Oh Tagame…you’ll just never draw anything remotely resembling BL will you?

There’s a new anthology in town from Bakudan, and it’s about ‘REAL MEN’S LOVE’ — not those manly anthologies that look gay, but read like BL. I was sort of waiting for this…I mean, there’s some noticeable talent absent in these comic collections from Aqua and Bakudan, gay mangaka who were never keen on ‘BL’ in the first place and have politely said so in the past; and I see at least two of them in the line-up listed here.

It’s called URAGEKI, [Uragekidan proper] and volume 1 just hit the stores for $9 USD. I’m going to order one. (^_^) Mangaka include Raizo Taira, Takeshi Matsu, Shigeo Otsuka, and of course – Gengoroh Tagame. More info can be found, of course, at Furukawa Shobou’s Bakudan web site, for this imprint, via a site called G-Unit.

Other gay anthologies out right now [BTW, they’re calling them Men’s Love—don’t blame me!] are the latest issues of Macho Type #6 [Ookura Shuupan’s Muscle Aqua] and Gekidan #9 –unofficially called G-Men- [Furukawa Shobou’s Bakudan ], and the debut issue of Urageki, #1 [Furukawa Shobou’s Bakudan].

Gekidan’s Collected Single releases…

I’m late on this I know—Gekidan, often called G-Men for short, has been kicking it strong for some time now. They’re up to 9 volumes, and the weird thing Bakudan does with the G-men collections is, it prints the mangaka’s prior doujinshi releases inside the ISBN collections. I suspect this practice might have to do with the fact that Gekidan appears more an imprint that’s very ‘creator directed’, as opposed to the ‘editorially’ run anthology, like Muscle-Aqua’s Macho Type. You get the short story collections that ran in Gekidan, but you also get your hands on original doujinshi releases as well. These collections are released under the imprint of ‘Bakudan Comic’, not to be confused with the ‘Bakudan Anthology’ from Bakudan Comic, that anthology is no longer being printed ((^_-))

Here’s a run down of Gekidan’s freshmen collection of releases:
No, I wont be including the Bakudan Anthology collections from 2004-2005, even though they’re considered ‘G-men’ editions.

The Young Crow’s Fantasy
by Tsukasa Matsuzaki

Collection of very smutty stories, with very explicit artwork. It’s worth the $10 USD I paid for it. You can see the difference between the Bakudan Anthy stuff, and the Gekidan stories—definitely a different audience the mangaka was writing for…

My Teacher
By Jiraiya

This appears to be all of Jiraiya’s Gekidan work, unlike his Goninbeya Shinsouban [5 Room Mates] which contained mostly Bakudan anthy releases. I’m not a big fan, so I never purchased it.

Go For It!
by Takeshi Matsu

Now I’m fan, and always will be – no matter who Matsu’s writing for [be it Bakudan or Muscle Aqua] and will always buy—this one is just as loaded with hotness! I don’t think I need to elaborate. This is the first collection of Matsu’s for Gekidan [not the Muscle Aqua stuff!].

My Hometown HOSPITARITY <–intentional!
By Seizou Yebisubashi

I’m not a huge fan of the comic work, but the illustration works are mind blowing. This is lovely book, a collection of illustrations and shorts from the Gekidan anthy’s.

Manly Spirit
By Kazuhide Ichikawa

Ichikawa seems to rank up there with Tagame as one of those gay mangaka celebs that get their own collection, but you see little of them in the anthologies. I didn’t get this one, so I can’t give too much of an opinion.

Burst Beast
By Seizou Yebisubashi

These are Yebisubashi’s latest collections from Gekidan. Oh my. Nothing says hotness like underwear on the head. As someone with a fondness for men’s underwear, I’m buying this. I have a feeling at least one of the stories will amuse me.

And this is an interesting release…it’s touted as ‘Bakudan’s first BL comic.’ Talk about making the distinction!

Frash
By Hayuki

To be honest, it looks like it sucks. The flashy [or frashy] theme just isn’t jiving with the muscle, or are those just big shoulders?… If anyone gives this a read, let me know.

As always, these books can be purchased at resellers like J-List or JP Queen, but I recommend Rainbow Shoppers.