Senpai, This Can’t Be Love! Review
“Excuse me… but could you please refrain from touching me?” Kanade to Yanase.
3D CG designer Yanase has returned to Tokyo after learning his craft in Canada, where he worked on the massive hit movie Red Honey. So when the big news comes in that the computer graphics company is going to be working on a Japanese series adaptation of Red Honey, everyone – including the new employees – will be involved. Yanase been tasked with sharing his considerable expertise in modeling to help new employee Kaneda. But although Kaneda is a diligent and fast learner, he doesn’t appreciate Yanase’s friendly approach at all, keeping his distance from his mentor. But appearances can be deceptive. After an office do at an izakaya at which everyone has far too much to drink, an inebriated Kaneda loses all his inhibitions and admits that, far from hating Yanase, he likes and admires him – and Yanase kisses him. There’s no time for explanations or recriminations at work the next day as the Red Honey project specs have been changed and suddenly the team is way behind on their deadlines. To Yanase’s surprise, Kaneda gives the project all his attention, staying late. “I can’t give up now… I’ll do the best I can.”
However, Yanase’s cheerful, confident manner conceals the fact that he lost much of his love and enthusiasm for CG modeling when in Canada. Is Kaneda’s devotion to the project the catalyst that he’s needed to regain his flair and enthusiasm? Events overtake him when he learns that one of the team needs to go back out to Canada – for a year! – and his boss (married and settled) immediately turns to him. How can he refuse? But how will Kaneda react when their chance of a relationship will be over before it’s even begun?
Boys’ Love has probably never had so many print titles available in English translation as now as it currently seems that all the major publishers have been acquiring new properties. As recently as c. ten years ago, there was far less available as June/DMP had fallen on hard times, BLU (Tokyopop) had died and SuBLime was only just getting started. Sometimes though, this reviewer can’t help wondering if all the titles being published today are the cream of the crop. Many are amiable tales, without high drama (no longer an essential element for a successful BL manga these days) but maybe just a little vanilla? Not that there’s anything wrong with that – but in this context, vanilla means a story that lacks depth of characterization, that skims over the surface in a pleasant, entertaining way but fails to venture deeper. It’s hard to make an impression with a single volume but mangaka such as Gorou Kanbe, Nagisa Furuya and Cocomi have proved time and again that a one-shot can be a moving and page-turning read. How does Senpai, This Can’t Be Love measure up against such titles?
©Shinta Harekawa Yen Press
Shinta Harekawa’s only other title available in English is in complete contrast to this BL, a supernatural horror adventure Three Exorcism Brothers which has just become available from Titan (although maybe it had some influence on Red Honey, the series the CG designers are working on in Senpai, This Can’t Be Love!). Her characters are attractively drawn and presented, and the awkwardness of the relationship between easy-going Yanase and younger, prickly Kanade that slowly evolves is engagingly depicted. Harekawa has done her research on 3D CG as her Special Thanks page reveals, where she names and draws little cartoon portraits of the people from the industry who helped ‘and modeled for my characters!!!!’.
In fact, the CG modeling studio setting is one of the stronger selling points of the story. The mangaka wears her research lightly, weaving the important elements into the plot only when needed, rather than putting us through too many info-dumps. It’s interesting, too, to see that Yanase is presented as bi: I fooled around with different people. However, on the Boys’ Love side, the relationship between Yanase and Kaneda takes a while to develop (not, in itself a bad thing, but this is just slow rather than slow-burn). The only sex scene takes place in the Bonus Chapter which feels just a little tacked on at the end; whilst this is the reason for the Mature rating, it’s consensual and not very explicit (not that it needed to be, given the way the relationship has been shown to develop). Even though this is currently presented as a standalone by Yen Press, there are in fact two sequel volumes in Japan titled Brush Up! and it’s also been made into a J-drama.
The very readable translation for Yen Press is by Leo McDonagh, nicely delivered through Dietrich Premier’s lettering. There are some cute chibi images between chapters and a colour page at the front. It would be good to see Yen Press bring us the two sequel volumes to this likable first volume to find out how the relationship develops.
Our review copy from Yen Press was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.
