Poison Cherry Drive

A mysterious Web site advertising a group called "Cherry Drive" has appeared, claiming they'll do anything for sexy gay guys with problems -- especially virgins. Hot, young, gay virgins don't even have to pay to receive Cherry Drive's services. But who are these guys, really, and just what is it they're willing to do? Oh, heck, this is hardcore BL manga -- what do you think?

I had never heard of Poison Cherry Drive by Modoru Motoni until Kitty Media licensed it, but the premise sounded interesting, and the cover sure looked hot. Little did I know I was in for a crazy, cracked comedy on par with any of Sakurai Shushushu's hilarious works. Good, hardcore BL comedy can be hard to find, especially in English, but Poison Cherry Drive is a fantastic, funny and completely unpredictable riot.

Cherry Drive is a self-professed "jack of all trades" group made up of two main members: Iida Ai, the blond, bespectacled president with an over-the-top lust for young virgins, and Takano Mamezo, the cool, laid-back vice president who claims to be 94 years old and keeps his youthful appearance by stealing the essences of beautiful young men. A third member, eternally apron-clad and completely straight Kenny Boy, is their gofer, their client interviewer, and the guy who does all of the real work around the office. Nihongi-kun, the first client of the book and a young-looking student, becomes the fourth "member" and constant straight-man to Iida and Mamezo's ridiculous plots and antics. And what exactly is it that Cherry Drive does? Literally whatever the client asks -- provided he's sexy enough for Iida and Mamezo.

So begins a series of completely unrealistic stories of Cherry Drive and their clients, and the lengths to which they will go to land their favored clients in bed. For, really, that's the ultimate objective of Cherry Drive: having lots of sex with hot, preferably virginal, guys. Iida and Mamezo clearly aren't in it for the money; when Nihongi-kun asks them where they actually get their money, the two claim to be funded by OPEC. Yes, OPEC. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. It's just one of the running gags, like Mamezo's apparent inability to remember Iida's name, and Iida's bad luck in finding real "cherries" and only getting hired by "poison cherries" who aren't real virgins. The hilarity of these silly jokes comes in the complete and utter seriousness with which they are delivered. No matter how ridiculous the idea, no matter how far-fetched the joke, Iida and Mamezo lay it out like reality and operate under the belief that the most outrageous things are completely true. That's the brilliance of Modoru-sensei's comedy: this wacky world can't be real, but we can't stop enjoying the ride.

Poison Cherry Drive is rated 18 and Older, because hand-in-hand with the zany comedy -- and often the vehicle for the craziest jokes -- comes a great deal of hardcore BL scenes. Sex is Cherry Drive's business, after all, and they engage in business with relish. Every sex scene comes with a finishing course of a one-line zinger or comedic interruption, but it's hard to feel frustrated when the laughs are this good. Besides, the reader is still treated to wonderfully hot sex scenes and gratuitously naked pretty men throughout the book, so what's not to love? Modoru-sensei's artwork is crisp and fine, her men are sultry and sexy, and the hardcore scenes are delicious without being in-your-face explicit. The "invisible penis" style is used throughout, but honestly, I barely even noticed it until a second read-through, because the artwork is just that good.

Plenty of BL titles include elements of comedy these days, but not many of them could be classified as "comedies." In Poison Cherry Drive, the crack-headed punchlines are the main driving force of the book, the destination of the title. Luckily for us, sexy, naked men in bed with other sexy, naked men is the vehicle that gets us there, so hop on in, and enjoy the ride.