Same Difference

Nozomu Hiiragi – DMP / June – 2012 – 1 volume

Once again, my ridiculously dominant preference for office BL shows itself. Predictably, I liked this, but it’s also better than the usual soap opera. It’s a little bit of a comedy, and Hiiragi does a good job letting the dominant personalities bounce off each other here.

There’s two linked towers, and in each tower, there is an incredibly gorgeous man that all the office ladies fawn all over. Obviously these two are going to hook up, but the fun is in the fact that they are two alpha personalities that absolutely need to outdo each other. The story is mostly told from Ozaki’s perspective, and it’s his plans and worries we’re privy too, whereas Tsuburaya is too cool for school. On a whim, while the two are alone one day, Ozaki gives Tsuburaya his number and puts the moves on him, telling him he makes sure all beautiful people have it. Ozaki puts up a wall at first, then instantly puts such fantastic moves on Tsuburaya that he’s in a cold shower on the next page.

And that’s basically how this series rolls. Ozaki constantly tries to put the moves on Tsuburaya, who always winds up one-upping him and walking away. It’s pretty great. There’s plenty of heat involved too, as one of the major fights in the beginning (and one that isn’t resolved until the end) is who gets to be on top. It’s fun stuff, and again, Hiiragi does a great job of writing personalities that really bounce off one another. It’s always refreshing to read a BL book with better-than-stereotypical characters, although I hesitate to say that either of them have much of a personality outside of tormenting one another. Still, it was a fantastic read.

The only thing I didn’t like about it was that the main story doesn’t quite take up the whole volume, with the remainder of the page count dedicated to a short story about a guy bouncing between a pair of twins. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that good, and only made me wish for another Ozaki/Hiiragi story.

Pick it up if you are so inclined, it’s a great read for BL fans in general, and one of the more refreshing office-type stories I’ve read in awhile.