One popular genre of manga and anime in Japan is yaoi or boys love (BL). While the genre is also popular among US-based fans, very few stories of the genre have been licensed for Western consumption in the past. That began to change within the last decade when major manga publishers like TokyoPop and Yen Press began licensing more stories of both yaoi and yuri (girls love) genres, some of which also contain sexually explicit material. One such manga is I’m Looking For Serious Love by Shoko Rakuta, aka Tadareta Koi ni wa Itashimasen in Japan.
I’m Looking For Serious Love centers on two protagonists with wildly different backgrounds: Kyouhei Miyazawa, who's from the Japanese countryside, and Tomohiro Takara, a city boy from Tokyo. The story opens with Kyouhei moving to Tokyo for university and greeting his next-door neighbor Tomohiro -- who attends the same university -- with a gift, which is common practice in the countryside. Tomohiro is confused by this at first since city dwellers don’t typically greet their neighbors when they move next door, but quickly understands why when he learns Kyouhei is from the countryside. The rest of the story focuses on repeat encounters between the two, which also results in the gradual progression of their relationship from next-door neighbors to something more.
Throughout I'm Looking For Serious Love Vol. 1, Rakuta does an excellent job of writing two highly engaging protagonists. Much of the story’s humor centers on the fact Kyouhei and Tomohiro have wildly different life experiences as informed by their individual upbringings. Tomohiro, for example, is not used to encountering insects in his day-to-day life and is deathly scared of any creepy crawlers he encounters -- which is unusual to Kyouhei, who's used to their presence in the countryside.
Similarly, Kyouhei being accustomed to the simpler lifestyle of the countryside also means he hasn’t had the varied experiences city people have. As such, many adventures tend to be new to him, such as drinking alcohol for the first time or mistaking fruit-flavored condoms for candy, the latter of which amuses Tomohiro and also endears him to Kyouhei.
Rakuta also writes a strong supporting cast starting with Yuuta, Kyouhei’s childhood best friend who also clashes with Tomohiro the first time they meet. Another great support character is Kyouhei’s grandmother, who is both old-fashioned and highly interested in modern pop culture. Similarly, Kyouhei's university friend Murachin serves as an important buffer from Tomohiro and Yuuta, who occupy the polar opposite ends of country and city life. When Kyouhei experiences extreme culture shock during his first week in Tokyo, it is Murachin who helps ease his transition to city life and even helps diffuse uncomfortable situations for him.
On the art front, Rakuta excels at giving each individual character their own distinct appearance and defines the characters' individual personalities through their body language. This is seen most clearly in depicting the differences between Tomohiro and Kyouhei. To convey how much of a city boy Tomohiro is, Rakuta gives him light brown hair, a slightly muscular build and body language that bleeds extreme self-confidence.
With Kyouhei, Rakuta does the exact opposite: she depicts him with black hair, a scrawny build and body language that conveys extreme culture shock, but also frustration over the lack of common courtesy. Additionally, Rakuta excels at page layout, with each panel depicting clear backgrounds and easily distinguishable characters.
As for the depiction of I'm Looking For Serious Love's sexual content, Rakuta is both hit and miss. With the visual presentation of sexual activity, the imagery is graphic, complete with clear depictions of genitalia, though not in an exploitative manner. None of the characters, for example, is presented with exaggerated body parts as is typically seen with ecchi anime and manga; the presentation of the sexual activity is handled with care and respect toward the characters and is depicted in a tasteful manner.
Where Rakuta tends to miss the mark is in the depiction of consensual sex between her two leads. This often takes the form of one character not respecting the personal boundaries of the other and just "has his way" with him regardless of whether he consents or not. When Rakuta does attempt to depict their first consensual act together, she still misses the mark as one character actually ends up coercing the other into sex. Fortunately for readers, however, the sexual content is few and far between and doesn't hurt the overall enjoyment of the story.
On the whole, I’m Looking For Serious Love Vol. 1 is a fun manga to read during Valentine's Day week, especially for the two leads. While the depiction of sex doesn't quite reach the milestones it attempts to, the non-sexual interaction between the protagonists more than makes up for it as most of their interaction is highly engaging and humor-based.
