The J Geils band told us that love stinks, Nazareth tried to warn us that love hurts, and Pat Benatar warbled that love is a battlefield. Now manga-ka Suzuki Tanaka is here to echo those cynical sentiments in a collection of four yaoi short stories which she has entitled Love Hurts. Step inside, why don't you?
Highlights
The first story, Unforgivable, concerns a man whose lover is obsessed with video games to the point where it is affecting their relationship, because he never stops playing them. As the story starts, the aggrieved partner, Koji, is a blood-stained weeping mess – when the doorbell rings! Outside is a young man named Koharu who has come to collect some money that Sumi-san owes him and has promised to pay. He is quite adamant about needing it, and about knowing that the other intended to be at home all day in order to pay it, the amount being some fifteen thousand yen (about $150). A panic-stricken Koji agrees to pay the money himself, but when he thrusts twenty thousand yen out to him, the boy says he doesn't have change and doesn't want more than he is entitled to. He pushes his way into the apartment, and then discovers the bloody body of Sumi-san lying upon the floor. His friend, not wishing to get involved, departs, and the two men are left alone with the body, until a mysterious stranger arrives on the scene and addles things more! In the second story, Two in Love, we find that Koharu lives with his teacher, Kirihara, and that the two are prone to violent noisy fights, the sort that leave bruises! The downstairs neighbor complains but the transgender neighbor next door thinks it's an indication of their great love for one another. At their school their is a female student named Sekine whom most people find creepy, and whom they suspect of having a thing for Kirihara. Even as Koharu is confessing to a female friend of his that he has feelings for a straight guy, Sekine is threatening Kirihara with making public the knowledge that he is gay and living with a guy, even as she confesses to having killed a human! The distraught teacher runs from her, and ends up running into a man begging for charitable alms – the man recognizes him as a friend of Koharu and mentions it, which sets Kirihara off and he beats the snot out of the man, which later leads to more fighting with Koharu, and then the intrusion of a mysterious stranger1 The third tale is The Fate of a Crime Fighters' Love. Seigo Amagi is 22 years old, not a great businessman, and when his friends do talk him into going out with them, he is more than likely to run out in the middle of things – because he is also secretly a crime fighter! It seems that all of the people of the village that he came from originally have super powers, and he has brought his to a place where they can do some good – hopefully! Unfortunately, the villagers with the super powers aren't all good, some are quite evil, and very often the two factions end up fighting, unbeknownst to the general public. Amagi finds himself in over his head against one of these baddies, when he is saved through the intervention of an old friend, Touma, who has just arrived in town, in the nick of time! The two old friends catch up on things, and Amagi begins to lecture to Touma immediately that he needs to return home to help his family. But Touma doesn't see it that way, because he has especially come to be with Amagi! Amagi feels he should show Touma the town, tourist style, before he lives, even though he has never really seen it himself, but Touma has no intention of leaving – and further muddies the waters by kissing Amagi! How will their friendship survive?
Overall
The final tale in this collection is Kanako's Story. Everyone at school thinks Kanako is touched in the head, and the only one who will listen to her tales of hearing an alien voice inside her head is long-time friend Shouta, who thinks she is cute. Now Kanako only speaks of her alien to him, as well as her dreams of being an astronaut.He convinces her that the two of them should go out together, so she agrees, and she tells him how her alien is going to come back and get her someday. Even Shouta becomes tired of hearing about this mysterious alien and the two become estranged, as his friends attempt to get him to notice other girls. But Shouta is worried – Kanako's stories are getting more and more strange, and Shouta isn't sure what to do about the girl he still cares about! Could there be any truth to what she is saying about the alien and his alleged return?
Normally, I am not a fan of short story collections because there is usually little plot or character development. But Suzuki Tanaka has managed to pack a lot of punch in a few pages, and having only four stories helps as well, because we do get a chance to see more of her characters, and their interesting situations. These stories aren't your garden variety love stories, however, so be prepared for a little bit of gruesome and a little bit of supernatural, but you won't be bored, that much is certain. The artwork is well done, and the stories well told! My favorite story is the one involving the crime fighters, and I couldn't help but root for these two to find one another. The last one is technically not a yaoi, but it's a cute tale, and sure to please. I consider Love Hurts to be a keeper for my collection, and I look forward to reading more of her works.
Comicsonline gives Love Hurts 4 out of 5 alien abductions.
