And so begins Naoki Yamamoto’s hilarious adult romantic comedy. Dance Till Tomorrow boasts sharp, snappy dialogue and subtle characterisation, all punctuated with a hefty dose of humour and raw sexual energy. Protagonist Suekichi has to contend with a procession of oddballs, including an over-zealous actor, a frighteningly well-endowed (and questionably stereotyped) south Asian immigrant, a persistent ex-husband, and theatre loving Yakuza. Stressed, paranoid, and generally exasperated with the parade of weirdoes imposing themselves on his life, he skulks around with a perpetual, and comical, suspicious narrow-eyed glare.
While much of Dance Till Tomorrow’s humour is dry and deadpan, there are plenty of absurd moments: the ghost of Suekichi’s great grandfather occasionally appears before him to offer sagely (or not) advice, the reader kept guessing as to whether ghosts really exist in this world of Yamamoto’s creation or if these encounters are simply a symptom of Suekichi’s ever-worsening mental state. And in one of the funniest moments of the story, Suekichi - finally overcome with the stress of university, holding down a part-time job, his role as drama troupe producer and accountant, dealing with all the crazies, and Aya's advances - starts to exhibit physical symptoms of his anxiety. And though it seems cruel, you can’t help but be amused by his suffering.
But without doubt the manga’s best creation is Aya - the devious and manipulative sexpot who seems to take great pleasure in messing with Suekichi‘s increasingly fragile mind. She becomes a permanent fixture in his life, cropping up everywhere, seducing him, and generally driving him crazy. And the reader, much like Suekichi, is never quite sure of her true motives. Is she, as Suekichi believes, interested in nothing but his fortune? Or does she genuinely have feelings for him? While she seems offended by his accusations, she refuses to explicitly deny that they’re true. Instead, she exposes his hypocrisy; she may or may not be a gold-digger, but there’s no question that he’s only too happy to use her for sex. She’s a wonderful character, powerful and intelligent, and she knows exactly how to get what she wants. But as the story progresses we see different sides of her, and begin to question whether maybe she’s more than just a calculating nymphomaniac. Later, Suekichi becomes interested in another woman, who happens to be the polar opposite of of Aya, and this brings a new dimension to his character, too.
Dance Till Tomorrow is one of the more explicit non-pornographic manga I’ve read. Each volumes features at least two or three highly erotic sex scenes, mostly between Suekichi and Aya, and often blurring is required to obscure genitalia. But despite this, the sex never feels gratuitous or unnecessary; it's simply a part of life and it's depicted as such.
If there’s one sticking point, it’s Yamamoto's art. While the designs are attractive, particularly the women, from certain angles characters appear off model and, frankly, almost deformed. It is, however, something that the reader becomes accustomed to. Some characters are simply designed to be ugly, and there’s plenty of exaggerated facial expressions, mostly courtesy of the hapless Suekichi. Finally, the background art is adequate, doing what it needs to and little else.
In the back of the early books there is a brief interview with Naoki Yamamoto. In it he states that he writes “Ordinary stories about ordinary people - but they have to be erotic”. That sums up Dance Till Tomorrow perfectly. It’s a realistic and mature portrayal of adult relationships, and it’s funny too.
