There it is, Plain as Daylight

Tale of the Waning Moon, Vol. 1
By Hyouta Fujiyama
Published by Yen Press

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After his faithless girlfriend leaves him for a rich man from the next town over, poor Ryuka heads to the tavern to booze it up, followed by a drunken trek to a spot known as the “Wishing Hill,” where he makes a wish for “someone… anyone” to help him forget the girl–someone to love him and to be loved in return. What he wishes for soon after is to have chosen his words more carefully, for though help appears in the form of Ixto, spirit of the last quarter moon, the only options Ixto offers him as potential lovers are other men, something Ryuka is definitely not interested in. His proposals rejected, Ixto takes on the responsibility himself, making (questionably consensual) love to Ryuka all night long.

Thanks to Ixto’s magical powers, Ryuka awakens the next morning to find his body annoyingly drawn to the memory of Ixto, sending him on a spellbound, RPG-style journey to who knows where. To protect him, Ixto provides a guide of sorts–a scantily clad “moon cat” (complete with ears, tail, and go-go shorts) named Coon, who is said to be “honest and obedient.” Coon, unfortunately, is also an easily swayed nymphomaniac who steers Ryuka into trouble more often than not. As the volume continues, Ryuka and Coon are joined by more travel companions, mainly a traveling nobleman and his unusually (*cough*) beloved horse, and Ryuka is forced to recognize the fact that he has begun to develop real feelings for Ixto.

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Ze, Volumes 1-2
By Yuki Shimizu
Published by 801 Media
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Left on his own after the death of his grandmother, Raizou Shichikawa, a student at the local culinary school, is brought to work as a live-in cook and housekeeper for the Mitou family–a wealthy household with a very strange secret. Initially shocked by the inhabitants’ overt sexual behavior towards one another, Raizou quickly discovers that the household is made up of two types of people: “kotodama-sama,” who are born with the ability to use kotodama (the power of words), mainly to deliver curses for hire, and “kami-sama” who are actually not people at all, but instead human-like dolls made of paper who exist to absorb the injuries sustained by their masters each time they perform a curse. The injuries may be transferred from kotodama-sama to kami-sama either by using kotodama or through contact with the “mucus membranes.” In other words, the injuries are transferred primarily by sexual contact. Additionally, the kotodama/kami pairings must all be homosexual.

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Brilliant Blue, Vol. 1
By Saemi Yorita
Published by DMP/DokiDoki

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Shouzo Mita is the heir to a construction business who left home after school to make his own way, not intending to return until at least the age of thirty. Life has other ideas for him, however, dragging him back years early to fill in for his father who has suffered a back injury. His first day on the job, he is re-introduced to a number of old school friends, including Nanami Ushijima, once a pasty-faced, chubby, slow little kid (with the nickname “white piggy”) who now has the looks of a pop idol. Nanami’s still a bit slow, especially in terms of social skills, but he’s cheerful, kind, and a skilled electrician with an unusual knack for numbers. Unfortunately, Nanami’s been taken advantage of by Douwaki, a slick businessman with a taste for pretty young things, who has manipulated Nanami into a questionably consensual sexual relationship. Watching from the sidelines, Shouzo is less than happy, partly because he hates seeing a vulnerable guy like Nanami being used, and partly because he’s developed feelings for Nanami himself. Later on in the story, Shouzo discovers that Nanami has never gotten his electrician’s license thanks to the difficulty of the written test, so he takes it upon himself to study with Nanami and help him pass the test.

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Unsophisticated and Rude
By Momoko Tenzen
Published by DMP

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When Hiroto’s best friend, Satoshi, confesses that he’s fallen for another guy (popular upperclassman, Nao) it’s a bit of a shock, but not for the reasons Satoshi might have expected. It’s not the fact that Satoshi is crushing on a boy that bothers Hiroto but rather which boy. Hiroto, too, has always harbored feelings for Nao and in fact still struggles to deal with the memory of a drunken night they once shared, something he’s sure Nao wants to forget. Torn between friendship and love, Hiroto mainly tries to avoid being around Satoshi as he watches him getting closer and closer to Nao, but it is Nao’s true feelings that are the real surprise.

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