BLog: Toritan Birds of a Feather Vol. 1
BLog reviews recent boys love, yaoi and LGBTQ+ English translation manga.
Toritan: Birds of a Feather Vol. 1
Story and art: Kotetsuko Yamamoto
Translation: Adrienne Beck
Publisher: SuBLime Manga
Release Date: August 11, 2020
MISSED CONNECTION: I was a 24-year-old guy in a black sports jacket, slacks and a white t-shirt, floppy long ash-blond hair, saving a baby bird that fell out of a tree. You were a crow.
Inusaki is a cat loving, coffee-drinking, errand running, old-lady-helping, bird-hating, twenty-something dumb bisexual. He can also talk to birds. He learned this as a child when, on a trip to the park…
The official thug-pigeon translation was:“What the fuck are you lookin’ at, brat? You wanna die?”
Toritan: Birds of a Feather Vol. 1 is the misadventures of jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none Inusaki, a detective who does very little detecting, and instead spends his days running errands for his friends and neighbours; grocery shopping for little old ladies, dog walking, minor repairs.
He is utterly annoyed that he can talk to birds, and birds are typically astounded a human can speak to them and understand them. Why can he talk to birds? Who knows. Does he fall in love with a suave, coolheaded, unflappable crow who helps him save a baby bird? Absolutely.
Kotetsuko Yamamoto’s approach to BL reminded me a lot of an earlier title from this year, Don’t Call Me Dirty. Not a lot happens. The drama of Toritan is all in the interpersonal relationships… or interspecies? After Inusaki meets the crow that just seems “cool” he names Kuro he has to confront two things: being in love with a crow, and being in love with a guy (who is also a crow). This is complicated as Inusaki gets to know Mitsuru–an older high schooler, the son of Inusaki’s landlord–and Mitsuru seems interested in Inusaki’s interest in Kuro.
And Mitsuru’s voice sounds STRANGELY like Kuro, too.
Worst detective.
If you’re looking for something new, mind-blowing or challenging in a manga, maybe pass Toritan by. That’s not to say it’s bad, but it’s an odd little story that wanders. That being said, if you’re looking for something cute, fluffy, with a lot of adorable animals–honestly, the biggest selling point, especially the recurring character of the baby bird and the big fluffy dog Jackie–that hits all the BL right notes, Toritan is right up your alley.
The stranger elements that don’t seem to pan out into much are twofold; firstly, the fact that Inusaki is a detective is utterly passed over in Volume 1. He does zero detecting, and can’t even seem to connect the very obvious fact that Kuro is Mitsuru. Maybe it’s a large leap in logic to figure out that a bird is also a human, but Inusaki can magically and fluently talk to birds, so is it really out of the realm of possibility?
That’s the second element; that Inusaki can talk to birds and just sort of shrugs it off as a minor annoyance, as opposed to a really incredible superpower. At least in Cherry Magic the strange little virginity-enabled power of being able to read someone’s mind is complicated by the fact that the main character has to be touching them–ruining his chance to lose his virginity to a sex worker. Being annoyed by catching ambient thoughts on the subway or at work is understandable. In Toritan the only limitation seems to be that Inusaki wants to keep it a secret since people won’t believe him, or think its strange. Understandable, but imagine a story about a detective who uses a network of bird informants to help him solve mysteries! Maybe that’s the point? That Inusaki is a layabout who would rather complain about his power and help people with household tasks. Maybe there’s something lost in translation? Or maybe the detective work will come in later volumes?
All this being said, I still enjoyed Toritan. I found it odd and charming, cute and funny enough that I could overlook the bizarre narrative choices that don’t pan out. It hits all the right notes, the blushing glances at Kuro, the inevitable visiting-your-crush-while-they’re-sick-in-bed scene, the veiled conversations between Inusaki and Mitsuru–who clearly has feelings for the dumbass detective. The odd little secondary characters, the baby bird, Mitsuru’s mom, the old people around the neighbourhood Inusaki helps, endear the manga to me. Perhaps its not the most mind-blowing story, maybe its strange and wandering, but it’s a pleasant, easy journey, like laying in the grass and watching songbirds on a warm summer day. If that sounds enjoyable you will enjoy it like I did. After all, birds of a feather flock together.
Level of Problematic: The just-turned-eighteen-years-old crush; oh manga, what is your obsession with adults having romances with high schoolers? Mitsuru turns 18 in the middle of the manga, and nothing actually happens in the way of a physical relationship before that, but its still very clear from the moment we meet him that Mitsuru/Kuro is the love interest. Otherwise quite fluffy and innocuous.
Level of Adorable: The not-a-cat-café-we-just-happen-to-have-cats cat café; this is where Toritan shines. Cute characters, cute little flirtations (with a crow, mostly), ADORABLE animals. The cats of Café Kuroki, owned by Mitsuru’s mom, Jackie the dog, all the birds Inusaki runs into–even when they threaten and swear at him. Animals are the subtle and ADORABLE driving force of this weird little manga.
Level of Spiciness: The do-I-feel-uncomfortable-about-my-feelings-because-he’s-a-guy-or-because-he’s-a-crow romance; more fluffy and cutesy rather than spicy. Bizarrely it’s rated M for Mature, and has an explicit content warning on the front even though there is absolutely zero explicit content. Maybe it’s because a pigeon says the “fuck” word? I really hope there’s not a human-bird sex scene in volume 2…
