Fandom Primer Post (aka Pimp Your Fandom)
Now that nominations are done and sign-ups are just on the horizon, here's a post where you can advertise your fandoms to the rest of yuletide. Tell us about your fandom(s) and link to sources you think will help a new fan interested in checking it out or an old fan looking for canon refreshing. And if you're looking for new (or old but forgotten) fandoms
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Category: Anime/Manga
Comments: "Hands Off!" is a manga series writted by Kasane Katsumoto and is the sequel to an even less-known managa, "Don't Call Us Angels." Kotarou is, in many ways, your typical adorable, short, put-upon manga hero. He goes to an all-boys school and is made to dress in female uniforms to his own horror and the amusement of his classmates. He finally manages to escape this humiliating existence by transferring to a high school in Tokyo and moving in with his grandfather... and cousin Tatsuki.
And there's the rub.
Tatsuki and Kotarou used to be extremely close as children. They spent their summers together and Tatsuki, even then, labeled himself Kotarou's protector. Unfortunately, Kotarou has a power of which he is unaware -- the ability to touch another's soul and calm them and (we learn much later) to heal. And when a young Kotarou touches Tatsuki one day, he awakens in his cousin the ability to see the past. Angst ensues.
Tatsuki, sadly, only seems to see bad things with his new power and has learned an important lesson -- touching Kotarou makes his "gift" stronger. Fast forward ten years when they are thrown back together in high school. Kotarou is making the best of this awkward situation: he makes friends with Yuuto -- another gifted young man (with the ability to read auras), though Kotarou doesn't know it -- he falls in love with Mio, a young girl who also adores him, he gets a part-time job and becomes a rising star of the school's basketball team, in spite of his height disadvantage. But through it all, there is a part of him that is unhappy because of the tension between he and Tatsuki.
Of course, Kotarou has the devil's own luck. He gets kidnapped, beaten up, threatened, you name it. If it's bad and it can happen to someone... it will happen to Kotarou. Fortunately, Tatsuki's gift is uniquely suited to allowing him to (very reluctantly) resume the role of protector of his accident-prone cousin. Dark, brooding and angst-ridden over the things he sees, Tatsuki nonetheless teams up with Yuuto to protect Kotarou from himself... and everyone else.
Personally, I love the codependent, bromancy, I love you/I love you issues between Tatsuki and Kotarou (Heh. See a pattern? ^_~), but ultimately, I really do like the canon het pairing of Kotarou and Mio -- they're just too adorable. What I will likely ask for in my requests is something exploring the relationship between Tatsuki and Yuuto... because, honestly, I ship them like mad. Something about they way they circle around each other, both too damaged, both too "cool" to really admit they rely on each other as much as they do on Kotarou... it sets off my slash sensors. ^_~
Of course, I would never turn down the bromancy/f'ed up goodness which is Tatsuki and Kotarou. ^_^ The fourth nominated character is Karen -- a no-nonsense, kick-ass, tomboyish budding photo-journalist who is Yuuto's canon love interest. And since I had a fourth character slot, I thought she should get it because she's awesome.
1. Wikipedia page
2. An excellent English fansite by someone who was professionally involved in the series. Contains some images, summaries, thoughts on the series, etc.
3. Buy the managa on Amazon (volume 1) -- unfortunately, the series is out-of-print, I believe, but there are still people selling used copies on Amazon. You can also learn a lot from the reviews people write on these pages. ;)
4. Scanned copies of all 8 volumes of the English manga on MangaFox
5. Scanned copies of the entire English managa at Animea, if that is your preference. (Site format is a bit less "busy".)
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