Geshuku Biyori

Geshuku Biyori
By Mamahara Ellie

Overall: Mediocre
Smex Factor: Modest
Art: Different
Status: 1 Volume; Complete

Review: Mamahara Ellie provides pretty consistent quality. Fluffy and easy, but not amazing.   

The story is cute. Cute and standard. Typical.

Man meets man, man falls in love with man, men men men men.

The setting is in a boarding house on the brink of eviction (upon the death of their elderly landlady). The late landlady’s grandson comes to take over the transition upon her passing, but he’s kind of a cold-hearted jerk.

OR SO HE SEEEMS. (Ain’t that always the way.)

The main character, 23 year old tenant Kei, develops an interest in the man after a couple of developments: Chika determination to sell the house despite his fond reminiscence of time spent with his grandparents as a child, and Kei’s discovery that his newfound landlord is…wait for it…GAY. Oh man, didn’t see that one coming.

So he gets drunk and comes on to him, and I think you probably can tell where it goes from there.

The scene where they actually accept and get together is pretty cute. Chika wakes up with Kei on his chest and his arms around him and it’s ALL VERY HEARTWARMING.

So there’s that.

It’s a cute story, especially for a BL beginner, but it’s just not fantastically interesting. A short BL romance for the sake of romance. That’s all. I’m pretty sure Mamahara wasn’t aiming for anything more or less.

And I know I’ve reviewed other Mamahara manga, so I’ve probably said this before, but MAN. Her art style. It’s instantly recognizable. INSTANTLY. The small-headed, long-limbed proportions combined with those blocky fingers, and the—Man. It’s just all hers.

The only thing I actively dislike about her style (despite the things listed above, she does it skillfully enough that I don’t mind), is the inflexibility of her figures. Her characters are a series of rectangles, and their movements are blocky and awkward. I definitely think she could benefit from a little nude figure drawing.

Now, I’m at a convention and my roommates won’t stop distracting me and there’s NO HOTEL INTERNET, so I’m going to end this review on that note, not proofread, and go register for the artist alley. Tally-ho!