Love Lesson by Hanae Sakazaki review

Love Lesson

Author/Artist: Hanae Sakazaki

Publisher: Juné

Rating: M – for ages 18 and up

Genre: Yaoi, Drama, Romance, Anthology

Grade: C-

You know anthologies can get kind of tiresome. There has to be something in it to really grab my attention. Sadly Love Lesson didn't pack much of a punch and I found it rather forgettable.

I'll try to provide a brief synopsis of each brief one-shot:

Love Lesson – Love Lesson is the title story. Akagi is a model and actor so he misses a lot of school. To help keep him current on his lessons Shirai offers to tutor Akagi in math. But it seems that there is more than school on Akagi's mind, and yes, it's Shirai. Shirai is determined to keep his relationship with Akagi simply as teacher and student.

Blame It on Spring – Tetsu and "Jim" (the character didn't have a name and it's hard to summarize the story without a name) were friends in high school and have been recently reunited. Jim is excited to be able to spend time with Tetsu again but Tetsu might have ulterior motives now that he's officially come out.

A Broken Piece of You – Saitoh is a college student and is dating Tachibana, a tutor at the same college. One day Saitoh finds a piece of Tachibana's past in his cupboard. When he asks Tachibana about the dish he found, Tachibana clams up. What on earth is up with that small dish and its significance?

Uncle and Me – This is the typical family incest style story that is prevalent in yaoi (which this genre along with shota I just don't understand). Kiyomi is Tohma's granduncle and the two have always gotten along. Kiyomi was always somewhat a bad influence on Tohma but Tohma didn't mind because he loved Kiyomi.

Name In the Sky – Tatsuya and Fumi are non-blood-related cousins that have a thing for each other. This is a very short story (also a very short synopsis).

Don't Love Me Tender – Tomo is rather popular. He frequents bars and always leaves with a new man every night. But he's caught the eye of one of the bartenders named Harada. Harada has fallen for Tomo and wants Tomo to fall for him.

OK, bored yet? I really wanted to like Love Lesson but most of the stories were so formulaic that you forget what you've just read as soon as you were done. The art was fairly flat and messy looking. I have to say one plus is the use of accessories like rings, bracelets, you know stuff like that. I love it when the fashions feel real. Every once in a while you would catch a glimpse of really good stuff but then its gone just as quickly. This book was so memorable (sense the sarcasm of that line please) that I really don't have much to say about it. Of course the actual physical book is nice with the larger trim size and dust jacket that fits the book snugly.

Would I recommend this title? Well… I'm going to leave that one up to you. It's rather forgettable and if you want to read it I would say borrow it from someone you know or buy a cheap used copy. But I'm leaving that decision up to you.

***Review Copy purchased through Akadot Retail***