Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Close the Last Door! vol. 1 by Yugi Yamada

Close the Last Door! vol. 1

Author/Artist: Yugi Yamada

Publisher: Juné

Rating: M – ages 18 and above

Genre: Yaoi, Comedy, Romance

Grade: A+

Atsushi Nagai has got a problem. He has a monster crush on co-worker and kohai Toshihisa Saitou. Not only does he have this crush but he didn’t realize that he had this crush until Saitou told him that he was getting married. Broken hearted at the wedding he decided that he would drown his sorrows at the bar. While getting smashed he met a coworker of the bride’s. It seems that Kenzou Honda had a thing for the bride at one time. After the wedding the two got drunk and fell into each others arms, who knew that all hell was about to break loose.

It seems that Remi, Saitou’s bride, ran off with a co-worker and former lover. She married Saitou in hopes of forgetting her former love. Satiou is now broken hearted and seems to giving off some serious crushing on Nagai pheromones. Nagai has gotten himself into quite the dilemma. He and Honda get together a lot to drink and do more. Saitou is trying to forget his wife and is spending more and more time with Nagai (and Honda since the two spend a lot of time together). This is one bizarre love triangle that is going to take some work to get things resolved.

Yugi Yamada is one mangaka that never fails to disappoint me (see my first Mangaka Musings post). In Close the Last Door vol. 1 we are introduced to this crazy love triangle. There seems to be some serious chemistry between Nagai and Honda and they like to use the excuse of them being drunk as a jumping off point to jump into bed together. Nagai also can’t refuse Saitou but I honestly think that his affection for Saitou is like a pet owner has for a pet. He can’t bear to have someone take Honda away from him but he’s all flustered over Saitou as well. Since this is a first volume who knows what is going to happen! The story moves quickly with twists and turns but isn’t confusing. I love Yamada-sensei’s portrayal of men. They look like men, they behave like men, and show emotion like men (which means they don’t know how to show or deal with them). With these three characters they all have such unique personalities and unique looks makes it easy to differentiate between them.

This is one quality release from Juné. It is an older title so it has the dust jacket, but unlike some of Juné’s older releases the paper is very flexible. I’m so glad that DMP has licensed many of Yugi Yamada-sensei’s titles and I hope that we can see more. The sequel was held up due to the Biblos bankruptcy and because for some reason sensei doesn’t sell very well here in the States (which is bizarre because wherever you turn people are constantly slathering on the praise for her work.) I can’t wait for the second volume to come out which we won’t see until the end of 2010 (boo!)

I highly recommend this title for the sheer awesomeness that is Close the Last Door vol. 1. It is amazing in art, and sensei’s ability to tell a great story that will hook you from the moment that you crack open the book. Read it, you won’t be disappointed!

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

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