Feverish
Feverish follows the romantic ups and downs of two couples, starting with Chihiro and Kensei. Chihiro is a pretty boy, and he works as an escort. He's the object of adoration and he has a group of loyal customers, but he s in love with Kensei, and has been for years. Kensei is a hard working waiter, and so far, he's kept his feelings out of the weird relationship with the pushy Chihiro. When Chihiro turns on the heat, will Kensei remain immune to his charms?While the chapters featuring Chihiro and Kensei were diverting, they didn't really have the strength to suck me in and keep me hooked to their story. I didn't like the scheming Chihiro, despite the fact that his infatuation for Kensei seemed genuine. He just came across as a spoiled brat who always put himself ahead of others. I started to feel a little sorry for Kensei and how he was going to be stuck with this selfish guy and his manipulative tricks for the rest of his life.Next up was the self absorbed Yoh and the object of his affection, Ari. Yoh is a model, and he thinks the world pretty much revolves around him. He s also into collecting silver, and when he learns of a talented silversmith, he s eager to add to his collection. There s a catch, though - Ari only sells his works to people he likes. Hmmm. Somehow I think the two of them are going to have a few personality conflicts before everything is said and done.Yoh was another annoying character with some traits similar Chihiro, though he did grow on me by the end of the book. He even develops a bit of a conscious and feels bad for how he treated Ari. I thought this was a captivating tale, right up to when Ari s tragic background is hashed out, and then it sort of fell apart. His life-altering event wasn t convincing, and it seemed a little silly, rendering the rest of the tale less than effective.The art was pretty to look at, especially Ari and Kaoru with their long, flowing locks of hair. The cover is very striking - I love the textures and the hues as Yoh and Ari share an embrace. The illustrations maintained a high level of drama, focusing on expressions and body language as the characters traveled the perilous path to love and understanding. Well, Chihiro just resorted to his secret weapon to get Kensei s attention, but I ll leave that for you to discover.Bonus chapters at the end tied the couples together and added some humorous moments to the book. Feverish doesn t set any milestones and it s fairly forgettable, but it was fun while it lasted. --MangacastIn the short stories, Singles and Persons, Kensei Okagawa works hard and long at a late-night restaurant and bar, so he needs his sleep. His neighbor, Chihiro, feels otherwise. Chihiro is madly in love with Kensei. In fact, Chihiro sneaks into Kensei's apartment every morning and wakes Kensei with his technique by which he takes care of Kensei's... morning wood. Kensei isn't sure of his feelings for Chihiro, but Chihiro is sure of his. He's madly in love with Kensei, but will Chihiro's lust cost Kensei his job?Yoh Ootsuki is a bold and arrogant model, and he is used to getting his way and having his way with women until he meets Ari Shibata. Shibata is a talented and highly in-demand silversmith. As soon as Yoh sees Ari's silver jewelry, he falls in love with the silver jewelry and the silversmith, but Ari is picky about his clients and seemingly takes an instant dislike to Yoh. In spite of Ari's prickliness, Yoh isn't giving up, but he's in for a surprise about the object of his affections.THE LOWDOWN: Although its central focus is lovers playing hard to get, Feverish also has a lot of humor; even the conflict and drama are played with a humorous spin. In a way, both of Feverish's storylines come across like one of those Matthew McConaughey bickering couple romantic comedies, like 2006's Failure to Launch. Also, like most yaoi manga, both these love stories play out more straight than gay.POSSIBLE AUDIENCE: Female readers may enjoy the bickering romance or mismatched couple love story, as well as Takaaki Kusaka's talent for drawing such handsome heads, faces, and hair on his male characters. --Comic Book Bin