The Man Who Doesn’t Take Off His Clothes 2

Narise Konohara – June – 2007 – 2 volumes
this is a novel

As I said in the volume 1 review, one of the things I like about Konohara’s writing is that she doesn’t use non-con as a means of getting a difficult, stuck-up partner together with someone who has a crush on them. After the end of volume one, Kaitani is completely obsessed with Fujiwara, but there’s nothing to be done about it. Fujiwara is straight, and they have a poor working relationship. Kaitani does what he can, and he begins to form a friendship with Fujiwara, but he breaks down one night and admits his feelings, begging Fujiwara for a night together to prove he can be the best lover he’s ever had. There might be blackmail involved (I honestly can’t remember), but not even Fujiwara seems that threatened by the photos Kaitani has anymore, and even those methods are infinitely better than serial rape at getting what you want.

On the down side, both this and Don’t Worry Mama share a common problem of the seme losing all personality once the couple gets together. After The Man Who Doesn’t Take Off His Clothes spends so much time establishing Kaitani and Fujiwara as characters, and carries a fairly decent story for a volume and a half, once the pair is together, it seems like the only thing they’re interested in is sex. In particular, that’s all that Kaitani wants, and he stops being considerate or appreciative. He’s still a lot sweeter than the seme in Don’t Worry Mama (who’s also a character in this story, incidentally), but it’s a shame he seems to stop trying after he lands Fujiwara.

The requisite conflict that ends the 2-volume series comes when Kaitani and Fujiwara have a fight about whether Kaitani sees Fujiwara as a replacement for a woman. Both their private and working relationships deteriorate during this conflict, and it’s a little sad that it’s not something that the two seem capable of resolving. Additionally, Kaitani pushes Fujiwara hard for a work-related issue, and this puts additional strain on their relationship. But don’t worry, they get back together when the fact that Fujiwara had half his scrotum eaten by a dog becomes public knowledge. The end.

I really liked these two novels. Like I said, the lack of non-con goes a long way with me, especially in this type of couple, where one is reluctant. Plus, I liked that it was two volumes, and that a lot of work was put into Fujiwara and Kaitani’s work relationship as well as their private life. And, as always, the romantic plot elements are just as good as any of what I’ve read from the June novels.

These two are particularly good, and I’d probably rank them among the best of what I’ve read in these BL novels. But keep in mind that I’m extremely easy to please.