I think I speak for everyone when I say that the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of feudal Japan is homoerotic tension. No? Ok, samurai first, but homoerotic tension is definitely second. Still no? Ugh, fine, samurai then Scientologist robot dinosaurs, jeez, making me say the obvious one. But thankfully we have unsung heroes like Rokuya here who take a period of history and add a dash of spice from their magic man love pouch to make a whole different recipe. Who can say for certain it didn’t originally taste this way, anyway? Ain’t historical fantasy great?
I always say it’s harder for me to get into shounen-ai because it’s difficult to regress after reading books like Level C and Incredible Kintaro in which the characters are fucking or at the very least naked 80% of the time. Not that that makes good yaoi but that also depends on your definition of ‘good.’ Still, the junk food can spoil you with a sugar rush that the healthy food can’t match, and become meth for your taste buds that makes you want to eat it even when there’s no nutritional value. What seven year old wants organic gluten-free oat meal when he can have Count Chocula?
Not that any BL would ever be considered the healthy option in the manga section – every aisle is the junk food aisle in this particular grocery store. But lately and surprisingly, some of the best BL stories I’ve read over the past few months have (technically) been shounen-ai – Dash, Othello, Same Cell Organism, Lost Boys, Rin!, Dining Bar Akira – and now I can add Red to that list. Maybe I’m being converted after all. If I can get through all of Let Dai without needing to binge on a Deux Press title in between, consider this monk having reached nirvana.
Red is the story of Prince Yasuharu, the young heir to the throne of Japan who left the castle he called home and lives in hiding, wishing to escape his ruling responsibilites forever. When the king dies, Yasuharu’s absence creates a power vacuum, but no one can take the prince’s place unless he’s proven dead as well.
Enter two assassins who are sent to fix that problem, foreigner Jiei and his associate Kaho. Jiei accidentally crosses paths with Yasuharu before he means to by getting caught up in a public scuffle, from which the prince ends up saving him.
Should make Jiei’s job a piece of cake since the mouse walked right into the trap, right? But he can’t bring himself to kill the listless prince, who can’t even seem to be bothered to fight for his life. Unwilling to give up his true intentions, he has to improvise…
Then prompty runs away instead of pulling a black widow-style fuck-and-kill out of his bandana, to everyone’s collective disappointment.
And the stage is set. Red is a mini historical epic full of mystery and intrigue with a driving plot and characters, both of which unfold in unexpected ways. This was a rather ambitious book to write with much more going on in the plot than most BL stories, but Rokuya is surprisingly skillfull in weaving this particular web. The plot is so much at the forefront that actually the shounen-ai parts are mostly in the subtext, similar to, say, No 6, or Silver Diamond.
All five main characters have pretty well-balanced roles that depend on each other. From the outset, it’s hard to pinpoint who’s going to be the ‘main’ characters or main pairing, as it seems three of the characters have an equal shot with Yasuharu here (also known as Taichi) on this particular episode of The Yaoi Bachelor.
Besides Jiei and Kaho, we have Yasuda, a samurai who has known Taichi since he was young and helps keep him hidden from his ruling responsibilities.
Yasuda remains a pretty enigmatic character throughout the story, with his intentions and sexuality largely unrevealed. He grew on me by the end, especially during one scene where he was tied up and beaten (also shirtless). I know I’m a depraved freak, no reminder needed.
Kaho totally reminded me of Izaya from Durarara – he has that whole squirrely and clever bad guy thing going on. He is super cute and unfortunately doesn’t play as big a role in the story as his partner Jiei, who is super intriguing and gets more so as the story unfolds. Jiei is introduced as a foreigner from a ‘nearby’ land, and I assumed this meant he was Chinese. But he has a Western name (Jay/James), and it’s stated he has lighter hair and eyes. I don’t know if the story in Red is based on an actual historical episode – (like many that are native to the land that birthed baseball, cowboys, Elvis, and people so disgustingly obese that they need a mobility scooter, Asian history is something I’m pretty fuzzy on, even factoring in my love of Japanese comics), but if it is, I have no idea how a Westerner could just ‘wash up’ on the shores of Japan – like, from where? Australia? Even that is much too far to, like, just float from on a raft. It clearly said his land was ‘nearby’ so I’m assuming he didn’t swim from a ship – so who knows, maybe it’s just supposed to be pure fiction. Anyway, Jiei/James of Mysterious Western Origin is a total stud muffin, and there are tons of panels of him just brooding with a sexy look on his face. This is definitely important for the plot, and that’s the story I’m sticking with.
Rokuya’s art is nice, and I’d definitely like to read more of her work. I have at least one other book by her, an 801 Media title I can’t remember the name of. She has a real gift for storytelling and I’d be curious to know if she trades plot for sex scenes when handling a more explicit title or keeps a good balance or what. Anyway, as far as this review goes, I’m afraid if I say any more I will spoil a good story with a lot of great twists and turns so I hope I’ve simply whet your appetite enough to want to read it!
I will however leave this here though:
Oh come on, they’re on the cover together, that doesn’t count as a spoiler!
TL;DR: Red is a compelling story-driven historical shounen-ai with a fantastic cast of characters that keeps you on your toes until the end. As far as shounen-ai goes it’s more of a flavor than an ingredient (there is only one or two kisses, and they’re drawn in a rather ambiguous way) but this doesn’t really subtract from the story at all. Good writing and nice art are the cherry on top of this easy and intriguing read.