The Dawn of Love by Kazuho Hirokawa review

The Dawn of Love

Author/Artist: Kazuho Hirokawa

Publisher: Juné

Rating: M – 18 and up

Genre: Yaoi, Comedy, Drama, Romance

Grade: A

*** Review originally appeared at The Journal of the Lincoln Heights Literary Society at http://liheliso.org/. Check it out! ***

Masahiro Matsunaga is quite the man. He's confident in his homosexuality, has many friends, and doesn't hurt for partners. He's currently a student in law school. In one of his classes a guy by the name of Takane Takekawa seems to have captured his attention. Masahiro makes up his mind to try and convince Takane to sleep with him, just once. Takane agrees to it immediately, he enjoys sex after all. After their heated night of sweaty passion Masahiro discovers that he can't let Takane go. Takane offers himself as a sex friend to Masahiro but nothing more. They continue sleeping with one another but Masahiro wants more. He tries to convince Takane to focus on him solely. It seems that Masahiro has fallen in love with Takane.

Once Masahiro has convinced Takane to see him exclusively now begins the hard part of breaking things off with all of his other sex friends. One in particular is going to be hard. Tadanori. These two have a strange relationship, but Takane does care about him. Tadanori is a busy older man and Takane has always had to fit in to Tadanori's schedule. Takane has some trouble getting a hold of him to break things off so he just leaves him a message. Tadanori calls back during a sweaty sex session while Takane was ready to climax. Afterwards Tadanori suggests that the three of them get together to discuss their relationships. It looks like Tadanori isn't going to go quietly.

When I first picked up this book I wasn't terribly impressed by the cover artwork but once I peeled off the shrink-wrap I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the art in this story. The style is unique, just the way I like it. The eyes were so expressive that sometimes you would forget that you were looking at a two dimensional image. Kazuho Hirokawa-sensei used jewelry, piercings, and fashionable clothing on all of the characters, which is a nice change from the generic looks that you can get with other manga-ka. I loved it, everything, the clothes, the hair, the story, everything!

The story is a bit melodramatic but it was fun in a cracky sort of way. You can't help but admire Masahiro for his arrogance and self-confidence. He knows that he can be the man to make Takane fall in love. They are pretty hot and heavy between the sheets and he knows that they belong together regardless of what Takane thinks initially. He will use any tactic necessary to get his point across, even using the withholding of sex tactic. Takane on the other hand is quiet yet sexy and has no trouble with finding partners. He is very passionate in bed and really loves sex. You'd think that he's a borderline sex addict. This was a very enjoyable read it had humor, great art, romance, and a touch of drama. Sometimes I like to read manga that is on the lighter side. The Dawn of Love definitely falls into this category. Read it, I think you'll enjoy it!

***Review Copy provided by Juné***
***Reposted with permission from The Journal of the Lincoln Heights Literary Society***