Love Stage!!

The book I read was Love Stage by EIKI Eiki. Eiki is a popular author and most of her Japanese comics, also known as a “manga” are mainly yaoi mangas. Yaoi is a Japanese slang word for homosexual. Yaoi is a very big trend in Japan and even though there is more exposure in the books, they are very interesting with a bit of a romcom twist.

In Love Stage, when a famous company is going to make a wedding commercial to promote a show, but suddenly a girl who was in the role of the flower girl could not make it to the set. People were in distress, but soon the protagonist’s mom, who was in the role as the bride, had a great idea to dress up her son, named Izumi, as the flower girl. Nobody noticed and a boy who was in the role of the ring bearer, fell in love with the “flower girl” during the making of the commercial. Ironically, the boy did not know that the flower girl was actually a male. The commercial was a hit, but the boy who liked the flower girl did not get “her” name. Ten years later, Izumi’s mom got a call and got an opening to do another commercial. The Company wanted to do a flash forward of the wedding commercial where ten years later, the flower girl and the ring bearer gets married this time. They also wanted to reuse the same actors to be more real such as the ring bearer who was named Ryoma. Izumi refused to be dressed up as a girl again but him and his brother made an agreement that if he does this, he’ll give him a rare collectible item that Izumi loves. Once again, the commercial went perfectly well even though there was many complications. When Izumi was done, he headed towards his changing room but was stopped after he was complimented by his brother. He said he looked really cute as a girl. Ryoma who now is in the roll as the groom, wanted to thank Izumi for being a great actor. Izumi’s brother thought he was being hit on, so he blurted out that Izumi was also a man. Ryoma was soon disgusted by this and ran off, though later Ryoma was still in love with Izumi. At first he was in denial but after talking to him more, he wanted to win Izumi's heart. Soon adventure began where Ryoma was trying to woo Izumi even though they were both men.

Even though I too am a male, it was a very interesting manga. I really adore this book because it shows relationship problems that either gender can relate to. There are many side chapters in this manga such as Izumi accepting being an idol, and Izumi’s brother falling in love with another person. Though there are many many explicit and inappropriate scenes, the book’s quality is exponentially great. One small problem about this manga is that it's not finished. More and more chapters are being translated but in do time, it will. You can only read this online at “mangahere.com” or on other manga sites. I highly recommend it to mature teens and young adults. I assure you that this manga will not waste your time, instead giving you crying and laughing moments.

Book Review by Chakong T.