Sleep Is For the Weak

But like most manga - and other forms of media - Sturgeon’s Law applies. And then a disproportionate number of Boy’s Love (BL) titles are also pornographic and complete trash, since they aim for the lowest common denominator of its audience - and considering these are boyxboy love stories for young women looking for porn, that denominator is a very, very strange mix of power plays and gushy love confessions. Most BL titles usually sidestep the angst of being gay in a straight world, changing your sexuality, or being assaulted by your senpai in favor of ridiculous tales about boys who fight, have sex, and then confess their feelings while crying like schoolgirls. It’s…strange. And more often than not disappointing.

Setona Mizushiro’s The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese manages to capture a whole slew of feelings and situations that are perfect for the BL genre but are so often steamrolled for greater porn potential. This a josei title about a gay non-relationship that’s mean, strangely touching, and decidedly sad. The sex scenes in it are graphic, but brief, and serve as actual character development. The book isn’t yet available in the West, but it’s everything a BL for the older reader should be…which is weird, since the mangaka is known in the West for her mediocre shoujo. But we get what we get. (And we get Love Bus Stop!)

Manga

Cornered Mouse focuses on two men in their late 20s: the straight, married, pushover “nice guy” Ootomo and his closeted gay underclassman from college, Imagase. Imagase harbored a hopeless crush for Ootomo in college that he never really got over, and when working as a private investigator years later, he finds himself investigating Ootomo’s extra-marital affairs. Imagase briefly reconnects with Ootomo and then immediately (although half-heartedly) blackmails the older man into some physical affection in return for hiding Ootomo’s multiple flings. Ootomo is mortified, but, afraid of losing his wife and easily bullied, he follows Imagase to a hotel. The resulting sex scenes then further the plot. You heard me - graphic sex scenes that further the plot. And that’s how we define non-gratuitous, kids. I’d go into more detail, but this is a PG-13 site here.

From that point on, the book traces the incredibly complicated relationship of the two men as they travel through that late-20s reflective period where you realize a.) you’re getting old and b.) you still don’t know what the hell you’re doing with your life. Let’s call it “the early single career man/woman’s mid-life crisis.” The manga poignantly captures how much unrequited love sucks (especially when you’re an adult and can recognize that the situation is actually hopeless), how hard it is to be gay, how hard it is to be neither entirely straight nor entirely gay, and everyone’s favorite - a pair of friends where one is hopelessly in love with the other and the other simply can’t move out of the Friend Zone. I think everyone can relate to that, because there are a million reasons why two people can’t be together sexually even if they get along in every other way, and having one friend try to go for it when the other doesn’t results in LOTS OF BAD. BL does focus on this theme fairly often, but rarely with such care, subtlety, and realism.

That realism is one of the reasons this comic succeeds so fully. Being bullied into a gay relationship by a friend isn’t going to end in hearts and flowers, as most BL wants it to. This isn’t “yaoi land,” where women somehow don’t exist and every man is hot and wants sex from other hot men. Ootomo has a number of female lovers who are characters in this book, and they have their own place in the story - including getting hurt when he cheats on them with Imagase. Ootomo considers homosexuality a very negative thing and uses derogatory terminology when referring to it. This book is full of people being mean, hurtful, and selfish…but it also has them loving each other despite that, and trying to find a way to make things work. It’s sad and sympathetic, and awkward in the way romantic relationships in real life are awkward. (And to prove that last point, the book includes not one but TWO hilarious gay outings in front of Ootomo’s various female affairs.)

And although Mizushiro has always been a decent artist, she absolutely shines in this manga by fully utilizing the graphic novel format. She packs the book with strong imagery and dramatic settings: Ootomo watching his reflection in mirrors and store windows to rate how others will see him with a man (or woman) by his side, his mounting discomfort as he watches another couple through the fish tank in a restaurant, and a climactic scene in the back of a cab during a rainstorm that absolutely floored me. There are also symbols and allusions all over the place, including a fantastic recurring one to The Fall in the Garden of Eden and Christianity’s general disapproval of homosexuality, which works very interestingly in a comic with no Christian characters. And the cover-backspread design of this manga is amazing. It’s sad, erotic without being pornographic, and provocative as hell. Which are pretty much the reasons why the entire manga is so good.

Unfortunately, the first chapter of Cornered Mouse is the weakest, so it’s easy for someone to read it and write the book off as simply a slightly-better-than-average BL. But don’t be fooled. This manga is what more BL should be like. This manga is what more josei in general should be like. And it’s definitely what more Setona Mizushiro manga should be like.

Drama CD

The Drama CD is solidly produced, and even though it slims down the manga a bit, the amazing performances by Yusa Kouji (Imagase) and especially Nakamura Yuuichi (Ootomo) bring a whole new facet of feeling to the manga. The downside of an audio version of the story is you don’t get Mizushiro’s imagery, but the upside is that the fights, confessions, and violence really come to life. There are some things that just work better in audio - Imagase getting a glass thrown at him for his infidelity, or his flashback being cut off with the sound of his head hitting the wall during a sex scene. The background music is decent and appropriate…although if memory serves, it has a porn music track that’s a little distracting. When music like that starts up, the mood’s always ruined by my laughter. I think the CD was going for darkly funny in some places, though, which might explain the music choice.

Fandom

A fair number of Westerners have tracked this manga down, so you’ll find bloggers mention it now and again, but I have no solid review link to give you. (Alas.) You may actually have an easier time finding information and opinions on the Drama CD, courtesy of the very active BL Drama CD fandom. And I know I’m not supposed to link to this…but whoops! My finger slipped.

Overview: This is an excellent manga. I have to deduct a few points for the comparatively weak first chapter, but the book and CD really capture the unique successes and problems of grown-ups, something even popular josei (which is supposed to be for adult women) can easily screw up. I’d recommend this to any adult manga fan: male, female, gay, straight, whatever. You don’t have to be a BL fan to appreciate that love can totally blow. 4.75 stars out of 5.