Ikumen After (Vol. 1) by Kazuma Kodaka
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Read from March 20 to 21, 2014

A sweet story of two dads falling in love and their struggles as single parents. They shared parenting tips and help support each other. For Izumi, it's love at first sight, he was practically drooling all over his child's pre-school friend's handsome daddy. As for Asakura, he found his feelings for Izumi deepens each day without realizing the nature of his affection towards another guy.

The story of Vol. 1 ends with a direct brazen confession that left Asakura flustered. I can't wait to follow the love story of these two single dad with their cute kids. I am pretty sure Asakura would overcome his confusion and acknowledge Izumi's love for him. Usually I don't quite like kids in my M/M or Yaoi books but the kids here are super cute. They mirror their daddies so much yet unlike their daddies, they are very honest and straightforward with their feelings. The adults has much to learn from them.

The artwork was good and the story was interesting and entertaining but I don't think this series could be compared to Kizuna - Bonds of Love Book 1, Kodaka sensei's earlier accomplished yaoi series. Kizuna was unforgettably good. So good that it is basically a must-read for all Yaoi fans.




BOOK DETAILS:

Title: Ikumen After 1.
Associated Names: イクメン☆アフター
Author: Kazuma Kodaka
Publication Date: 2010
Type: Serialized BL Manga
Genre: , Comedy, Drama, Shounen Ai, Slice of Life, Contemporary, Romance
Tags/Keywords: Gay-for-you, Childcare, Divorced Parent/s, Father-Son Relationship, LGBT Parent/s, Love at First Sight, Older Uke, Younger Seme, Salaryman, Single Father, Single Parent, Widow/Widower

Description:
This is a really cute, sweet story about two single dads Asakura and Kentarou, whose young sons happen to go to the same daycare.



* Reviewed on March 21st, 2014

*:--☆--:*:--☆:*:--☆--:*:--☆--:*:--☆--:*:--☆:*:--☆--:*:--☆--:*

View all my reviews

The strength of using a first person point of view is voice, personality. Unfortunately, for me the voice of Rei Shimura, a 27-year-old American living in Japan, grates on me. She might be called prickly if I were being kind, and I found her a rather unamiable presence to filter this story through, and aspects of the style clunky. Which is a shame, because as an American what does fascinate about this story is the look at Japanese culture and how it differs from that in America in everything from subtle class distinctions, nuances of language, details of art, cuisine, etc. However, there were major plot holes, so I didn't think this succeeded as a mystery, and the romance element left me cold--not much chemistry between the pair.

Really really liked it—reminded me of an Elizabeth Peters mystery—but I guessed both who the murderer was and their motive a third of the way through the book.

This book is the first in a mystery series set in contemporary (1990s) Japan. This book grabbed my attention in the first few chapters with the murder and the descriptions of Japanese culture. However, the book seemed to drag on and it was difficult to figure out why the main character cared so much about the murdered woman. Or for that matter why she was so set on living in Japan. It seems like the only thing she appreciates about the country is the antiques she collects. I was surprised at the end of the novel when the main character likened herself to other characters who had fallen in love with Japan and wish to remain there.

Overall the mystery was so-so, I figured out who the murderer was about 5 pages before his/her identity was revealed and I don't think there was really many "clues" to the identity before this. I'll probably read the second book, just to see the main character further developed, but if it isn't an improvement on the first novel, I won't continue with the series.

"I thought ruefully about about the Japanese belief that that there are no coincidences, that everything is part of a great cosmic plan."

An interesting mystery set in Japan - in small towns and in Tokyo. I loved the descriptions of the setting and the culture. The story was well done, but there were some funny inconcistencies with the characters that we distracting. It is the first in a series, so hopefully they get better as the author gets more experienced.