I had planned to finish and review the small pile of Studio Kosen titles I have all in a row so that I can get it over with, but reading that last one was like chewing on a dung-flavored stick of Juicy Fruit and I’m not sure I can handle another one just yet. I need some mouthwash for the brain, if you will. Brainwash I guess? So I picked a random M-rated one-shot off my shelf…I mean, there’s no guarantee it will be good or anything, but it would have to be, idk, fingerpainted by a drunk or something to be worse than Kingdom of Selfish Love.
Scarlet is Hiro Madarame’s debut work, though not the first of hers to be licensed in English (it was preceded by Cute Devil). It has a title story and two side stories, one of which I enjoyed far more than the main story, incidentally. To say the title story is ‘kind of fucked up’ would be one way to put it, as its main plot points include bloody anal rape followed by attempted murder. And they say romance is dead…
Our starring couple are classmates Ryo and Akio, who I was…not into at all. Part of this was because Ryo – who is the seme btw – is crying in about half the panels, and I don’t know about anyone else but it’s kind of a turnoff for me when there’s more crying than sex.
He also rapes Akio until his ass bleeds, followed by trying to legitimately murder him with a box cutter. After Akio leaves the hospital after almost dying, he then – wait for it – continues to date Ryo as if nothing happened. Yaoi logic strikes again!
Well they have hot makeup sex at least…
So after this bonkers WTF first story you might be wondering if the rest is like this. Actually I’d be curious how it could possibly ramp up from there (actual murder and necrophilia?) but no, it gets much more normal. The second story was easily my favorite, with ample sex and a cute couple.
The jist is that cute salaryman Harumi fantasizes about his blonde hunky coworker Toki on the elevator (clearly Madarame likes blonde hunky semes), and his fantasy comes true when he runs into him at a gay bar and they hook up. Besides the fact that I’m a sucker for salaryman sex, possibly I liked it extra because I was comparing it to the previous on – but it was an enjoyable read, and easily the highlight of the book. It also told the story from both characters’ perspective, which was a nice touch.
The last story definitely felt like a ‘ok we need to fill some more pages what else can we add’ type of thing, but it’s not awful. It doesn’t have much of a plot, but the art elevates it.
No question about it, Hiro Madarame draws some pretty-ass art. She has a unique style that uses these loose yet bold strokes that lends emotion and vibrance to the panels. The downside to this is that sometimes things are drawn so wispy that you’re not sure what you’re looking at, particularly noticeable in the all-important naughty panels – and no you don’t see any cash and prizes – but I didn’t feel like this was really detrimental. The sex scenes were adequate and tended to be rather long in terms of page count, which was much appreciated. Madarame clearly knew this was what we came for (zing), and delivered the goods.
Her wispy, loose style also lends itself really well to watercolor, as this cover and this color page at the front shows. Not all mangakas are good colorists – much less great colorists – or have a style that jives well with color, so it’s a nice treat to see this side of her talent!
Overall I’m a bit conflicted about this one because the main story is just so crazy and bizarre and I disliked the pairing, but I really liked the second one, but the third one was blah, so what balances out what? I don’t really know. But I do tend to think that good art and good sex can put a band-aid on all sorts of things..in this case I’m not sure it’s a big enough one to cover the whole wound, but it certainly helps.
TL;DR: A what-the-fuck title story followed by a much better one, ending with one that was basically filler. Madarame’s pretty art style lended emotion to the stories and eroticism to the sex, of which there was an adequate amount, and it never feels rushed. A good read for those who like their pretend-buttsecks with a side of angst, if you can get past the ‘wait, what?’ of the first story.