Kyuuso wa Cheese no Yume wo Miru
The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese

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There will always be a manga with very obscure scenarios. Those with extensive narrations and dialogues that leads you in deep thought and reflection. Male homosexual relationships are intriguing, Kyuuso wa Cheese no Yume wo Miru is intriguing.

It is unmistakably a mouse trap.

If you ever thought reading one of the most decent stories that includes homosexual relationships, you may take this one into consideration. That which interweaves the art, characters and plot into a flawless lacework with no strings unwoven.

The story technically revolves around Kyouichi, a married man with lots of adultery in it. And it seems that these little mistakes he has gave a ... way for Imagase to create a new connection with him. Unfortunately, Imagase, a past underclassman of his, is a hired investigator of his wife. Imagase knows the bad stench of the relationship. Kyouichi’s gone frantic. He’s confused. He is dead meat if this news arrives to his wife. But Imagase assures him that his little play arounds with different mistresses will end up like a bubble with an exchange of one little thing.

His body. Imagase wants it. He wants it ever since college days.

What makes Kyuuso wa Cheese no Yume wo Miru different from all the other mangas is the package itself. It’s simply alluring, deceiving and blinding. One may dislike it for some imbecile reason, the other may be totally in it. I may join the latter, I may also be the first. It is confusing. Beautiful. Really something sensible as a yaoi read.

Story-wise the manga has given a new meaning for its league. It’s simple at first but it definitely changes its pace towards the following chapters. It focuses on Kyouichi’s unfaithful, simple-minded, dense and confusing train of thought. However, it also talks about some past events during their college days and Imagase’s view about Kyouichi. When looking from Imagase’s stand, it makes the story more depressing and bitter. The hardest part of his unrequited love is he is inlove with someone who is straight and indecisive. The only way to show him this kind of love is by forcing on to Kyouichi. The volume has numerous of love making and dialogues along with it. Still has the yaoi feel, only better.

The art is interesting in different points. It sometimes focuses on the eyes, the lips and other different parts where it shows more affections, emotions and compact. All in all, the art is actually kaleidoscopic in a way. It’s sometimes intense and sometimes gentle. There is no stable and monochromic style in it. The scenes are different from the other. It communicates with the reader as if trying to say something behind the profile. The sexuality is occasionally in cold sober. The feelings are forced unto each other. The other may not want it, the other will. It defines two different people from different worlds. Not as equals, not as people on the same wavelength.

The characters has a grade of 100 out of 10. The way they were delivered is simply astounding. In terms of the use of character portrayal is one of the best that I have come across. Kyouichi’s wavering feelings has left Imagase to be unable to hold back his emotionality. Imagase is temperamental for the time being. Why? Is it because he got his hopes up to where he thinks that Kyouichi might have a slightest chance to fall for him? Maybe. Or, maybe not.

Imagase’s nature is somehow childish. He wants to own Kyouichi. He’s possessive and doubtful of him when he is with the girls. These feelings germinated from the time they went into the same college up to when Kyouichi had gotten married. Is he a bad person? I don’t think so. I believe he’s just someone who can’t hold on to his feelings any longer. For several years, he had kept them. He treasured them as if he had hope. He did have.

Kyouichi is your run-of-the-mill playboy character. Not actually the type wherein he’s in a harem but he just sticks to whoever shows affection to him. May it be love or lust, he is easily swept away by feelings. Confused with Imagase and to his own sexuality, he fights back against the fact that he might be a homo. But beneath his inane decisions and thoughts there is a hidden abashment of his own mistakes. He wants to renew himself and he just didn’t know the right way to do it.

Beside the manga lies cigarette butts that remained untouched. The atmosphere reeks of cigarette. Whoever reads this piece of art may fall into deep slumber and dream that life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, its about learning how to dance in the rain.

I usually steer clear of yaoi. I do read adult mangas from time to time and I don't mind yuri, but I'd gag at the thought of gay men sex scenes.

Yet, I dare to say Kyuuso wa Cheese no Yume wo Miru is by a long shot the best adult manga I've read and one of the few (adult or non-adult) mangas that do portray what could be a real homossexual relationship.

Questioning and exploring one's sexuality was something I've always been fond of. I believe sexual identity is a grey and foggy area where nothing should absolutely labeled or defined.
Kyouichi finds ... himself hanging on the very same thoughts as he pursues a relationship with his kouhai from college, Imagase. For them, sex is the absolute acceptance of each other's demons. The characters are extremely flawed in a good way. They slowly strip themselves from all the social and conventional layers that get in the way and reveal themselves as humans.

The sex scenes are all too good. They're revigorating and exciting. Trust me, this comes from a person that disliked yaoi at first. There's no clear separation from the sex and the dialogues in between, so don't think on skipping them.

The art is not utterly perfect but it does justice to everything else. The boys are drawn in a way that enhances their sexual features (Kyouichi being the more masculine type and Imagase the more feminine one).

Also, do read the sequel. They complement eachother and give more meaning to Kyouichi's conflicting soul-searching and a clearer view on Imagase's feelings for his sempai.

In the end, this manga left me thinking about my own sexuality. If by chance I meet an attractive gay woman that falls in love with me, what will I do? Will I go for it? Would it be just for the thrill of it? Could I call it love?

In all honesty, this is one of the least problematic yaoi series I've read as of now, even if it's still twisted as it is. The reason I still like it though is because instead of being heteronormative and misleading about being gay, it openly accepts that a gay relationship is a relationship between two men, not a man who acts like an overly submissive man and an overly abusively agressive alpha man.

With all that out of the way, the only messed up parts of the story are left in the human nature of the characters, which I found to be very natural so ... I liked that. I will say straight up that I wasn't a massive fan of this series-- but it was a personal preference of not being into the plot all the much. The manga itself was objectively well done. Let's go into the specifics.

The story was pretty standard. I won't spoil anything, but it's about repressed sexual feelings and people's natures and how different they are from eachother. Does it have cliche moments? Yes. But is it realistic about human nature? Definitely. That's why I liked how the story was handled-- it was very real.

In addition, the art was very clean, realistic, and well-done. Nothing like usual yaoi or shoujo where the semes look like slenderman. In fact, there was none of the 'seme' or 'uke' stereotypes going on in the art either. At first glance (or even as you read into it) it's pretty hard to tell, and I adored that aespect.

As for the characters, I personally didn't like them all that much (again, you may-- it's just that I'm not a big fan of people who cheat, really) so I was a little biased against them. They were written well, just not my style and I frequently found myself a little annoyed with them or questioning their motivations.

I enjoyed this manga enough to get through it fairly quickly. It wasn't overly super impressive except that it doesn't rely on heternormativity and isn't all rainbows and flowers. Those two points really sealed it as 'good' for me.

I would recommend this if you: like realistic love stories, like reading about human depravity, like short mangas, like well-drawn mangas, don't like stereotypes, are sick of seme/uke dynamics, dislike heteronormativity in gay relationships/media

I would NOT recommend this if you: like the seme/uke structure, are expecting a ton of full-on smut immediately, like indisputably happy relationships/endings

Have a great day everyone!