Love Recipe Volume 1

I first read Love Recipe in high school by borrowing it from a friend. I liked the manga so much, however, that I bought it for myself the first chance I got. Love Recipe volume 1 is the tale of Tomonori Ozawa, a brand new editor for a boy's love publication. Initially shocked by the things he sees in his new job, Ozawa sets out to be the best manga editor that he can be. As one of his first assignments,Ozawa is asked to pick up a manuscript from the popular mangaka Sakurako Kakyoin. He arrives at the artist's apartment only to find that the mangaka is not only male but needs physical inspiration to have his manuscript done before the deadline! In the second section of the manga, Ozawa is attempting to learn how to match fonts to a scene in a manga. Kayoing gladly obliges to teach him through a particularly steamy sex scene. Later, impressed by Ozawa's diligence and enamored with the young man's determination, Kakyoin arranges for Ozawa to be his full time editor. The third section of Love Recipe begins with Ozawa thoroughly bungling his first attempt as a new editor. Given the assignment to learn the meaning of "Moe", Ozawa finds himself holed up in Kakyoin's library with an extensive yaoi collection. The fourth section of Love Recipe deals with a research trip to Kyoto that Kakyoin plans more for sex than for research. While in Kyoto readers not only get a very hot couple of sex scenes,. but also some very good technical information on background pictures in manga. The final section show Ozawa making his next few attempts at being an editor to Kakyoin. While in an outdoor meeting to discuss the manga, Ozawa asks Kakyoin to redo what he's already done. Afraid that he has angered Kakyoin enough that the artist will quit the publishing company, Ozawa goes to Kakyoin's apartment to help complete the drafts in any way he can. Add on a more emotional, yet equally steamy sex scene and Love Recipe vol1 ends with a bang. I was thoroughly impressed with Love Recipe Volume 1. The art is superb and possibly the best consistently and stylistically that I've seen.The sex scenes are certainly steamy, but they are also believable and emotionally compelling (Not to mention they are totally the right amount of graphic :) ). The plot is interesting and intricate. The characters are totally relatable, especially Ozawa as he humorously stumbles his way through the insanity that is yaoi publication. Love Recipe is a manga about MAKING MANGA, so built into the storyline, the readers get totally interesting technical information as well. Overall I can't really say anything bad about this manga. I was thoroughly interested in the story, the characters, the art, and the technical aspect of Love Recipe volume 1. I give it a 5 out of 5 and implore you to go buy this immediately if you want to call yourself a yaoi fan.

I will keep mine short as earlier reviews are very comprehensive. This Yaoi featuring the Yaoi manga publishing world has a most original and refreshing plot. It is hilarious, engaging and just so disarmingly cute. Very lovable characters here. The male Yaoi artist, Kakyoin, is one sexy and appealing seme while Ozama is such an endearing and adorable uke as he earnestly inspires Kakyoin to meet his deadlines. Quite a few entertaining female side characters here, including one very demanding and voluptuous chief editor. The lively and cute artwork, with some outrageously funny caricartures, is a winner. I just love those bunny ears! Very glad to add this one in my collection.

a manga about making manga, is not quite a novel idea in the history of manga; in fact, i've read, maybe 3-4 such yaoi mangas. however, higashizato-sensei's take on this idea succeeds on many levels. it is hilarious, insightful, entertaining and dare i say it, gratifies the needs of readers who craves some insider perspective of the manga industry, and yaoi in particular. as the blurb states, ozawa is a new editor who realizes on the first day of work that he is employed by the BL arm of the publishing company. despite being understandably freaked out, he continues working, and on the first day dispatched to take care of kakyoin sakurako, a mangaka with a rushing deadline, as a replacement for an ill co-worker and editor. what follows is a thrill ride as readers learn the intricacies of the industry alongside the protagonist as he experiences them. not surprisingly, one of the reasons he was employed is because he is the perfect moe fodder for the mangakas contracted by the publishing company. so potent is his moe-ness that even the considerably worldly kakyoin-sensei is not immune to ozawa's charms. while the art is not as refined nor as realistic as some other manga in the market, the characters are aesthetically pleasing and well-rendered, with the panels are not too lacking in backgrounds. surprisingly, the manga is not as raunchy as the other works higashizato-sensei has produced. in fact, it is rather tame in comparison. despite that, this volume is by no means lacking in sex-scenes, albeit being somewhat non-explicit. perhaps it is due to the fact that this manga is light and cheeky in nature, and thus operates on a different level than her darker and angstier works. ozawa is very appealing, both physically and in personality. the author has truly imbued his character with enough moe to make a horde of fangirls go "kyaaa!" numerous times (which happens quite a bit in the manga too) especially the floppy bunny ears he sports in chibi form. his internal monologues are hilarious as well. while possessing many of the stereotypical uke characteristics, ozawa does not scream femininity, a fault that befalls too many an uke. in a stroke of genius, higashizato molds ozawa into the really cute category (at least in my opinion) that makes the story more interesting. kakyoin sakurako-sensei (penname), on the other hand, has two modes, -- one, typical scruffy, bearded and ink-stained crazy mangaka and two, gorgeous, out-of-the-world bishounen, with and impressive wardrobe to boot. the supporting characters are funny and pretty fleshed out, especially kakyoin's three assistants and ozawa's chief editor. that aside, what really drew me into the manga is how higashizato delves a bit into what exactly constitutes moe and how the otakus fan the flames of their obsession through cosplay, conventions and of course doujinshis. for fun, those in the know might find it as entertaining as i did trying to figure out which manga/anime she had depicted on th

Originally, I was skeptical about getting a manga about manga artists. My main worry would be it would get bogged down in the minutia and slow the story. I was wrong, wrong, wrong. The background info fit well into the story and gave a unique perspective. On to the story within the story.... I was quite pleased with the story and some of the scenes were quite "exciting". I must say that in one part of the story I did get confused if it was really happening (sensei changed quite rapidly). It was scene where they were talking about the fonts. Anyway, other than that part I was very happy with this story and would recommend it.

And what a wonderful world it is! The main character, Tomonori Ozawa is a very pretty, rather innocent new worker who has the endearing habit of writing silent letters to his parents inside his head when dealing with stress. (I.E. being handed to pervy manga artists on a silver platter by his boss and then being molested by one such pervy manga artist under almost surreal conditions.) The entire storyline is enjoyable, from his first encounter with a (deceptively) scruffy Sakurako Kakyoin (whom everyone assumes is a female Yaoi manga artist), to his struggles to understand how the manga industry works, to his struggles to understand Yaoi manga in particular and what this `Moe' is and why a manga character would fall in love (and, incidently, why a real person - Kakyoin-sensei in particular - would fall in love as well). He's such a hard working, likable chap and the other characters are all such funny, likeable people as well that the entire novel was a joy to read. Perhaps the most enjoyable part for me was his meeting with a few of the other yaoi artists (yes, his boss does use his uke cuteness to it's full potential) who, though female, take an immediate shine to said uke cuteness and say the funniest, perviest things. You're a Yaoi fan if you think `why, yes, I could see myself thinking what that one is saying!' Additionally, this story brings a little something extra. This is a boys love novel that explores the world of boys love novels. From characters which seem to be almost familiar (and yet are very likeable and enjoyable regardless) to certain sentences that you know you've heard before, this is a story that is very familiar with and very fond of Yaoi manga, and is letting us in on the secret. In summation, this will be an instant favorite for people who enjoy light, happy, energetic Yaoi's!