rmthunter's Full Review: Hyouta Fujiyama - Freefall Romance
Freefall Romance is another spin-off from Hyouta Fujiyama's Kinsei cycle that began with Ordinary Crush. The focus here is Koichi Nanase's older brother, Youichi, and his own romantic entanglement with his work partner, Renji Tsutsumi, who works for the ad agency retained by Nanase's company, a beer manufacturer. The two work together on projects, in this case a new advertising campaign, and have become friends and drinking buddies. One night Nanase overdoes it, and Tsutsumi suddenly finds the man sleeping on his sofa strangely attractive: he realizes, after a great deal of soul-searching, that he's fallen in love. While Nanase tries to discourage him, he doesn't really reject Tsutsumi's advances, even though Tsutsumi tells him point-blank that if he doesn't reject him outright, he, Tsutsumi, will continue to come on to him. The matter is complicated by the appearance of Ikuta, a former schoolmate of Nanase from their days at Kinsei High. Ikuta quite early on declares that he has the hots for Tsutsumi, while Tsutsumi unashamedly responds that he's flattered, but he wants into Nanase's pants.
The driving force in the story is the same device Fujiyama used in Sunflower: while Nanase tries to dissuade Tsutsumi, as Imaizumi does with Ryuhei, he really takes a fairly passive position, while Tsutsumi, like Ryuhei, is all eyes-on-the-prize determination. It becomes, once again, a study in character, and a fully character-driven story, which most people will agree is the best kind. (Speaking of characters, there are a couple of cameos by Koichi that are priceless, especially the one toward the end where, after Youichi comes up with a lame excuse for spending the night at the home of a "work friend," Koichi breezily informs him that he can introduce "them" when he is ready. The wicked little smile on Koichi's face has to be seen.)
One thing that struck me in Freefall Romance, and which, thinking back, reflects an attitude I've seen in any number of other BL manga, was the scene in which Tsutsumi says to Nanase that he is too concerned with "morality," and so won't let himself have a relationship with another man. It's a take on morality that casts it as something outside of, and even opposed to, that which is natural and good. It's a common attitude in yaoi that seems to have two strands: first, "As long as we make each other feel good, it's good itself," and second, "I'm taking responsibility for awakening these feelings in you." (It's worth noting that in the overwhelming majority of the yaoi I've read, the assumption is that the relationship is at least long-term, and more often for life.)
Graphically, it's worth noting that Freefall Romance dates from 2004, and while the graphic treatment is not quite as masterful as the second volume of Sunflower, which is just released, it is very strong and clean. The visual characterizations are again excellent, while the narrative flow is clear. It's a somewhat more low-key, quieter story than Sunflower or Ordinary Crush, but that may be because the two main characters are grown-ups.
(Word play note: "Renji," Tsutsumi's personal name, in Japanese also means "microwave," and given the way that Nanase's school friend Ikuta reacts to Tsutsumi, it's obvious he's able to heat things up pretty quickly.)
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