Love Pistols

The tale of a leopard-man's quest to impregnate a male cat-boy sounds like it might be the plot of a very questionable piece of fanfiction. In the world of Tarako Kotobuki's Love Pistols (originally titled Sex Pistols, but altered due to the British punk band of the same name), males becoming pregnant and people who can turn into animals are par for the course. This is the world of Zoomanity, humans who evolved from animals other than apes, and it is a world into which high school student Norio has literally fallen, unexpectedly.

At first, young, girlish-looking Norio doesn't understand why everyone around him seems to have the hots for him Ð schoolmates and even strangers on the train are constantly trying to touch him. When he stumbles down a flight of stairs, right into the arms of sexy older student Kunimasa, Norio learns the truth: he's a member of Zoomanity, and in fact, one of the rarest breeds of all. Kunimasa, naturally, is a Zooman evolved from a leopard, and is determined to not only make this rare species his own, but to actually mate with Norio and impregnate him! Since Norio hasn't been raised among his own kind, he has no idea what's going on around him. Enter Yonekuni, elder brother to Kinumasa, and self-professed hater of men. Luckily for Norio, he's girly-looking enough that if he puts on a skirt, Yonekuni can stand to be in his presence, and agrees to tutor him in the ways of Zoomanity. At first, Norio wants nothing to do with Kunimasa's cold and calculating behavior, but something about Kunimasa's scent draws the newly-awakened cat-boy closer to the leopard-man who's claimed him.

If it weren't for the social structure and hierarchy for Zoomanity created by the mangaka, Love Pistols could be a very messy tangle of weird kinks and unlikely relationships. Luckily, Kotobuki-sensei's creativity brings direction to the incredibly original plot, and makes it easy for the reader to follow along. We learn about this strange, hidden sub-culture along with Norio, growing to understand the mangaka's world as we learn about her characters. Even in bizarre scenes where teenagers become bears and salarymen look like baboons, it's easy to suspend your disbelief and go along with the structured fantasy world.

It's not as easy to overlook some of the artistic choices, however. Small, skinny, round-eyed Norio stands out like a sore thumb among the tall, broad-shouldered, long-fingered older characters such as Kunimasa and Yonekuni. As the newcomer to this strange world, Norio frequently has to react to weird new situations, and of course, he always complete overreacts for comedic effect. Very rarely is Norio drawn actually looking normal, and he only manages to actually look cute, as an uke should, a few times in the whole manga.

The entire manga is saved, however, in the third chapter, as the focus turns away from Norio and Kunimasa, and starts to focus on cool, blond Yonekuni and his single, "token" male friend, Shiro. Their relationship is odd and a bit of a mystery in the first volume, but they prove to be infinitely more interesting than chilly Kunimasa and overreacting Norio.

BLU's production of Love Pistols is solid, as usual, but nothing elaborate or special. Frills aren't required with this manga, though, since a solid translation of totally new concepts is the most important element. In this respect, BLU has done really well. The translations of the special terms that Kotobuki-sensei created in Japanese are smooth and understandable in English. The use of the term "zoomanity" does seem a little cheesy, but it also conveys the idea of animal/human hybrids well. All of the translations, especially the exposition and diagrams explaining the social structure of Zoomanity, are clear and easy to understand, easing the reader right back in to the main matter of the boys' love story.

Love Pistols is truly unique among yaoi manga. There is definitely nothing else like this out there! While the animal tails and male pregnancy may turn off some, anyone who stays away from Love Pistols because of that will be missing out on a fun, intriguing, one-of-a-kind manga experience.