Saturday, November 30, 2024

You've Got Mail: The Perils of Pigeon Post Vol. 2 by Blackegg: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

You've Got Mail: The Perils of Pigeon Post Vol. 2 by Blackegg

Continuing with The Perils of Pigeon Post series so more conscientious don’t have to. The basic story remains good. Wu Xingzi, the forty-year-old civil servant who has neither looks nor grace, money nor prospects, continues his relationship with Guan Shanjin, the young, handsome, and vigorous war hero general feared by all.

The start is really sweet. The general accompanies Wu Xingzi to the latter’s home village during the New Year to pay respects to his ancestors. The villagers are baffled to see them after months of absence. Half of them were sure Wu Xingzi would return a dumped man and when that hasn’t happened, decide that he must have used sorcery to bewitch the general. The rest of the village is ready to defend Wu Xingzi with fists and brooms. They win.

Wu Xingzi is prepared to stay home for good and let the general go. More so after the rumour circulating the village reach him that he’s only a substitute for Mr Lu, the general’s beloved teacher. But the general has other ideas. He even becomes violently jealous when Wu Xingzi shows him his treasured collection of dick pictures he’s received through the Peng Society.

In a fit of rage the general tears some of them, causing the old man great distress. The pictures were the only thing that kept him from killing himself for loneliness and he had counted on them to keep him company after the general leaves him. His sorrow was so real that I cried with him for the loss and for his loneliness.

But Wu Xingzi never clings to sorrow, and Guan Shanjin’s genuine remorse mollifies him. After the general replaces the torn pictures, he’s ready to follow him back to the Horse-Face city. But there Wu Xingzi again finds himself ignored for Mr Lu. The teacher’s wedding preparations with miss Yue take the general’s time. At first, Wu Xingzi doesn’t think it odd, but when both Mr Lu and Miss Yue constantly rub it in his face that the general prefers Mr Lu, even someone as slow and goodnatured as him is forced to come to a conclusion that he’s not needed. Problem is, despite his best intentions, he’s fallen in love with Guan Shanjin.

Little does he know that the general has already grown out of love with Mr Lu, and is prepared to spend his life with Wu Xingzi, mostly because he doesn’t bother to tell it to the older man. He needs a distraction while he prepares an attack against the Yue family, and doesn’t want to involve Wu Xingzi. But when he finally has time for the older man, Wu Xingzi is already gone.

The volume ends there. It’s followed, however, by two extra chapters in “alternate” universe that are basically really bizarre rape porn. You’d best skip them completely for the sake of your ability to continue to respect the general and for your mental health.

Like in the first volume, there are numerous long and unrealistic sex scenes. I think the author has based their idea of gay sex on omegaverse BL, because I don’t think men’s bodies behave quite that way. While I didn’t mind them as such, I rolled my eyes a few times. In bed, the general is rather forceful, making poor Wu Xingzi suffer a lot, no matter how much the older man likes it. Outside the bed, he’s caring and loving, looking after his older lover very well. He doesn’t realise it himself that he’s falling in love. I like how he sees the old man as he is, not attractive at all, yet he can’t help preferring him to the supremely beautiful Mr Lu.

For his part, Wu Xingzi is yet to realise he’s not as alone as he believes. He’s made friends who are prepared to go to great lengths to ensure his happiness. It remains to be seen whether the winners are those who think he’ll be happiest without the general or those who think he should end up with him. I definitely want him to find all the happiness, so I have to keep reading on.

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki’s Conjecture Vol. 5 (manga) by Toji Aio, Mikage Sawamura: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki's Conjecture vol 5 by Mikage Sawamura

Volume 5 manga was released before vol 5 light novel, which is postponed to January, so here the manga catches up with the original. The volume starts by wrapping up the case of cursed office workers that was left unfinished in the previous one. But the most important part of that case is that Naoya learns that he’s not the only one who’s experienced the festival of the death, with the same consequence for his fellow of hearing lies.

It’s a pivotal moment in Naoya’s life so far, giving him new kind of focus. He really wants to go with Akira to the village where it happened, despite the warning of his counterpart of not returning there. But the other person also gives him advice on how to live with the condition without losing his mind.

The most exciting part of the light novel was the surprise visit of Akira’s uncle who lives in England. Akira used to live there with him as a teenager, and he’s the only family member he’s close to. Manga doesn’t quite capture the meaning of his visit, and he’s relegated to a background character. And the extra story where he tells Naoya of Akira’s life in London is left out completely. Unless it’s added at some later point, the readers of manga only will miss out on a large part of what makes Akira tick.

Most of the manga volume is taken by a mermaid story. Akira, Naoya, Kenji, and Akira’s uncle travel to the seaside where there’s been mermaid sightings. They encounter a little boy who insists she’s his mother, only to learn from the child’s father that she has drowned, and he hasn’t quite figured out how to tell that to his son.

It could’ve been left at that, a private tragedy, but the story takes a twist. Because it turns out, the boy could be telling the truth after all. The mother’s childhood friend is very mysterious, someone who has maybe lived a long time. And she knows just by reading Akira’s palm that he’s not alone in his body. But she disappears before he gets to the bottom of the matter.

The last story is from the volume 5 of the light novel, which I haven’t read yet. Akira’s students hold a night of one hundred candles, where they gather to tell scary stories in candle light. This too will have consequences, but the manga ends before we get to those.

This volume had a better pace than the previous one, which was too hectic. The art felt more restful too, and so different that I had to go back to older volumes to see if there has been a great change in style. The panels were maybe larger in this one, with fewer of them per page, which added to the calmer feel. It also allowed the artist, Toji Aio, to draw close-ups of the characters, giving the volume an over-all different feel. I hope this style continues in the subsequent volumes.

Monday, November 11, 2024

Peerless vol. 2 by Meng Xi Shi: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Peerless vol. 2 by Meng Xi Shi

Second volume of Peerless sees Cui Buqu and Feng Xiao, the brilliant leaders of Sui empire’s secret agencies, embark on their journey to west to form an alliance with one of the khaganates there. With them is the khan’s favourite concubine, and Cui Buqu’s trusted underling. But since two women and two men who are not married or related travelling together is seen improper, the group poses as two married couples, though not in obvious kind of pairings.

The journey through the desert is arduous and the small group pauses at Qiemo, the remotest outpost of the empire. They soon discover, that the actual power in the town isn’t in the hands of the empire’s representative, but a former bandit and a descendant of a former king who have divided the town between them. Since they have a bit of time in their hands, Cui Buqu and Feng Xiao decide to do something about it, with their now familiar method of causing chaos and seeing what’s what once the dust settles. What emerges is a discovery of a secret organisation that neither agent had heard of before.

From there, the journey continues to the khaganate. There they discover that the favourite concubine has lost her position and the enemy and the khan’s second son now have the khan’s ear. They’re determined to see the representatives of the empire dead, concocting a scheme after another. The pair prevail, though not unscathed, turning the tides for the empire. But just as they’re about to form the alliance, bad luck—or a hidden enemy—strikes again, ruining everything. The book ends at this cliffhanger.

This was in some ways better book than the first. The story was more straightforward, and the dynamics of the odd pair started to settle in. Cui Buqu wasn’t sick the whole time, so his brilliant mind could shine. Feng Xiao wasn’t quite as obsessed with his own beauty and excellence, and he got to show off his martial arts skills—and his acting skills as a woman, which he made the most of. But the power struggle between the pair wasn’t so prominent, with fewer funny scenes between them, and there were more battle scenes, which paused the story several times. Not as many as in Thousand Autumns though. Nevertheless, the grumpy-sunshine(ish) pair is wonderful and I can’t wait to see how they get out of the latest scrape and where they’ll head next.