The Second Ship: Hirato/Akari/Yogi/Gareki
Title: The Second Ship: a Hirato/Akari/Yogi/Gareki manifesto
Author: zephyr_design
Word Count: 3000~
Fandom: Karneval
Pairing: Hirato/Akari/Yogi/Gareki
Spoilers: Up to the latest chapter released in JPN.
Warnings: Image heavy + gay
Notes: Credits go to karnevalesque and Scarlet Carnival for pics.
KARNEVAL
Circus. It's the country most powerful defense organization, an elite group responsible to hunt down wanted criminals. Since Circus often make simultaneous raids to catch outlaws, the population is constantly scared and kept inside their homes. Thus, as an apology, Circus plan festivals and presentations to entertain the people, making them forget their worries. Protecting the continent is their job.
Nai and Karoku have always been together. One day, Karoku left and didn't come back. Nai doesn't know much about himself or the world he lives in, but he wanders around looking for his only company. Nai's only clue about where and, most importantly, who Karoku is, is a bracelet. It's an ID, only possessed by Circus members. With the help of Gareki, a friend he found in the way, he joins this mysterious organization in search of Karoku.
Where to find: Scarlet Carnival
CHARACTERS
Akari
Probably the most impopular person in Circus, Akari has money, good looks and class. Despite being a doctor, not only he treats his patients in a rough way, but he's also a slave driver. The nurses are absolutely torn between wanting him, and wanting him OUT. He's a bastard, but... if only he weren't so handsome! He looks cold and pragmatic. He won't even give anesthesia to his patients, or treat people kindly.
Despite his exterior, he do care for people... Only he does it in his own special way. He may be a jerk, but we can see him worrying when someone is in danger.
Gareki
A guy who was dragged by Nai to find out about this mysterious Circus organization. He has a dark past and it's obvious he had to be rough to survive. He says he's only accompanying Nai out of interest in the bracelet, which is very valuable and he wants to sell, but he's.... obviously lying. Gareki is not used to friendship or having fun, and this kind of situation makes him very awkward. He's such a tsundere. Gareki is very rude and shrugs off any kind of affection, but when he's alone he's seen blushing while thinking about his fond memories of his friends.
Hirato
An unnerving man. He's the captain from Circus' Second Ship (yes, the name of the manifesto was a terribly lame pun), and he's damn good at being bossy. He's classy, powerful, and is able to subtlety insult you with a smile and polite words. He does that quite often, actually... Akari is the one mainly affected, but so is Gareki. Hirato loves to tease people. He finds their reactions amusing and in so far he thinks Akari, Gareki AND Yogi have very cute responses to his provocations.
He might not be gentle, but he takes care of his personel. This can be mainly seen when he rescues another member of Circus who was in danger. He isn't kind enough not to be an ass, though.
Yogi
Despite being 21, Yogi has the heart of a child. He likes to play hide and seek, whines a lot (despite being always happy), is very energetic, and behaves like a five years old. He loves children, probably because he has their mental age, and he likes to dress up as a cat with a gigantic head (Nyanperona, his character in Circus' plays) to play with them. He even presents himself before fighting against enemies, name his moves, and almost does a Sailor Moon transformation every time, annoying the hell out of his team.
Surprisingly enough, he's a very serious fighter. And somehow, he hides a dark personality that Akari knows of...
ALL THE SIDES FROM THIS RELATIONSHIP
Hirato/Gareki
Their first meeting involved Hirato kneeing Gareki on the stomach. It's no surprise why Gareki thinks of Hirato as an annoying guy and calls him a 'four eyes'. Not that Gareki isn't pissed off often, but Hirato just gets under his skin... He hates Hirato's guts! Hirato is a captain from Circus, so he's got this superior (even though *super* polite) way of speaking, what makes him absolutely detestable in Gareki's view. Hirato... Well, he thinks of Gareki as a 'youngster' and 'brat', but he admires his skills. As stated in a short comic, Gareki managed to land a hit on him... what made him sort of angry. It's rare to see Hirato be awed or lose his composure, but Gareki managed to do so! Also,once he said Gareki's actions were cute... Oh, Hirato.
Yogi/Gareki
Gareki is pretty sure Yogi is mentally challenged. After all, no one who's verbally (and sometimes physically) abused so much by him would have reasons to be so affectionate, no? Yogi is the kind of man who loves to touch people, to hug, to be close. In my eyes, to Gareki more than anyone else. He's often seen with his arms around Gareki, even if Gareki pushes him away constantly. When they're apart, Yogi rushes to their meeting just to tackle glomp him. Of course Gareki is no amused - he gets so cute when he's pissed off. He blushes a lot and acts very annoyed, but of course it's because he isn't used to have people being so amiable. He appreciates Yogi fondness of him, even though trying to prove himself of the contrary. Yogi manages to perceive many small things about Gareki, and he gets just so happy when Gareki starts to call him by his first name...!
And when I say he's very affectionate to Gareki, I mean it:
Hirato/Yogi
Yogi's Hirato subordinate. Yogi and Hirato are apparently close. Hirato provokes Yogi too much, just for fun. Yogi dislikes how Hirato's so formal, he thinks it makes the atmosphere tense... He wants everyone to be friendly! I think it's very adorable how Yogi yearns for Hirato's attention, and Hirato totally breaks his heart by pretending to fail to notice him.Yogi believes Hirato doesn't think much of him, but Hirato actually knows Yogi's a very important Circus member, even though he's an idiot. Actually, it's for this reason... In his own words, Yogi's "very good at alleviating people's fears". Yogi's introduction before fights and even the fact that he fights were Hirato's ideas. I believe there's gotta be a deep level of trust between those two, if Hirato applied Yogi to fight (the appliances had to be made personally, this was one exception), and if Yogi accepted the proposition.
Akari/Yogi
Yogi's... terribly scared of Akari. Because of the medicine patch you can see him using on his cheek, he has to visit the hospital frequently and if I say Akari is very rough with Yogi, I'm sure you'll understand it in all of its meanings.Akari even gagged Yogi once with a towel for him not to scream! Yogi twitches every time when he is in the presence of the other man. Akari, despite being his doctor, is amazed how Yogi manages to behave like a child. Also, he didn't expect Yogi to hate him... He is doing his best for Yogi. Akari isn't really evil.
There's a dark side of Yogi that Akari seems to know, though, and Akari is the responsible to keep it under control.
Hirato/Akari
Both guys have this alpha-male posture. It's no news to say that, when they meet, there're sparks. It's funny, because both of them are reasonably polite and not prone to... overexcitements, but you can see by their gestures how strange their relationship is. Akari hates Hirato, and Hirato thinks this is CUTE. He thinks that being upfront about his likes or dislikes for someone is cute. He told Yogi this on the phone, while ordering Yogi to say this to Akari. But seeing that Yogi is also very upfront about liking and disliking certain people, wouldn't that fit him as well?
Akari/Gareki
They don't interact much on a personal level, but come on... Aren't they hot together? Hah, just kidding. I admit I wouldn't have thought about it if I wasn't over analyzing things, but I find Akari and Gareki to be absolutely comfortable at each other's presence. Akari is known to cause fear to everyone who knows him, yet Gareki seems to talk with him normally. Even when he was getting a check up and Akari got close to him he acted normal. And I'm talking about Gareki, who, when near others, tends to overreact. Akari, in his turn, share with Gareki. Even if there're many scenes involving him and Hirato, when he's seen with Gareki, both of them are discussing important plot points.
WHY AN OT4?
Because I'm greedy, why not?
Just kidding. I honestly never had any interest in shipping anything with more than two people, and even when I liked a threesome there was a third wheel. It seemed like someone was always expendable.
This doesn't happen with this, huh, OT4 here. There're no reason why one of the characters should be left out. In Karneval, those four characters' relationships are so entwined together that it seems difficult to extract just one side of them. It's like playing jenga: try pulling a block without making the whole tower fall apart! It's incredible hard.
Even when not always together, they're all incredibly close. I'm not talking about romance - and I'm rarely into a ship because of romance. But they have deep relationships nonetheless, just as profound as any love. And when you shift one's relationship with other person, suddenly all four change. Take for example Gareki being attacked, and Yogi protecting him. They were separated from the main group. Akari was worried about those two, knowing they could be in danger. When both of them finally found Akari, Yogi suddenly forgot all his despise towards the man, so glad he was hat Gareki was safe. Akari, in turn, got suspicious of what was happening, and much tension sparked between him and Hirato.
Also, each one has their role in their relationship, and I firmly believe something would be lacking if any of them was left out. Take Yogi, for example. There's so much tension around. Gareki is tsuntsun, always overreacting. Akari is a bastard, Hirato, even more of a bastard. Yogi's very laid back and a form of relief for everyone. In the same way, had not Gareki been there, Yogi probably wouldn't manage to support the weight of Hirato and Akari's relationship, that is incredible tense. Gareki's funny quirks, amusing reactions and unexpected kindness manage to hold Yogi there. Akari, by his turn, lacks the charisma for both Gareki and Yogi, who wouldn't sympathize much with him had they not known Hirato was there, too. Hirato, being even more of a bastard than Akari, totally makes him look kind and amiable.
Plus, being someone who don't restrict herself to and OTP and accepts many couples, I found out the best way to have everything I wanted an more was to accept to like them all over eachother. Yeah. I guess I'm indeed greedy.
KARNEVAL&I
In scanlating group Bliss, there was a pretty image they used for those upcoming volumes that had no cover. I always wondered from which series the image was, but I was sure Bliss would scanlate it someday! I was wrong. Fortunately, I found out in mangaupdates what Karneval was, that Scarlet Carnival was scanlating it, and it was a Zero-Sum manga!
Being a Zero-Sum manga, of course I had to read it. Zero-Sum publishes a wide variety of shoujo manga with characters of dubious sexuality... Or sometimes just plain obvious (like Loveless). 07-Ghost, Di[e]ce, Dolls, Saiyuki, they are all published in this magazine. Can you see where I'm going? Pretty male characters fighting and bonding.For those like me, who love fanservice of the BL variety but don't really like all the love drama real BL provides, and on top of that, those who would rather watch a cool fight instead, Zero-Sum ia guaranteed to provide all you need!
So I started to read it. And of course it had everything to attract me. Interesting plot that grabbed my attention being partially about carnivals, lovely characters, GORGEOUS art, and ho yay. Definitely a must read for everyone who appreciates all those traits!
FANDOM
Karneval is a pretty new manga, with only four incomplete volumes in Japan. The english-speaking fandom is recent, and there isn't much around.
Luckily, a few dedicated and talented writers have granted us with some lovely fanfiction!
ALMOST INSTANT-MESSAGING by allira_dream - Hirato/Yogi, Akari/Yogi (plus some Hirato/Akari UST and lovely Yogi+Gareki interaction)
THE HAZARDOUS ZONES OF YOUNG GAREKI by hopelessosaka - Hirato/Gareki
Author: zephyr_design
Word Count: 3000~
Fandom: Karneval
Pairing: Hirato/Akari/Yogi/Gareki
Spoilers: Up to the latest chapter released in JPN.
Warnings: Image heavy + gay
Notes: Credits go to karnevalesque and Scarlet Carnival for pics.
KARNEVAL
Circus. It's the country most powerful defense organization, an elite group responsible to hunt down wanted criminals. Since Circus often make simultaneous raids to catch outlaws, the population is constantly scared and kept inside their homes. Thus, as an apology, Circus plan festivals and presentations to entertain the people, making them forget their worries. Protecting the continent is their job.
Nai and Karoku have always been together. One day, Karoku left and didn't come back. Nai doesn't know much about himself or the world he lives in, but he wanders around looking for his only company. Nai's only clue about where and, most importantly, who Karoku is, is a bracelet. It's an ID, only possessed by Circus members. With the help of Gareki, a friend he found in the way, he joins this mysterious organization in search of Karoku.
Where to find: Scarlet Carnival
CHARACTERS
Akari
Probably the most impopular person in Circus, Akari has money, good looks and class. Despite being a doctor, not only he treats his patients in a rough way, but he's also a slave driver. The nurses are absolutely torn between wanting him, and wanting him OUT. He's a bastard, but... if only he weren't so handsome! He looks cold and pragmatic. He won't even give anesthesia to his patients, or treat people kindly.
Despite his exterior, he do care for people... Only he does it in his own special way. He may be a jerk, but we can see him worrying when someone is in danger.
Gareki
A guy who was dragged by Nai to find out about this mysterious Circus organization. He has a dark past and it's obvious he had to be rough to survive. He says he's only accompanying Nai out of interest in the bracelet, which is very valuable and he wants to sell, but he's.... obviously lying. Gareki is not used to friendship or having fun, and this kind of situation makes him very awkward. He's such a tsundere. Gareki is very rude and shrugs off any kind of affection, but when he's alone he's seen blushing while thinking about his fond memories of his friends.
Hirato
An unnerving man. He's the captain from Circus' Second Ship (yes, the name of the manifesto was a terribly lame pun), and he's damn good at being bossy. He's classy, powerful, and is able to subtlety insult you with a smile and polite words. He does that quite often, actually... Akari is the one mainly affected, but so is Gareki. Hirato loves to tease people. He finds their reactions amusing and in so far he thinks Akari, Gareki AND Yogi have very cute responses to his provocations.
He might not be gentle, but he takes care of his personel. This can be mainly seen when he rescues another member of Circus who was in danger. He isn't kind enough not to be an ass, though.
Yogi
Despite being 21, Yogi has the heart of a child. He likes to play hide and seek, whines a lot (despite being always happy), is very energetic, and behaves like a five years old. He loves children, probably because he has their mental age, and he likes to dress up as a cat with a gigantic head (Nyanperona, his character in Circus' plays) to play with them. He even presents himself before fighting against enemies, name his moves, and almost does a Sailor Moon transformation every time, annoying the hell out of his team.
Surprisingly enough, he's a very serious fighter. And somehow, he hides a dark personality that Akari knows of...
ALL THE SIDES FROM THIS RELATIONSHIP
Hirato/Gareki
Their first meeting involved Hirato kneeing Gareki on the stomach. It's no surprise why Gareki thinks of Hirato as an annoying guy and calls him a 'four eyes'. Not that Gareki isn't pissed off often, but Hirato just gets under his skin... He hates Hirato's guts! Hirato is a captain from Circus, so he's got this superior (even though *super* polite) way of speaking, what makes him absolutely detestable in Gareki's view. Hirato... Well, he thinks of Gareki as a 'youngster' and 'brat', but he admires his skills. As stated in a short comic, Gareki managed to land a hit on him... what made him sort of angry. It's rare to see Hirato be awed or lose his composure, but Gareki managed to do so! Also,once he said Gareki's actions were cute... Oh, Hirato.
Yogi/Gareki
Gareki is pretty sure Yogi is mentally challenged. After all, no one who's verbally (and sometimes physically) abused so much by him would have reasons to be so affectionate, no? Yogi is the kind of man who loves to touch people, to hug, to be close. In my eyes, to Gareki more than anyone else. He's often seen with his arms around Gareki, even if Gareki pushes him away constantly. When they're apart, Yogi rushes to their meeting just to tackle glomp him. Of course Gareki is no amused - he gets so cute when he's pissed off. He blushes a lot and acts very annoyed, but of course it's because he isn't used to have people being so amiable. He appreciates Yogi fondness of him, even though trying to prove himself of the contrary. Yogi manages to perceive many small things about Gareki, and he gets just so happy when Gareki starts to call him by his first name...!
And when I say he's very affectionate to Gareki, I mean it:
Hirato/Yogi
Yogi's Hirato subordinate. Yogi and Hirato are apparently close. Hirato provokes Yogi too much, just for fun. Yogi dislikes how Hirato's so formal, he thinks it makes the atmosphere tense... He wants everyone to be friendly! I think it's very adorable how Yogi yearns for Hirato's attention, and Hirato totally breaks his heart by pretending to fail to notice him.Yogi believes Hirato doesn't think much of him, but Hirato actually knows Yogi's a very important Circus member, even though he's an idiot. Actually, it's for this reason... In his own words, Yogi's "very good at alleviating people's fears". Yogi's introduction before fights and even the fact that he fights were Hirato's ideas. I believe there's gotta be a deep level of trust between those two, if Hirato applied Yogi to fight (the appliances had to be made personally, this was one exception), and if Yogi accepted the proposition.
Akari/Yogi
Yogi's... terribly scared of Akari. Because of the medicine patch you can see him using on his cheek, he has to visit the hospital frequently and if I say Akari is very rough with Yogi, I'm sure you'll understand it in all of its meanings.Akari even gagged Yogi once with a towel for him not to scream! Yogi twitches every time when he is in the presence of the other man. Akari, despite being his doctor, is amazed how Yogi manages to behave like a child. Also, he didn't expect Yogi to hate him... He is doing his best for Yogi. Akari isn't really evil.
There's a dark side of Yogi that Akari seems to know, though, and Akari is the responsible to keep it under control.
Hirato/Akari
Both guys have this alpha-male posture. It's no news to say that, when they meet, there're sparks. It's funny, because both of them are reasonably polite and not prone to... overexcitements, but you can see by their gestures how strange their relationship is. Akari hates Hirato, and Hirato thinks this is CUTE. He thinks that being upfront about his likes or dislikes for someone is cute. He told Yogi this on the phone, while ordering Yogi to say this to Akari. But seeing that Yogi is also very upfront about liking and disliking certain people, wouldn't that fit him as well?
Akari/Gareki
They don't interact much on a personal level, but come on... Aren't they hot together? Hah, just kidding. I admit I wouldn't have thought about it if I wasn't over analyzing things, but I find Akari and Gareki to be absolutely comfortable at each other's presence. Akari is known to cause fear to everyone who knows him, yet Gareki seems to talk with him normally. Even when he was getting a check up and Akari got close to him he acted normal. And I'm talking about Gareki, who, when near others, tends to overreact. Akari, in his turn, share with Gareki. Even if there're many scenes involving him and Hirato, when he's seen with Gareki, both of them are discussing important plot points.
WHY AN OT4?
Because I'm greedy, why not?
Just kidding. I honestly never had any interest in shipping anything with more than two people, and even when I liked a threesome there was a third wheel. It seemed like someone was always expendable.
This doesn't happen with this, huh, OT4 here. There're no reason why one of the characters should be left out. In Karneval, those four characters' relationships are so entwined together that it seems difficult to extract just one side of them. It's like playing jenga: try pulling a block without making the whole tower fall apart! It's incredible hard.
Even when not always together, they're all incredibly close. I'm not talking about romance - and I'm rarely into a ship because of romance. But they have deep relationships nonetheless, just as profound as any love. And when you shift one's relationship with other person, suddenly all four change. Take for example Gareki being attacked, and Yogi protecting him. They were separated from the main group. Akari was worried about those two, knowing they could be in danger. When both of them finally found Akari, Yogi suddenly forgot all his despise towards the man, so glad he was hat Gareki was safe. Akari, in turn, got suspicious of what was happening, and much tension sparked between him and Hirato.
Also, each one has their role in their relationship, and I firmly believe something would be lacking if any of them was left out. Take Yogi, for example. There's so much tension around. Gareki is tsuntsun, always overreacting. Akari is a bastard, Hirato, even more of a bastard. Yogi's very laid back and a form of relief for everyone. In the same way, had not Gareki been there, Yogi probably wouldn't manage to support the weight of Hirato and Akari's relationship, that is incredible tense. Gareki's funny quirks, amusing reactions and unexpected kindness manage to hold Yogi there. Akari, by his turn, lacks the charisma for both Gareki and Yogi, who wouldn't sympathize much with him had they not known Hirato was there, too. Hirato, being even more of a bastard than Akari, totally makes him look kind and amiable.
Plus, being someone who don't restrict herself to and OTP and accepts many couples, I found out the best way to have everything I wanted an more was to accept to like them all over eachother. Yeah. I guess I'm indeed greedy.
KARNEVAL&I
In scanlating group Bliss, there was a pretty image they used for those upcoming volumes that had no cover. I always wondered from which series the image was, but I was sure Bliss would scanlate it someday! I was wrong. Fortunately, I found out in mangaupdates what Karneval was, that Scarlet Carnival was scanlating it, and it was a Zero-Sum manga!
Being a Zero-Sum manga, of course I had to read it. Zero-Sum publishes a wide variety of shoujo manga with characters of dubious sexuality... Or sometimes just plain obvious (like Loveless). 07-Ghost, Di[e]ce, Dolls, Saiyuki, they are all published in this magazine. Can you see where I'm going? Pretty male characters fighting and bonding.For those like me, who love fanservice of the BL variety but don't really like all the love drama real BL provides, and on top of that, those who would rather watch a cool fight instead, Zero-Sum ia guaranteed to provide all you need!
So I started to read it. And of course it had everything to attract me. Interesting plot that grabbed my attention being partially about carnivals, lovely characters, GORGEOUS art, and ho yay. Definitely a must read for everyone who appreciates all those traits!
FANDOM
Karneval is a pretty new manga, with only four incomplete volumes in Japan. The english-speaking fandom is recent, and there isn't much around.
Luckily, a few dedicated and talented writers have granted us with some lovely fanfiction!
ALMOST INSTANT-MESSAGING by allira_dream - Hirato/Yogi, Akari/Yogi (plus some Hirato/Akari UST and lovely Yogi+Gareki interaction)
THE HAZARDOUS ZONES OF YOUNG GAREKI by hopelessosaka - Hirato/Gareki