365 Days of Manga, Day 54: The Dawn of Love

THE DAWN OF LOVE (Ai to Seigi de Yoru ga Akeru, “The Dawn of Love”) ????????????) • Kazuho Hirokawa • DMP (2008) • Tokuma Shoten (2006) • 1 volume • Yaoi • 18+
“Can lust become love?” is the central question of The Dawn of Love, and the great thing about starting with the lust is that you get to fit in a whole lot of sex scenes. Scruffy law student Matsunaga beds his hot classmate Takane, only to find that Takane only sees him as one of countless “sex friends.” It’s not as angsty as it might be, since Matsunaga is sleeping with another guy too, but Matsunaga decides that he’s serious about Takane and sets out to win his heart. Much of the narrative consists of Takane breaking things off with various exes who still want him, and generally have him one last time, although Matsunaga insists, “Another guy could never beat my weiner!” The tone is light and humorous, sobered by heartfelt meditations on the nature of love. Unlike most yaoi heroes, the characters act like plausible young gay men, sleeping around and working through various levels of commitment (although monogamy wins out in the end). The characters have distinctive, expressive faces, and the art is generally sexy. The only disappointment: nobody considers a threesome. (Review by Shaenon Garrity)

It’s Yaoi Sunday here at 365 Days of Manga, and that means a guest yaoi review by the amazing Shaenon Garrity. For the original “Manga: The Complete Guide,” I did most of the yaoi reviews myself, but Shaenon (along with Hannah Santiago and others) helped me out and waded into the pools of Boy’s Love for this online sequel. I really appreciate it, Shaenon! Light hair/dark hair bishonen couples everywhere thank you!
Today’s winner is Lisa D. of Texas! Congratulations, Lisa! Tomorrow, I’ll disassemble part of the house of manga I live in (kind of like the gingerbread house in “Hansel and Gretel”) and send it to you!