If I had to guess which yaoi books on my shelf be legitimatly tear-inducing, Othello would probably have been in the bottom half of that list. An R16 that looks kind of like a lame vampire story with that gothic cover font? Nah. Yet, as it turned out, to say Othello was moving, beautiful, and heartbreaking would be an understatement – this book absolutely came out of left field. I guess really I just wasn’t expecting it to be so touching, much less serious.
You’re probably wondering what the hell is so special about your standard oversize mid-2000s R16 June book, of which there are dozens. Trust me, I was surprised too.
The title story centers around Ayumu Minase, a teen with an identical twin brother, Atsushi, who has died in a car wreck. Ayumu and Atsushi (which for some unknown reason kind of sound like names of orca whales at Sea World to me) were raised apart when their parents divorced, with each one taking custody of one of them. While there is no love lost between Ayumu and his father/stepmother, Atsushi grew up happy and carefree with their mother. Upon his brother’s death, Ayumu moves in with their mother and transfers to Atsushi’s school, where he is desperate to ‘become’ his dead brother to escape his own emotionally turbulent circumstances. Things heat up when he meets Kirishima, a stoic classmate who Ayumu can’t seem to shake. *dun dun dunnnnnn*
I made sure that sorta-vague summary didn’t give away anything that wasn’t on the back of the book because I feel even borderline spoilers will lessen the impact of this touching tale. Part of what made it so good was the way it unfolded and what you knew and didn’t know throughout. It’s one of those stories with solid development that you’re kind of anxious it might peter off into a lame climax or ending. Thankfully it didn’t (at least I didn’t think so), but I definitely wanted to stay seated on that emotional roller coaster for another go. It’s not that it felt unfinished, it just felt like there easily could have been more, and I wanted there to be more – For me, Dash! is the standard that judge all other shounen-ai by since it’s my favorite one, and though Othello didn’t eclipse it, it came really close – had the main story been lengthened to fill the whole book, it just might have.
The art was really nice, Ayumu and Kirishima were sexy af and the kissing was hot; would have loved to see a real sex scene between them – I know, I know, I say that every time, but that’s because I really mean it every time (I doubt I’m the only one, we’re all perverts here after all). I mean, jeez, if Eiki Eiki can make Dear Myself doujinshi, I think we all deserve a side of fries in the form of Kirishima x Ayumu action not meant for underage eyes (no rhyming intended).
After the main story are three shorter side stories which are all notably excellent. I feel like side stories are always hard because there isn’t much room for any real character or story development, but there are a few mangakas that really do them well, and Hasumi is one I’m adding to that list. The first one, ‘Snow White in Summer,’ was just totes adorbs, if you will. It was a schoolboy love story with a pretty hot kissing scene, so based off that information alone you can probably guess how I felt about it. The couple in this one looks very similar to Kirishima and Ayumu, but Hasumi is so good at drawing hot guys that she could make all her characters identical and I wouldn’t complain.
The second, ‘The Scent of Midnight,’ was my favorite – it deserves its own full-length story in my opinion. It was just really well put together and an intriguing read; Hasumi is really good at building mystery and keeping you guessing until the end – I could also definitely see this one being a great basis for a movie even though some weenie director would take out the incesty bits. Though I very much wanted more just because I loved it, she can also deliver a satisfying ending, which I never take for granted. It was here that I realized she definitely has a ‘type’ when it comes to ukes – namely, blonde and mischievous. But far be it from me to complain about gorgeous bishounen in any capacity – the hot uke award for this book can easily go to any and all of the four. They do probably all look too similar – the semes too – but they’re all in very different stories so not like you didn’t know who was who.
The last story, ‘the Abyss Pool,’ is a rare yaoi horror story. The two elements certainly cross in yaoi, but often with mixed success. For only being 10-pages, ‘the Abyss Pool’ was pretty darn effective, proving once again that Hasumi really has a rare talent for these short stories. I don’t want to include any pics of this one for fear that might make it too predictable, but it was really good and oddly hot given the ending. Maybe I should read more yaoi horror? Yes. Yes I should.
I will definitely be searching out more things by this mangaka. I think, though I might be wrong, that the only other English-licensed title she had was Fallen Moon, which I heard was a bit lackluster story-wise (it’s one of those compilations of short one-shots) so I avoided getting it when I came across it. I think I might change my mind now though, if the art is as good as it is in this one. She has one called Family Border that people seem to like so I think I might check that one out too (no official English version though, probably because of incest overtones that our delicate Western palates evidently find distasteful). Aaaaaaanyway…it’s late now and I have a hungry cat pawing at me and am also out of wine so why stay awake I guess. See you next time, fellow fujoshi!
TL;DR: Definitely did not expect this book to be this good. Not only is the main story probably in my top 10 favorite shounen-ai tales, the three side stories are good enough to blow full-length ones out of the water on their own. Overall it’s a surprisingly moving and emotional title, with a beautiful and very likable art style that positively drips with sensuality.