BLog: Secret XXX
BLog reviews recent boys love, yaoi and LGBTQ+ English translation manga.
[image error]Secret XXX
Story and art: Meguru Hinohara
Translation: Adrienne Beck
Publisher: SuBLime Manga
Release Date: April 14, 2020
Like so many epics of romance before his, Shohei’s love could kill him. Every day that the 21-year-old college student steps foot in Trois Lapin, a rabbit speciality store run by handsome, long-haired bunny breeder Mito, could be his last. While he adores rabbits more than almost anything in the world–rivalled only by his crush on Mito–he guards his deadly secret closely for fear of being banned from the store for his own safety.
Shohei is allergic to what he loves most in the world: bunnies.
Or is he? Everyone in Secret XXX has their secrets, and things aren’t always as they seem.
From Shohei’s allergy, to Mito’s mysterious after-hours work, to Shohei’s relationship to his domineering mother, each section explores the secrets we keep from each other. And then is topped by Shohei getting topped.
For Hinohara Meguru’s debut, both in Japanese in English, Secret XXX is a fantastic little entry into yaoi manga–and boy, is this ever yaoi, some of the more hardcore, uncensored smut I’ve seen in a cutesy manga. On top of being one of the smuttier stories published recently, Secret XXX is also one of the more lovely depictions of gay people, including a full on drag queen-filled gay bar. The queens, especially, while hilarious and over the top aren’t grotesque or stereotypical as they’ve been portrayed in other Japanese media. Madam, the kimono-wearing, fan-wielding matron and mama of the queens, is especially delightful interacting with Shohei, Mito and the shit-disturbing Minato–who seems bent on interfering in Mito’s love-life. I’m cheering for a spin-off manga about the drag bar.
Shohei is the adorable, innocent, trusting formerly straight college student paired with Mito’s suave, quiet, mysterious long-haired babe. Secret XXX could be generic BL fare, but against the backdrop of a burgeoning romance in a bunny shop Shohei’s personality, especially, stands out. He’s young and expressive, and we follow his point of view closely. We have an easy sympathetic in to his character; “This is the thing I love most, but it could hurt or even kill me.” (His allergy, not his love interest.) Each of the main chapters deals with the characters confronting a secret of one kind or another, nothing Earth-shattering but each step of the way we learn a little more about their characters and backgrounds, Mito’s mysterious past, Shohei’s relationship to his family. As opposed to just two boys in love, the level of detail to character development raises Secret XXX above BL one-shots of its ilk–instead of putting the manga down and moving on to the next I found myself wanting to spend more time with the characters.
The only questionable choices in the manga are twofold, without giving too much away. The first, the brief exploration of Mito’s family is a bit trope-y, significant enough to be a bit jarring in the mostly fluffy pastel hilarity. The second is a couple of “no means yes” approaches to consent; there’s two instances where Shohei says stop, which gets that old BL line, “I’m sorry but I can’t stop now” that’s maybe supposed to be romantic? We learn later on that Shohei maybe likes it a little rough, which excuses Mito’s “assertiveness”, but being submissive or kinky doesn’t excuse dubious consent. It’s not a deal breaker but could have used a little finessing in the language to make it hot and not creepy–though obviously you want to stay true to the original language and not alter the writer’s intent.
All that being said, the art is an absolute delight, and the smut is next level compared to whited-out dicks and barely concealed genitalia in other titles. Beyond the smut, Hinohara’s debut is one of those rare cases where art, story and characters come together in an adorable, romantic, sexy little manga. Plus bunnies.
Level of Problematic: Horse and rabbit stew – “Death by homosexual husband” and “no means yes”, that’s all I’m gonna say…
Level of Adorable: Pull a rabbit out of a hat – Shohei is a precious little cinnamon bun, and his large personality and love for the people in his life (and all the bunnies) are the driving force behind Secret XXX. Plus drag queens. Plus there’s a bunny hair clip. Plus there’s a Flemish Giant rabbit named Georgia.
Level of Spiciness: Breed like rabbits – Let’s just say if Shohei and Mito never have any babies it wouldn’t be for lack of trying.
