Egoistic Trap
First of all, the art was right up my street, perfectly soft and sharp, exactly where I needed it to be. Body lines were also especially lovely on the ukes, in the sex scenes 1: A kouhai senpai relationship that carried over from uni to work transforms into something more under the persuasion of the well meaning but pushy seme. The sex is so hot, and this comes so close to the particular brand of dub con I've always enjoyed, but missed the mark by a bit. It borders too much on non con the first time. Just a bit and I would have enjoyed the shit out of this one. 4.5 2: A jaded man who was abused and used all his life can't help falling for his kind and innocent kohai at work 4 3: Story about childhood friends, one of them a stick in the mud sorta fella with ridiculous gender constructs and an archery doujo education to go with it. His friend who is in love with him forces the situation. I dislike these kinda rapey stories. Maybe not rape, but it still felt really off. Not at all coy, he was clearly saying no, even though he didn't seem to mind as much after the fact 2.5 Total 3.67
Retro BL
Chap 1: Good for nothing Saitou who is a struggling author without a penny to his name and no value of money and Mayuzumi who takes him in. Mayuzumi is in love with and has casual sex with the already married Saitou. 3.5* Chap 2: Aki and Yamato who share a dorm room, are boyfriends and can't keep their hands off each other 4* Chap 3: En is the lewd playboy apothecary and Tao is his assistant who has to put up with his sh*t. An aphrodisiac may get involved in the ensuing seduction. Sequel in tachi neko soudatsu 3.5* Chap 4: Fucked up beyond repair love triangle between non-blood related siblings, Kyokou and Haru and Shinobu, Kyouko's husband. The fact that he doesn't remember the sex gives me rape vibes. 2* Chap 5: Very short and bitter oneshot about snow that melts in the face of a long spring. Supernatural. 4* Chap 6: Maki, who's never lost a fight and Sugawa who was a leader in his peer group in his younger days but got overshadowed over the years and cannot stand losing to anyone. Not normally my kinda story but I can't help but enjoy how crazy Maki is about Sugawa, accepting him, complexes and all. 4.2* Chapter 7: Micchan, who was battling crippling depression and lost, and Jun who couldn't let him go. Uber dpressing. Jun never realised how serious Micchan's suicidal talk was and it warped him forever 2.5* Chap 8: Akashi, the servant and the chained Guardian Deity he was brought by force to service. Akashi is a pure little cinnamon bun. Glad the Guardian was gentle with him. The household can rot. Hypocrites. 5* Overall: 3.6*
Mauri to Ryuu
1: Mauri, who was sent as a sacrifice to the wandering dragon god Raika (who doesn't eat people, where do these rumours come from, anyway?), in an unfortunate town were all the women have been kidnapped by an evil rapist merchant. Too short. Also hate the townspeople who used the lack of females as a valid excuse to harass and rape him. 4.5 2: Kanbai, who's been in love with the wandering rain god Shironome, since he was rescued from drowning when he was only 8, thinks it's unrequited. "Em... about this rainbow that's been up there for a week now..." It was okay, I didn't think it was anything special 4 3: A god of spring who calls forth the spring by singing in bird form and Jiin the consientious hunter he slowly falls in love with as he watches Jiin grow up. Jiin save him from kidnappers and he save Jiin in turn. A forever kinda love. Really liked the vibe, though too short. 5 4: Lovers Kitsune and Orphee, the wandering horse god and lost little Kio whom they adopt. Kio is not all he seems. Really bittersweet and beautiful. 5 5: Otsuka the black dragon god who is rumoured to bring misfortune and Itsuka the bandit, who's been following him forever in a war ravaged country. Ongoing. 4.5 Overall: 4.6
Cherry (ichijou Lemon)
1: The uke was useless and wishy-washy, and the seme was so high handed and impulsively made, just, the stupidest decisions ever. 2.5* 2: The seme, again, is heavy handed and there was also the rape in the beginning and misuse of power at times. However, Daryl loves him and is now living an infinitely better life free of abuse, so. Plus the supportive brother doesn't hurt, either. 3.4 3: Story of the rejected friend from the first story and his hairdresser mentor. Very much forced and no real feelings came through. 2.5
Toriaezu Kiss Shite Kudasai
Yes? Yesss! What the hell, all misunderstandings should be solved this easily! Except the second story! Stop breaking my heart, dammit! 1: Nao keeps inviting Haru to watch porn with him for *reasons*. Turnns out he's not the only one with an ulterior motive. I love their friendship and the easy resolution and how quickly Haru apologized and turned the situation around. Seme of the year. And the uke, that took a lot of gut on his part. 5 2: The same basic plot as the forst story with extremely close childhood friends and uke thinking he's the only one in love. Here, the uke actually tries to set the seme up with someone si hard that it confuses the seme majorly. It does end up working out. The seme was a little slow to react (probably because he was confused) and uke, while brave, was also really unwilling to hope. Ultimately, tthough, the angst lent the story its own character. 5 Over all I do prefer the first couple, but both were very good.
Our House Love Trouble
First of all. All 3 stories in this collection range from dubcon if you squint, to potentially noncon to straight up rape. So you really do have to remove yourself from the story, if you actually want to enjoy it even a bit. 1st: Nono is honestly pliable and agreeable to the point of being ridiculous. He's an airhead beyond all airheads, and there's no doubt that Hibiki took advantage of that. Not the first time- that was a misunderstanding so absurd, you kind of have to laugh at it, at that point. That said, I do really like Nonohiko, he's precious and kind and hardworking, even if way too naive. Hibiki, as mentioned, was pretty underhanded in the beginning, but quickly resolves to treat Nono right, which improves his rating in my books by leaps and bounds. It's not the perfect story, but it's just the right amount of fun and titillating in a shallow sort of way I really enjoy. 5 2nd: Yuusuke and Kaname's story was the most interesting of the bunch, just because of the kinks involved. The size kink plus teasing combo makes this pretty hot, if you can ignore the blatant noncon. I'm not proud of it, but I enjoyed this. By ignoring very pointedly, certain references to age. Ugh. 5 3rd: Apparently, we've found the line. And it's at *checks notes* revenge sex. Well, it was clearly just rape, when it began. He consented halfway-through, which grays the lines a bit. But overall, I found it somewhat disturbing. 3 Overall 4.3, but I'll still rate it 5, because I still enjoyed the first two
I'm Banging My Rival From A Parallel World!?
1: I actually enjoyed this, parallel universes are extremely rare in a yaoi setting, this is the first I've read. Amatatsu was really brave and Sen was really great in the parallel universe. He also develops well in the actual verse and their sex together was *.* 5 The story was just toi rushed and short a real shame. 3: I really liked how Yuuto did a great job in improving Kazusa's confidence and just being venerally supportive. Agree with Author, Kazusa is going to be a force to be reckoned with. 4 4: I liked best friend zoned more than the second story. The plot was enjoyable, though I've seen it many times. Here, Minoru actually realised how Akichika felt about him and came back. Really appreciate him not being dense where it counts. 4.5 5: Come on! Sexual assault has no place in this otherwise fluffy collection! I know it's being downplayed as comical, especially since it wasn't penetrative, but I hate it. And Karatachi clearly said no :/ 2.5 Overall: 4
Akuma De Keiyaku
1: Seme is somewhat rapey but I honestly didn't hate the story. It just wasn't amazing either. Ryou, a rich heir who is being isolated in his own company after his grandfather's death, summons a demon (Bel) out of boredom and the demon ends up being the best damn secretary 4 2: Story about Phi, the younger looking demon whom Bel mentors, who comes looking for Bel, and the shady as fuck infirmary sensei who works in Ryou's company. Blech. Too young looking, even if he is hundreds of years old. 3 3: Story about a neglected uke whose family is full of elites who undermine and belittle him for not being as smart. He's retaking his uni entrance exams and summons a demon to help with the studying, only, it was the wrong kinda demon 4.3 Overall: 3.8
Kimi no Nioi ga Suki
1: It's such a silly premise, that's been done a couple times in yaoi. Youji has an amazing sense of smell and Akira is his favourite scent. This skips over the getting together, depicts and already established relationship, with a small misunderstanding. Was all right. 4.4 3: Glen's such a hottie, the kinda forceful seme I am into. And Takumi is so great because he hits a lot of my kinks in an uke; smart, reluctant but overwhelmed, hella sexy and just, ugh. Cute. I liked it, and the sex was hot! 4.7 5: Tooooo short! Notice senpai noticing you, Makita!! 4.5 6: Ughhh. When he made Ryouji beg for his cock in beddd!! Tomoyuki fulfills kinks I *definitely* know I had! Semes with a mean streak are just the best! Too short, though :/ Only pwp 4.5 7: I actually disliked this one a lot. I don't care if Miki was into it at some point, Saitou still used a position of power to force him. And Miki was also too much of a doormat 3.9 worst of the lot. Overall: 4.4
Sokuochi Yarichin Yankee