HATE TO LOVE YOU
Makoto Tateno
Deux (June 2007)
18+

Masaya and Yuma are the sons of rival rich families, who both attend super-prestigious Shotoku Academy. ("It's like Romeo and Juliet … we're feuding houses," says Konoe's comedically grouchy father.) They've been next-door neighbors all their lives, and they've always competed with one another—but when suave, womanizing Yuma moves in on a girl who Masaya likes, Masaya bursts into tears and starts to wonder whether he's more jealous of Yuma or the girl. Next thing you know, Yuma and Masaya's passion turns physical, and Masaya is giving off that uke pheromone and fending off the advances of other hot, tall young businessmen.
The first yaoi manga by Makoto Tateno (Yellow, Hero Heel), Hate to Love You doesn't have to try hard to be better than it looks; her art is awkward and clumsy and the pink-overload cover makes you grateful that manga is in black and white. The sex is also vague and brief considering the 18+ rating. But the romantic formula is generally light and pleasant, with a few nice moments, as when Yuma must sneak out of Masaya's house the morning after, or their unusual but tender declaration of love ("I hate you." "I hate you, too"). Unlike the abusive semes of Naduki Koujima (Our Kingdom, Selfish Love), Yuma manages to be seductive without crossing the line: the most questionable aspect of the relationship comes when Yuma continues to sleep around with women (surprise!) and Masaya says, "Do whatever you want (to me). Otherwise you'll cheat on me. And … I want it too …" The side story, "You Can't Call It Love," is an interesting dark vignette about a teenager who becomes obsessed with the danger represented by a handsome bachelor.

FINDER SERIES 3: ONE WING IN THE FINDER
Ayano Yamane
Be Beautiful (April 2007)
18+

Ayano Yamane (Crimson Spell) is one of the most talented and hardcore yaoi artists published in English. The short story that became the first chapter of Finder Series was a BDSM-themed tale, in which Akihito, a freelance photographer investigating a shady nightclub, is kidnapped, tied up in bondage gear, and raped. His assailant, the nightclub owner Asami, later saves his life, and then keeps turning up and making Akihito uncomfortable. The plot soon develops into a sort of underworld love triangle between Akihito, the dark and masterful Asami, and Fei Long, a silky-haired Chinese mafia boss who has a grudge against Asami.
The surprising thing about Finder is that there's so much action: lots of fighting, torture, and faceless goons getting killed. Volume 3, One Wing in the Finder, is the most intense so far, with shoot-outs alternating with long, explicit sex scenes. The men are hot and broad-shouldered, the art is almost as dark as Death Note, and the mood is gritty and serious. Three volumes and barely a single utterance of "I love you"? Sex scenes vaguely similar to anatomically plausible gay sex?! An uke going down on a seme? Unbelievable! Somehow all the nonconsensual elements work better because it's set in a world of crime and dark passions, rather than some high school comedy where getting molested is supposed to be cute and funny, like in so many Boy’s Love manga. The only frustration is the cliffhanger ending, and readers will be left waiting for Volume 4, which just came out in Japan in June 2007. The author's notes about the next volume speak for themselves: "Please look forward to all the action Akihito's butt will get." Two short humorous stories, mostly about middle-aged salarymen, round out the volume.

TRULY KINDLY Fumi Yoshinaga
BLU (August 2007)
Biblos (1997)
18+

Most yaoi has a strict formula of eternal love and happy endings (in both the literal and "massage parlor" meaning), but the ever-unpredictable Fumi Yoshinaga isn't afraid to play around with the clichés. In Volume 2 of her high school comedy Flower of Life, one of the characters draws a yaoi manga, and Yoshinaga does a hilarious analysis of "how to draw yaoi" that shows how eager young artists can be pressured into creating formulaic work. The grab-bag anthology Truly Kindly includes yaoi stories set in modern-day Seattle, feudal Japan, and pre-Revolutionary France; but the settings are less interesting than the plots, which are sometimes funny, sometimes sad, and sometimes not really yaoi at all. (Readers who want pure, concentrated man-on-man action should try another artist.) It's one of Yoshinaga's earlier works so some of the plot twists feel arbitrary and her talking-heads art is noticeably flat, but the best of the tales are just plain good relationship stories. One of the stories, "A Butler's Proper Place," a romance between a butler and his young lord, was later expanded into the companion volume Lovers in the Night.