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NOODLE SHOP AFFAIR (CJ Michalski)

Well, there’s no sex, but there’s…ramen. And yakuza. rakuza? yamen?

Kakeru is the son of a local ramen shop owner, who is forced to take over the restaurant after the Osakaki yakuza took both his parents from him. Ukyo, the heir to the Tatsumori yakuza family, falls in love with Kakeru at first sight and desperately wants to make him his. Only one problem – Kakeru hates yakuza for ruining his family. Ukyo then decides to go undercover and help Kakeru with the restaurant to try to steal his heart and show him that not all yakuza are bad guys.

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TOMCATS (Mashiro Minamino)

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.

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SPRING FEVER (Yugi Yamada)

I thought ‘Close the Last Door’ was the last Yugi Yamada in my collection yet to be read, but this one snuck under the radar. This makes what, at least six or seven individual titles she had localized in English? Those ain’t rookie numbers. I do think her work we have is a bit of a mixed bag (worth mentioning that we don’t have any of her newer stuff, which is more polished), but I thought Spring Fever was one of the better ones in that group. This comes with the ‘Yamada caveat’ though – she’s got a weird art style that doesn’t vibe with everyone, me included – but I can look past that for great stories.

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CIGARETTE KISSES (Nase Yamato)

If you love nothing more than the idea of hot salarymen smoking cigarettes plus smoking each other’s poles, Deux Press has a manga for you. Maybe the only manga for you, at least in English. Cigarette Kisses may *seem* like bad BL trash, but let me subvert your expectations: it’s good BL trash. Totally different thing! It’s not really that trashy though, it’s actually a serious drama, with gay sex. Let’s go with that.

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