I think most of you know by now that my BL fandom is Fake –a story about two New York City detectives, Randy ‘Ryo’ Maclean and Dee Laytner who are partners at the 27th Precinct. Randy ‘Ryo’ Maclean, a Japanese-American, is new to the precinct and finds himself partnered with Dee Laytner, an overly confident and cocky American who likes nothing better to do than tease and sexually molest Randy (Ryo) on a daily basis!
Recently I was asked by the lovely ladies of MALs, Anti Girly Uke Yaoi Club to do a written review on the Fake series by Sanami Matoh. To say I was more than willing is an understatement! Sadly today will be the last day that it is a “featured read”, so I decided to post the review and my graphic here for you all to see and read, maybe even comment on.
From the first day Randy arrived at the 27th Precinct he has had nothing but trouble, his new partner, Dee Laytner has no sense of ‘personal space’ and insists on calling him by his Japanese name, Ryo. While on their first investigation the two meet a street punk named Bikky. When Dee and Bikky are kidnapped, it is up to Ryo to come to their rescue and all on the first day on the job! It soon becomes apparent that Ryo has taken a shine to Bikky and offers to take him in, much to Dee’s protesting. Which brings us back to the ‘trouble’ that is Dee, who unashamedly molests Ryo by kissing him and in public no less! And Ryo isn’t exactly receptive to Dee’s advances; in fact, he doesn’t really know how to respond or where to turn… The prime focus, is on the developing attraction between Dee and Ryo who also find themselves involved in in-depth cases that just so happen to delve in each characters’ past showing us how they manage to struggle with those memories and what effect it has on their relationship and others that are close to them.
Dee and Ryo –the relationship between these characters is what really draws you in, Dee is very charismatic, confident, boisterous and proudly bisexual… whereas Ryo is more serious and sensitive a polar opposite personality wise. This could be considered a cliché pushy seme-passive-uke relationship, but Ryo is anything but and defiantly no “Sandra Dee”, which coincidently is a standing joke throughout the manga. Dee also has a somewhat softer side, which comes into play with both Ryo and Bikky (Ryo’s foster son).
You will definitely be asking yourself so many questions by the end of the first volume— When/how would they get together? Will they do more than kiss? Can Dee convince Ryo, a supposed “straight” guy, that love between two men is possible; enough to break what protective wall Ryo has built around his heart? Obviously they are both attracted to one another, but only Dee is more than willing to show it. I thoroughly enjoyed the suspense, the thrill of action and especially the angst! Needless to say, after reading the first volume, I just had to read the remaining six volumes just to quell my need for more of Dee and Ryo.
Sanami Matoh’s artwork does take some getting used to and may not be to everyone’s taste, especially as it is not the typical style most attribute with this particular genre. But I think her style is unique, her characters are well drawn and clean and it definitely grows on you the more you continue to read and connect with the characters.
Fake happens to be one of my favourite shounen-ai titles, and one of the most romantic BL manga I have ever read. If in the past you’ve been put off by Tokyopop’s horrid header text “Meet Ryo and Dee, two New York City cops with an attraction for action- and each other!” or even passed it by because of the artwork or that it focuses on “gay cops” in America, then how about giving it a much needed second chance? It isn’t just a story about sex, the sex comes later, it is a story about two men who go from being partners, to friends, to lovers—about learning to believe in others, be true to yourself and let go of those “Fake” feelings.
Fake OVA & Fake II (Second Season) (may contain spoilers)
Fake was also adapted into an OVA (Anime) based on the 5th act of the second volume. Ryo along with Bikky are planning a vacation to the English country side, of course Dee manages to invite himself (after much begging for the same time off) and finds a way to bribe Bikky into not coming so he and Ryo can spend some ‘adult time’ together. Best $100 bucks he has ever had to part with! Unfortunately, things don’t go so well when on their first day they find a dead body and all thoughts of a quiet vacation (and in Dee’s case, seduction) are thrown out the window. Now it is up to Dee and Ryo along with (Commissioner) Berkeley Rose to solve this mystery before the murderer strikes once more (and so Dee can continue his plans of getting into Ryo’s pants).
Story wise the OVA has slight differences from the manga, the introduction of new characters Arisa and Cindy for one thing; but they do not deflect from the story in any way. In fact, I liked their interaction with both Dee and Ryo. The ending was completely different, I would have preferred to see the tender moment between Dee and Ryo that was in the manga over the ending of the OVA, but overall I enjoyed it, especially the opening theme!
The Fake manga series also concludes with a second season, Dee and Ryo are now a couple and have accepted a new position at the 52nd Precinct and are now working alongside the FBI. Unfortunately the series is on hiatus.
Fake © Sanami Matoh
Spoiler Alert! I haven’t been blogging anything from Inuyasha Kanketsu-hen because of other commitments, but I just want to take this opportunity to fangirl over episode 17!! I just love, love, loved that Sesshoumaru finally surpassed Inutaishou, and ever since reading this arc in the manga and waiting for it to be animated, very impatiently I may add, I finally get to see Sesshoumaru not only get his arm back, but Bakusaiga in all its glory! I’m actually anticipating the ending of the anime even more-so now!
Happy New Year! I hope you all enjoyed the holidays? I had a… nice… Christmas, I thought it was going to be a bit sad considering Jessie is no longer with us; it was more so bittersweet. We spoke happy thoughts mainly, Jessie was a big part of our lives and Christmas day was by far her favourite day! She was always the center of attention when we opened our presents and was one very spoiled puppy~! We have been discussing getting another dog, maybe two smaller breeds- but we decided that we would wait until after my sisters wedding was over, which is in September.
