written by Kano Miyamoto

First, to situate Kano Miyamoto (Say Please, Two of Hearts) within the appropriate milieu: She has been a known commodity among boy's love (BL) fans for several years now, grouped within a category that might be facetiously termed “Creators of Better BL”—a category of boy's love mangaka that, proponents might argue, aspires to literary merit in their publications. These creators draw in an artistic style closer to that of josei manga than BL, and their work often includes an above average amount of social awareness and real-world sensitivity toward gay men.

It just so happens, though, that Miyamoto’s strongest work was probably her earliest. Lovers and Souls is her first BL work, and the title story “Lovers and Souls” is far and away the best Miyamoto work currently available in English. The story in question revolves around nude model and rent boy Shinomiya and the gay photographer Matsuoka and the affection that develops between them. Obviously, this plot premise alone is not what makes it remarkable, nor is the tragic end that eventually strikes Matsuoka before the two men ever really get a chance to come to terms with their feelings for each other. Deaths, suicides, and similar “Our Love Is Not of This World” conclusions were common in BL in the past.

No, what makes this tale so unusual is the way in which it does not end definitively with tragedy but rather continues to follow Shinomiya as he finds temporary comfort in the arms of Matsuoka-lookalike Hikaru. Later on, he manages to start rebuilding his life and develop a healthy relationship with a new boyfriend. This focus upon the gay man who survives the death of a loved one is not the sort of thing that you often find in the escapist BL genre; it's much more akin to the therapeutic, post-AIDS themes that are often seen in contemporary gay fiction. “Lovers and Souls” leads me to believe that Miyamoto has read some of this literature and has brought it to bear as an influence upon her work. Shinomiya's story also continues in Rules, not yet available in English.

Miyamoto's airbrushed color art is quite lovely, and her draftsmanship can be refreshingly subtle and realistic…though on occasion she makes careless choices of panel layout and sequence that make the visual flow of her manga a bit disjointed. Her characters are handsome—but not inhumanly so—and their bodies seem lovingly drawn but not fetishized. At her best, Miyamoto has mastered the visualization of the ordinary, and contemporary romances such as these showcase her instantly recognizable style well.

Lovers and Souls was originally published in Japan by Shoubunkan in 2002 and rereleased by Ohzora Shuppan, parent company of Aurora Publishing, with some additional material in 2007. The English-language Deux Press edition, naturally, is based upon the 2007 reprint, and though it does not have any full-color pages, the book remains handsome and substantial, its crystal-clear, fine-lined artwork published on distinctively Japanese paper stock. A decent value for 240 pages and a list price of $12.95 and highly recommended to all graphic novel readers.