Menkui! Vol: 1
Suzuki Tanaka
Publisher: Blu Manga
ISBN:10: 1598163582
Release Date: Out Now!
Reviewed By: Sandra Scholes
Ordinary high school student Kotori is amazed at handsome Kaname Akaiwa standing outside his house when he actually meets with him, he assumes he is there too see his brother as he is much more handsome than he. But is he?
Ai Kotori remembers when Kaname came into his classroom at school, handing him his wallet, ordering him not to forget it again. He wonders why he did that gesture.
Always living in the background of his great and wonderful brother Kujaku Karasawa, it is no wonder he thought how he did when the entire school reveres him as a legend, attracting young or old, men or women to him like a human magnet. Though, when Kaname asks him out to the movies, he is left thinking whether it is his brother he is interested in. When he confronts his friend Chikage about Kaname, he tells him he thinks he is Menkui, or a sucker for a pretty face, and has been for some years. Akaiwa comes round again and they end up looking at photographs of Kotori and his brother when they were younger, but Akaiwa likes one photograph in particular, and it is not what he expects.
Menkui is a shonen-ai masterpiece, that has a story that focuses on the young Kotori who is plain looking and often vies for affection and recognition, but is often overlooked for his own brother who is considered the best looking boy in the school. And the one boy he has any interest in, he figures is uninterested in his brother. Kotori will strike the reader as a youth who has the only fault of seeing others as beautiful rather than noticing better traits like the inner beauty of the personality.
Menkui does not just contain an interesting story, but humour when needed and a form of education in Japanese words, which will come in handy for the reader to remember. The art rendering is simplified, yet refined and aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Menkui volume 1 also comes with several extras. A bonus chapter that is a continuation of the first volume story, Skip which tells a separate story of Tenma and Dai. Nichan, Life Above the Ceiling, The Red Poppies Poem and Postcript about the novel.
Verdict: Menkui has a lot to offer as a first volume with enough to whet the appetite of otakus everywhere!
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