Non-consensual sex in the real world is an inexcusable, heinous act with no justification. However, that being said, when it comes to the world of yaoi and boys love, it is another animal entirely and something to keep in mind when you read about it. For yaoi readers, what it generally boils down to is that maybe on the surface the act of lovemaking/sex is being forced, but below the surface it is a consensual act, only one of the participants doesn't realize that to be the case – yet. It is definitely a mindset thing, which yaoi fans understand and appreciate, and as it is between fictional characters, not real people in the world which we live in, the authors must be forgiven for exercising their literary license. If this is not acceptable to the reader, then they must simply seek their reading pleasure elsewhere.
Having gotten this out of the way, I now proceed to my actual subject – Live For Love: BL Detectives by Jun Mayama.
Highlights
Yasuie Kiryuuin is the proud owner and half of the personnel of the Kiryuuin Detective Agency, which is located in the Shinjuku Nichome neighborhood of Tokyo. After seven years in the business, he and his assistant/partner, Yoshiyuki, are still struggling to make ends meet, and the jobs they do manage to get aren't quite what they had hoped for – such as finding and bathing lost pets! And Yoshiyuki has the added annoyance of dealing with Yasuie's seemingly playful advances, which he considers to be sexual harrassment! But they continue to stay together, even though that entails having to either dodge their stern landlady at times, or sweet talk her into allowing them more tiime to come up with the rent! And sometimes they do end up getting better types of jobs, such as catching a video pornographer and rescuing his would-be victim (using Yoshiyuki as bait) – although Yasuie took no remuneration from the young man who hired them, arguing that he couldn't very well take his student money, could he? Which only serves to exasperate Yoshiyuki all the more, as he tries to make his employer/friend see the value of paying bills on time – such as electricity, and rent – not to mention his own salary! And yet he sticks with him, through thick and through thin.
Yoshiyuki is not without his own insecurities. As a newborn, he was found abandoned by some coinlockers, his umbilical cord still attached. He has never met his parents. When he was twelve, he was taken in by the Nomura family, attracted by his ability to get good grades, but four years later, they had a child of their own, and he felt unwanted again, although he doesn't show it. Yoshiyuki is summoned home unexpectedly at the collapse of his father, and while there, they talk to him about a marriage interview, and about him going to work for his father, as well as moving back home, which takes the young man by surprise, and he has a lot to think about as he returns to Tokyo and to Yasuie – and to cat washing duties! The landlady comes knocking on their door again, and although they manage to temporarily stave her off, the situation is obviously quite serious, and something must be done! Realizing how much the detective agency means to his friend, Yoshiyuki returns to his family and agrees to both the marriage interview and the job if his foster father will provide Yasuie with the money he needs! Yoshiyuki intends to tell Yasuie, but he learns it himself first, albeit accidentally, and he is very much hurt and upset at the idea of Yoshiyuki getting married. He tries to show Yoshiyuki how much he means to him, making love to him, although this is not what the other had in mind, despite the fact that Yasuie protests that he has always loved Yoshiyuki (Yasuie is not always eloquent when he needs to be – albeit well-meaning, he definitely has some rather dim moments). An outraged Yoshiyuki quits his job with the agency and proceeds to return to his foster parents' home, where they and his brother welcome him home, and plans move forward regarding his marriage and his job, as well as his assisting his brother with his school work.
Overall
Yoshiyuki has a lot to consider, even though he has apparently made his decision. For seven years he has worked with and lived with Yasuie, through good times and bad, and even though at times Yasuie exasperates him – especially with his touches and his pretending to come on to him (is he really just pretending?) for all of that, he has made Yoshiuyuki feel that he has a place where he belongs. Away from him, he finds that he cannot stop thinking about him! He questions his own feelings regarding him, and asks himself if it was the act of rather aggressive sex itself which drove him out the door, or was it simply the way that Yasuie handled it? The answer to that question could make all the difference! And that is what I meant when I spoke of non-consensual sex not being the same in the world of yaoi. The detective agency is called the Kiryuuin Detective Agency, but when Yasuie answers the phone, he likes to call it the B (beautiful) and L (lovely) agency – to Yoshiyuki's chagrin – which is just a pun on the genre of BL, or boy's love. I find the heroes very appealing, both in looks and character, and I couldn't help but root for Yasuie to get through to his friend and succeed in his suit to win his heart, and I hoped that Yoshiyuki would realize that he loves him too, even if Yasuie doesn't necessarily phrase his love in flowery or eloquent speech. Live For Lovereminds me in some ways of two other detective yaoi novels – Fake and Yellow – in the relationship between two men who worked together as detectives where one comes to realize that he has feelings for a member of his own sex, to his surprise. To me, it's just another example of how love works – it knows not gender, but is concerned with the heart, rather. The bard said it best, in A Midsummer Night's Dream: Love looks not with the eye but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind. We can all take a lesson from him.
Comicsonline gives Live For Love 4.5 out of 5 coin lockers.
