The Prime Minister's Secret Diplomacy

From the elegant full-color glossy front page to the stylish full-color end page, 801 Media's release of Youka Nitta's The Prime Minister's Secret Diplomacy pulls you into a world of glamour, intrigue, passion and style. Set against a glittering, idealized Bangkok backdrop, Nitta-sensei's impossibly beautiful, incredibly masculine characters stalk and steam their way through heated negotiations and heated passion with equal aplomb, creating an unusually realistic, yet still ideally fantastic, yaoi romance reminiscent of American soap dramas about the rich and powerful.

The titular Minister -- a minister at the Japanese embassy in Thailand, not precisely the Prime Minister despite 801's translation decision -- is Koushi Yoshinaga: young, handsome, brilliant in political negotiations and unusually successful in his career path. Tomohiro Shiraishi is Yoshinaga's newest assistant: freshly graduated, green, and eager to prove himself. And it's no wonder. Not only is Tomohiro the son of the current Japanese ambassador to America -- one of the highest possible positions for a foreign diplomat in Japan -- his sister is engaged to be married to Yoshinaga. Yoshinaga could easily make or break Tomohiro's career, but no sooner is Tomohiro impressed by Yoshinaga's negotiation skill than he hears a wicked rumor that Yoshinaga's real skill is in the bedroom, and his success comes from seducing and bribing other diplomats with his body! When Tomohiro sees Yoshinaga nearly get picked up by another man in a nightclub, he can hardly believe that his talented new idol would sink so low.

Despite his protestations that Yoshinaga is "dirtying their profession," Tomohiro can't help but admit that his anger is based on more than professional considerations. Passions run high and the two are soon tumbling into a complicated sexual relationship, further tangled by the existing relationship between Yoshinaga and Tomohiro's sister. Yoshinaga also has some emotional problems dealing with his past that help to explain his strange vulnerability in bed and away from the negotiation table. Tomohiro struggles with his loyalty to his family and his growing love for Yoshinaga as Yoshinaga's weaknesses become more clear. Even more intriguing is the way that Yoshinaga seems to lay complicated traps for Tomohiro to walk into rather than simply expressing his feelings outright. The complexity of their relationship lends another fascinating layer to the already richly-layered themes of privilege and diplomacy, honor and duty, lust and emotion.

Youka Nitta never fails to deliver gorgeous, stylish men instead of willowy uniform-clad teenage boys, and Secret Diplomacy offers a rich pageant of stylish suits, expensive apartments and glittering city backdrops. Yoshinaga is one of Nitta-sensei's smouldering black-haired biseinen, like a rumpled yet more self-possessed Iwaki of Embracing Love, while Tomohiro's wide-eyed naivete is quite original in Nitta-sensei's work, especially considering that despite his uncertainty and inexperience, it's Tomohiro who takes the seme role and passionately pursues his older boss. Their intimacy is rendered in exquisitely detailed sex scenes that flow naturally from the pace and plot of their love story, never gratuitous yet never abbreviated.

Wrapping Secret Diplomacy in a slick, sexy package is 801 Media's increasingly stylish presentation, with a color dust jacket that echoes the color pages on its inside flaps. Translation notes alongside the text and on the last page really enhance the Japanese flavor of the story without dumbing down the cultural references for American readers. 801 Media is moving closer and closer to a re-production of Japanese manga volumes with English text, which is all I really want from translated manga. Bringing over Youka Nitta's stylish, sexy works is an excellent choice for 801 Media, and I am pleased to see they are doing a fantastic job of handing one of my favorite mangaka.