Janette: Zetsai Ai has a special place in my heart. Like a lot of people it was my
first exposure to yaoi and I was so excited that I didn't mind the 9900 yen I
shelled out for something that was in raw Japanese and only thirty minutes
long.
I thought Minami Ozaki's art was gorgeous and I was curious about how a fan
book would be. I can honestly say that Ashura and Kyoko capture the flavor
perfectly.
"Pray," the first story, is dramatic and full of angst. She made me care about
Izumi's tortured soul, though like with Ozaki's work, I wasn't always sure of
what was going on, but that's my fault, not Ashura's.
Kyoko's "Fan Art" has the same angular style as Ozaki's and the poses were
dead on.
"I Won't Let You Go," also by Kyoko is quite ironic considering that it was
Koji who first pursued Izumi in the beginning of the relationship. I got a
true feeling of why this series is called "Desperate Love." They can't live
with each other but can't do without each other.
Both artists styles are different, yet they compliment one another.
A few criticisms. First, there was no table of contents. A table of contents
would have helped a great deal. Second, both stories portrayed Izumi as the
victim. It would have provided a nice contrast to have a story or two with
Koji being the victim instead of victimizer. Other than those two things, I
enjoyed this fan book.
--reviewed by
Janette
RETSUJO
