Aisuru Hito

Genre: Josei, Comedy, Romance
2002 Yuki Yoshihara, Shogakukan, Inc.



Skysenshi's Description:
College student Sakiko Kinoshita couldn't help but stalk her professor, Chifuyu Takashou. After all, she's a girl in love. But when Sakiko's mother suddenly finds herself destitute, college becomes an impossibility...so are the thoughts of ever hooking up with her beloved professor. Sakiko decides to take matters into her own hands and hits the streets, determined to sell her body if that would support her schooling. She then encounters sexy womanizer Natsuo...and a wacky love triangle begins.

(4 tankubon)

Skysenshi's shopping notes: I've posted about Yuki Yoshihara in one of my roars before. Back then, I lamented the fact that very few josei titles like this get distributed in English. Well, Aisuru Hito has already been translated in German and it's available in Amazon. One step further: Yuki Yoshihara's Butterflies, Flowers has already been translated in English. We're coming closer to getting recognized, ladies. We have to keep it going!

Yuki Yoshihara is one horny mangaka! >>> by skysenshi
A couple of years ago, I could've sworn that this was one of my favorite ecchi titles. I stopped reading because the manga series hadn't been complete then. When I recently hit Fully Booked (the biggest bookstore in the Philippines, comparable to Singapore's Kinokuniya), however, I was in for a pleasant surprise. Apparently, Aisuru Hito ended just last year!

I began re-reading my previous issues so that I could remember the plot again. Yep, Yoshihara's imagination is as bizarre -- and perverted -- as ever. I just kind of find the love triangle here a bit disturbing, for two reasons: (1) I am no fan of teacher-student relationships; (2) I am no fan of stories that involve siblings fighting over the same girl. The first reason is related to my ethics as a professor and the second one...well, it just seems so incestuous. Ironically enough, the mangaka also explores incestuous yaoi possibilities between the two rivaling brothers through one of the characters' (an aspiring yaoi mangaka) fantasies.

Despite my prudish misgivings about the entire scenario, I could not help but be amazed at Yoshihara's wit. Her characters are both silly and charming at the same time. Although there were many moments when I wanted to bash Sakiko's head in for being such a brattinella -- plus I'd often feel sorry for Natsuo -- I could not stop reading. The dialogues are fresh, hilarious, and more realistic than the numerous shoujo manga I grew up with. Oh, and...she peppers her pages with lots of sex. Sex. Sex. Sex. Yoshihara is one horny mangaka, I swear.

So I sat back, told myself that this is payback for all those male-oriented hentai titles that dominate the market, and enjoyed the story. Heck, I had difficulty dealing with Sakiko's skewed morality (and creepy stalker tendencies) at first. I forgave her because her mother is a first class mistress who jumps from one rich man to the next. Who wouldn't be skewed, growing up in that environment? Don't get me wrong, I love her mother, too. Yoshihara's characters are always interesting, no matter how small their roles are.

Beyond the main story, there's something to look forward to at the end of every chapter. In these omake panels, Yoshihara would talk about how much she loves dogs but has funny encounters with her neighbors' cats. Sometimes, she'd also talk about her outlandish ideas for manga stories that end up getting rejected by the publishers. Side-splitting stuff.

Incidentally, Yoshihara mentioned in one of her pages that her fans all preferred Natsuo over Chifuyu and she had a hard time reconciling the ending because of this. I share her fans' feelings. Nevertheless, I adore this mangaka -- hentai imagination and all -- so don't be surprised if I recommend nearly all of her works.

Art: 9 Story/Plot: 10 Characters: 9 Ecchi Level: 7