Anything in this world worth having is worth working for – and since Nagi knows what he wants, he is certainly willing to do what it takes to get it.  He works two part-time jobs; during the day he models for an art school, and at night, he works in a club filled with drag queens. (He does the scut work for them, such as fanning their smoke, because as he so eloquently puts it, "he lacks da boobs".  And therein lies the reason for his working himself so hard – he wishes to get "the" operation, the one which will  make him into a girl.  He's wanted this ever since he came to the realization that he likes boys and that he will never get a boy of  his own unless he does.  And that is what he wants more than anything.  Nagi's story is the first to be told in Hinako Takanaga's Croquis, a collection of short stories for those who love yaoi.

 

Highlights

 

Lately Nagi has become aware of the stare of one of the students at the art school where he poses and no, not simply as in someone looking at him in order to draw him, but something else, something deeper.  He discovers that it is a very cute boy named Kaji – and Nagi is convinced that there is something behind the stare, even though the "girls" he works with say he is only seeing what he wants to see.  During a chance early morning meeting with Kaji at the school, Nagi learns he has accidentally left an earring on from the previous night, and when Kaji makes a joke about cross-dressing, he plummets the other into despair, until in a moment of desparation Nagi begs Kaji not to say anything about his secret, at least while he is still at the school!   Of course Kaji has no idea what he is talking about. When Nagi reveals to Kaji the reason for his two jobs, and the operation he is saving for,  Kaji tells him he shouldn't do it and ruin his beautiful body!  Which definitely throws Nagi for a loop!  After which he asks Nagi to model privately for him!  Is this the start of something between them?  Or does he simply see Nagi as an artist views a model, and nothing more?  When they finally do begin to have a relationship, why won't Kaji take it to the next level?  And why has he drawn Nagi the way that he has, does the answer to that question lie therein?  The second story in this volume is On My First Love – Tori is reminiscing about his student days, and his unlikely friendship with a boy named Kamota.  At first glance they are nothing alike – Tori is quiet and studious, a bookworm, while Kamota is rowdy, athletic and outgoing,  the life of the party.  And yet Tori finds that they have similar tastes in books, which completely boggles his mind.  Within five minutes of their meeting, Kamota is calling him Tori-tan, which Tori finds annoying and yet he allows it.  They became the closest of friends during their high school years.  The summer after their junior year they both go on the class trip, which will be their last taste of freedom for a while, as their senior year will be spent in slaving over books for their entrance exams.  They have a blast, playing hard on the beach by day, sleeping in tents overnight.  Tori awakens to the call of nature, and leaving the tent in the early dawn hours, beholds a sight he isn't prepared for – at the edge of the water is a touching silhouette of Kamota and a girl.  It isn't until he returns to his bed that Tori has an epiphany – he cares about Kamota as more than a friend, now that it is too late!  Kamota and the girl are together.  Senior year comes and goes and they lose touch, until a class reunion six years later.  Will anything come of this unrequited love after all this time?  The next story is entitled Wish Upon a Star.  Sei is a member of the Astronomy Club, and yet he hates the stars!  And has ever since he discovered that they are liars, and that wishing upon one does no one any good – the wishes never come true!  So why is he in the Astronomy Club, with his bad attitude, and the enmity of the rest of the members of the club?  Because his childhood friend Daiki, a senior, is a member, and Daiki is obsessed with stars.  When Sei confesses his reason for disliking the stars, Daiki tells him that you have to make your wish before the star falls – and that there are stars falling constantly that you can't see, so you just have to wish for something all the time!  But Sei does wish for Daiki all the time, and nothing has happened!  Daiki is going to be going to college soon, and Sei's only comfort lies in the knowledge that he will be going to a local college.  But when he learns from someone else that Daiki has applied to a school far away, he is crushed!  Can Sei tell Daiki what is in his heart, and will it make a difference between them, for better or for worse?

 

Overall

 

The final tale in this collection is On My First Love II, which is the flip side of the first one, but this time as told by Kamota, and we learn that what you see is not always what it appears to be and there are truly two sides to every story!  As I have mentioned before, although I am a yaoi fan, I am not usually a fan of short story collections in general, because they seldom take the time to develop either story or character.  But sometimes you get lucky, and this is one of those times.  Most of the book is filled with the story of Nagi and Kaji, and the development of their relationship, but enough time is allotted to the other stories that you get to know and like the characters, and to cheer them on in their endeavours!   Wish Upon a Star is very romantic, as is Croquis, while the two chapters of On My First Love have a bittersweet symmetry to them.  I was really sad to see the book end, wished I could spend more time with the characters, and follow their lives.  The same mangaka did Liberty Liberty, but I think I prefer Croquis overall, although I liked the other as well.  What I came away with from reading this book is that you should always be whom you are, not what you think you need to be to get by.  Sometimes people do the wrong things because they think their path to happiness must lie in that direction, when if they were siimply themselves, they would find the real path.  To thine own self be true.

 

Comicsonline gives Croquis 4 out of 5 shooting stars.