Renai Sousa

The interactions between the two protagonists feel very real. It's a play of power between two smart, prideful men. Every little reaction is artistically written by the mangaka, and the result is very convicing, and very... enthralling. There is not much smut, but plenty of fetish fuel. The small talk, the game of hide and seek they play, hiding their weaknesses and trying to unsettle the other, all of this is a real turn-on. Plus, there is the art, that I found lovely.
A must-read.
(I should add that I'm only reviewing the first volume. I did read the other ones, but I don't remember it and I think I found them bad in comparison, so I'm not gonna re-read them)

the first volume is lovely; it features two strong men getting interested in each other, and working out whether and how to have a relationship. it's well paced; it's not happening way too fast as so many BL relationships. i enjoyed the interactions between the two and it was interesting to see their relationship progress. it's definitely among the better BL i've read. the drama CD does a great job casting narita ken as yamashiro, who has a deeper voice than your average uke. as always, the further away from the inane seme/uke stereotypes and feminised uke we get, the more i enjoy a story.

the second volume, on the other hand, annoyed me. formerly strong yamashiro turns into a jealous shrew who jumps to stupid conclusions, and listens to strangers instead of his lover. guess what, yamashiro -- jealousy doesn't prove strength of love, it only proves depth of insecurity. if your partner isn't jealous of your interactions with other people, that means your partner trusts you, you idiot. you ought to cherish that instead of throwing a hissyfit. i think this cliched plot pissed me off more than it usually does because i actually liked yamashiro from v1 a lot, and i was looking for genuine growth in the relationship of an established couple of mature men, and instead i got a junior high plot.

i also didn't like sasatani because of the underhanded way he tried to woo yamashiro previously, and i wasn't ready to either forgive him, or believe that he'd fall for personality-free ichinose so soon after he supposedly really loved yamashiro. smells like rebound to me, and i can't get excited about that.

if i just rated volume 1, i'd give it a 9, but volume 2 didn't work at all for me, and from a quick look at the raw of volume 3 there's mostly more sasatani x ichinose, so i'm waiting with the rating for now.

Majority of the BL manga have the stereotypical seme/uke look and characteristics about them but Renai Sousa's Okumura and Yamashiro are one of those examples that doesn't fall into that category. Reading about their story, relationship and the progress was really interesting, not to mention the inclusion of secondary characters, such as Sasatani and Ichinose, though their story wasn't as arresting as the former pairings. Great to have Takamiya and Azumi from Anata no Tonari ni Suwarasete also in the series.

Overall this was a highly enjoyable series, love the artwork, the plot and character progress. Been some time since I last read a series involving two prideful and stubborn men. ^_^ Sasatani and Ichinose's interaction weren't as convincing though, IMO... But still interesting and worth reading...