Mangaka: Teku Rin
Publisher: Tokyopop
Genres: Boys Love, Romance, Slice of Life
Tropes/Tags: Gay awakening, Short Story, Friends to lovers
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
****
Every couple weeks, I make a trip to a manga store near me that has some of the best selection of manga and comics than anywhere else in the area. The last time I was there, I had an itch to read some yaoi and boys love, and luckily came across this small oneshot sitting on the new release shelf. It looked cute and light-hearted so I decided to give it a try. I wasn’t disappointed. Delivery for You! is an adorable boys love volume that contains two oneshots written and drawn by Teku Rin. They are both friends-to-lovers stories about men discovering their attraction to other men or a particular man they are close to. I think the stories can be a bit silly at times, but overall the oneshots felt light and fluffy, perfect for a boys love story.
“Delivery for You!” is the first story in the volume comprising multiple chapters. It follows Izumi, a 20-something otaku, part-timer who has developed a crush on his delivery driver. In an effort to catch his attention and spend time with him, he begins ordering more and more things off line. After some chance encounters, the both grow closer, but Izumi now has to decide if he wants to risk his handsome delivery man’s disgust by showing him just how much of an otaku he is.
“The Real Reason Why We Aren’t Popular” is the second story in this volume. It follows two friends trying to meet women and snag a girlfriend, but having no luck at all. One is so out-spoken that he tends to appear creepy, and the other has a really hard time even talking to women at all. Overtime, they realize that if only the other was a woman, they would be great for each other.
I feel like a lot of Boys Love stories center around men having a sort of “gay awakening” or finding that they are attracted to at least one particular man in their life. The two stories featured here are no different. In the first, Izumi has obviously never thought of himself as gay, and originally believes his fascination with the handsome Ryouta is purely admiration and aspirational thinking. He also wants to be strong and cool just like Ryouta, but didn’t originally think about him in a romantic or sexual way. It’s only when his obsession starts to become more serious that he begins to explore a different sexuality, the otaku way: through BL.
In the other story, both men are searching for girlfriends and don’t like the idea of being single. However, when they keep striking out at parties and meet-ups, it starts to become clear that maybe the only partner they need is the other person. They feel the most comfortable with each other, so why not be with each other. In this way, this story feels more like a Pansexual coming out than specifically a gay one. It plays out as a sweet story of two young men discovering what they want in a partner.
Throughout the volume, I think Teku Rin has a fairly good art style. There are a few moments where I think the art style could be more detailed or the line-art could be better, but as a light-hearted oneshot I think it works pretty well. I wouldn’t say the art is amazing, but it works for what the story needs and the usage of panel design and dark/light values tend to make up for some shaky line-work. The pages don’t feel cramped with art and text, and allow the story to breathe in a way through mostly empty panels and white space to account for the character’s thought processes.
Sometimes the real test comes with the sex scenes. For this volume, there is only really one scene between Ryouta and Izumi, which is why this BL only gets two spicy peppers out of five. The scene is pretty well drawn and not too explicit, with some parts censored like many manga sex scenes are. I would say Rin does a good job with this scene, offering full panels showcasing Ryouta’s body laid out beside Izumi, and clear and prominent panels of their bodies intertwined. There’s one panel that I think really captures some of the emotion Izumi must be feeling: Their bodies are joined together and dropping down over the edge of one panel into the next. It creates a sense of disorientation in the overall feel of the scene.
These two stories offer a lighter boys love romance for fans, kind of playing off of the stereotypical porn scenario of delivery/mail man romance. The second story offers an even more innocent one shot of two close friends realizing they really just need each other. If you’re looking for a spicier or deeper romance, I would say look elsewhere. However, if you want something quick and light-hearted to read with a sprinkle of spice, Delivery for You! might just be right up your alley.
~~Thanks for Reading!~~
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