Sensitive Pornograph
Reviewer: Pharae [email] [website]Overall Rating: A-
Media Reviewed: Digital fansub
Creator: Ashika Sakura
U.S. Licensed: Yes
Released by: Media Blasters/Kitty Media
Run time: 30 minutes
BL Content: Very hard (sexual situations, uncensored genitals)
Genre: Adult/Drama
Other media: Japanese manga
I'm a fan of series that milk every ounce of fluff from the relationships included in the plotline. Sensitive Pornograph is exactly that; while it did have its moments of angst and drama, the main focus was on the cute-and-beautiful relationships of two couples in two different stories.
The first story is the romantic tale of two manga artists called Seiji (22 years of age) and his lover Sono, a decade senior to Seiji in age. The story commences with the two of them in bed together, and then flashes back to explain how they came to be in a relationship. They met as fans of each other's works despite the fact that Seiji always assumed Sono was a female artist. Sono invited Seiji out for tea and Seiji agreed.
They go out for drinks after the tea, and Seiji ends up at Sono's apartment and Seiji manages to trip and get into a rather suggestive pose with Sono. Thus, they commence their illicit affair.
Seiji wakes up the next morning and asks Sono to be his boyfriend, and a happy little honeymoon period commences in which all is good and the sex is plenty. Enter Seiji's friend, who makes Seiji aware of the famous rumor of how loose Sono is (while the friend still refers to Sono as a female). Insert dramatic thunderstorm, and a fateful confrontation that makes Seiji run out of Seiji's house in comical tears. While there is more to the story than that, I'll leave it there and let anyone interested know that the conclusion to this story is cute and touching, and the relationship that Seiji and Sono share is truly a thing of beauty. The back story was explained well and the two characters were interesting and very easy to like.
The second story wasn't as enjoyable as the first for me, on a level of personal preference. It centers on a pet-sitter called Ueno, who is called to look after a "rabbit" named Aki (note the quotation marks). Ueno arrives at the apartment and upon looking for the "rabbit", discovers a pale boy bound in the closet, completely naked. Ueno freaks out, thinking the boy is dead (but soon finds out otherwise) and all the while concerned for the non-existent rabbit. Ueno sets him free, and Aki tells Ueno that his master likes to play "games", and begins to unzip Ueno's fly while Ueno wonders what the Hell is going on. Cue sex scene in which Aki starts as the active partner, but progresses to Ueno complying while wondering what the Hell he's doing. After that's over with, Aki tells him to leave and Ueno flees the scene. Aki's master comes back, and Aki decides that he doesn't appreciate being treated as a slave, and the scene fades.
The next day at Ueno's College, the poor guy is lamenting that he lost his job after that incident, and he won't be able to see the puppies and kittens anymore. He looks up, and finds Aki standing in front of him, all beaten up and bandaged. It turns out that Aki is a student at the same school, and he was kicked out by his master for defying him. Aki asks for lunch, and Ueno laments that he lost his job, and the story ends.
This story, as I said before, wasn't as enjoyable as the first. The relationship, as I saw it, was actually somewhat twisted. Ueno wasn't particularly willing at the start and neither was Aki (he was doing it purely because of fear for his master) and the only reason that Aki seemed attracted to Ueno in the end was because Ueno showed him kindness that he wasn't used to receiving. Ueno didn't seem particularly thrilled about the whole event and even after Aki confronted him the next day, he appeared to be very uncomfortable. The relationship that Aki had with his master was left painfully unexplained, and desperately needed more time to be fleshed out. The sex scene was hot, but still strangely unnerving.
Sensitive Pornograph has brilliant and very clean art; despite being short (too short in the case of the Aki and Ueno story) the plots were relatively enjoyable and the music was suitable, despite being kind of sappy. The sex was gorgeous but graphic (squelching sound effects, anyone?). The voice acting was superb; Seiji and Aki particularly.
Overall, Sensitive Pornograph is a highly enjoyable anime, despite being entirely too short (oh, what I wouldn't give to see more of Sono and Seiji). I recommend it to any yaoi lover who likes extreme fluff mixed in with the odd bit of drama.