Fake Fur (Yaoi)

I think all those who like ONLY happy-ending / happy-feel manga should avoid this. Also, all those who are not used to manga with some realism / actual deep plot should also NOT read it. Note that some previous reviewers found the book "depressing", and some may indeed find it to be so. But in my opinion: it's rare to find such a gem among the multitude of shallow, high-school-love stories. And don't get me wrong: I do like some of those "shallow" / happy-feel stories as well. But a diverse reader will definitely appreciate the originality, uncommon depth and emotional charge conveyed by this manga. This is a part of the trilogy; one of the other two books is also published by June, and is called "Manic Love". Some readers think that "Manic Love" is the prequel to "Fake Fur", but it's not strictly that. The two stories are complicated and intervened. Both of them feature quite a lot of fairly explicit (at least, definitely suggestive) sex. As the mangaka noted, she tried to draw "pages after pages" of sex in these stories, and she definitely succeeded. I liked mangaka's unconventional art style (it's rough, and a bit sketchy in some cases, but I found it much more expressive and emotional than other, more "drawn-out" works.) Overall, I enjoyed this series a lot, and recommend it wholeheartedly to all unprejudiced and open-minded manga readers.

I left a longer review on Manic Love that talked a lot about this book. I think some of the reviewers here didn't have the benefit of reading Manic Love before Fake Fur, and I really think it helps the overall clarity of Fake Fur to read Manic Love first. There are some truly moving, beautiful moments in Fake Fur. I admit, I had to read carefully, because the translation sometimes seems more "wordy" than I imagine the Japanese version is, but the payoff were some unique moments in an increasingly homongenized BL world in English. Highly recommended as an emotionally moving story and a different kind of BL title.

The art in this book is over the top. Expressions to just simple passionate moments that jerk at your heart. Nothing chibi in here, which I love. The story is pretty good, though I wish there were more, and maybe there will be another book.