rmthunter's Full Review: Kotobuki Tarako - Love Pistols 1
Given the bizarre premise, the unlikely situations, and the weird characters, I find it hard to believe I enjoyed Tarako Kotobuki's Love Pistols as much as I did. I'm going to try to stick to the content of Volume 1 here -- but it's hard, mostly because the main story carries over the first four volumes. I will warn you, however: the series is not only boys love, it touches on sex changes and some really weird mating practices among a group of people with little in the way of sexual morality. OK? You've been warned.
Norio Tsuburaya is a perfectly normal boy until shortly after he gets his driver's license: while "practicing" on his motor scooter, he rams into the garden wall. Fortunately, the worst injury is a broken foot, which will mend in about a month, but Norio is suddenly the center of very friendly attention from all sorts of people -- classmates, strangers on the train, what have you. He also starts seeing people as animals -- mostly as apes and monkeys, but with a few interesting variations, such as his senpai, Kumakashi, who confesses his love -- but all Norio sees is a bear. Shortly thereafter, Norio is hobbling to class on his crutches and suddenly smells something wonderful -- just before he trips down the stairs right into Kunimasa Madarame, a big hulking senior with an abrupt manner and grouchy disposition. Kunimasa's reaction is puzzling: he suddenly starts sniffing at Norio, then picks him up and carries him off. It's Kunimasa who first clues Norio into the existence of Zoomanity -- people descended from animals other than apes. And it turns out that Norio is not only a Zooman, but a very rare type called a "Missing Link" -- somewhere back in his ancestry was a cat person, which is finally expressing itself. Norio not only has the abilities of a Zooman, but the fertility of a human.
The main story folds seamlessly into another story line, centering on Kunimasa's older brother, Yonekuni, and his token "friend," Shiro, known as the Chairman. Yonekuni, it seems, hates men but thinks he needs one to hang out with; Shiro, unfortunately, has been in love with him for a long time. Can you guess in which direction this story is heading?
The premise -- Zoomanity and Humanity sharing the world -- is fun, and Kotobuki has thought it out very carefully. It leads however, to some very bizarre situations as the series progresses. Zoomans, are, as I mentioned, rather "loose," and are also very concerned about their bloodlines, so that the actual creation of children may or may not occur within the bounds of marriage, which may be between any combination of two people. (Or, in Volume 5, more.) And Zoomans have found a means to facilitate the conception of children between any two people. It's this combination of concern for heredity and free breeding, on top of Kunimasa's arrogance, that causes most of the problems between Norio and Kunimasa as the story progresses. (It also gives rise to some very unusual family trees, considering that "Mom" to one sibling may be "Pop" to another.)
The drawing is wonderful, and a major part of the appeal of Love Pistols. Kotobuki's style recalls that of Ellie Mamahara: elongated, somewhat angular figures, large blocky, broad-shouldered men with exaggerated hands and feet (and Kotobuki is another who does great feet). The transitions to "true souls" (i.e., animal form) are particularly wonderful -- Kunimasa is easily the most elegant jaguar ever.
There is a lot of sex in this series, and it's not particularly reticent, either in visual portrayals or dialogue. One thing that bothers me about the series, and about yaoi in general, is the Japanese insistence on "traditional" sex roles. It jars when Kunimasa introduces Norio as his "wife," although Norio is a pretty ornery uke -- as Kunimasa's older brother tells him later in the series, no one can beat a pi**ed off Missing Link.
I may come back and review further volumes, because there are various story lines that crop up along the way. I made the mistake, however, of devouring the whole thing in one afternoon (I told you it was wonderful), so they're still sort of jumbled in my head. There's also the fact that, although a note at the end of Volume 5 promises a Volume 6, Kotobuki seems never to have completed it. It may appear someday, but don't hold your breath. As it stands, however, Love Pistols is one of the most original, inventive -- and outrageous -- forays into yaoi that I've seen.
Certain people have evolved from animals other than monkeys, and they can sense each other s animal souls. Filled with love, romance, and even male pr...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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