What do you think?
Total Surrender
Yuya works at a famous design company. But he seems more interested in fantasizing about his mentor Yoshihira instead of actually getting his work done. Yuya is determined to confess, but every day that passes makes the task more arduous.
168 pages, Paperback
First published September 23, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 19, 2017
Thoroughly mediocre. The art is okay; I didn't notice any particularly egregious yaoi hands. The stories are all too short. You barely have time to get invested before any sense of conflict is completely resolved. The "naughty bits" are hardly scintillating beyond the bare minimum to get a mature rating.
In summary: not well-written/drawn enough to interest the romantic reader and not enough sex appeal to interest the erotica reader.
In summary: not well-written/drawn enough to interest the romantic reader and not enough sex appeal to interest the erotica reader.
May 26, 2021
June mangas to me are either hit or miss this one I enjoyed but like always I just wish that sometimes the ones with multiple stories had longer stories because there's so much more story to be told.
August 5, 2012
Not For the Faint of Heart - Total Surrender Review
Okay, so new week and a new tradition, apparently, as Not For the Faint of Heart becomes a staple of alcohol meets yaoi manga (don't judge me!). Today is brought to you by a lovely petite syrah and another long walk to the book store, where Total Surrender was the plastic wrapped mystery that earned its fare home with me. And, I must say, this book is just so f*ing cute. I mean, the cuteness just exudes off the page, and I suppose I should say this is a collection of short works, all of which showcase some wholly consensual relationships, a rather rare feat for yaoi manga, but there it is.
Now, given the fact that this is a collection of short stories, some do stand out a bit more than others, and some of them still feel a little odd, because some things that come out of Japan just weird me the f* out. Case in point, the first story is a relationship between step brothers, which despite not technically being incest is still a bit off to me, and I suppose that more than any of the others was the thing I had the problem with. I mean, there were one or two others where I didn't really care for the premise, but to start with that was a little shocking. Luckily, that same cuteness I mentioned before finds its way through and even though a little off the relationship is good enough and it's nowhere near as problematic as most yaoi manga I have read.
I guess I should say that this is a great manga for those that don't like the fact that a lot of the genre seems to revolve around forced sex, and this is very much couples who are either falling in love or are already in a relationship. And I must confess that the stories I found most amusing and enjoyable were the ones that just skipped over the whole start of the relationship and got to something deeper in (tee hee), as with the department store workers story and the story with the two men who are looking to add a bit of spice to their relationship. Not that the stories that were about a burgeoning relationship were bad, but that kind of story has been done over and over again and I guess I appreciated that some of these blazed some new territory.
But now to the part of the review that everyone wants, because I can't be the only concerned (perverted?) party out there. This is a June published book, and I must say that the publisher does tend to include some good sex scenes. Again, those looking for more explicit depictions should look elsewhere, but there are a number of stories, and each one has at least one scene, so at least there is a little variety and a great frequency of the scenes, which is nice for anyone looking for a less intense, more laid back experience, not concerned with high drama as much as adorable relationships and fun sex.
So in the end this was a perfectly enjoyable manga, though I guess from an artistic standpoint a lot of the couples look eerily similar and though the situations are a little difference I guess I would have liked to see something a little different than dark haired guy and light haired guy and nothing else. I mean, I get that with the black and white nature of manga that more is a little difficult, but there could have been more distinction made between characters. Still, I had a good enough time reading it and would recommend it to anyone looking for something that gets outside the norm for yaoi manga. With that in mind, I dub it a 7.25/10.
Okay, so new week and a new tradition, apparently, as Not For the Faint of Heart becomes a staple of alcohol meets yaoi manga (don't judge me!). Today is brought to you by a lovely petite syrah and another long walk to the book store, where Total Surrender was the plastic wrapped mystery that earned its fare home with me. And, I must say, this book is just so f*ing cute. I mean, the cuteness just exudes off the page, and I suppose I should say this is a collection of short works, all of which showcase some wholly consensual relationships, a rather rare feat for yaoi manga, but there it is.
Now, given the fact that this is a collection of short stories, some do stand out a bit more than others, and some of them still feel a little odd, because some things that come out of Japan just weird me the f* out. Case in point, the first story is a relationship between step brothers, which despite not technically being incest is still a bit off to me, and I suppose that more than any of the others was the thing I had the problem with. I mean, there were one or two others where I didn't really care for the premise, but to start with that was a little shocking. Luckily, that same cuteness I mentioned before finds its way through and even though a little off the relationship is good enough and it's nowhere near as problematic as most yaoi manga I have read.
I guess I should say that this is a great manga for those that don't like the fact that a lot of the genre seems to revolve around forced sex, and this is very much couples who are either falling in love or are already in a relationship. And I must confess that the stories I found most amusing and enjoyable were the ones that just skipped over the whole start of the relationship and got to something deeper in (tee hee), as with the department store workers story and the story with the two men who are looking to add a bit of spice to their relationship. Not that the stories that were about a burgeoning relationship were bad, but that kind of story has been done over and over again and I guess I appreciated that some of these blazed some new territory.
But now to the part of the review that everyone wants, because I can't be the only concerned (perverted?) party out there. This is a June published book, and I must say that the publisher does tend to include some good sex scenes. Again, those looking for more explicit depictions should look elsewhere, but there are a number of stories, and each one has at least one scene, so at least there is a little variety and a great frequency of the scenes, which is nice for anyone looking for a less intense, more laid back experience, not concerned with high drama as much as adorable relationships and fun sex.
So in the end this was a perfectly enjoyable manga, though I guess from an artistic standpoint a lot of the couples look eerily similar and though the situations are a little difference I guess I would have liked to see something a little different than dark haired guy and light haired guy and nothing else. I mean, I get that with the black and white nature of manga that more is a little difficult, but there could have been more distinction made between characters. Still, I had a good enough time reading it and would recommend it to anyone looking for something that gets outside the norm for yaoi manga. With that in mind, I dub it a 7.25/10.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 24, 2017
Surrender yourself to potato chip manga!
Which is my way of comparing the manga to a bag of chips. It's fun, quick to get through as each story is fairly short and bite sized and at the end you feel well enough but know it wasn't really all that filling.
Inside are a series of short stories by Hiroko Ishimaru about giving into passion and not letting pride hold you back from what you love. Though each tale is fairly short, they do manage to pack in a lot of implications to allow for a fuller understanding of the story and characters without having to outright state it. So that would be the extra air in the bag of chips. Which is usually disappointing but if the air isn't there then the chips get crushed and you only have tiny pieces of fried potato that only ants could really appreciate. Not that ants appreciation isn't important but it's not helpful when you wanted to eat the chips in their full glory. I'm drifting....
Ishimaru uses the more traditional style of drawing yaoi, all sharp lines and acute triangles which is a nice nod back to the early years of manga. I'm glad I brought it although I'm not necessarily likely to read it in again in any great rush. I prefer more filling stories after all.
Which is my way of comparing the manga to a bag of chips. It's fun, quick to get through as each story is fairly short and bite sized and at the end you feel well enough but know it wasn't really all that filling.
Inside are a series of short stories by Hiroko Ishimaru about giving into passion and not letting pride hold you back from what you love. Though each tale is fairly short, they do manage to pack in a lot of implications to allow for a fuller understanding of the story and characters without having to outright state it. So that would be the extra air in the bag of chips. Which is usually disappointing but if the air isn't there then the chips get crushed and you only have tiny pieces of fried potato that only ants could really appreciate. Not that ants appreciation isn't important but it's not helpful when you wanted to eat the chips in their full glory. I'm drifting....
Ishimaru uses the more traditional style of drawing yaoi, all sharp lines and acute triangles which is a nice nod back to the early years of manga. I'm glad I brought it although I'm not necessarily likely to read it in again in any great rush. I prefer more filling stories after all.
July 21, 2012
This collection of short yaoi one-shots by Hiroko Ishimaru was cute and had some nice art, but overall had nothing original about it. It kept me entertained, but it did not blow me away. The only stories I really cared about was the duo of stories at the very end about the man in love with his boss and the dogs (although I imagine Ishimaru didn't stop to think about the long-term complications of someone banging their boss). As usual for BL story collections, very hit and miss.
June 18, 2011
manganya lumayan tapi rada boring meski bakal tahu kalau endingnya adalah HEA. dan authornya seperti lazy buat ngerubah setiap tokoh tokoh karakternya. maksudnya lazy karena dari tokoh pertama hingga terakhir wajahnya ya tetap itu itu juga. yang dirubah hanya nama dan karakternya saja.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews