Close the Last Door: Volume 1

This is my all time favorite yaoi and remains my number one even as my manga library grows. Yugi Yamada's artwork is beautiful, her story-line amusing, sweet and dramatic all at once. This is most definitely a must read for any yaoi fan. Steamy scenes, lovable characters, and a plot that makes you feel warm and fuzzy.

this manga is pure brilliance. consistently wonderful art, storytelling, characterization, sense of humor. the main character's sarcastic streak had me rolling. just read the first 2 pages, and you'll see what i mean! sexy. all of the smut was VERY sexy. just graphic enough, but not so much that you feel you're watching bad porno, and not so little that you feel gyped and are certain the characters feel that way too. i yearn for a volume two. this manga is my #1 top favorite manga EVER. (followed closely by love recipe, and second by the 'little butterfly' series.) buy it. love it. pet the cover. re-read it again and again.

If there is one thing I learned from this manga it is that beer inexplicably causes hot men to grope each other. (Of course, this is in opposition to what I learned in college, but no matter!) In `Close the Last Door', the main character is Nagai, hopelessly in love with his old college friend Saitoh, who is getting married. He drowns himself in alcohol and is taken care of by Honda, who offers a special `comfort service' to the crying man. The path after this follows Nagai and Honda as they spend more `special' time together and brushes upon Saitoh who is beginning to rethink his thus far platonic feelings for his beloved Sempai Nagai. I found several sections to be absolutely hilarious. Cute, innocent Saitoh dealing with the intrusion of Honda by behaving in an unexpected way and any scene with Nagai with his ex-girlfriend are pure gold for me. I summation: though the story can be considered predictable, this is a light, fun, refreshing and entertaining read. As another reviewer mentioned: Get this!

I am surprised by how much I like this. Close the Last Door is definitely Yaoi as it focuses on relationships among white collar workers, from break-ups with girl friends, to denial of one's sexual orientation to finally embracing it. The centre plot is the triangle relationship among 3 twenty something guys, Nagai, Saitou and Honda. Nagai "thinks" he is in love with Saitou as a person (nothing to do with the fact that Saitou is a man), refuses to admit he is gay but is infact attracted to Honda. Sweet Saitou is abandoned by his bride on his wedding and seems to bear more than respect for Nagai whom he clings to. Honda is the interesting seme, outwardly cool but inwardly just as insecure, as he vied for Nagai's attention. Fast paced and often humorous the relationship and characters development is an engrossing read. And of course the sex from just initial gropping, while pretending to be drunk, to hot coupling is quite quite erotic. I hope Vol 2 is not too far away.