Love Mode

I have to come clean and say that what kept me away from this series for a long time were the name of the series and the cover of the first book. It looked sickly sweet and childish - but when I actually bought and read the first volume I discovered that nothing could be further away from the truth, and Love Mode is now one of my favourite BL series. Granted, Shimizu's art still isn't that much to my liking but the great characters and stories more than make up for it.

Love Mode is a true BL soap opera: it's got tons of characters and couples, intertwining plots, misunderstandings, unrequited love and happy endings - and of course hot sex. Pretty much all the books are stand-alone stories where different characters take the main role while others the back seat - but as a common factor the stories revolve around the Blue Boy men-only escort service and its owner, the dashing seme Aoe Reiji.

First volume is a delightful misunderstanding about a Blue Boy customer Takamiya Katsura and Sakashita Izumi, a boy who Takamiya mistakes as Blue Boy's number one host who goes with the alias Izumi (so when Takamiya asks "Are you Izumi?" the "wrong" Izumi answers "yes"). Poor Izumi who is as straight as straight comes thinks his friend has set him up with a man as a joke, but ends up spending a great day with Takamiya and after the boy gets too drunk at the dinner, Takamiya takes what he thinks he's paying for - much to Izumi's horror. The mix-up is discovered soon afterwards, but Takamiya has now taken a liking to the boy and pursues him, despite Izumi's objections. Second volume is about Blue Boy's grumpy owner Aoe Reiji and Shirakawa Naoya, a boy he rescues and takes under his wing, and third volume concentrates on Yanase Izumi, the other Izumi, and his newfound love Iketani Arashi. Fourth volume goes back to Reiji and shines light on Naoya's background, with a steamy side story with Takamiya and (his) Izumi.

So as you can see, the story goes back and forth - but despite the large number of characters Love Mode is clever enough to concentrate on just one couple at a time so it never gets confusing. You will have your favourites so sometimes you'll have to settle for little less action from them - my favourite couple are definitely the charming Takamiya and excitable Izumi, but my favourite single character is the moody Reiji. While it's the story that keeps the series going, there is also surprising amount of really steamy sex, mainly between Takamiya and Izumi, and although it's not the most explicit title out there it definitely earns its mature rating. I also really like that there is real character development as the volumes go on - for example Izumi starts out as a homophobic straight guy so naturally falling in love with a man is emotionally very difficult for this youngster, and homosexual sex and showing your feelings to a man even more so. But as he gets more comfortable with the idea, his love for Takamiya wins and he oh so slowly starts to accept the situation and can eventually give the patient Takamiya what he needs. Slow realistic character growth like that is often lacking in BL so it's really nice to see that Shimuzu takes her time with this.

Love Mode is truly a treasure. It lacks teenage angst but still keeps tension up, and it's very funny and warmhearted. Although ukes tend to be boys they are not feminine, and the semes are definitely handsome men - and with the host of characters there should definitely be something for everyone. BLU has done a wonderful job with this series: not only have they preserved the honorifics, they have also kept the Japanese order of names where last name comes first and first name second - this is the direction I'd like to see more publishers going. Keeping the original nuances like Izumi calling Takamiya by his last name (most of the time without the honorific) and Takamiya calling Izumi by his first name is a really nice touch.

This one is a keeper, and I'm eagerly awaiting for more.