Review, Voices of Love
An interesting introduction to manga for me, but no light and quick read!
Book details for Voices of Love by Kanae Hazuki
Formats » Paperback
Book Review
**This review contains some strong language. If you're on The Erotic Reader website looking for erotic romance, this shouldn't be a problem for you, but just in case, you've been warned.
Voices of Love by Kanae Hazuki came to me by way of the book's publisher. The first of a new series intended for mature audiences and labeled as “Passionate Manga for Women”, Voices of Love is depicted on the back cover as “a collection of five romantic, hot and sexy stories about modern women and the men they love.” I can't say that I agree after reading the book. As my regular site vistors know, if I don't like a book, I don't finish reading it, so it says something about the material that I did finish reading all five stories. Whether that was because every story in this book was worthy of a full read or just the shortness of the stories is something to be debated. I am interested in future publications from LuvLuv though, because the book held unfulfilled promise that I'd love to see come to fruition in another tale.
As a whole, Voices of Love was intriguing. I've never read “Manga” nor anything more “comic” than the comics in the Sunday paper so my comments come strictly from the point of view of a reader who loves hot sexy romance novels and short stories.
Voices of Love contains five stories of varying themes, with graphic illustrations that lend the stories their mature rating.
The title story in the book, Voices of Love, takes on the topic of a young teacher and an of-age student neighbor who keeps her awake with roudy sexual encounters that she can hear through the thin walls of her apartment. When Kuga realizes Mika is a teacher at his school, he begins a teasing seduction. She holds back until she can no longer resist and I particularly found this story interesting and fun. As a first introduction to Manga, I think it set me up for the rest of the book, and I must say, I was a little disappointed. However, not with Voices of Love. This story played out slowly and I enjoyed the tension between Mika and Kuga. The drawings were intriguing, and I have to say, once I figured out what some of the more artistic were depicting I had a good blush! An interesting experience, since I'm quite used to reading intimate descriptions–but seeing visual depictions as I read is definitely not the same. So, yes, as a new Manga reader, I think the illustrations added to the titillation factor.
One Summer's Day reminded me of the “friend who finally realizes he loves the heroine because no other woman makes him feel the same” stories prevalent in category romance. I like this story in category romance and I liked it here. The heroine Sana experiences angst over her unreturned feelings and lets her desire for Shigeru (her love interest) overrule her good sense. Their first encounter is rough, but they both appear to want it to happen, if for very different reasons. Another good story, and I would recommend these first two to any erotic romance readers who might want to try out the Manga format.
Then there was Rainbow Smile. This was a terrible story, with a heroine who had the backbone and self-esteem of a sponge. Nina's (it took way to long to find out her name) friend Taiichi tries to make her see reason when he realizes her boyfriend is abusing her. The boyfriend has a frequent urge to hit and fuck whenever he sees her smiling because as he says “it pisses the shit” out of him. He doesn't get much more than a slap at the end for his behavior toward her, but in any romance worth reading, he would either be dead, in jail, or have the shit beat out of him by the end of the story. None of that happened here, and my personal sense of justice was severely let down. I was disappointed with the heroine, the topic of the story, the way it was carried out, and the choices of the author to depict in illustrated form the sexual abuse of the heroine at the hands of her boyfriend. There was very little romance between the hero (who never attempted to interfere) and the heroine. I felt dirty when I finished reading this story and I didn't like that feeling one bit. All in all, not worth a first read.
Pictures of Us returned to lighter fare with a sweet and easy romance. Mizu, looking for love on the internet after a strong bout of loneliness, meets Fuyu, a girl quite a bit younger than him. He's concerned about the age difference, but when she shows up on his doorstep claiming she has no place else to go, he lets her move in with him. Fuyu's simple need to be helpful captures Mizu's attention and a relationship develops. Their journey to the end of the story made for a good read and I liked how both Mizu and Fuyu seemed to change at the end. This was a story I can recommend, along with Voices of Love and One Summer's Day.
Teach Me Love took a strong focus on the hero Atsushi and the story was reminiscent of a Presents novel with a notable difference. In Presents, a heroine might be given to the hero for sex, but rarely has she been passed around and used as Hayako has been. As a regular romance reader, I'm used to heroines with significantly more backbone than those depicted in this book, and the age of the heroine has never been a factor when it comes to character strength. Regardless, I did enjoy Teach Me Love, and I liked the ending of this one particularly well with its hopeful, hero-based outlook for the future. Atsushi turned out to be fairly romantic and heroic.
Overall, this book is no light and quick read, and with the inclusion of a few badly chosen stories in the collection, the hot and sexy is downplayed in favor of the dreary reality of abusive relationships and the lengths people will go to feel loved. I would have loved to have liked the book in its entirety but instead I was left with a few good memories of a few good stories, but no urge to read more from this author.
As for Manga in general and Aurora Publishing's LuvLuv Press in particular, I would definitely give it another shot, but I will certainly be leery if the material is from Kanae Hazuki.
This review was originally published on The Erotic Reader blog here.
Reviewed by TER
Book Description
The first release from Luv Luv is a collection of five lovely and sexy short stories. All of the stories depict romantic and physical relationships with nothing held back. The title story is about a relationship between Mika Tsukahara, a young high school teacher and Naokazu Kuga, an 18-year-old student at her school. Some say forbidden fruit is the sweetest! They are neighbors too, and can't stop their attraction to each other... Love thy neighbor! All of the other stories are full of the voices of love, too.
Formats » Paperback
