Follows two friends, Billy and Nick. These boys have been living as roommates while doing everything they can to promote their band, “The Rebels.” Billy has been harboring feelings for Nick for some time, but hasn’t yet found the nerve to try and move their relationship beyond the boundaries of normal friendship. In the world of struggling artists, trouble is always on the horizon, and is soon to rear its head as the other members of the band grow tired of Nick’s free-thinking and easy-going ways. They want the “hippy” out of the band, leaving Billy with a heart-wrenching choice: Should he follow his life-long desire to make music, a career he’s thrown countless hours of time into? Or, should he side with the boy who stole his heart long ago, his true best friend, Nick?
One longer story and two shorter stories. The main narrative is about a struggling English punk rock band - more specifically, the turbulent relationship between the band guitarist and the vocalist, his irresponsible but beloved childhood friend. The next two stories are short oneshots, the first set at an art school and the second in soviet Russia's space program.
This author is absolutely exemplary - she elevates BL manga to an art form. Characteristically, she features mature stories in historical places and times, embedding the emotional lives of her characters into the historical and cultural particularities of the settings she chooses. Her stories are complex and very adult - they feel very much like they could be about real people and the real events in their lives. As a result, her manga are realistic without being melodramatic or gritty, and they run the gamut from mundane tragedies to unhealthy but all-too-real codependent relationships. Her stories are told with tremendous compassion and intelligence, and I recommend them to any sophisticated reader of BL who craves something that goes beyond the usual formulas to tell the stories that are so seldom told in this genre. No rape/dubcon
This collection of one-shots was extremely thought-provoking. I can't really explain why I liked it, or just how powerful each of the stories were with mere words, you'll have to read it for yourself in order to discover the true meaning behind every story.
At first, i thought this was a normal, simple storylined manga, and it never really burst into a normal 5-star rating like all the other yaois, but this collection meanders around one vague thing, and somehow, it makes me love this so much.
not yr typical BL. the first several chapters are about a band, esp the relationship between the vocalist and the guitarist. it's frustrating to watch someone that means so much to you self-destruct, and drag down everything that you've built together, but sometimes you can't be creative without a person like that in yr life. chapter four of 'seduce me after the show' overlaps and elaborates on the 'too old to die' chapter here (pg. 59). there are two other stories that are quite nice, but a bit sad as well- one about an art student and one about a man and his friend and the space race. beautiful art, very well-written.
I really like all stories. But scene where Michael pour a paint over him and then : I see blue, I was like WUAAAAAAAA...so much feelings captured in this moment....just...i really like Michael and Lucian but Michael has fiancé. Also Nick and Billy, their love...aww...i just can´t explain my feelings.
It makes you think about all those things that didn't go right, the people that left your life, reckless and wild friends and lovers. I ended it up with that feeling of "c'est la vie", there's nothing we can do.
