Family Craziness with a Splash of Yaoi Clan of the Nakagamis is quite appropriately titled. The entire work is mainly focused on how the Nakagamis interfere with the relationship between its youngest member, Tokio, and his boyfriend/student Iijima. The Nakagamis themselves are extremely entertaining. They range from parents that seem to never age, a grandfather who looks like he is 14 (and LOVES to drink), a stalker for a brother, and another brother that enjoys flipping between male and female personas. Yes, it seems slightly corny, but author plays it off amazingly well. The bizarre situations and on goings of the entire family are amusing and deeply entertaining. The pages seem to fly by. By the end of the work you really do wish that there is a second volume.
As for the yaoi couple themselves? The uke/teacher Tokio is cute and fills in stereotypical role of a girly uke. The seme/student Iijima fills in the stereotypical role of a manly seme who just can't get enough of his lover. While the role themselves are quite stereotypical, the author proves just how well he/she (With a name like Homerun Ken I'm not sure!) writes. The cute mundane scenes are endearing. The surprising lack of school activities is a wonderful departure from the typical student-teacher pairing.
The only thing that is lacking from this work are actual sex scenes. The pair only gets to kiss and participant in some mild foreplay. There is nothing explicit for hardcore yaoi fans. However, despite this lacking in a yaoi title, the writing so good that I have to recommend it.
All in all, this work is mostly a bold shounen-ai title. The writing is amazing and the stories are fun to read over and over again. This is one of my favorites.
Why didn't I buy this sooner? Finally, a book with consensual love! And I mean truly consensual love. None of that, off balance romance where one is deeply dedicated into the relationship and the other is not. Or even worse, where one is the ultimate "man" who seems to overpower his partner (sometimes to the point of...ugh...rape). No, this was a nice read about a rather balanced relationship. But more so, it was also incredibly funny. From the moment I met the characters of the Nakagami clan, it was an all out laugh vest for me. It's a little unrealistic and the characters have very feminine features, but all in all, my only regret is that I didn't buy it sooner.
Wonderful Boy Love Fun! Homerun Ken's art is always beautiful, but the heart of this title is actually the humor! It's adorably sweet and silly, the family is a riot, and the main couple are just a joy to watch!
I know most of her other stuff is angsty, but I would buy anything done by this mangaka in a heartbeat!
CoN This book was very fun to read. The pace was fast and there was never a dull moment. I felt it revolved more around comedy than the relationship between the two main characters. The cover is very decieving, but sets the mood for the serious mindset of all characters involved. (they are funny with out meaning to be)Its just another day in the life of the Nakagami's
Refreshing! This is not your typical shounen-ai. The lovers are the common teacher and student relationship, with the teacher being the more "feminine" looking one. However the centerfold of the story is not their love but the cranky characters of the teacher's family who give this shounen-ai a different flavor. These characters, from a film star looking father who wears traditional Japanese clothes, a "doll-like" mother, to an elder brother whom the mangaka loves to dress up, are idiosyncratic and quirky, spicing up a plot which is already quite hilarious. Some may find the art a bit loud in some scenes (reminds me of Gravitation) but this only serves to highlight the comical sides. The flashback of how teacher and student met over a lost alligator is quite funny. If you are looking for something different besides the warm and fuzzy shounen-ai type, try this. However serving Junemanga.com, Vol 2 does not seem to be in the near horizon. I hope this is not a sole manga.
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