Man's Best Friend (manga) explained
| Man's Best Friend |
| Ja Kanji: | 犬も歩けばフォーリンラブ |
| Ja Romaji: | Inu Mo Arukeba Fallin' Love |
| Genre: | Yaoi |
| Creator: | Kazusa Takashima |
Man's Best Friend (known as aka the Inu mo Arukeba series) is an explicit yaoi manga by Kazusa Takashima, and is published in English by Blu Manga, a now-defunct boys' love publishing division of Tokyopop.
Plot
The manga is split into three stories:
- The first three chapters are about Ukyo, who rescues a dog that he names Kuro. Kuro can talk and magically transform into a muscular human, and Kuro takes a romantic interest in Ukyo.
- The next two chapters (and Pinpoint Lovers) are about Kentaro and Kasumi, who reunite after a decade apart. Long ago, Kentaro had made a promise to wait ten years for Kasumi, but at the time he had thought that Kasumi was a girl.
- The last chapter is about a man, Keisuke, who rescues a magical goldfish from a group of children. Said goldfish then transforms into a man, thanking Keisuke.
Publication
For the English release of Man's Best Friend, Blu Manga decided to replace the original cover art, which depicted Kuro reclining shirtless in a with a gun holster covering his crotch, with new cover art depicting Kuro tearing off Ukyo's shirt with his teeth. The new cover art was created from existing art within the volume.[1]
Reception
The manga has been described as "reminiscent of Guru Guru Pon-chan." Kuro's dog-like characterization was praised by Sequential Tart.[2] Library Journal described the stories as contrived and said that the characters "exist to have sex."[3] Christopher Butcher regarded Man's Best Friend as being the "most unique" of Blu's releases, and as a "very creative" fetish.[4] Dru Pagliassotti, comparing romance novels with Boys Love manga, mentions Man's Best Friend as an example of a kemonomimi "society", or setting.[5]
References
- Pagliassotti . Dru . April 2009 . GloBLisation and Hybridisation: Publishers' Strategies for Bringing Boys' Love to the United States . Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific . 20.
- Web site: Avila . Kat . July 1, 2006 . Sequential Tart: A Comics Industry Web Zine - The Report Card . 2023-07-20 . www.sequentialtart.com.
- Web site: Shimonishi . June . 2006-11-28 . Xpress Reviews—First Look at New Books - December 1, 2006 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070110232233/http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6393556.html . 2007-01-10 . 2023-07-20 . Library Journal.
- Butcher, Christopher (11 December 2007). "Queer love manga style" . Xtra!.
- Book: Pagliassotti, Dru . Dru Pagliassotti . Better Than Romance? Japanese BL Manga and the Subgenre of Male/Male Romantic Fiction . 63–64 . Pagliassotti. Dru . Levi. Antonia. McHarry. Mark . . 30 April 2010 . . 2010. 978-0-7864-4195-2.
External links
