Name: The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese
Sequel: The Carp on the Chopping Block Jumps Twice
Manga-ka: Mizushiro, Setona
Volumes: 1 (Complete)
Licensed: No
Publisher: Seven Seas (Digital/Print)
Type: Manga
Genre: Psychological/Drama/Smut
Age Group: Mature
Summary: Kyouichi’s indecisive character has led him to repeatedly commit the foolish mistake of adultery. One day, Imagase, a college classmate he hasn’t seen since graduation, shows up as the private detective hired by his wife to investigate his infidelity. Imagase, however, proposes a deal. He won’t tell Kyouichi’s wife about his affairs, but, for compensation, he makes an unbelievable demand: “I want your body in exchange…”
-From Mangaupdates
Opinion: Graphics are very plain, very stylized and “editorial” haha.
OKAY I HAVE A LOT TO SAY ABOUT THIS.
I have said before that I would never post a yaoi story.
THIS STORY HAS HOMOSEXUAL TENDENCIES!
The way the story is played out (in both the prequel and sequel) Imagase and Kyouichi do have sexual orientations: gay and straight. And the author reiterates this plenty of times throughout the story. Kyouichi is not sexually attracted to Imagase (at first) and even when he does begin to fall in love, he still is only attracted to women+Imagase.
The idea of this story is that these two would love each other no matter what gender either of them were.
And it is the idea above that makes this story completely mind blowing, because I have never read or even heard of anything artistic thing that approached this idea, let alone execute it almost perfectly.
The idea that sexuality and romance aren’t always the same thing although they both exist.
Now I love the way it approaches this idea of mind over biology because it doesn’t romanticise it at all.
Both characters are easy to hate and flimsy with plenty of flaws. The reality of Kyouichi being afraid of how the public will perceive him, and Imagase being way too obsessive.
I personally preferred the first book to the sequel. It gets fairly flimsy and dramatic with too many fights but it leads up into this really beautiful end where they realize what they have been running from all along. As well if you read the sequel, its interesting to see how Kyouichi evolves.
This series is absolutely brilliant and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a thought provoking read.
Final Rating: 4/5
Extra: From the manga-ka of After School Nightmare
Read:
BookWalker