BL Reading List: Mr. Convenience
US Title: Mr. Convenience
Original Title: Benriya San
Author: Nase Yamato
Translation by: Jocelyne Allen
Published by: Digital Manga Publishing - June
ISBN-10: 1-56970-241-1
ISBN-13: 978-1-56970-241-3
I like cute stories. I just can’t help it. If I’m going aaaaawwwww, then I’m happy. Mr. Convenience has both cute and aawww factors. The first story is about Takashi Shiba, who works for his brother’s convenience-man or temp business, Shiva Staff Services. One day, Shiva receives and email from Aki Kirigaya who sent an email stating, “Please be my friend.” Since the email doesn’t have an age, the assumption is that Aki is a child. Shiba finds out that Aki is a man and a Director at the company owned by his father. Aki had been drinking and sent the email while drunk, earning him the nickname “that drunk guy” by Shiva’s owner. Aki feels that he doesn’t have any friends and that nobody likes him so he is lonely. He starts to hire Shiba to keep him company and Shiba falls for him.
The second couple is Ryuichi “Miya” Miyashiro and Masaaki Tateishi. Tateishi hires Miya and Miya falls in love with Tateishi and they have sex after Miya tells Tateishi that he needs the extra money for rent. This causes Tateishi, who was hired by Miya’s family to investigate him, to take him home, since they had sex for money, the conclusion is that Miya will do “risky” work for Shiva. This ends up being a misunderstanding and they work it out in the end.
I love Nase Yamato’s drawing and cute story lines. Since I do not angst, this work is great, because the angst is what people experience normally, not the dramatic angst that BL novels usually present. Yamato includes the little twin boys from another manga Saa Koi ni Ochitamae and they are just adorable. Since Yamato expresses having a Shota complex, her kids are super cute. Some may not like the cuteness of Yamato’s ukes, but they are men and when I listened to the drama CD, both were voiced as men and not “soft” men either. I also love the humor and one of my favorite parts is when Takashi introduces Aki to the people at Shiva and it shows the imagined Aki.
Strengths: The drawing. Yamato is very detailed. It took a while for me to get used to because it is so detailed, but now I love her style. The cute factor. The story lines fit in with the job of temp jacks of all trades.
Could have been better: I think that both stories could have been longer. Each could have been their own manga with the long story and one-shots.
Original Title: Benriya San
Author: Nase Yamato
Translation by: Jocelyne Allen
Published by: Digital Manga Publishing - June
ISBN-10: 1-56970-241-1
ISBN-13: 978-1-56970-241-3
I like cute stories. I just can’t help it. If I’m going aaaaawwwww, then I’m happy. Mr. Convenience has both cute and aawww factors. The first story is about Takashi Shiba, who works for his brother’s convenience-man or temp business, Shiva Staff Services. One day, Shiva receives and email from Aki Kirigaya who sent an email stating, “Please be my friend.” Since the email doesn’t have an age, the assumption is that Aki is a child. Shiba finds out that Aki is a man and a Director at the company owned by his father. Aki had been drinking and sent the email while drunk, earning him the nickname “that drunk guy” by Shiva’s owner. Aki feels that he doesn’t have any friends and that nobody likes him so he is lonely. He starts to hire Shiba to keep him company and Shiba falls for him.
The second couple is Ryuichi “Miya” Miyashiro and Masaaki Tateishi. Tateishi hires Miya and Miya falls in love with Tateishi and they have sex after Miya tells Tateishi that he needs the extra money for rent. This causes Tateishi, who was hired by Miya’s family to investigate him, to take him home, since they had sex for money, the conclusion is that Miya will do “risky” work for Shiva. This ends up being a misunderstanding and they work it out in the end.
I love Nase Yamato’s drawing and cute story lines. Since I do not angst, this work is great, because the angst is what people experience normally, not the dramatic angst that BL novels usually present. Yamato includes the little twin boys from another manga Saa Koi ni Ochitamae and they are just adorable. Since Yamato expresses having a Shota complex, her kids are super cute. Some may not like the cuteness of Yamato’s ukes, but they are men and when I listened to the drama CD, both were voiced as men and not “soft” men either. I also love the humor and one of my favorite parts is when Takashi introduces Aki to the people at Shiva and it shows the imagined Aki.
Strengths: The drawing. Yamato is very detailed. It took a while for me to get used to because it is so detailed, but now I love her style. The cute factor. The story lines fit in with the job of temp jacks of all trades.
Could have been better: I think that both stories could have been longer. Each could have been their own manga with the long story and one-shots.