Genre: BL/Yaoi

Rating: 18+

"Considering our positions, it's not that simple -- that should be obvious, even to you!"

The setup of A Gentleman's Kiss suggests that a variation on the Romeo & Juliet story is in the offing: Homura and Touji are the respective heirs of two rival yakuza clans; unbenownst to their families or employees, they are also lovers, and must keep their relationship secret for fear of dire repercussions. But A Gentleman's Kiss is unusual in more than one way, and what might have been the entire plot of a different BL manga is mere background information here. The focus is on the difficulties that arise when Kyoya, one of the hosts at a club Homura runs, falls in love with him and uncovers his secret connection to Touji.

What emerges from this is a love triangle, and one with a lot more uncertainty and ambiguity than is common in BL manga. Homura and Touji have been together for years, but Homura's still afraid to say "I love you"; their relationship is established, but it's far from perfect, and Kyoya is a real threat to it. What's more, he's a more sympathetic character than Touji in some ways -- Touji can be a bit of a bully, and for once we're not supposed to think this is admirable; Homura is both frightened and rather put out by Touji's fierce jealousy. Yet Touji is no cardboard villain, either. There's no immediately obvious solution to the situation the three men find themselves in, and with this being only the first volume of the series, Fuwa doesn't feel compelled to rush towards a pat resolution. The story is slow and thoughtful without sacrificing the heat of emotion that makes BL so enjoyable.

Much though I liked A Gentleman's Kiss, I have to temper what I've said so far with some caveats. For all that the situation and the plot are more original and better-executed than you might expect from a simple description of the premise, the characters are still fairly broadly sketched and somewhat stereotypical. The art is handsome enough (the style has an echo of Youka Nitta, if that's the kind of thing you like), but not outstanding, and it's a bit disheartening to see yet another bloody BL manga where the lovers met in high school. (To judge from the vast majority of BL manga, if you haven't met your true love by the age of 15, you're doomed to lifelong celibacy.)

But these are relatively minor complaints, and A Gentleman's Kiss has enough going for it that I'm willing to overlook them.

7