, but it becomes evident that there is more to it than just the spur of the moment feeling. Of course, the dog and the master aren't expecting to fall in love and surely, their best friends are not going to sit with their arms crossed to watch this happen.

These characters are crazy. Well, they might be the least crazy ones from Motoni Modoru, but there is still a spark of absurdity and dark humor in them. It is remarkable how these boys are portrayed as the average teenager boy; they do stupid things, laugh a lot and pick at the other even in the most serious situations. In the end these are just insecure boys trying to get by with whatever life gives to them and struggling to protect their hearts from what they can't handle.

Chiaki might look like a cute, tiny blond-haired puppy, but he is fact the most dangerous stray dog. Like the proper stray he has always been a loner, at least until he got a best friend, but now old days are coming back, since he was 'abandoned' for a girl. Chiaki becomes a restless and distrustful stray. Well, although he has quite the temper and is very violent, he is also quite noble; he is always there for his friends and is very protective of those who matter to him. Never sharing his troubles, always a strong front, Chiaki actually doesn't like to feel lonely.

Miki is the happy owner. He is considered a player... and a bisexual one to boot. Always acting as if everything is a game, even with the most scary people, Miki manages to gain a bit of the stray's trust. He might not look like it, but he is the strongest between them. After all he spends every day trying to overcome very awful situations in his own way. And while he might rely on his friend, nobody has actually got his back; Miki is proud and he has built his own support.

Dog Style's art is quite detailed but blunt. While I really like Motoni Modoru's style, I recognize that it can be a bit to strong at first, especially the eyes. There is a lot of attention to detail, and mostly in humorous situations the character's expressions make you think about seinen art style; we can see very scary and hilarious faces that give a distinctive air of craziness to the story. What was supposed to look cute becomes playful here. Then, these boys are drawn with beautiful toned bodies; contrary to most of BL's art, Motoni Modoru's sexiness resides in the fact that these are strong and young men, not in the delicacy of their features.

Speaking of sex, this title is probably the most explicit one from this mangaka. It is weird that the first and third volume are almost explicit yaoi and the second more like average. So let's say this is an average-to-explicit one. Another interesting point, regarding sex scenes, is that their first encounters are pretty painful for both, since Chiaki is inexperienced with women. Also, we actually get to see some emphasis on protection (at least once), this gives a lot of points to this manga, a bit of reality that's very appreciated. Lastly, it is so funny to see how their body proportions affect the act, like they should; Chiaki is very short so he has some reach problems, the result is some pretty intense images, you wouldn't think that shorty could manage so much.

Dog Style is a really entertaining and unique story. Even if the drama in the last volume might feel a bit twisted and dark, it manages to have a whole feeling as a playful, sexy and crazy one. This is a story about youth energy and love. A type of love that manages to be innocent even after being born in the midst of loneliness, frustration and danger. Totally recommended if you want action and bad boys getting confused by love!

First off, if you like your ukes wimpy and your semes mind-bogglingly abusive, don't read this. If, however, you like two cool delinquents who rough it up after school (in more ways than one) in an emotionally and hormonally packed after-school special, READ THIS MANGA!!

Overall, this has got to be in my top yaoi. It truly is the epitome of yaoi excellence! While most yaoi is just full of gratuitous sex, this one actually has a plot you can follow and actually care about-- plus sex. The characters are well developed, realistic, and connect with the reader. This is real storytelling by Modoru Motoni and ... I highly recommend it!