Reviews in Brief: Hinako Takanaga, The Tyrant Falls in Love

I mentioned this one in passing in my survey of the work of Hinako Takanaga, but it does deserve some space of its own.  Originally published in Japan in 2005, it recently made its appearance in English.  I'd venture to guess that Takanaga has caught on in America, since this seems to follow a pattern I've seen with other mangaka:  one or two recent works are licensed for English editions, and then suddenly earlier works start making their appearance.  Since manga publishing seems to be entirely market-driven, I think it's safe to say that Takanaga has a following.

Souichi Tatsumi is a graduate student in agriculture sciences, and vociferously homophobic.  His lab assistant, Tetsuhiro Morinaga, is gay and madly in love with Tatsumi.  Needless to say, the relationship is not all roses, but it's manageable.  That is, until a friend of Morinaga's gives him a bottle of aphrodisiac, which Morinaga stashes under the sink, thinking he'll never use it.  Then Tatsumi gets upset because his little brother is living in San Francisco -- this is just the time that the city started issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.  Tatsumi decides they need to drink, and while Morinaga is out getting more beer, he discovers the hidden aphrodisiac.  Of course, you can guess what happens.

The psychology here is downright weird, although fairly common:  even after sleeping with Morinaga, and realizing he can't do without him, Tatsumi won't admit to any feelings on his part -- except outrage.  It's almost abusive, except that Morinaga is pretty much in control.  At any rate, Takanga plays it for laughs, and the comedy is broad and somewhat raucous.

That quality comes through in the drawing, as well.  It's a very active piece of work visually, and although there are one or two spreads where we start to see Takanaga's ability with design, mostly it's about the action.  Character designs are in line with her other work, very appealing -- these guys are really cute.

This is volume one of a series.  It's not great, but it's not bad, either.  From Juné.