Just My Luck

As a volume, Just My Luck contains four separate stories. The title story makes up a little over half of the book. It explores the bad luck of student, Asahi Nitta, and the unique way he deals with it, namely by receiving a daily 'purifying' kiss from his sensei. Rokujou Sensei is the advisor for the Divination Research Club of which Asahi is chief and only member. Though embarrassed by the fact that Sensei Rokujou makes him request his kiss with a "Sensei, please do it," Asahi toughs it out for the benefit of being able to make it through the day without mishap. He also admits to himself that Sensei's kisses make him happy.

Through Asahi's recruitment efforts for the club, several people show up as a potential members including a girl who claims to have a problem similar to Asahi's. When she tells Rokujou Sensei about her bad luck, to Asahi's shock, Sensei offers to help purify her. So disturbed by the fact that Sensei would share those special purification kisses with another, Asahi walks out. It's not long before Rokujou Sensei finds him and not only 'predicts' that Asahi is in love with him, but he also admits his love for Asahi. Kisses that have nothing to do with purification ensue that turn to petting, oral sex and orgasm for Asahi.

I found the plot of this story only mildly interesting. There's some angst in Asahi discovering his true feelings for Rokujou Sensei but nothing really intense or heart wrenching. Part two introduces a new character, a teacher who ends up kidnaping Asahi because he wants to study his run of bad luck. I have to say I found this to be a rather lame setup, one that was obviously manufactured to enable Rokujou Sensei to come to the rescue. In part three we learn that Sensei and Asahi share a past, one that Asahi was apparently too young to remember. We're given to believe that there's some deep and terrible secret which, in my opinion turns out to be quite mild in reality. Throughout the story, the physical side of their relationship escalates until Asahi and Roukujou Sensei are having full sex but we're never shown anything truly explicit and I never really sensed that much passion between them. I give it about a 1.5 on my hot-o-meter.

I do like the art. It's very well drawn and detailed with strong emphasis given to the characters rather than the background. We're given handsome, mature semes but I do have a problem with the ukes. Though they are all sweetly adorable, they also look like they are about twelve which invokes a little creep factor in that it makes our semes look like they have a predilection for being pedophiles. There's just a little too much mature on one side and immature on the other although this is a fairly standard practice it seems.

In the second story, the first of three shorts, we are treated to a young man who repairs toys and is given an android by his sister to help him with his people phobia. I found this one to be rather sweet and touching though it's a premise that's been used before. It does teach that past mistakes can be corrected and I like the ending. Story three is about a male school nurse with a uniform fetish and the young man who fills out that school uniform so perfectly. I'll admit, this one is my favorite. The sex in this story is by far the tastiest, there's a panel with actual male genitals showing and our student, Sugiura kun, is a sassy sweetheart. I love his impudent declaration at the end. Story four is super short and deals with two young men who discover that rumors can hold a surprising amount of truth. The two in this story are by far the most closely depicted age wise as both seme and uke are students. Trouble is, this story is too short to stir much reader involvement.

This volume was produced by Blu. The pages are neat, the images crisp with none of the dialog lost in the margins. I like Blu's books. They're soft, flexible and easy to hold. While turning the pages, if you lose your place, they don't snap shut like a steel trap or strain the tendons in your hands while trying to hold them open.

I can honestly say Just My Luck is not one of the best yaoi manga I've ever read but it's far from being the worst. I wish there had been deeper character development and drama in the title story but we don't always get what we want. Still, this book is one that I will keep and reread now and then.