365 Days of Manga, Day 225: Love for Dessert

LOVE FOR DESSERT • Aurora/LuvLuv • Hana Aoi • 18+
A collection of short “ladies’ comics” (i.e. women’s sex comics), Love for Dessert has a few halfway decent sex fantasies among its six tales of finding-the-perfect-guy. There’s something genuinely kinky about getting oral sex in a hair salon (in the story “Bubblegum Princess”), particularly if your orgasm is represented by a little bolt of lightning and a “krakaboom!” sound effect. “Icing on the Cake” involves a woman who becomes more attracted to her boyfriend when he gets a nice suit for his new job–a cute story, it’s just too bad that Yu’s entire character design changes the moment he puts the suit on. On the other hand, the title story, “Love for Dessert,” is shallow and unsexy, but maybe I’m just not into the idea of having sex while covered in whipped cream (or the idea that the sweet-tooth heroine’s idea of dinner is a big bowl of whipped cream–ugh!). The other stories are less kinky and more conventionally heartfelt–in “Red Bean” a girl who works at a hostess bar learns to trust a pure-hearted conservative guy, in “Sweet Future” a tutor falls in love with an obnoxious high school student, and in “Puppy Chow” a woman chooses between her puppy-like, yielding boyfriend and another man who’s more assertive and self-confident. There’s some amusing moments here; it’s just too bad that Aoi’s artwork isn’t better, since her sex scenes and nude bodies are pretty drab-looking. (Review by Jason Thompson; originally printed in Otaku USA magazine.)
** (two stars)
Today’s winner is Vatche Y. of California. Congratulations, Vatche!