Lovers in the Night

First off, this title has all of the characteristics I've come to expect when reading Fumi Yoshinaga -- the simple yet interesting artwork, the understated characters, the focus on story and environment. It also has one of the most graphic sex scenes I've seen in her works as yet. Fumi Yoshinaga is always an enjoyable read, but in this one, I am happy to report you get all of her usual earmarks plus lots of good smut.

Like the already published Gerard and Jacques, Lovers in the Night is set in France just before the French Revolution. The opening scene of Lovers almost gave me deja-vu because it starts with a very young man in a French brothel being offered a servant's position. However, the story quickly diverges from there. The circumstances are similar, but the characters aren't. Personally, I liked this story even more.

The main character, Claude, is the quiet but slightly devious servant to an aristocrat. Antoine is the aristocrat's youthful -- but somewhat promiscuous -- son. After the father dies, it is Claude's goal to make sure Antoine matures into a gentleman. His methods, however, are a bit different than usual-- especially in later parts of the book. I guess you could say Claude's following that old adage about catching flies with honey, etc.

The production values on this book were on par with other titles from Tokyopop's Blu imprint. It was free of any obvious flaws in workmanship, and the binding was solid.

My one gripe with this edition is that the opening splash page was printed in black and white. It is pretty obvious it was originally printed in color, and the grayscale image is very light. When your MSRP is set at $9.99, it's difficult to get those color pages in, but it becomes noticeable as the one flaw in an otherwise perfect read. This author just keeps finding ways to surpass herself.

On the whole, if you're already a fan of Yoshinaga, this book is pretty d*mn close to a sure win. If, on the other hand, you find her other titles a bit tame, this one has alot more bite (read: sex) than usual. Unless you dislike her storytelling style, you might still want to give it a spin.