Seduce Me After the Show

by Est Em, Rachel Balzora Thorn (Translator)

A stylish, tempestuous dance of anguish and passion. Seduce Me After the Show contains seven short stories which take place within the artistic worlds of dance, painting and music. Overall themes focus on the dichotomy of hope and despair as well as the relationship between pleasure and longing. In the title story, devastated by the death of his world famous dancer mother, Theo Gallardo abandons his own dancing career to become an actor and co-stars in a film with popular Hollywood idol Darren Fergus. What should have been a joking kiss shared between them takes a sudden turn when Darren asks, "So what now?" Theo answers, "That depends on the script." As lustful passions boil over, will Theo be able to regain the fire that he once possessed and return to the dancing world?

Genres: Manga, Yaoi, Comics, Romance, LGBT, Short Stories, Contemporary

192 pages, Paperback

First published August 21, 2006

About the author

Associated names :
愛思雁 (Chinese)
残業手当
ESUTO Emu
S & M
SATOH Maki
VOSTOK
Zangyou Teate

Name (in native language) : えすとえむ

Circle(s): Zangyou Teate (残業手当), VOSTOK

She debuted with the tankoubon "Show ga Hanetara Aimashou," published by Toukyou Mangasha. Her works have been featured in josei magazines and BL magazines. She has written a book called "Orokamono wa Aka o Kirau" (also published by Toukyou Mangasha).(translated from Shodensha)

Her nom de plume has also been spelled as "est em" by Deux Press and her real name is Maki Satoh. The author's preferred romanization of her penname is not capitalized (esuto emu, maki satoh).

Also a former student of Matt Thorn. Her classmate was Sachiko Takeuchi.

Zodiac : Aries

Blood type : A

Reviews

[Keli]

Me encantaron estas historias cortas y sus gráficos elegantes!

• La del bailarin, que hacia referencia a la obra "Carmen".

"Es en el escenario donde existo y cobro vida."

• El pintor que renace, la continuación de una de las historias de Blue.
• "Nero" sobrenatural.
• Y última historia, la de los ancianos.

"Han pasado 42 años..."

[Jessica Walsh]

One of the things I love about manga as a medium, is the rare emotion and movement that some artists manage to put across the page. As a medium that’s almost always in still, black and white, seeing these characters and stories come to life isn’t just about reading the words or the images, it about paying attention to the poses, the angles and noticing what is and isn’t shown. More so then the comic books in the US, I’ve found that manga just has a unique flavor of expression and it’s at it’s best when it’s expressing other forms of expression.

It’s kinda like a one-two punch, and it can leave your mind reeling...

Read the full review for this book at Well, Are They? A Queer Review Blog:
https://wellarethey.blogspot.com/2024...

[Beck]

I have mixed feelings about this collection of short stories, perhaps because I had a bit of trouble following some of them. Maybe I also wanted to like it more than I actually did. Another 3.5ish (but with a lot of vacillation over giving it 3 or 4 stars here).

Very different artistic style (bold use of black, sometimes stark), and male aesthetic(s), than the others I've been reading lately. I like the art. I HATE the dialogue bubbles. I often had trouble determining who spoke. (I'd imagine a fair bit of this is my fault, but I still prefer the speaker be clearer.)

I liked Nero once I reread it. Really cool idea.

Didn't much like Monochrome (companion to Nero) or Rockin' In My Head. The more straightforward Curtain Call/Seduce Me After the Show and Cafe et Cigarette were good.

The final story required me to pay more attention (and reread a bit), and the Kyoto accent was a bit off-putting at times (probably because I was trying to translate it to a familiar American accent instead of just saying, "Ah, yes, this is how they're indicating the accent"), but I actually quite liked it in the end. It was worth the effort.

[Kristin Fletcher-spear]

I finally got to buy BL for the adult department! Squee! Saying that I put this one on hold because I hadn't read the author before even though I've heard fabulous things. Finally, a BL manga that doesn't make me feel as if I'm either reading about teen boys or just reading porn. A sophisticated short story collection--even with the cat stories. The best stories are the first half of the collection. Ballet dancer turned actor; a painter who can't paint; and rock n roll (which the characters are from Age called Blue). The rest are just eh, but great storytelling in the first ones.

For the most part I loved the artwork. Besides the noses that seemed disproportionate to their faces, the lack of background really emphasizes the characters. The character designs exude a realism usually lacking in BL manga (well, in manga in general). I'd compare the style most closely with Erica Sakurazawa or Natsume Ono. Not to say there exactly alike, just that they have a similar sophisticated feel to them.

Perhaps, I was just in the mood for this quiet type of manga storytelling. Whatever the case may be I am now going to read Age called Blue.

[Emily]

I had to average this review. It's 7 short stories. I *loved* the first two, actually two parts of the same story. And I liked the third one as well. But the others, I either didn't get or didn't care enough.

[yengyeng]

This mangaka is obviously obsessed with corridas, flamenco, painters and cats.

[Stephane]

I have mixed feelings about this. I liked that there were multiple stories, but some of them were hard to follow along with. There also wasn’t a really a lot happening in most of them. The first two however were my favorite since the we’re supposed to be of the same pair. I wish that would turn into a series.

[Cynthia]

I have very mixed opinions about this manga. On on hand it's one of the most artistically minded and story driven manga i've ever read, and doubly so for a boys' love story. But despite it's obvious unique qualities- particularly the striking high contrast artwork and emphasis on mood and an almost stage-like drama, I felt like it fell a bit short.

Instead of a comic it felt a bit more like reading storyboards for a great movie- rough, unfinished and leaving much unsaid.

I can hardly complain since this is was a pleasant surprise of a read, but I think it could have been a lot better with a little more polish.

[Jemiah Jefferson]

Very good, emotional, touching yaoi that substitutes emotional intimacy for explicit imagery. Est Em is a tremenous mangaka and I will eagerly seek out everything she does from now, and everything she's done in the past.