Story :
This manga recycles an ordinary plot – basically, it talks about two men who carried a torch for each other since school days but were separated. Years later, their paths cross again just that this time round, one is a high-profile celebrity actor while the other still leads a stagnant life as an undergraduate. Then the whole ordeal of a homosexual relationship and struggles begin
Characters:
Here, you have a strong headed and self-indulgent egoist coupled with a soft-spoken, tender-natured submissive. There is nothing special about this couple combination that makes the manga stands out from the huge pool of Yaoi titles out there.
It felt like there could have been a more detailed insight into the characters in terms of their progression as the main protagonists. Overall, they came across as being immature and two-dimensional i.e. the struggle which they went through in order to come to terms with their homosexual relationship in this judgemental society is not entirely convincing. It appears like they ended up together a little too abruptly and the lack of a substantial setback / change of events more or less anti-climaxed the whole story.
Artwork:
The art work is the standard Yaoi art – fine-looking men with well defined abs and jaw lines. I believe it is a given that the artwork in Yaoi titles must be fantastic to keep readers in their reverie hence, the art work portrayed here sufficiently meets this requirement (it is not entirely incredible or mind blowing).
As and when a few smutty moments are whacked in but they are mediocre at best given that the intensiveness did not manage to grip my heart.
Overall:
On the whole, Aishuu doesn’t seem to entail readers with any sense of attachment to and empathy with the characters. The emotions portrayed were too raw and insufficient to put readers on an emotional roller coaster ride. Hence, if you don’t mind an one-hour read with no aftermath of emotions or thoughts, this manga is worth a go.
