Comedy - Fantastic Fictions

Rosario+Vampre: Season II, Vol. 14

June 7, 2023September 30, 2023 fantasticfictionsblog

Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 14 by Akihisa Ikeda
Series Name: Rosario+Vampire: Season II
Genres: Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Fantasy, Harem, Monsters, Romance, Vampires, Witches
Intended Age Group: Older Teen
Publisher: Viz/Shonen Jump Advanced
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7967-2
Rating: 4/5
Amazon Barnes&Noble RightStuf ThriftBooks

Description from the Book

Average human teenage boy Tsukune accidentally enrolls at a boarding school for monsters – no, not jocks and popular kids, but bona fide werewolves, witches, and unnameables out of his wildest nightmares! And now he’s a sophomore!

On the plus side, all the girls have a monster crush on him. On the negative side, all the boys are so jealous they want to kill him! And so do the girls he spurns because he only has eyes for one of them – the far-from-average vampire Moka.

On the plus side, Moka only has glowing red eyes for Tsukune. On the O-negative side, she also has a burning, unquenchable thirst for his blood…

Personal & Info

As with many previous volumes, is book advertises a free mini-poster inside. It’s one of the two sided types that does not fold out. One side is a cute group image of most of the important characters. The back side is the same picture of Moka as the back cover of the volume. Not as single “mini-poster” in the entire series is perforated, so I have no idea why they are even advertised as posters. None of them are worth tearing out if you don’t want to damage the book. I can’t imagine any of them would come out with a clean tear.

Characters

Tsukune Aono is the only human at a school for monsters. Due to various events in season one, he wears a chain lock on his wrist, similar to Moka’s rosario.

Moka Akashiya is the beautiful vampire love interest. She is considered the most beautiful girl in school, and the series likes to play up that fact.

Kurumu Kurono is the second beautiful love interest. She is the character with the largest breasts in the group, and the whole school also fawns over her, but not nearly as much as Moka.

Yukari Sendo is a twelve year old genius, and a witch.

Mizore Shirayuki is love interest number three. She is a yuki-onna, but the translation constantly calls her a snow fairy. She’s also the most considerate of Tsukune’s happiness.

Fangfang Huang is a freshman, and the son of the leader of a Chinese mafia.

Ruby Tojo is a witch who works for the school.

San is a siren graduate from Yokai Academy who’s been living in the human world ever since she left school.

Tohofuhai is one of the Three Dark Lords. He looks like an old man most of the time, and his specialties are seals and magic.

Tenmei Mikogami is one of the Three Dark Lords. I had to laugh at the translation choice for his title. Instead of referring to him as a strategist or some other word you would expect, they chose, “maneuverer.”

Story & Thoughts

This is the final volume for the series, and it wastes no time getting started. Fairy Tale headquarters crashes into the town. Obviously the gang survives the crash, because they’re the main characters. Alucard is awake and it’s time to take him down for good. No idea why they thought human weaponry would be a good idea. Monsters generally defy logic, so that tactic seems like a waste of lives.

Despite the length, there are only two chapters in this book. The first one, containing the final battle takes up most of it. It’s an epic showdown, and everyone gets to participate. We even get to see some characters from the school and people met earlier in the series, like San.

There are some pretty awesome tropes, like two old guys getting epic for a final showdown. Tsukune and Moka get featured, too, this time with a new look for the final battle.

The second chapter is the epilogue. The gang goes back to school, and it’s ten months after the events of the battle. The silliness returns in this chapter as everyone is transitioning back to normal life. Tsukune and Moka are experiencing some changes, and everyone is fighting over Tsukune again. Life is good, but doom lurks in the future.

It’s a satisfying end, but I’d definitely like to see how the relationships play out. Does Tsukune keep his harem and have babies with everybody (because it’s pretty clear most, if not all of them want kids), or does he make Moka his one and only? They’re too young to make a final decision, but a couple possible solutions are mentioned.

I’ve come around on liking Aqua after seeing how much she genuinely cares for Moka. She’s a little psycho, but she’s not all bad. Her backstory is unfortunate, though.

The bonus comics are an extension of the epilogue, and tell what happens with some of the characters.

Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 13

May 31, 2023September 30, 2023 fantasticfictionsblog

Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 13 by Akihisa Ikeda
Series Name: Rosario+Vampire: Season II
Genres: Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Fantasy, Harem, Monsters, Romance, Vampires, Witches
Intended Age Group: Older Teen
Publisher: Viz/Shonen Jump Advanced
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-4215-6949-9
Rating: 4/5
Amazon Barnes&Noble RightStuf ThriftBooks

Description from the Book

On the plus side, Moka only has glowing red eyes for Tsukune. On the O-negative side, she also has a burning, unquenchable thirst for his blood…

Personal & Info

This volume advertises a free mini-poster. As with volume twelve, and several others, this one is a fold out. It features a colored sketch style picture of Inner Moka and Aqua.

Characters

Tsukune Aono is the only human at a school for monsters. Due to various events in season one, he wears a chain lock on his wrist, similar to Moka’s rosario.

Moka Akashiya is the beautiful vampire love interest. She is considered the most beautiful girl in school, and the series likes to play up that fact.

Kurumu Kurono is the second beautiful love interest. She is the character with the largest breasts in the group, and the whole school also fawns over her, but not nearly as much as Moka.

Yukari Sendo is a twelve year old genius, and a witch.

Mizore Shirayuki is love interest number three. She is a yuki-onna, but the translation constantly calls her a snow fairy. She’s also the most considerate of Tsukune’s happiness.

Fangfang Huang is a freshman, and the son of the leader of a Chinese mafia.

Ruby Tojo is a witch who works for the school.

Kahlua is Moka’s older sister, and Gyokuro’s eldest daughter.

Gyokuro is the leader of Fairy Tale.

Koko is Moka’s youngest sister, and Gyokuro’s youngest daughter.

Aqua is Moka’s eldest sister. She has an obsession with Moka.

Story & Thoughts

This book picks up where twelve leaves off. Tsukune personally challenges Gyokuro in hopes of beating her before he completely becomes a ghoul. Between Tsukune and Moka fighting her, this battle takes the majority of the volume. However, before it’s entirely over, we learn a little more about the rosario and what Gyokuro’s studies reveal as its true intention.

Koko’s battle with Kahlua also wraps up in this volume. I would have liked to see her do the entire battle by herself, but unfortunately she needs assistance. It makes sense, though, because a huge aspect of the story is constantly team work. I just think Koko deserves a massive self-earned win.

Vampires have strange abilities in this series. Koko and Moka don’t seem to have any odd abilities, but that might just be because they haven’t grown into them yet. Their family members, however, have freakish abilities that I don’t think fits into any vampire lore.

I love that Kurumu and Mizore are team fighters. They’ve had a long journey through the series to become good friends. But, I don’t think their big attack for this volume makes any sense. How do they get holy water, and why does it need to be holy water? I think it was pretty clear regular water would be enough for their needs. Season one made that very clear.

The ending of this volume hits hard. It’s a blatant, “to be continued,” in the middle of trauma, tears, screaming, and impending disaster. You might want to make sure you already have the fourteenth volume at the time you read this.

The bonus comics at the end mostly focus on a few Fairy Tale members with some question and answer silliness.

Absolute Boyfriend, Vol. 1

May 24, 2023January 25, 2024 fantasticfictionsblog

Absolute Boyfriend, Vol. 1 by Yuu Watase
Series Name: Absolute Boyfriend
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Sci-fi
Intended Age Group: Older Teen
Publisher: Viz/Shojo Beat
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-4215-0016-4
Rating: 5/5
Amazon Barnes&Noble Crunchyroll ThriftBooks

Description from the Book

Rejected way too many times by good-looking (and unattainable) guys, shy Riiko Izawa goes online and signs up for a free trial of a mysterious Nightly Lover “figure.” The very next day, a cute naked guy is delivered to her door, and he wants to be her boyfriend!

Has Riiko died and gone to heaven? The cute guy turns out to be sweet, smart, a great cook, and lots more. And he looks like a million bucks, which is what he’s going to cost Riiko if she doesn’t return him in time…

Personal & Info

I don’t remember which grade I was in at the time, but this is a manga I read in school with friends. I think it was early high school. One of my friends found this series and shared it with our group. We all loved it, and some of us bought copies for our own collections. I haven’t read it since then, so this is a reread after many years.

There’s something people should know about this particular mangaka, though. I’ve read a few different series by Yuu Watase, so I feel like I should warn people. She likes to punch you in the heart with her stories.

As an older manga, this series has author notes in the margins. I feel like I never see those in modern manga anymore. It’s nostalgic, and I miss getting more insight into the creation and story of the series.

Characters

Riiko Izawa is the main character. She is a bit of a slob, and considered flat chested. Her parents are working abroad, so she currently lives alone.

Soshi Asamoto is Riiko’s next door neighbor and childhood friend. They have known each other since they were little kids.

Masaki seems to be Soshi’s brother, but they don’t outright specify.

Ishizeki is a boy from school Riiko has a crush on during the beginning of the story. He appears throughout the volume.

Mika is Riiko’s friend from school.

Gaku Namikiri is an eccentric business salesman who seems to neglect sharing the most important information until after it’s too late.

Night Tenjo is an artificially intelligent prototype boyfriend “figure.” He is supposed to be the perfect boyfriend in every way, based on the features the customer chooses. His height and weight are on the back cover of the book.

Story & Thoughts

Initially when I read this the first time, I gave it five stars. At that time, I was around target age group for the series. It made me laugh constantly, and I absolutely loved it.

Now, several years later, rereading it again for the first time since then, I still like it a lot. It doesn’t make me laugh as much as the first time because I have a good memory, so it’s not like the humor is hitting for the first time. The laughs may not be as obviously out loud, but the story still makes me smile, and that’s pretty great. Based on that, I think it holds up well.

There’s a love triangle, as there usually is in almost any series popular in the 2000s. Night is the obvious love interest. The other is Soshi. He obviously likes Riiko, and his brother seems to know he does. Riiko is oblivious to his feelings so far, but she notices some unexpected reactions to being around him that hint she likes him, too.

I think Night is exactly what Riiko needs at this point in her life. Not the stress of the price tag, but the support he gives. She could probably get the same from Soshi, but based on their current relationship, they would have to progress a lot to get comfortable enough. Night doesn’t have an awkward crush phase to get passed. He is already 100% devoted to Riiko, even if she is unsure about him herself.

I love the art. Yuu Watase draws in an easily identifiable style that is cute and pleasant to look at. The chibi and exaggerated reaction images all look great, too.

This is a romantic comedy I highly recommend to anyone interested in the genre.

Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 12

May 24, 2023September 30, 2023 fantasticfictionsblog

Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 12 by Akihisa Ikeda
Series Name: Rosario+Vampire: Season II
Genres: Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Fantasy, Harem, Monsters, Romance, Vampires, Witches
Intended Age Group: Older Teen
Publisher: Viz/Shonen Jump Advanced
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-4215-5702-1
Rating: 4/5
Amazon Barnes&Noble RightStuf ThriftBooks

Description from the Book

On the plus side, Moka only has glowing red eyes for Tsukune. On the O-negative side, she also has a burning, unquenchable thirst for his blood…

Personal & Info

This volume has a mini-poster inside, like volumes elven, eight, seven, and five, it’s a fold out. The poster features Kahlua and Koko sweeping up leaves.

I didn’t recognize Kuhlua on the cover right away. She looks obviously tan in the panels of the manga, and she even looks tan on the color fold out mini-poster. I’m not sure why she looks so pale on the cover. It makes her look like a completely different person.

Characters

Tsukune Aono is the only human at a school for monsters. Due to various events in season one, he wears a chain lock on his wrist, similar to Moka’s rosario.

Moka Akashiya is the beautiful vampire love interest. She is considered the most beautiful girl in school, and the series likes to play up that fact.

Aqua is Moka’s oldest sister. She is has an obsession with Moka.

Kahlua is one of Moka’s many sisters. She participates in the family profession of assassination.

Koko is Moka’s youngest sister, and Gyokuro’s youngest daughter.

Gin and Haiji tend to be tag team fighters. We finally find out what monster Haiji is.

Gyokuro is Kahlua and Koko’s mother, and the leading member of Fairy Tale.

Story & Thoughts

Things get intense in this volume as everything that can go wrong does. Everybody is fighting somebody. It’s so close to the end of the series now, that everything is combat. Unfortunately, Mizore and Kurumu are benched for the volume. We see them unconscious toward the beginning from the events of volume eleven, but that’s about it. Yukari and Fangfang aren’t in this one much either. They appear for maybe a page and that’s it.

The first fight that takes up a large chunk of the book is the confrontation with Aqua. Tsukune finally gets his chance to use his training against her dimension sword. Moka and Tsukune fight together for this battle. It’s nice to see him be a relatively competent fighter compared to how he originally started off in the series as a whole. He’s had a tremendous amount of growth in such a short time.

Koko, whom we haven’t seen much of in a while, finally gets a chance to shine. She gets to show her improvement in skill and confidence with a battle of her own. I get that she’s been spending a lot of time training and everything, but I think it would have been nice to have her in the story more with the main group. She’s one of my favorite characters.

The bonus comics feature Kahlua. She is given a mission by her mother that requires seduction, which apparently is one of the few skills she did not learn in her assassin training.

I think there was a typo on one page when Gyokuro says, “the tide of battle is already turning against us.” I’m pretty sure she means, “against you,” because the following panels show supporting evidence of the typo.

What I Love About You, Vol. 1

May 17, 2023September 30, 2023 fantasticfictionsblog

What I Love About You, Vol. 1 by Rurihara Zurachi
Series Name: What I Love About You
Genres: Comedy, Romance
Intended Age Group: Teen
Publisher: Kodansha
Edition: ebook
ISBN: 9781646598717
Rating: 4/5
Amazon Barnes&Noble BookWalker

Description

Tatsu Yunoki has a hair fetish. One day, when he wakes up with Kotoka Hatsushima in his bed, his life is turned upside down. Kotoka claims destiny has thrown them together due to their mutual fetishistic interest in each other and the ability to tolerate the other’s interests. Can they make a relationship work?

Personal & Info

I got this ebook for free from a BookWalker sale. It seems most of the books I got this way are available as digital only.

I have no idea why the author name on the cover is spelled different than the name for the listings.

Characters

Tatsu Yunoki is the leading man, and he has a hair fetish.

Kotoka Hatsushima is the leading lady. She is twenty three, and works as a copywriter for a publishing house. Supposedly, she fell in love with Yunoki’s back at first sight.

Eno Yunoki is Tatsu’s younger sister. She has a leg fetish, and does not seem to care if they belong to a man or a woman.

Story & Thoughts

I find myself pleasantly surprised after going into this without so much as reading the description. The first few pages were enough to hook me. The premise itself is amusing. Two people with different fetishes are attracted to each other, and decide to try to make a relationship work. But these aren’t the obvious fetishes you would expect.

Tatsu likes hair, long, pretty, silky hair, which Kotoka just happens to have. Kotoka likes backs, and apparently she can determine personality characteristics just by looking at someone’s back. She likes the characteristics she sees in Tatsu’s back, and that’s what leads to everything.

The story focuses on the two of them navigating their unique relationship. They start off relying heavily on their fetishes to bond, and quickly move in together. Their relationship is surprisingly wholesome. Although, it seems like Kotoka would like to be loved for more than just her hair. She constantly tries to get Tatsu to look at parts of her other than her hair.

The most wholesome part is that they are both learning to love someone for more than just their fetish. Both of them are used to being attracted to people purely because they fit their fetish, but the longer they are together, the more they start to like each other for other reasons. One of the most blatant indicators as an example is when Kotoko hugs Tatsu from the front instead of the behind. She ALWAYS hugs him from behind. Watching them grow closer is so heartwarming.

It’s fast paced and silly. The story is continuous, but some segments are only a page long before it jumps to a different day. There are captions at the top of almost every page identifying the subject of what goes on in those panels. I don’t think they’re necessary, and I almost forgot to read them a few times.

I don’t think I would buy this series for my shelf, but I definitely wouldn’t mind reading more of it. If you want a funny, romantic, light hearted read, give it a try.

Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 11

May 17, 2023September 30, 2023 fantasticfictionsblog

Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 11 by Akihisa Ikeda
Series Name: Rosario+Vampire: Season II
Genres: Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Fantasy, Harem, Monsters, Romance, Vampires, Witches
Intended Age Group: Older Teen
Publisher: Viz/Shonen Jump Advanced
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-4215-5240-8
Rating: 5/5
Amazon Barnes&Noble RightStuf ThriftBooks

Description from the Book

On the plus side, Moka only has glowing red eyes for Tsukune. On the O-negative side, she also has a burning, unquenchable thirst for his blood…

Personal & Info

This volume advertises a free mini-poster inside. Like volumes eight, seven and five, it’s a fold out. This one features Mizore and Kurumu in a sort of spy pose theme. They are wearing nice clothes and posing with guns.

Characters

Tsukune Aono is the only human at a school for monsters. Due to various events in season one, he wears a chain lock on his wrist, similar to Moka’s rosario.

Moka Akashiya is the beautiful vampire love interest. She is considered the most beautiful girl in school, and the series likes to play up that fact.

Kurumu Kurono is the second beautiful love interest. She is the character with the largest breasts in the group, and the whole school also fawns over her, but not nearly as much as Moka.

Yukari Sendo is a twelve year old genius, and a witch.

Mizore Shirayuki is love interest number three. She is a yuki-onna, but the translation constantly calls her a snow fairy. She’s also the most considerate of Tsukune’s happiness.

Fangfang Huang is a freshman, and the son of the leader of a Chinese mafia.

Ruby Tojo is a witch who works for the school.

Story & Thoughts

This volume picks up with Fangfang’s fight scene. The first two chapters finish that off. All in all, it’s not a long battle compared to others. I’m glad Fangfang gets to shine at least a little bit. It seems like his main problem in life is he doesn’t know what he is good at. However, it must be devastating to find out Yukari can essentially master anything he can’t do within the timespan of only a month. Geniuses can really make a person feel inferior without intending to.

We see a few returning villainous faces from season one. Some we already know about, and some are a surprise. This leads to Tsukune getting a fight scene that spans about three chapters, with many cut-aways to keep up with what others are doing. There’s some recap here as well in case the reader doesn’t remember who he is fighting and what their previous interaction was.

Kurumu and Mizore get to fight, too. I think it’s cool and interesting that Mizore and Kurumu have become a team duo for combat. That has been slowly building up over time, because they seem to train specifically with each other quite a lot.

Basically, this is another high combat content volume. We’re at the tail end of the series, so it’s not that surprising. I’m fully expecting even more combat encounters in the three volumes after this. We are far away from the light hearted romantic comedy the series started out as, but the characters are showing their depth and skills, proving how hard they have trained, and how strong their friendships have become.

The bonus comics are a little random. They feature Ludie of all people, and her crush on Xilong.

Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 10

May 10, 2023September 30, 2023 fantasticfictionsblog

Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 10 by Akihisa Ikeda
Series Name: Rosario+Vampire: Season II
Genres: Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Fantasy, Harem, Monsters, Romance, Vampires, Witches
Intended Age Group: Older Teen
Publisher: Viz/Shonen Jump Advanced
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-4215-4879-1
Rating: 3.5/5
Amazon Barnes&Noble RightStuf ThriftBooks

Description from the Book

On the plus side, Moka only has glowing red eyes for Tsukune. On the O-negative side, she also has a burning, unquenchable thirst for his blood…

Personal & Info

This volume advertises two free mini-posters. These ones are no different than standard color images at the beginning of any manga. Like volumes nine and six, the posters are front and back, so you can only actually display one of them if you choose to tear them out and hang them anywhere. The first one is Tsukune with some kind of circuit board pattern on his arm, and the second one is a pretty picture of Ruby with a magic circle on her abdomen.

Characters

Tsukune Aono is the only human at a school for monsters. Due to various events in season one, he wears a chain lock on his wrist, similar to Moka’s rosario.

Moka Akashiya is the beautiful vampire love interest. She is considered the most beautiful girl in school, and the series likes to play up that fact.

Kurumu Kurono is the second beautiful love interest. She is the character with the largest breasts in the group, and the whole school also fawns over her, but not nearly as much as Moka.

Yukari Sendo is a twelve year old genius, and a witch.

Mizore Shirayuki is love interest number three. She is a yuki-onna, but the translation constantly calls her a snow fairy. She’s also the most considerate of Tsukune’s happiness.

Fangfang Huang is a freshman, and the son of the leader of a Chinese mafia.

Ruby Tojo is a witch who works for the school.

Many members of Moka’s family make appearances.

Story & Thoughts

This volume is combat heavy, so don’t expect a lot of humor and fan service. Most of the book is a single fight scene, and the start of another. The good thing about this, though, is we get to see Ruby shine. She doesn’t usually get to do much, but she’s the star of the volume. I find it surprising she’s not the one on the cover.

The gang has spent a whole month training, and it’s finally time to go save Moka. We don’t get to see what everyone has learned, but we do get to see some of Tsukune’s new abilities, and a substantial amount of Ruby’s. I don’t think I ever thought about what kind of spell caster Ruby is before. Apparently she’s a conjurer, and that’s pretty cool.

I do think this volume is a bit stereotypical. It follows the final dungeon trope of everyone taking turns fighting the strongest foes while crunched for time. I like the trope because it gives the characters a chance to show off their skills, but at the same time, it’s a cliché.

There are only three bonus comics at the end of the book, because there weren’t enough pages. They are mostly about Moka’s time in captivity.

Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 9

May 3, 2023September 30, 2023 fantasticfictionsblog

Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 9 by Akihisa Ikeda
Series Name: Rosario+Vampire: Season II
Genres: Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Fantasy, Harem, Monsters, Romance, Vampires, Witches
Intended Age Group: Older Teen
Publisher: Viz/Shonen Jump Advanced
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-4215-4209-6
Rating: 5/5
Amazon Barnes&Noble RightStuf ThriftBooks

Description from the Book

On the plus side, Moka only has glowing red eyes for Tsukune. On the O-negative side, she also has a burning, unquenchable thirst for his blood…

Personal & Info

This volume advertises two free mini-posters. These ones are no different than standard color images at the beginning of any manga. As with volume six, the posters are front and back, so you can only actually display one of them if you choose to tear them out and hang them anywhere. One is Mizore and Kurumu is their swimsuits, and the other is Moka and Tsukune standing back to back.

Characters

Tsukune Aono is the only human at a school for monsters. Due to various events in season one, he wears a chain lock on his wrist, similar to Moka’s rosario.

Moka Akashiya is the beautiful vampire love interest. She is considered the most beautiful girl in school, and the series likes to play up that fact.

Kurumu Kurono is the second beautiful love interest. She is the character with the largest breasts in the group, and the whole school also fawns over her, but not nearly as much as Moka.

Yukari Sendo is a twelve year old genius, and a witch.

Mizore Shirayuki is love interest number three. She is a yuki-onna, but the translation constantly calls her a snow fairy. She’s also the most considerate of Tsukune’s happiness.

Fangfang Huang is a freshman, and the son of the leader of a Chinese mafia.

Lingling Huang is Fangfang’s big sister.

Tohofuhai is one of the Three Dark Lords. He looks like an old man most of the time, and his specialties are seals and magic.

Aqua is Moka’s eldest sister. She works for a branch of Fairy Tale and absolutely adores Moka.

Ginei Morioka, also known as Gin, is the Newspaper Club’s president. Normally we hardly ever see him.

Story & Thoughts

This volume has more chapters than usual. There are six. The first third finishes the events of combat with Aqua. There are some epic and dramatic moments there.

I think the most important section is the last half of the book. It focuses heavily on Kurumu. She shines here, but at the same time it’s so emotionally tragic it almost made me cry. Kurumu does not give herself enough credit. She doesn’t get many chances to shine, so I love that for her in this one, even if it’s in an unpleasant situation.

Gin arrives at some point with Ruby and a few others when the story switches focus to training. I don’t usually pay attention to how people talk, but Gin’s speech drove me up the wall in this book. I had to read it without the…What would it be? An accent, maybe? Gin speaks in an annoying way in this volume, and I just can’t help wondering if I just didn’t notice before, or if it was a new translation choice. He says things like, “yer” instead of your and, “purty,” instead of pretty. It makes him sound really annoying, and I hate it. I swear he did not speak like that before.

Overall, this volume is another serious one. There is very little comedy, if any, but it covers a significant amount of content. As a whole, I think it might be one of the best volumes, but that’s just my personal opinion. Everything in it is important.

Dick Fight Island

May 3, 2023September 30, 2023 fantasticfictionsblog

Dick Fight Island by Reibun Ike
Genres: Action, BL, Comedy, Erotica, Romance
Intended Age Group: Mature
Publisher: SuBlime/Libre
Volumes: 2
Series Rating: 5/5
See my individual reviews here:
Volume 1 – Volume 2
Get your own copies here:
1 – Amazon Barnes&Noble RightStuf ThriftBooks
2 – Amazon Barnes&Noble RightStuf ThriftBooks

Description

The archipelago islands of Pulau Yang Indah are hosting their quadrennial tournament to choose the king for the next political term. But, this isn’t just any normal tournament. The archipelago’s traditions are strange and different. The competition consists of one on one matches of man against man, with the first to ejaculate being the loser.

Harto, of the jewel clan, returns from abroad to participate as his clan’s chosen warrior. He’s brought a new technique from the mainland, taught by his college roommate, Matthew. Will this new skill be enough to win him the tournament? And what about after, would Harto even want to be king?

Find out what heartwarming and erotic love stories result from this unique island tradition.

About

As far as I know, this series is only two volumes long. There appears to be some short story publication as well, but it’s a Japanese release only.

This is very much an erotic series. There are dicks and butts all over the place in both volumes. It is censored, but minorly. The books use a gray/black bar method. The bar is small, and doesn’t obscure much of anything. It’s not even used consistently. Some pictures don’t have it at all. I think it depends how detailed the image is and possibly what angle.

The consent of the tournament is a little sketchy. By entering the tournament as warriors, they’re basically consenting to the possibility of things happening, but the goal is to avoid it. Use your own discretion to decide if you’re okay with that.

Personal

I’ve been a fan of BL stories for a long time, but I haven’t been able to start a collection until recently. After hearing all the positive feedback about this one, I decided to get it and try it for myself. I’m glad I did. It’s short, sweet, and hilariously silly.

Characters

Harto is the main character. He’s from the jewel clan, and he attends college abroad. Matthew is his roommate.

Matthew Manami is Harto’s roommate from college abroad.

Pisau is from the sun clan. He trains for the tournament with Yudha.

Roro is chief of the earth clan. He has emotional history regarding Rej.

Yudha is from the warrior clan. Yudha has a crush on Pisau.

Taring is the son of the leader of the matrilineal fang clan. He is the youngest in the competition because his clan doesn’t produce many men.

Naga is from the dragon clan. He has history with Vampir regarding his eye.

Vampir is from the healer clan. He has shaman powers, and he tends to get a little intense.

Bulan is from the moon clan. The moon clan is in the northernmost island, and the members tend to be known for their beauty. Bulan has a thing for chief Roro.

Safir is the chief of the jewel clan. He currently rules as co-king with Rej.

Rej is the chief of the healer clan and rules as co-king with Safir.

Story & Thoughts

Volume one focuses on the events of the tournament. Eight warriors from the eight different islands of the archipelago come together to battle it out in the erotic competition to determine their king. Of course, romances are going on in the background. The most obvious one being Matthew following Harto all the way to his home country.

Volume two focuses on Harto and Matthew’s backstory, followed by jumping ahead to check on how everyone is doing after the tournament. Everyone has essentially paired up, whether for romance or training. This one seems to have much more “action” in it than the first one.

Negatives

Honestly, there are few negatives. I guess if you don’t like dubious consent, that’s likely the big one. Aside from that, all I can think of is probably the weirdness of Taring dating his uncle. That only gets a page or two of attention, though. It’s gross, but it’s extremely minor, so it’s easy to overlook.

I don’t consider this a negative, but apparently other people do, so I’m going to list it here and address it. The people of the archipelago do not seem to know what a prostate or anal sex are. It sounds ridiculous, but that’s the point. It’s part of the humor, and not everyone is ignorant about it. There are characters who do know about it. It’s just the ones who are inexperienced or never thought of trying something like that who don’t know about it. Just roll with it, it’s not meant to be taken seriously.

Positives

The biggest positive, in my opinion, is basically everyone gets a happy ending. Everyone is paired with somebody, and each individual relationship gets attention. The story leaves nobody out.

There are lots of dicks and butts, that’s important for this kind of story.

It’s hilarious. The story is serious without taking itself seriously. The determination of the characters during the tournament is part of why it’s so funny.

The story is so heartwarming. Characters overcome cultural differences and hidden feelings to be with people they might not have thought possible in wholesome ways. A few of the relationships might seem a little strange or possibly toxic, but that’s mostly because the characters are so quirky. It’s like a few of them don’t know how to act around the people they like. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. It just means they still need to grow a little as people.

There’s also way more detail than you would expect. Not only does each character have a backstory and romance of their own, but each island has some lore.

Dick Fight Island, Vol. 2

April 26, 2023September 30, 2023 fantasticfictionsblog

Dick Fight Island, Vol. 2 by Reibun Ike
Series Name: Dick Fight Island
Genres: BL, Comedy, Erotica, Romance
Intended Age Group: Mature
Publisher: SuBlime/Libre
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-9747-2655-4
Rating: 5/5
Amazon Barnes&Noble RightStuf ThriftBooks

Description from the Book

Matthew is studying at a prestigious college, and his new roommate, Harto, is almost too much to take. Harto hails from the mysterious Pulau Yang Indah and grew up with strange island cultural practices involving…well, the butt. Matthew does his best to shield his new roommate from teasing before it devolves into actual sexual harassment, and Harto isn’t unmoved by Matthew’s kindness – in fact, just thinking of him can bring him to orgasm. But these new developments terrify him too. As his clan’s chosen warrior, he can’t risk growing weak. Will he be forced to choose between his new love and the clan that raised him?

Personal & Info

The first book is really good, so of course I had to get the second one. It does not disappoint. It’s unfortunate the series only has two volumes.

This book shares the same type of censorship as the first. The gray/black bar that does not cover much and seems to be used inconsistently.

Characters

Harto is the main character. He’s from the jewel clan, and he attends college abroad. Matthew is his roommate.

Matthew Manami is Harto’s roommate from college abroad.

Pisau is from the sun clan. He usually trains for the tournament with Yudha, but their relationship is developing more than that.

Roro is chief of the earth clan.

Yudha is from the warrior clan. He usually trains for the tournament with Pisau, but their relationship is developing more than that. He expressed the desire to move in with him during the events of the tournament.

Taring is the son of the leader of the matrilineal fang clan. His involvement in everything is insignificant.

Naga is from the dragon clan. He has history with Vampir regarding his eye.

Vampir is from the healer clan. He has shaman powers, and he tends to get a little intense.

Bulan is from the moon clan. The moon clan is in the northernmost island, and the members tend to be known for their beauty. He is crazy about Roro.

Safir is the chief of the jewel clan. He currently rules as co-king with Rej.

Rej is the chief of the healer clan and rules as co-king with Safir.

Story & Thoughts

This volume starts off with the prequel story of Harto and Metthew’s relationship. There is a little of that in volume one, but this is an expanded version. It shows what their lives living together are like at college before the tournament. It covers their growing pains as friends from different cultures, and how their relationship goes from friends to something more romantic.

After that the story jumps forward to after the events of the tournament. It addresses all the couples formed as a result of the tournament. We see how they are doing, and what progress they have made in their relationships.

Much like the first book, this one is sweet and funny. Even the stories for the characters I don’t like as much are enjoyable to read. Surprisingly, though, this volume actually has a lot more “action” than the first. There is no tournament in this one, but there is more erotic content than there was in the competition.

I think Taring got cheated in both books. In the first one, he is out in what is basically a preliminary match. In this one, he only gets a few pages. His love story is also a bit of a let down, and probably one of the only truly creepy ones in the series.