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Story and Art by Yamada Reiji
Copyright © 1998-1999 Yamada Reiji and Shogakukan



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by Eric "Scanner" Luce
Ah, yes, the stereotypical love triangle. Two guys and a girl. We have our
protagonist, Mizuki Yuri. The object of his affection is Kaneda Toraki, the
baseball star. Finally to complete our trio is the rather sexy, assertive
and all-soft-on-the-inside Omeno Uzume.
Well, okay, the roles are not quite so stereotypical although this
arrangement is not uncommon. When Yuri was in 3rd grade, his classmates
began teasing him, calling him a 'homo' because of the way he acted around
other boys. Yuri was puzzled by this and asked the school nurse what a
'homo' was. She explained the basics and said that it was an illness. Yuri
agreed that he was not a 'homo.' However, on his way home, he is overcome
with the conclusions that he does prefer males to females, yet this is bad.
Is he really 'sick?' He falls down overcome with depression.
A voice calls out: "Hey, are you okay?"
Here we meet Toraki for first time. He was biking home from baseball
practice when he saw Yuri sprawled out on the ground. Being a nice person,
he offers Yuri a ride home. Yuri is dumbfounded: "It is okay to be so
close?" Toraki replies "What are you talking about? Hurry up and get on."
Love at first sight for poor Yuri.
Eight years later Yuri is now sixteen and the lead singer/guitarist of the
visual band Eros. He has become quite popular and his secret is still not
out. Uzume is visiting the band scene when she notices the poster for Eros.
Her friend says that Yuri goes to her school and everyone says he will be
going professional. Uzume is not impressedhe is just another guy, after
all. Uzume is someone who collects conquests of men. She ends up making a
bet with one of what appears to be Yuri's fans. The bet is that she can get
into Yuri's pants.
Suffice to say, though, that despite Uzume's obvious charm and scanty dress,
she is simply pushed aside by Yuri as if she had no appeal whatsoever. Which
is true, after all, Yuri is gay (not a homo!). The brush-off so surprises
and angers Uzume that she trails Yuri to his home. On the way, she observes
him buying a magazine that is usually read by gays. In his apartment, Yuri
rejoices since he now lives alone. Before when he was with his family, he
had to hide his nature. He first feeds his hamster Torajiro and begins to
settle in. He forgets to latch his door, however, and Uzume discovers his
secret.
Yuri is first enraged but Uzume, determined to make him feel at ease, tells
him that she is a lesbian (a lie) and that she was dropped by her girlfriend
(an even bigger lie). This immediately touches the soft side of Yuri and he
relents and considers Uzume a confidantprobably the first person he has
felt comfortable talking with about the things he finds really close to
himself.
Here Uzume learns of Yuri's crush on the baseball star Toraki and begins
helping Yuri to talk to Toraki and eventually join the baseball team. This
forms the core motivation of the story. We have not even gotten into the
color and humor of how Yamada Reiji ties in Feng Shui, Daoism, love,
betrayal, and agapei in to the story. To clarify just a little, agapei is
the companion-type of love felt between two people, as opposed to sexual
love (eros.)
The reader gets drawn into Yamada Reiji's rough drawing style, his
attractively drawn characters, his bizarre situations and his maddening
humor. Perhaps one of the bigger draws of his work for me is the
personalities of his main characters. Although they may seem like cool
people on the surface, we learn that they are extremely insecure on the
inside. When this insecurity shows through or when the character shows
pretty much any emotionhow they are drawn, not just their expression, is
changed drastically.
For instance, when Yuri is casting Uzume out, he says he does not believe
her, that women are not to be trustedhis costume changes to that of
Captain Harlock. Also precious are the innumerable little inset panels with
either commentary by the author, or more commonly, commentary by the main
characters telling you what they are actually thinking on the inside of that
cool exterior they show. The art is very expressive. This is Yamada Reiji's
style. The backgrounds which are plentiful are only present when the setting
is important. Once you know where the characters are, their expressions rule
the page. We go from detailed faces to crude sketches based on emotion.
Although there are not many furigana, the use of kanji is not that difficult
to read. If you are after another romantic comedy but want something with a
touch more angst, mysticism, unusual situations and bizarre yet endearing
characters, then give AGAPES a
try. 
Published in Japan by Young Sunday Comics
Vol 1-4, ongoing
black/white pages
¥510 per volume
Available now in Japan
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