I've been on a Yugi Yamada streak the past few days -- now that volume 2 of Close the Last Door! is out, I've gotten Open the Door to Your Heart and this one, No One Loves Me. Yamada seems to have a particular fondness for quirky characters.
Katsuhiro is pretty much a recluse. He owns a used bookstore and tends not to leave. Masafumi is a salesman for a small publisher who gets assigned to edit a book by a Cezch author, to capitalize on a film being adapted from the book. After a vain search for a translator, he finally finds Katsuhiro, who studied for several years in the Czech Republic. The chemistry is potent, even given Katsuhiro's abrupt manner and withdrawn personality. Things are complicated by the arrival of Tetsushi Hasegawa, from another publishing house, who happens to have been Katsuhiro's roommate in the Czech Republic. And then a mysterious stranger appears, looking for a particular book. Katsuhiro offers to order it for him, but the man keeps coming back, particularly when Tetsushi is hanging around.
This is a complicated narrative that takes place over a series of interlocked stories centering on, first, Katsuhiro and Masafumi, and then on Tetsushi and the stranger. It's a couple of oddball romances in which what is not said is at least as important as what is. And it's a long book -- over 300 pages. There's a lot going on, not the least of which is the way that everyone winds up "helping out" at Katsuhiro's store.
Yamada's drawing is in great form on this one, confident and clear. She's managed to avoid making any of the uke look girly, the men are all very appealing -- Masafumi gets the fox prize in this one -- and the visual flow is fluid, intuitive and clear.
I can't think why it took me so long to start investigating Yamada, but I guess it's a matter of so many books, so little time. Expect more from me on Yamada.
This one's from Juné.
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