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Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It
Big, burly, lascivious, and soft around the edges: welcome to the hypermasculine world of Japanese gay manga. Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It is the first English-language anthology of its kind: an in-depth introduction to nine of the most exciting comic artists making work for a gay male audience in Japan. Jiraiya, Seizoh Ebisubashi, and Kazuhide Ichikawa are three of the irresistibly seductive, internationally renowned artists featured in Massive, as well as Gengoroh Tagame, the subject of The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame: Master of Gay Erotic Manga. Get to know each of these artists intimately, through candid interviews, photography, context-providing essays, illustrations, and manga. Massive also includes the groundbreaking, titillating work of gay manga luminaries Takeshi Matsu, Fumi Miyabi, Inu Yoshi, Gai Mizuki, and comic essayist Kumada Poohsuke.
280 pages, Paperback
First published October 7, 2014
45 people are currently reading
562 people want to read
About the author
Chip Kidd
68?books286?followersChip Kidd is an American author, editor and graphic designer, best known for his innovative book covers.
Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, Kidd grew up in a Philadelphia suburb, strongly influenced by American popular culture. While a design student at Penn State, an art instructor once gave the assignment to design a book cover for Museums and Women by John Updike, who is also a Shillington native. The teacher panned Kidd's work in front of the class, suggesting that book design would not be a good career choice for him. However, Kidd later received professional assignments to design covers for Memories of the Ford Administration and other books by Updike.
Kidd is currently associate art director at Knopf, an imprint of Random House. He first joined the Knopf design team in 1986, when he was hired as a junior assistant by Sara Eisenman.
Publishers Weekly described his book jackets as "creepy, striking, sly, smart, unpredictable covers that make readers appreciate books as objects of art as well as literature." USA Today called him "the closest thing to a rock star" in graphic design today, while author James Ellroy has called him ¡°the world¡¯s greatest book-jacket designer.¡±
Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, Kidd grew up in a Philadelphia suburb, strongly influenced by American popular culture. While a design student at Penn State, an art instructor once gave the assignment to design a book cover for Museums and Women by John Updike, who is also a Shillington native. The teacher panned Kidd's work in front of the class, suggesting that book design would not be a good career choice for him. However, Kidd later received professional assignments to design covers for Memories of the Ford Administration and other books by Updike.
Kidd is currently associate art director at Knopf, an imprint of Random House. He first joined the Knopf design team in 1986, when he was hired as a junior assistant by Sara Eisenman.
Publishers Weekly described his book jackets as "creepy, striking, sly, smart, unpredictable covers that make readers appreciate books as objects of art as well as literature." USA Today called him "the closest thing to a rock star" in graphic design today, while author James Ellroy has called him ¡°the world¡¯s greatest book-jacket designer.¡±
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
January 26, 2015
I love the physical production qualities of the book. The binding is solid and there's plenty of color. The artist interviews are excellent. I appreciate the list of artist websites for each contributor, as sometimes with Japanese mangaka it's actually really hard to find their site among fan and scanlation sites. The stories were a mixed bag, for me, as happens with any anthology. I did think the Gengoroh Tagame story was a less-good choice, because it's an excerpt from a longer work, and he has so many amazing short stories that would have been a better pick. This story was squarely Not My Thing (I don't like prison stories, or war stories, and the MC is a prisoner of war. Seeing as how I bought this for Gengoroh Tagame, you can picture my face on reading).
However Caveman Guu by Jiraiya was great, and Mr. Tokugawa: Grade 5 Room 4 Homeroom Teacher by Seizoh Ebisubashi . . . this was awesome! I love the unconventional, playful narration, the language, the lush description of scents and sounds.
The book also contains a plea for scanlaters to contact artists to ask if they may help promote their work by scanlating. I read scanlations. My argument is that I will buy in English the second the books are available, but apparently publishers don't follow the same logic. So, yeah, I learnt quite a bit of stuff from this book.
Also, Jiraiya -
ETA: How the hell did this get through the publication process without anyone telling Anne Ishii that it is not Dr. Who, for god's sake, it is Doctor Who.
However Caveman Guu by Jiraiya was great, and Mr. Tokugawa: Grade 5 Room 4 Homeroom Teacher by Seizoh Ebisubashi . . . this was awesome! I love the unconventional, playful narration, the language, the lush description of scents and sounds.
The book also contains a plea for scanlaters to contact artists to ask if they may help promote their work by scanlating. I read scanlations. My argument is that I will buy in English the second the books are available, but apparently publishers don't follow the same logic. So, yeah, I learnt quite a bit of stuff from this book.
Also, Jiraiya -
ETA: How the hell did this get through the publication process without anyone telling Anne Ishii that it is not Dr. Who, for god's sake, it is Doctor Who.
December 27, 2014
I can't say enough good things about this new wave of English translations of gay erotic manga. I've been "reading" this stuff for decades now, but can finally know what they're saying. This book is an introduction to 8 influential manga artists, including interviews, samples of work. and context context context. hurrah!
December 23, 2021
Being gay, finding this collection at my local library instantly piqued my interest. Yes, it's racier than the content I typically read, but I'm more versed in BL manga, which is primarily written by straight women for straight women. This manga I'm more familiar with does have a gay audience, but because of the cultural framing surrounding homosexuality in Japan, a lot of interactions in BL and even in the gay manga here revolve around an explicit lack of consent. Homosexuality is still frowned upon in Japan, viewed as forbidden and dirty. But the men of stories still want to do it and express themselves that way. It usually involves a seme forcing himself on an uke in BL, the result a scene more akin to assault than sex. But bashing that isn't going to do much; that would be ethnocentric and disregard the fact that for BL narratives, women are writing them to escape the patriarchal labels forced upon them by men. In my mind, as long as these gay stories are handled well by women, I will respect them whether in manga or print, but if they read like MF romances, that's where things get dicey.
I digress, though. This collection follows gay manga written by gay artists, and like I mentioned before, it still has those elements BL carries (in fact, some of the authors in this collection started in BL circuits). However, because these are writers who identify the way I do, I relate to it more, which is why I gravitated toward this collection. The editors did a nice job of putting together a book officially recognizing the hard work that goes into this genre, and despite the racy content and my mixed opinions on some of the stories, it was worth the read.
Gengoroh Tagame:
"Do You Remember South Island P.O.W. Camp?"-3.5 out of 5 stars: The man heralded as the pioneer of gay manga in Japan, this compelling narrative of a Japanese regiment with a soldier dying of malaria and the master-servant relationship he undertakes with the American caretaker in order to get the soldier's quinine for medicine leans heavily into BDSM, watersports, and dubious consent, which isn't necessarily my thing, but I'm not going to be ethnocentric or hate on it because it represents gay culture in Japan and every person is going to have their own kinks (also, it'd be really bad to dismiss it; that's an insult to the artist). This is only an excerpt, and I would be curious to see how this ends up and whether the relationship with its unhealthy start could reach a happier place. It wouldn't excuse the dubious start here, but Tagame's great art and use of narrative has me curious.
Inu Yoshi:
"Kandagawa-kun"-4 out of 5 stars: This was very funny and adorable. A twenty-three-year-old man who's been recently dumped, Masami, receives a package in the mail from winning a raffle at the gay bookstore. It's revealed to be the mildly erotic helper, a humanoid named Kandagawa, and from there, the bewilderment from Masami keeps growing. The lingering feelings of heartbreak from his relationship alongside some truly humorous moments and cute art honoring the husky men out there, both muscular and not, made this really sweet, so I'll be curious to check out some of Yoshi's other work. He seems to be a really sincere artist based on his interview.
Kumada Poohsuke:
"Dreams of the New Century Theatre Issue #1"-3 out of 5 stars: This excerpt from a collection of four-panel strips had some good and funny gay sex gags, but I unfortunately didn't like the chibi-inspired art style.
"With All Your Might"-1 out of 5 stars: Well...
Takeshi Matsu:
"Kannai's Dilemma"-3 out of 5 stars: Matsu's art was the highlight of this story for me. Kannai's hobby of drawing mash-ups, pieces where you create nudes or semi-nudes and put them against real people, and involving a transfer student who took a special interest with them, created a short and surprisingly cute story that while not leaving the largest impression on me, I did enjoy it.
Jiraiya:
"Caveman Guu"-3 out of 5 stars: A caveman who has sex with men wants kids, but only women can be impregnated. His shock of finding this out and having sex with a woman is quickly derailed by his sexual desire for men and dominating them. This was good for a laugh, and I liked the art, but much like the last entry in this collection, this didn't leave a large impression on me. Also, there was a lack of consent.
Gai Mizuki:
"Fantasy and Jump Rope"-3.5 out of 5 stars: Who knew hypnosis and jump rope would go hand-in-hand? The art was great in this one (I really liked the character designs), and although the hypnosis leads to, in my mind, a pretty clear showcasing of lack of consent, this sets up a particularly interesting narrative (Mizuki's interview says that this is a prequel to a longer series) and was pretty entertaining.
Fumi Miyabi:
"Tengudake"-2.5 out of 5 stars: Can someone say hallucinations? Gonna love when most of your characters in a sex scene are tripping on mushrooms! I wasn't particularly invested in the art, but I did like the story of a tengu coming to a village and learning his lesson of what happens when you mess with people you're supposed to trust (albeit this lesson does end in a rape scene where everyone is high on mushrooms).
Seizoh Ebisubashi:
"Mr. Tokugawa"-2 out of 5 stars: The narration for this one-shot was very erotic, although its euphemisms and synonyms left me feeling more uncomfortable and amused than invested in a threesome scene in a school hallway during class involving a married fifth-grade homeroom teacher, a janitor, and a father of a student at the school. The art was the strongest part of this tale, and other than that, I didn't particularly like this one.
Kazuhide Ichikawa:
"Yakuza Godfathers"-4 out of 5 stars: This story involved hypnosis that a doctor applied on two rival yakuza clan leaders that led to them making love. The art was strong, the story was the right amount of absurd and humorous and interesting, and I ended up surprisingly really liking this one.
Before Reading:
And I oop.
In all honesty, though, this subject is going to really fascinate me as a gay man, so might as well just have this on my TBR for the future.
I digress, though. This collection follows gay manga written by gay artists, and like I mentioned before, it still has those elements BL carries (in fact, some of the authors in this collection started in BL circuits). However, because these are writers who identify the way I do, I relate to it more, which is why I gravitated toward this collection. The editors did a nice job of putting together a book officially recognizing the hard work that goes into this genre, and despite the racy content and my mixed opinions on some of the stories, it was worth the read.
Gengoroh Tagame:
"Do You Remember South Island P.O.W. Camp?"-3.5 out of 5 stars: The man heralded as the pioneer of gay manga in Japan, this compelling narrative of a Japanese regiment with a soldier dying of malaria and the master-servant relationship he undertakes with the American caretaker in order to get the soldier's quinine for medicine leans heavily into BDSM, watersports, and dubious consent, which isn't necessarily my thing, but I'm not going to be ethnocentric or hate on it because it represents gay culture in Japan and every person is going to have their own kinks (also, it'd be really bad to dismiss it; that's an insult to the artist). This is only an excerpt, and I would be curious to see how this ends up and whether the relationship with its unhealthy start could reach a happier place. It wouldn't excuse the dubious start here, but Tagame's great art and use of narrative has me curious.
Inu Yoshi:
"Kandagawa-kun"-4 out of 5 stars: This was very funny and adorable. A twenty-three-year-old man who's been recently dumped, Masami, receives a package in the mail from winning a raffle at the gay bookstore. It's revealed to be the mildly erotic helper, a humanoid named Kandagawa, and from there, the bewilderment from Masami keeps growing. The lingering feelings of heartbreak from his relationship alongside some truly humorous moments and cute art honoring the husky men out there, both muscular and not, made this really sweet, so I'll be curious to check out some of Yoshi's other work. He seems to be a really sincere artist based on his interview.
Kumada Poohsuke:
"Dreams of the New Century Theatre Issue #1"-3 out of 5 stars: This excerpt from a collection of four-panel strips had some good and funny gay sex gags, but I unfortunately didn't like the chibi-inspired art style.
"With All Your Might"-1 out of 5 stars: Well...
Takeshi Matsu:
"Kannai's Dilemma"-3 out of 5 stars: Matsu's art was the highlight of this story for me. Kannai's hobby of drawing mash-ups, pieces where you create nudes or semi-nudes and put them against real people, and involving a transfer student who took a special interest with them, created a short and surprisingly cute story that while not leaving the largest impression on me, I did enjoy it.
Jiraiya:
"Caveman Guu"-3 out of 5 stars: A caveman who has sex with men wants kids, but only women can be impregnated. His shock of finding this out and having sex with a woman is quickly derailed by his sexual desire for men and dominating them. This was good for a laugh, and I liked the art, but much like the last entry in this collection, this didn't leave a large impression on me. Also, there was a lack of consent.
Gai Mizuki:
"Fantasy and Jump Rope"-3.5 out of 5 stars: Who knew hypnosis and jump rope would go hand-in-hand? The art was great in this one (I really liked the character designs), and although the hypnosis leads to, in my mind, a pretty clear showcasing of lack of consent, this sets up a particularly interesting narrative (Mizuki's interview says that this is a prequel to a longer series) and was pretty entertaining.
Fumi Miyabi:
"Tengudake"-2.5 out of 5 stars: Can someone say hallucinations? Gonna love when most of your characters in a sex scene are tripping on mushrooms! I wasn't particularly invested in the art, but I did like the story of a tengu coming to a village and learning his lesson of what happens when you mess with people you're supposed to trust (albeit this lesson does end in a rape scene where everyone is high on mushrooms).
Seizoh Ebisubashi:
"Mr. Tokugawa"-2 out of 5 stars: The narration for this one-shot was very erotic, although its euphemisms and synonyms left me feeling more uncomfortable and amused than invested in a threesome scene in a school hallway during class involving a married fifth-grade homeroom teacher, a janitor, and a father of a student at the school. The art was the strongest part of this tale, and other than that, I didn't particularly like this one.
Kazuhide Ichikawa:
"Yakuza Godfathers"-4 out of 5 stars: This story involved hypnosis that a doctor applied on two rival yakuza clan leaders that led to them making love. The art was strong, the story was the right amount of absurd and humorous and interesting, and I ended up surprisingly really liking this one.
Before Reading:
And I oop.
In all honesty, though, this subject is going to really fascinate me as a gay man, so might as well just have this on my TBR for the future.
July 16, 2022
Good compilation, but the stories are all too short, unfortunately. A true teaser.
I found the interviews interesting. The authors seem so down-to-earth! It left me excited knowing there's so much great material yet to be translated from Japanese.
I found the interviews interesting. The authors seem so down-to-earth! It left me excited knowing there's so much great material yet to be translated from Japanese.
May 9, 2015
Very interesting exploration of gay manga culture that focuses more specifically on the erotic gay manga intended for a male audience. The book is helpful for those not so acquainted with the material, providing a good amount of introduction. There is also a brief timeline of significant male-male events in Japan. An essay accompanies each short story in this anthology to discuss the career of the mangaka and the context, history, and intentions of his work. The artists themselves speak to the makers of the book about their work, their history, what their goals are for their work, and work in the future. The artists give their insights into the current state and the future of the industry, going behind the scenes revealing a lot about the structure of different editor-artist relationships and fan interactions. Nearly every one of the artists featured here discusses the issue of online piracy of their work, especially from foreign sources. It is interesting to see the different opinions of a sample of gay erotic manga's top artists. That being said, if you do not want to read some explicit gay sex stories, do not read this book.
November 5, 2018
I feel that the whole book was really a lot about rape "fantasy" but knowing hentai, is mostly the dynamic that it has, you know like that they don't want it until they show them but that's alright because they secretly want it all the time, seriously stop that's rape culture and I like BDSM but some people just used it like an excuse to abuse people (believe me I've been there) so I think that this book do more damage than good.
January 23, 2023
i absolutely loved the interviews and especially the timeline for gay /erotic manga, art,film etc. it opens up so much more to me that i can learn about and appreciate more. as always i love gengoroh tagame's work, so it was nice to see some new and other familiar artists in this compilation. thank god we're getting legit published material in the US now!
August 27, 2015
For me this book mostly failed as erotica, largely because I'm not interested in sadomasochism, watersports, mind control, or rape, and I don't have a foot fetish. I don't mind that other people have those kinks--provided it's between consenting adults I really don't give a damn [which, yes, means I'm not in favor of rape. I'm just full of radical opinions]--but unfortunately those kinks are in about half the sections, so that's half the book that already isn't speaking to me (or, in the case of the Gengoroh Tagame excerpt, is actively disturbing me).
Where the book does work is in its interviews with the authors and artists, and in its exploration of gay culture in Japan. Unfortunately the interviews tend to be fairly short (two to four pages, with half of each page taken up by artwork) and the discussion of gay culture in Japan could be much deeper--I think mostly what I learned is that the term "bara" is both outdated and still offensive to some people (roughly equivalent to "pansy"), that homosexuality used to be an accepted part of Japanese society up until the Meiji Restoration and the increasing influence of the West on Japanese society, that boys' love stories tend to focus on twinks and are typically written by women for women, and that gay manga with burlier men is typically written by men for men. Also, the gay subculture in Japan is riddled with cliques. (In that regard I'd say it's much like the gay subculture in the USA.)
I also learned that the authors did not use a spellchecker on their manuscript. "Athelete" is not a word; Mishima is not "atheletic"; and no one has ever said anything "self-depricatingly." Likewise "literatrue" is not a word, though I thank the authors for the idea of "literafalse," which I'm assuming would be a term for fabricated nonfiction.
Where the book does work is in its interviews with the authors and artists, and in its exploration of gay culture in Japan. Unfortunately the interviews tend to be fairly short (two to four pages, with half of each page taken up by artwork) and the discussion of gay culture in Japan could be much deeper--I think mostly what I learned is that the term "bara" is both outdated and still offensive to some people (roughly equivalent to "pansy"), that homosexuality used to be an accepted part of Japanese society up until the Meiji Restoration and the increasing influence of the West on Japanese society, that boys' love stories tend to focus on twinks and are typically written by women for women, and that gay manga with burlier men is typically written by men for men. Also, the gay subculture in Japan is riddled with cliques. (In that regard I'd say it's much like the gay subculture in the USA.)
I also learned that the authors did not use a spellchecker on their manuscript. "Athelete" is not a word; Mishima is not "atheletic"; and no one has ever said anything "self-depricatingly." Likewise "literatrue" is not a word, though I thank the authors for the idea of "literafalse," which I'm assuming would be a term for fabricated nonfiction.
March 5, 2017
My Recommendation: Obviously you shouldn't read this if male-male sex makes you uncomfortable. The images are graphic, but the essays are incredibly informative about the artists, their work styles, and their inspirations. I found some of the artists styles much more approachable and appealing than others, but overall it was a fascinating read and new experience. If you're open to it I would recommend it, but again keep in mind the warning on the back cover: ADULT CONTENT.
My Response: Don't worry, I'm going to keep this response PG even though this book is definitely X-rated!
I can't remember where I first heard about this book, but when I did I remember flagging it to look into. I'm not a big Manga reader or erotica reader for that matter, but when I found out there was an entire genre of manga dedicated to larger gay men I thought it sounded interesting. It is read like a normal manga from right to left and thankfully my earlier dabbling with Jane Austen manga adaptations helped prepare me for that. Two things to note, the word "erotic" was replaced with "Japanese" for some reason in the US Library of Congress' database and m cover has a different beefy man on it, also drawn by Jiraiya.
My Response: Don't worry, I'm going to keep this response PG even though this book is definitely X-rated!
I can't remember where I first heard about this book, but when I did I remember flagging it to look into. I'm not a big Manga reader or erotica reader for that matter, but when I found out there was an entire genre of manga dedicated to larger gay men I thought it sounded interesting. It is read like a normal manga from right to left and thankfully my earlier dabbling with Jane Austen manga adaptations helped prepare me for that. Two things to note, the word "erotic" was replaced with "Japanese" for some reason in the US Library of Congress' database and m cover has a different beefy man on it, also drawn by Jiraiya.
June 23, 2018
An incredible resource for a genre that¡¯s often misunderstood and misrepresented. The oral history of gay manga through the eyes of gengoroh tagame is an invaluable insight into the mind of a master of his craft. Tagame¡¯s short story featured in the book is one of intense domination and humiliation with a rare absence of the hyper-explicit illustrated intercourse that are often the highlight of his stories. Despite this, the scenes presented by tagame just ooze intensity and male lust. I came to this book for tagame¡¯s work and was not disappointed. While tagame¡¯s work may have been my primary reason for seeking this book out, I¡¯d be remiss to ignore the work of the other fantastic artists featured in this book. Many of the other stories in this book feature a lightheartedness and sense of humor that¡¯s nearly always absent from tagame¡¯s work, and they make for a fun read that I can¡¯t recommend enough. This book is a wonderful and fascinating look into the history of gay manga and yaoi, as well as a collection of works that are undeniably sexy. I was totally blown away by the quality of this book, and I now consider it a must-own for anyone interested in gay manga or gay culture in Japan.
April 9, 2020
Una excelente muestra del desarrollo del manga gay y su impacto en la sociedad japonesa. Tiene muestras de los trabajos de varios artistas y son geniales!
February 19, 2025
Where do I start? Perhaps by asking, "Why?!!!" I'm afraid I just find it rather hard to see what the objective was of this volume, because it just fails to hit any targets so far as I can see. If it wanted to be a Who's Who of gay manga then maybe it needed to be a thousand pages long and introduce us to a far wider range of artists and give bibliogaphic details of all their major published works. If they wanted to showcase the very best of gay manga then I'm afraid it paints a very poor image of the state of the artform/industry. Was it meant to pave the way for introducing more gay manga to the western world? Then where has been the follow-up? Did the artists know what they were signing up for when they agreed to participate in this venture? Who chose what manga to exhibit in these pages to showcase their work? Because I have to say, it seems like a pretty poor show. Is this meant to show them at their best, is it meant to awaken our interest in seeing their other works? Were the editors just struggling to find some variety of styles? Or just struggling to find manga artists? Were finances so constrained, expectations so poor, that everything had to be done on a low budget (thus allowing themselves just eight days in Japan to conduct all their interviews), and perhaps offering very poor terms of remuneration to the participants for their contribution to the book? Were the artists thus reluctant to give up anything except the dregs of their portfolio, or willing only to give excerpts as teasers which might tempt readers to seek out the complete works? It felt so unsatisfactory that they did have to resort to excerpts instead of being able to find a good collection of short stories all perfectly complete in themselves to add to the limited body of gay manga already available in the English language. A few incomplete clips doesn't realy serve much practical purpose. The interviews often felt like they were about what the interviewers wanted them to say rather than about allowing the artists to speak their own thoughts in their own words.
I feel like this volume could easily have been dispensed with and that the editors would have better spent their time throwing their efforts into something useful - like publishing more manga - rather than wasting their time trying to promote it in such pointless essays as are presented here.
Of the artists showcased here, most of them disappointed me. Some of the manga was just plain ugly, sometimes repetitive. I didn't understand the humour in some of it. Some of the illustrations weren't very clear (in terms of composition/what they were meant to represent), or certainly not attractive, just a jumble of shapes and sounds thrown together in frame after frame without you really knowning what anyone was doing. Part of me might like to read some of the manga again - but a larger part of me dreads the thought of having to plough through all the small print again along the way (I'm a bit obsessive about always reading books from cover to cover). You might discover one or two new artists you like, but what good is that if their stories have never been published in English? Personally I think this book was a big waste of an opportunity. I would much rather see an annual volume being produced by Fantagraphics which showcases some of the best artists and artwork of the year, or a systematic and uniform series of works (translated into English) by significant manga artists. This anthology just felt a bit pointless.
I feel like this volume could easily have been dispensed with and that the editors would have better spent their time throwing their efforts into something useful - like publishing more manga - rather than wasting their time trying to promote it in such pointless essays as are presented here.
Of the artists showcased here, most of them disappointed me. Some of the manga was just plain ugly, sometimes repetitive. I didn't understand the humour in some of it. Some of the illustrations weren't very clear (in terms of composition/what they were meant to represent), or certainly not attractive, just a jumble of shapes and sounds thrown together in frame after frame without you really knowning what anyone was doing. Part of me might like to read some of the manga again - but a larger part of me dreads the thought of having to plough through all the small print again along the way (I'm a bit obsessive about always reading books from cover to cover). You might discover one or two new artists you like, but what good is that if their stories have never been published in English? Personally I think this book was a big waste of an opportunity. I would much rather see an annual volume being produced by Fantagraphics which showcases some of the best artists and artwork of the year, or a systematic and uniform series of works (translated into English) by significant manga artists. This anthology just felt a bit pointless.
July 19, 2024
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§£ §ä§à §Ø§Ö §Ó§â§Ö§Þ§ñ, §´§Ñ§Ô§Ñ§Þ§ï §Ó §á§â§Ö§Õ§Ú§ã§Ý§à§Ó§Ú§Ú §Ü §á§Ö§â§Ó§à§Þ§å §ä§à§Þ§å §ã§Ò§à§â§ß§Ú§Ü§Ñ Gay Erotic Art in Japan (2003) §á§Ú§ê§Ö§ä, §é§ä§à ?§ï§â§à§ä§Ú§é§Ö§ã§Ü§à§Ö §Ô§Ö§Û-§Ú§ã§Ü§å§ã§ã§ä§Ó§à §Ú§Ý§Ý§ð§ã§ä§â§Ú§â§å§Ö§ä §Ü§â§Ñ§ã§à§ä§å §Ú§Ý§Ú §ã§Ö§Ü§ã§å§Ñ§Ý§î§ß§à§Ö §à§Ò§Ñ§ñ§ß§Ú§Ö §Þ§å§Ø§é§Ú§ß §Ó §ã§à§à§ä§Ó§Ö§ä§ã§ä§Ó§Ú§Ú §ã §Ó§à§ã§á§â§Ú§ñ§ä§Ú§Ö§Þ §Ú §ß§Ñ§Ó§í§Ü§Ñ§Þ§Ú §ç§å§Õ§à§Ø§ß§Ú§Ü§à§Ó?. §´§Ñ§Ü§Ú§Þ §à§Ò§â§Ñ§Ù§à§Þ, §à§ß §å§ä§Ó§Ö§â§Ø§Õ§Ñ§Ö§ä, §é§ä§à §Ô§Ö§Û-§Ú§ã§Ü§å§ã§ã§ä§Ó§à §ß§Ö §ä§à§Ø§Õ§Ö§ã§ä§Ó§Ö§ß§ß§à §Ô§Ö§Û-§Ñ§Ó§ä§à§â§ã§ä§Ó§å. §£ §ã§á§Ö§è§Ú§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Ù§Ú§â§à§Ó§Ñ§ß§ß§í§ç §Ø§å§â§ß§Ñ§Ý§Ñ§ç §á§å§Ò§Ý§Ú§Ü§à§Ó§Ñ§Ý§Ú§ã§î §â§Ñ§Ò§à§ä§í §ç§å§Õ§à§Ø§ß§Ú§Ü§à§Ó §Ô§Ö§ä§Ö§â§à-§Þ§å§Ø§é§Ú§ß §Ú §Ø§Ö§ß§ë§Ú§ß, §Ü§à§ä§à§â§í§Ö §ã§ä§Ñ§ß§à§Ó§Ú§Ý§Ú§ã§î §á§à§á§å§Ý§ñ§â§ß§í§Þ§Ú §å §Ô§Ö§Û-§Ñ§å§Õ§Ú§ä§à§â§Ú§Ú. §¨§Ö§ß§ë§Ú§ß§í, §Ü§à§ä§à§â§í§Þ §Ò§í§Ý§à §ä§Ö§ã§ß§à §Ó §ñ§à§Û §Ú §Ü§à§ä§à§â§í§Ö §ß§Ö §Ø§Ö§Ý§Ñ§Ý§Ú §ã§Ý§Ö§Õ§à§Ó§Ñ§ä§î §Õ§à§Ó§à§Ý§î§ß§à §Ø§Ö§ã§ä§Ü§Ú§Þ §â§Ñ§Þ§Ü§Ñ§Þ §Ø§Ñ§ß§â§Ñ, §á§â§Ú§ç§à§Õ§Ú§Ý§Ú §Ó §Ò§Ñ§â§Ñ-§Ø§å§â§ß§Ñ§Ý§í §Ú §á§å§Ò§Ý§Ú§Ü§à§Ó§Ñ§Ý§Ú§ã§î §á§à§Õ §Þ§å§Ø§ã§Ü§Ú§Þ§Ú §á§ã§Ö§Ó§Õ§à§ß§Ú§Þ§Ñ§Þ§Ú.
§£ §Ü§à§ß§è§Ö §Ü§ß§Ú§Ø§Ü§Ú §Ö§ã§ä§î §ß§Ñ§Ô§Ý§ñ§Õ§ß§Ñ§ñ §ç§â§à§ß§à§Ý§à§Ô§Ú§ñ §â§Ñ§Ù§Ó§Ú§ä§Ú§ñ §®§®-§Ú§ã§Ü§å§ã§ã§ä§Ó§Ñ §Ó §Á§á§à§ß§Ú§Ú §Õ§à §ã§Ö§â§Ö§Õ§Ú§ß§í 2010§ç.
#palomebook
§¬§ã§ä§Ñ§ä§Ú, §Ú§ß§ä§Ö§â§Ö§ã§ß§à, §é§ä§à §Ó §Á§á§à§ß§Ú§Ú §Ö§ë§Ö §Ó 90-§ç §â§Ñ§Ù§Ô§à§â§Ö§Ý§ã§ñ §Õ§Ú§ã§á§å§ä §à§Ò §Ñ§á§â§à§á§â§Ú§Ñ§è§Ú§Ú §Ô§à§Þ§à-§â§Ö§á§â§Ö§Ù§Ö§ß§ä§Ñ§è§Ú§Ú §Ô§Ö§ä§Ö§â§à-§ç§å§Õ§à§Ø§ß§Ú§è§Ñ§Þ§Ú §Ó §ñ§à§Û. §±§Ú§ã§Ñ§ä§Ö§Ý§î §Ú §Õ§â§ï§Ô-§Ñ§â§ä§Ú§ã§ä §®§Ñ§ã§Ñ§Ü§Ú §³§Ñ§ä§à §à§á§å§Ò§Ý§Ú§Ü§à§Ó§Ñ§Ý §Ó §æ§Ö§Þ§Ú§ß§Ú§ã§ä§ã§Ü§à§Þ §Ø§å§â§ß§Ñ§Ý§Ö Choisir §ï§ã§ã§Ö §à §ä§à§Þ, §é§ä§à §ñ§à§Û ¡ª §ï§ä§à §Ñ§Ü§ä §Õ§Ú§ã§Ü§â§Ú§Þ§Ú§ß§Ñ§è§Ú§Ú §á§â§à§ä§Ú§Ó §Ô§Ö§Ö§Ó, §Ñ BL-§á§Ú§ã§Ñ§ä§Ö§Ý§î§ß§Ú§è§í ¡ª ?§à§ä§Ó§â§Ñ§ä§Ú§ä§Ö§Ý§î§ß§í§Ö §Ø§Ö§ß§ë§Ú§ß§í §ã §Ú§Ù§Ó§â§Ñ§ë§Ö§ß§ß§í§Þ §Ú§ß§ä§Ö§â§Ö§ã§à§Þ §Ü §ã§Ö§Ü§ã§å §Þ§Ö§Ø§Õ§å §Þ§å§Ø§é§Ú§ß§Ñ§Þ§Ú?. BL-§á§Ú§ã§Ñ§ä§Ö§Ý§î§ß§Ú§è§í §Ò§å§â§ß§à §à§ä§â§Ö§Ñ§Ô§Ú§â§à§Ó§Ñ§Ý§Ú, §Ó§Ù§ñ§Ý§Ú §ã§Ö§Ò§Ö §ã§Ñ§Þ§à§ß§Ñ§Ù§Ó§Ñ§ß§Ú§Ö §æ§å§Õ§Ù§×§ã§Ú (¸¯Å®×Ó, §Ô§ß§Ú§Ý§í§Ö §Õ§Ö§Ó§å§ê§Ü§Ú) §Ú §à§ä§Ó§Ö§ä§Ú§Ý§Ú, §é§ä§à §á§Ñ§â§ß§Ú §Ó §ñ§à§Û §Ú §ß§Ö §ñ§Ó§Ý§ñ§ð§ä§ã§ñ §â§Ö§á§â§Ö§Ù§Ö§ß§ä§Ñ§è§Ú§Ö§Û §Ô§Ö§Ö§Ó §Ó §â§Ö§Ñ§Ý§î§ß§à§Û §Ø§Ú§Ù§ß§Ú, §é§ä§à §à§ß§Ú §Ù§Ñ§Õ§å§Þ§Ñ§ß§í §æ§Ñ§ß§ä§Ñ§Ù§Ú§Ö§Û, §à§ä§â§Ñ§Ø§Ñ§ð§ä §Ô§Ö§ä§Ö§â§à§ß§à§â§Þ§Ñ§ä§Ú§Ó§ß§à§ã§ä§î (§ã§ï§Þ§Ö §Ú §å§Ü§ï) §Ú §ã§Ý§å§Ø§Ñ§ä §Ú§ã§Ü§Ý§ð§é§Ú§ä§Ö§Ý§î§ß§à §à§ã§Ó§à§Ò§à§Ø§Õ§Ö§ß§Ú§ð §Ø§Ö§ß§ã§Ü§à§Û §ã§Ö§Ü§ã§å§Ñ§Ý§î§ß§à§ã§ä§Ú. §³ §ä§Ö§ç §á§à§â §Ú§ã§ã§Ý§Ö§Õ§à§Ó§Ñ§ä§Ö§Ý§Ú (McLelland, Welker and Hitoshi) §à§ä§ß§à§ã§ñ§ä §Ü §ñ§á§à§ß§ã§Ü§à§Û §Ô§Ö§Û-§Þ§Ñ§ß§Ô§Ñ §ä§à§Ý§î§Ü§à geikomi (§ñ§á§à§ß§ã§Ü§à§Ö §ã§Ñ§Þ§à§ß§Ñ§Ù§Ó§Ñ§ß§Ú§Ö §Ò§Ñ§â§Ñ) §Ú §ß§Ö §ã§é§Ú§ä§Ñ§ð§ä §ã§×§ß§ï§ß-§Ñ§Û (BL, §ñ§à§Û) §Ü§Ó§Ú§â-§â§Ö§á§â§Ö§Ù§Ö§ß§ä§Ñ§è§Ú§Ö§Û.
§£ §ä§à §Ø§Ö §Ó§â§Ö§Þ§ñ, §´§Ñ§Ô§Ñ§Þ§ï §Ó §á§â§Ö§Õ§Ú§ã§Ý§à§Ó§Ú§Ú §Ü §á§Ö§â§Ó§à§Þ§å §ä§à§Þ§å §ã§Ò§à§â§ß§Ú§Ü§Ñ Gay Erotic Art in Japan (2003) §á§Ú§ê§Ö§ä, §é§ä§à ?§ï§â§à§ä§Ú§é§Ö§ã§Ü§à§Ö §Ô§Ö§Û-§Ú§ã§Ü§å§ã§ã§ä§Ó§à §Ú§Ý§Ý§ð§ã§ä§â§Ú§â§å§Ö§ä §Ü§â§Ñ§ã§à§ä§å §Ú§Ý§Ú §ã§Ö§Ü§ã§å§Ñ§Ý§î§ß§à§Ö §à§Ò§Ñ§ñ§ß§Ú§Ö §Þ§å§Ø§é§Ú§ß §Ó §ã§à§à§ä§Ó§Ö§ä§ã§ä§Ó§Ú§Ú §ã §Ó§à§ã§á§â§Ú§ñ§ä§Ú§Ö§Þ §Ú §ß§Ñ§Ó§í§Ü§Ñ§Þ§Ú §ç§å§Õ§à§Ø§ß§Ú§Ü§à§Ó?. §´§Ñ§Ü§Ú§Þ §à§Ò§â§Ñ§Ù§à§Þ, §à§ß §å§ä§Ó§Ö§â§Ø§Õ§Ñ§Ö§ä, §é§ä§à §Ô§Ö§Û-§Ú§ã§Ü§å§ã§ã§ä§Ó§à §ß§Ö §ä§à§Ø§Õ§Ö§ã§ä§Ó§Ö§ß§ß§à §Ô§Ö§Û-§Ñ§Ó§ä§à§â§ã§ä§Ó§å. §£ §ã§á§Ö§è§Ú§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Ù§Ú§â§à§Ó§Ñ§ß§ß§í§ç §Ø§å§â§ß§Ñ§Ý§Ñ§ç §á§å§Ò§Ý§Ú§Ü§à§Ó§Ñ§Ý§Ú§ã§î §â§Ñ§Ò§à§ä§í §ç§å§Õ§à§Ø§ß§Ú§Ü§à§Ó §Ô§Ö§ä§Ö§â§à-§Þ§å§Ø§é§Ú§ß §Ú §Ø§Ö§ß§ë§Ú§ß, §Ü§à§ä§à§â§í§Ö §ã§ä§Ñ§ß§à§Ó§Ú§Ý§Ú§ã§î §á§à§á§å§Ý§ñ§â§ß§í§Þ§Ú §å §Ô§Ö§Û-§Ñ§å§Õ§Ú§ä§à§â§Ú§Ú. §¨§Ö§ß§ë§Ú§ß§í, §Ü§à§ä§à§â§í§Þ §Ò§í§Ý§à §ä§Ö§ã§ß§à §Ó §ñ§à§Û §Ú §Ü§à§ä§à§â§í§Ö §ß§Ö §Ø§Ö§Ý§Ñ§Ý§Ú §ã§Ý§Ö§Õ§à§Ó§Ñ§ä§î §Õ§à§Ó§à§Ý§î§ß§à §Ø§Ö§ã§ä§Ü§Ú§Þ §â§Ñ§Þ§Ü§Ñ§Þ §Ø§Ñ§ß§â§Ñ, §á§â§Ú§ç§à§Õ§Ú§Ý§Ú §Ó §Ò§Ñ§â§Ñ-§Ø§å§â§ß§Ñ§Ý§í §Ú §á§å§Ò§Ý§Ú§Ü§à§Ó§Ñ§Ý§Ú§ã§î §á§à§Õ §Þ§å§Ø§ã§Ü§Ú§Þ§Ú §á§ã§Ö§Ó§Õ§à§ß§Ú§Þ§Ñ§Þ§Ú.
§£ §Ü§à§ß§è§Ö §Ü§ß§Ú§Ø§Ü§Ú §Ö§ã§ä§î §ß§Ñ§Ô§Ý§ñ§Õ§ß§Ñ§ñ §ç§â§à§ß§à§Ý§à§Ô§Ú§ñ §â§Ñ§Ù§Ó§Ú§ä§Ú§ñ §®§®-§Ú§ã§Ü§å§ã§ã§ä§Ó§Ñ §Ó §Á§á§à§ß§Ú§Ú §Õ§à §ã§Ö§â§Ö§Õ§Ú§ß§í 2010§ç.
#palomebook
July 22, 2023
This book is amazing, I am grateful of having it. It is truly fantastic be able to know how every of these Gay Erotic Manga artists started, how their personal life affects the stories, how differently they connect with their creations...
I liked every part of the interviews and the short pieces the book has of every one of them. The book it truly a tool that me as an illustrator that mainly focus in stuff like this, I am going to use as reference in the future. I think is great the way we see the different art styles starting with Gengoroh Tagame who looks like he was a big inspiration to a huge part of the artists. All the different personalities and opinions. And the timeline at the end is just so interesting.
I truly recommend this book to any artist who is interesed in this kind of manga or illustration.
I love that they are translating or bringing this kind of content out of Japan to show it to the world also how it has not censor.
These artist can inspire you a lot, this book makes me so happy because that everytime I know about artist like the ones in it they inspire me and make me be proud of who I am and what I like to create.
I liked every part of the interviews and the short pieces the book has of every one of them. The book it truly a tool that me as an illustrator that mainly focus in stuff like this, I am going to use as reference in the future. I think is great the way we see the different art styles starting with Gengoroh Tagame who looks like he was a big inspiration to a huge part of the artists. All the different personalities and opinions. And the timeline at the end is just so interesting.
I truly recommend this book to any artist who is interesed in this kind of manga or illustration.
I love that they are translating or bringing this kind of content out of Japan to show it to the world also how it has not censor.
These artist can inspire you a lot, this book makes me so happy because that everytime I know about artist like the ones in it they inspire me and make me be proud of who I am and what I like to create.
December 3, 2023
Art history contains hidden erotic dimensions. It's not enough to read only the androgynous male beauties of the past as expressions of queerness - we must expand our notions of how different bodies can and have been eroticized for centuries.CN NSFW material.
Wonderful anthology on a handful of genre-making artists of Japanese bara manga. The artist interviews preluding their selected material gave similar, albeit still interesting, insights into the life of a gay mangaka: finding your sexuality, finding respite in gay literature, struggling and embracing the work. There's also a fair bit of anti-scanlation/anti-piracy sentiments in this book and FAIR ENOUGH. However, I have tried to acquire this book for over 2 months now and each shop I turned to has failed to deliver due to printing issues. I am all for accessibility, but the sad truth is that a lot of the material within this genre is stuck online, with fanmade translations. For all of the BL and hentai that countries import, this genre has been lacking. If you're into queer culture and history, this novel might pique your interest, but be warned it is in part smut, lol.
July 3, 2019
Amazing insight into the evolution of modern Japanese gay erotica and also a glimpse into its gay culture. Saw this book while on holiday in Japan and saved up for the English translation when I got back. Absolutely worth it!
April 20, 2020
While not every mangaka collected herein is my cup of tea, this collection of gay erotic manga, the first ever published in English, couldn¡¯t be more important. Jiraiya-san is a particular favorite of mine.
October 25, 2020
This opened the door for gay manga for me. I was interested in this after reading My Brothers Husband. Loved that they included a variety of artistic styles and the interviews with the authors were super compelling.
December 31, 2023
6.6
Raczej zbi¨®r pr¨®bek styl¨®w i temat¨®w ni? co? wi?cej. Ciekawszym zabiegiem by?oby pewnie wi?ksze skupienie si? na historii poszczeg¨®lnych tw¨®rc¨®w i samej scenie queer/gejowskiej w mandze czy te? kulturze og¨®lnie. Ale je?li kto? chce zasmakowa? tego co w tytule, jest to chyba wystarczaj?ce.
Raczej zbi¨®r pr¨®bek styl¨®w i temat¨®w ni? co? wi?cej. Ciekawszym zabiegiem by?oby pewnie wi?ksze skupienie si? na historii poszczeg¨®lnych tw¨®rc¨®w i samej scenie queer/gejowskiej w mandze czy te? kulturze og¨®lnie. Ale je?li kto? chce zasmakowa? tego co w tytule, jest to chyba wystarczaj?ce.
May 22, 2018
1.5?
i mostly enjoyed reading about gay manga and gay history in japan but the actual erotica was.. bad. cw for rape, among other things
i mostly enjoyed reading about gay manga and gay history in japan but the actual erotica was.. bad. cw for rape, among other things
May 14, 2020
How to read this online?
May 22, 2022
The interviews and essays were more interesting than the actually manga excerpted, haha.
October 1, 2022
So, this is an erotic collection so be warned it is all about sex. what should be the subtext, it's way more on the kink aspect of sex. I found more enjoyment from the essays and learning the history of japan and the interwoven of being gay in that context as well as not being slim to the bone as the popular Boy Love (BL) follows. Granted BL, is a woman writing about love between guys, even so, it was a start to many of the gentlemen's foray into the art practice to begin their careers.
While the majority of the story's plot I did not care for, I did like the variety of the way the art was completed and depicted. Shows the vast ways of talent and abilities of the human forum.
My saving grace in this collection is, again, the essays but also my favorite story which was Kannai's Dilemma. Absolutely loved it.
All in all, I hope a less kinky version of gay erotic manga collection comes out cause I think I would enjoy that much more than what I got. But as for support to a community underground, I was glad to be able to read about the timeline in the back and the history the men had with their art and own journey of sexual orientation realization and dealing with
While the majority of the story's plot I did not care for, I did like the variety of the way the art was completed and depicted. Shows the vast ways of talent and abilities of the human forum.
My saving grace in this collection is, again, the essays but also my favorite story which was Kannai's Dilemma. Absolutely loved it.
All in all, I hope a less kinky version of gay erotic manga collection comes out cause I think I would enjoy that much more than what I got. But as for support to a community underground, I was glad to be able to read about the timeline in the back and the history the men had with their art and own journey of sexual orientation realization and dealing with
December 16, 2022
'doves in the wind'
January 22, 2024
Illustration quality in all these manga was amazing. Story wise some are better than others. Overall enjoyable read.
June 14, 2016
5 stars for the idea of writing this book, for going there and interviewing authors, for writing a short history of gay literature and manga in Japan, for telling us more about the authors' backgrounds, whether they can make a living out of this, where there stories get sold and so on.
Personally, I'm not into gay porn with "massive" men. Actually, I'm not into Japanese gay porn at all, whether it has big, burly fellows or pretty, pretty boys. (I prefer normal guys) However, reading the samples offered in this book was a lot of fun. They were chosen from all over the spectrum - serious stories, funny stories, unlikely stories, joyful stories. Some of them might not be everyone's thing (I sure as hell didn't get the 4-panel ones, maybe they just don't work well outside Japan), but they're interesting to read side by side.
Also, some of the scenes were memorable and utterly hilarious - the joy of a teacher dancing half-naked on empty school corridors will stick with me for a long time.
The bio part for each author contained quotes from interviews with them, carefully used to illustrate a certain idea or point of view - I would have been interested in seeing longer transcripts from those interviews, but I guess that would have made the book more, well, massive. Although I don't see why that would be a bad thing; I may not like my men bulky, but I don't mind that trait in books.
Overall, fun and informative and recommended to people who feel like reading an intro into this topic.
Personally, I'm not into gay porn with "massive" men. Actually, I'm not into Japanese gay porn at all, whether it has big, burly fellows or pretty, pretty boys. (I prefer normal guys) However, reading the samples offered in this book was a lot of fun. They were chosen from all over the spectrum - serious stories, funny stories, unlikely stories, joyful stories. Some of them might not be everyone's thing (I sure as hell didn't get the 4-panel ones, maybe they just don't work well outside Japan), but they're interesting to read side by side.
Also, some of the scenes were memorable and utterly hilarious - the joy of a teacher dancing half-naked on empty school corridors will stick with me for a long time.
The bio part for each author contained quotes from interviews with them, carefully used to illustrate a certain idea or point of view - I would have been interested in seeing longer transcripts from those interviews, but I guess that would have made the book more, well, massive. Although I don't see why that would be a bad thing; I may not like my men bulky, but I don't mind that trait in books.
Overall, fun and informative and recommended to people who feel like reading an intro into this topic.
June 21, 2015
It was great having a collection of mangaka of gay manga compiled in an English language book. I appreciated the separate sections with information on each mangaka and it reminded me of mangaka I have not read in a while--I need to find more works by Inu Yoshi, I haven't read pieces by him in ages. Visually the photographs of the authors, images from their works, and selections from manga were great.
The one downside to this collection were the interviews published before each short story. While the information provided about each author was interesting, the editors chose to summarize these interviews in several pages, with short excerpted quotes from the interviews rather than complete quotations of the mangaka's thoughts. I would have preferred to see the actual complete interview published in the text since you can tell based on the content that each author was asked about their background, their connections to queer communities in Japan, the usage of the word "bara," and their feelings about scanlations.
The one downside to this collection were the interviews published before each short story. While the information provided about each author was interesting, the editors chose to summarize these interviews in several pages, with short excerpted quotes from the interviews rather than complete quotations of the mangaka's thoughts. I would have preferred to see the actual complete interview published in the text since you can tell based on the content that each author was asked about their background, their connections to queer communities in Japan, the usage of the word "bara," and their feelings about scanlations.
Read
January 3, 2021This anthology is a collection of manga written for a gay male audience and not only showcases the work of some very talented artists, but also presents history, context, and interviews with the artists. While not all of the manga in the volume were to my personal tastes, I found this an incredibly fascinating read, and I really appreciated what the editors set out to do with this collection. I will definitely be looking up works by several of the artists to read in the future. I also enjoyed the timeline at the back of the book, which gives an overview of male-male sexuality in Japan since the 1600s. All-in-all, a really great collection, and one you shouldn't miss if it's a topic of interest.
August 21, 2016
IT HAS GAY MANGA STORIES IN IT!
I really loved this! I was all skeptical at first because I thought it'd simply be another long durge on how underrepresented gay manga is which, though entirely accurate, is simply not what I cared for at this juncture. Then I heard it actually had stories in it and I thought "okay, let's increase my gay manga collection" since I only have the 3 other volumes presently by Mentiako Itto and Takshi Matsu. And I'm remarkably glad I did. Because the stories inside were fun and diverse in art styles by varying artists. It also contained some seriously enlightening information on gay manga and their artists which was enlightening and cleared up a few questions I'd been speculating over.
So I most assuredly reccomend buying the book! It's great!
I really loved this! I was all skeptical at first because I thought it'd simply be another long durge on how underrepresented gay manga is which, though entirely accurate, is simply not what I cared for at this juncture. Then I heard it actually had stories in it and I thought "okay, let's increase my gay manga collection" since I only have the 3 other volumes presently by Mentiako Itto and Takshi Matsu. And I'm remarkably glad I did. Because the stories inside were fun and diverse in art styles by varying artists. It also contained some seriously enlightening information on gay manga and their artists which was enlightening and cleared up a few questions I'd been speculating over.
So I most assuredly reccomend buying the book! It's great!
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