Thunderbolt Boys: Excite

Thunderbolt Boys: Excite, also known by its Japanese title, Denkou Sekka Boys -Chouhatsu-, is the sequel to Denkou Sekka Boys, a three-volume series that sets up the original story. Denkou Sekka Boys was published by Chara Comics in Japan, but after three volumes, mangaka Asami Tojo changed publishers, and Chouhatsu came out under the Houbunsha label. Perhaps Houbunsha was easier to negotiate with, which might explain the publishing of Thunderbolt Boys: Excite in English before the original Denkou Sekka Boys was even licensed. Unfortunately, without any prior knowledge of the series or characters, the first volume of Excite turns out to be a mess of cluttered confusion.

The short summary at the beginning of volume one explains that Ritsu Yasaka, the taller, dark-haired seme, and Natsuki Kodaka, a standard tiny cute uke, have recently become models. They've also hooked up romantically and become embroiled in a scandal after pictures of them kissing were published in a tabloid. When Excite begins, the teenage couple is sent off to "camp" by their manager in order to escape the scandal. Going along on the trip are another pair of boys, tall blond model Itsuki and devilish little dark-haired Nanao -- mirror opposites of Yasaka and Natsui in every way. Still, with no prior knowledge of the characters, I had to read the first chapter several times through before I could tell the couples apart, and figure out which were the main characters, and which were side characters that had probably been introduced in the original manga series.

Once the boys reach their camp in the mountains, the plot becomes more clear: they're learning how to walk and pose and act like models. Too bad this "training" is only an excuse for Natsui's low self-esteem to surface, and he spends pages and pages wondering if he's good enough to be a model, and therefore good enough to be with Yasaka. In the midst of his self-pitying, Natsui encounters Kirihara, who is Yasaka's sexy, adult, bespectacled tutor with questionable motives. Kirihara decides to give Natsui some "lessons" on the side, leading to even more confusion between Natsui and Yasaka, each wondering if the other really wants to be with him.

At this point, I couldn't take one more sparkly-backgrounded self-questioning internal monologue. Even the sudden, unexpected and brief scenes of Natsui getting molested by Kirihara or Yasaka failed to pique my interest. Sure, the sex scenes were very pretty, but they got lost amidst the contrived and confusing plot and conversation scenes. Only the final intimate scene held any sensual interest, and only because I love simultaneous masturbation scenes.

Asami Toujou's art is very pretty despite the predictable standard of her cool seme and clueless little uke. If it weren't for the lovely artwork and sexy seme characters, the bewildering and vague storytelling might destroy the entire book. In BL manga, especially harder titles like Thunderbolt Boys: Excite, pretty goes a long way. Even when I couldn't follow the dialog, I could appreciate Yasaka's dangerous sexiness or Natsui's naive cuteness.

Fans of Denkou Sekka Boys, who are already familiar with the plot and characters of this series, will probably find a lot to enjoy in Thunderbolt Boys: Excite. However, for those of us who don't have prior experience with the series, it might be best to give Excite a pass and hope that Denkou Sekka Boys is licensed in English. Asami Toujou's attractive art simply can't save Excite when it's taken out of the context of the series.