Product Description: The cute, outgoing Yuki Kojima and the mature misfit Atsushi Nakahara, are two boys as different as can be - and yet, somehow they are attracted to each other. Kojima seeks to befriend the class outcast and soon learns of Nakahara's troubled family life - the uncaring, abusive father and mentally unstable mother. As Kojima yearns to somehow comfort Nakahara, he gradually becomes aware that his feelings for the other boy arise from more than mere sympathy. When Nakahara declares his own romantic feelings for Kojima, their relationship becomes one of sexual exploration as they face their first steps into adulthood together.
Well done The first thing you'll notice about Little Butterfly is the art. The characters are detailed, and the artist is great at expressing complex emotions through more than dialogue and monologue.
The dialogue was pretty great, and there are humourous moments throughout. This story is definitely love/relationship oriented, and less about sex. Even the "attempted sex" scenes are just developments of their relationship.
Buy it for the "Awwwwe!" factor. My heart still races just reading Little Butterfly, and it remains my absolute favourite yaoi story. =)
Cute series My friend sent me the three Japanese volumes and I instantly fell in love with the characters and the storyline. It took me a while to get used to the artwork though, since I normally go for my men drawn looking older. Very cute, and there are some sweet, heartwrenching moments that'll have you yearning to take both boys and give them a cuddle.
This is my first experience with this mangaka, so I'm now looking for their other works. Well worth the read.
I love yaoi but I love quality too This is why you should not buy a whole series on a whim...but it's too late to complain.
I started reading this...manga with very high expectations since everyone was saying how cute it was *rolls eyes* and the fact that the mangaka is the same one who did Bukiyou na Silent(one of her best works) made me want to buy it even more BUT I felt so disappointed after reading the first volume that I couldn't keep on reading the rest of it (I skipped the pages through the second one and I haven't even touched the last one).
I don't know what was that made me hate it so much since the beginning, the lame characters or the lack of good plot perhaps? I didn't feel anything for the uke or the seme or anyone whatsoever, they weren't interesting enough to make me want to know more about them. Maybe it's just me because everyone seems to love it. Well, this seems like a great book for a beginner...maybe.
Not just a bit of fluff (review of whole series) Both the title and the cover art with flowers, butterflies and so on made me skeptical that I would enjoy Little Butterfly (I was afraid it would be too cutesy-poo), but I decided to take a chance and I'm glad I did.
To the criticism that the some of the characters are stereotypes, or caricatures, or whatever, I would say this is true but unfair. This is genre fiction after all, and a sweet airheaded boy with huge eyes is a convention of the yaoi/bl genre. To complain about a yaoi story having such a character would be like complaining about a mystery novel with a hard-boiled wisecracking detective. A work of genre fiction can either try to escape the conventions (or clichés) of its genre or else to work creatively within them. If the author merely introduces stock characters and fails to do anything interesting with them, the reader has legitimate grounds for complaint, but this is not the case here. Kojima-kun is a "type", but he isn't *just* a type. He is a complex character: loving, brave (he initiates the relationship with Nakahara, and keeps it going despite some pretty scary encounters with Nakahara's family) and, yes, maybe a little bit airheaded too, but as I said he's more than just that.
The art work in LB is quite good. When I read I focus on the story and notice the art mostly when it "gets in the way", which in this case it did not. I never had any trouble telling who was who, even among minor characters. I've run into titles where even major characters are easily confused with each other. Here that isn't a problem at all, and I'm grateful. Also the characters are drawn more or less realistically, so I wasn't distracted by strangely-shaped faces, odd-looking ears or what have you. Kojima-kun is the only character who looks caricatured to me (especially his oversized eyes), but that's a convention I can live with. On a couple of occasions Kojima-kun's already somewhat caricatured features are further exaggerated for comic effect, especially in one very funny scene in volume two when he is introduced to Nakahara-kun's uncle.
I won't say much about the plot for fear of giving too much away. Kojima goes out of his way to befriend Nakahara, a classmate who comes from a seriously dysfunctional family, and their friendship evolves into romance. Their increasing attachment to each other develops as Nakahara's family situation deteriorates, and is to some extent driven by this deterioration: Nakahara desperately wants to be loved ("desperate people clutch at straws," he says) and the kind-hearted Kojima is sympathetically inclined towards him from the beginning, and becomes more so as he gradually discovers just how bad things are at the Nakahara home.
First volume hesitation. First volumes are often a hit-or-miss. The plot seems pretty stock, as do the characters--one is almost wincingly stereotypical, with the gushing enthusiasm, earnest eyes and clasped hands.
There are some stand-out elements with hints at character backgrounds, social status/accomplishment, and religious issues, which I rarely see addressed in yaoi manga. The story in this volume is a bit short, and the ending a bit abrupt. The art is pleasant.
All in all, it's a light, romantic read, mostly formula. I'd recommend borrowing a friend's copy or picking up a used one if available to see if the story is compelling enough.
If you prefer more drama and a little more balance between the 'broody' and 'sensitive' characters, try "Esperanza."
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