For people that only read the shiny-new-fully-loaded-red-convertible-“BL4LYFE”-vanity-plate version of BL, the sort of yaoi that SuBLime and Kuma and Seven Seas put out, they may not realize just how bad some of these older and obscure 70s-wood-bodied-station-wagon-with-bullet-holes sort of BL titles that Kitty and Deux put out can be. That’s what this blog is for guys, I read the crap so you don’t have to! I have bullet proof armor when it comes to bad BL, at least I thought I did. This one though….dear Rod Hardsteel from Deux Press, I eagerly await my medal of honor in the mail for all my fallen brain cells lost in combat while reading this.
First off, I’ve read enough really bad BL to know that a map or character chart at the beginning of a one-shot is always a red flag. Don’t know why, but it is. Particularly one that marks a spot for “basement where the cats gather.”
I’m actually not even sure I saw all these characters…which is possible, as it’s also clear from the author notes at the end that it either was or was meant to be a longer series, for some inexplicable reason.
I have…no idea what is going on in this drivel. It’s some sort of fantasy isekai comedy story about miniature cat people and some humans who live in a desert; that’s about all I could gather. It’s like a couple of random 4koma doujins that were extended into a 175 page story.
My theory is actually that the mangaka just really liked this character below, one of the cats named Kosuzu, and wanted to make a manga around it and her editor was like “ok but can you throw some bishounen in it and make it BL?” I think like a third of the manga is just Kosuzu being cute.
Oh, and the most BL you get is head petting, and someone saying the word weenie. See the cover? Wouldn’t you like to see those two guys doing stuff? Me too! Unfortunately the cover is about as true and representative of what its selling as a McDs ad claiming a Big Mac is part of a healthy diet.
So yeah, this is just a long gag comedy about some guys and miniature cats. It feels like Minamino can barely draw and there’s no backgrounds and hardly any textures or shading. And like, who is this for? Because it’s mysteriously rated 16+ when the only people who might ever find anything in here funny are 11 year old sheltered religious girls on a Girl Scouts trip who’d giggle over the cover and feel like they have something forbidden but are still young enough to go “oh haha, cat people or something” when they see the true content.
TL;DR: This is an attempt at some kind of isekai gag comedy about…some guys and tiny cat people living in a desert? The most BL you get is head petting and someone saying the word weenie. It’s honestly just nonsensical drivel with crappy art and a cover that’s false advertising I have no idea why this was licensed or why it’s rated 16+