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The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame: Master of Gay Erotic Manga #2
The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame: Master of Gay Erotic Manga Vol. 2
The long-awaited second English language anthology from the master of "bara" manga. Kings, monks, cops, athletes: no manly man is safe from the deliciously depraved fantasies of gay manga master Gengoroh Tagame. In this unabashedly adult collection of BDSM comics, Tagame serves up what his fans love best: elaborate, sensational, beautifully rendered erotica. The long-awaited follow-up to Tagame's breakthrough collection, The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame Vol. 2 features a treasure trove of long and short stories previously unpublished in English, accompanied by original essays and an exclusive new interview with the internationally renowned cartoonist. Featuring intense, explicit, over-the-top scenes of BDSM between hypermasculine men, The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame is a must-have for Tagame fans as well as fans of "Bara" manga (manga created primarily by gay men for a gay male audience) and bear cultures in general. Produced by veteran “Japanist” Anne Ishii and filmmaker Graham Kolbeins, with a jacket design by longtime Tagame fan and acclaimed graphic designer Chip Kidd. (Please note: This book is a traditional work of manga, and reads back to front and right to left.) Black-and-white illustrations throughout
400 pages, Paperback
Published September 6, 2022
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74 people want to read
About the author
Gengoroh Tagame
109 books563 followersGengoroh Tagame is a Japanese manga artist who specializes in gay BDSM erotic manga, many of which depict graphic violence. The men he depicts are hypermasculine, and tend to be on the bearish side.
Born into a family descended from samurai, Tagame began his career as a manga artist in 1982, while he was studying graphic design at Tama Art University (多摩美術大学). His works have been published in several Japanese gay magazines, including Sabu, G-men and SM-Z. Since 1986, he has used the pen-name Gengoroh Tagame, and since 1994 Tagame has lived off the profits of his art and writings. In recent years, Tagame has edited a two volume artbook series about the history of gay erotic art in Japan from the 1950s to the present, 日本のゲイ・エロティック・アート (Nihon no gei, erotikku āto, Gay Erotic Art in Japan) volumes 1 and 2.
All his works contain "virile males, or youths, and their apprenticeship of physical and mental submission". Works of his include: Jujitsu Kyoshi at B Product; Emono, Shirogane no Hana (3 vol.) and Pride (3 vol.) at G-Project.
His manga Gunji (軍次) was translated into French in 2005, followed by Arena in 2006 and Goku in 2009. An artbook of his works has also been published in France by H&O Editions. An exhibition of his works was held in France in May 2009. Tagame is openly gay.
Tagame has been called the most influential creator of gay manga in Japan to date, and "the most talented and most famous author of sado-masochistic gay manga". Most of his work first appeared in gay magazines and usually feature sexual abuse. Tagame's depiction of men as muscular and hairy has been cited as a catalyst for a shift in fashion amongst gay men in 1995, away from the clean-shaven and slender bishōnen stereotypes and towards a tendency for masculinity and chubbiness. Tagame's work has been criticised by notable gay manga writer Susumu Hirosegawa as "SM gekijō" (S&M theater) for its violence and lack of complex storylines.
A small amount of Tagame's work has been licensed in English; a short story, "Standing Ovations", was included in the third issue of the erotic comics anthology Thickness, and in July 2012, Picturebox announced a short story collection, The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame, for 2013 release, which will be the first completely bara work published in English in a print format. The book will collect short works spanning 15 years of Tagame's career, including a new story commissioned especially for the book by book designer Chip Kidd.
(notes : everything else can be read on wikipedia)
Born into a family descended from samurai, Tagame began his career as a manga artist in 1982, while he was studying graphic design at Tama Art University (多摩美術大学). His works have been published in several Japanese gay magazines, including Sabu, G-men and SM-Z. Since 1986, he has used the pen-name Gengoroh Tagame, and since 1994 Tagame has lived off the profits of his art and writings. In recent years, Tagame has edited a two volume artbook series about the history of gay erotic art in Japan from the 1950s to the present, 日本のゲイ・エロティック・アート (Nihon no gei, erotikku āto, Gay Erotic Art in Japan) volumes 1 and 2.
All his works contain "virile males, or youths, and their apprenticeship of physical and mental submission". Works of his include: Jujitsu Kyoshi at B Product; Emono, Shirogane no Hana (3 vol.) and Pride (3 vol.) at G-Project.
His manga Gunji (軍次) was translated into French in 2005, followed by Arena in 2006 and Goku in 2009. An artbook of his works has also been published in France by H&O Editions. An exhibition of his works was held in France in May 2009. Tagame is openly gay.
Tagame has been called the most influential creator of gay manga in Japan to date, and "the most talented and most famous author of sado-masochistic gay manga". Most of his work first appeared in gay magazines and usually feature sexual abuse. Tagame's depiction of men as muscular and hairy has been cited as a catalyst for a shift in fashion amongst gay men in 1995, away from the clean-shaven and slender bishōnen stereotypes and towards a tendency for masculinity and chubbiness. Tagame's work has been criticised by notable gay manga writer Susumu Hirosegawa as "SM gekijō" (S&M theater) for its violence and lack of complex storylines.
A small amount of Tagame's work has been licensed in English; a short story, "Standing Ovations", was included in the third issue of the erotic comics anthology Thickness, and in July 2012, Picturebox announced a short story collection, The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame, for 2013 release, which will be the first completely bara work published in English in a print format. The book will collect short works spanning 15 years of Tagame's career, including a new story commissioned especially for the book by book designer Chip Kidd.
(notes : everything else can be read on wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 15, 2022
not for the faint of heart lol
September 13, 2022
2.5.
I liked the first volume of this series more because it contextualised the BDSM artwork and storytelling of Tagame well as a trailblazer in erotic gay manga and his influence in popularising the ‘bear’ aesthetic/subculture in Japan. Volume 2, however, was just a bit too extreme for my liking and I didn’t find any of the stories particularly arresting or interesting.
I liked the first volume of this series more because it contextualised the BDSM artwork and storytelling of Tagame well as a trailblazer in erotic gay manga and his influence in popularising the ‘bear’ aesthetic/subculture in Japan. Volume 2, however, was just a bit too extreme for my liking and I didn’t find any of the stories particularly arresting or interesting.
November 30, 2024
Most of the reviews I've seen seem to say that volume 2 isn't as good as volume 1, and that it is more extreme, but I disagree on both counts. The short story Standing Ovations in volume 1 is about as extreme as it gets in my opinion - there's nothing gruesome enough in volume 2 to make me squirm in the same way that the final page of Standing Ovations does. I also feel that there is some improvement in the quality of the illustrations - the stories in volume two are all from later in Gengoroh Tagame's career and I think that is reflected in the quality of the artwork. And I just find the storylines much more engaging and interesting in volume two. Maybe that is because there are fewer and longer stories so each has more time to develop. Volume one had 288 pages comprising of seven stories besides much additional material in the way of introductions and interviews and sketches and miscellaneous illustrations. Volume two has 384 pages, contains only five stories (the first of which alone takes up over half the volume) and minimal additional material.
Something I found helpful with this volume, as I did with the first, was to read the short stories first. That way you have a chance to get the comparatively more trivial pieces out of the way before having all your attention and interest swallowed up by the one main long story. Short stories don't allow so much time and opportunity for you to be drawn into the lives of the lead characters/victims so it is better to get those less absorbing stories out of the way first before tackling the main story in order to avoid any feelings of anticlimax if you were to read them in the officially ordained sequence.
I do have a few things to find fault with in this second volume. Volume one had epilogues and title pages between all the stories which helped to clearly demarcate. For some reason you don't get that in this second volume, so apart from the words 'the end' at the bottom corner of one page, it's often not obvious where one story ends and another begins. And in spite of having a contents page listing the contents of the book and giving the page numbers, no page numbers actually appear anywhere in the entire book! And, just as in the first volume, there are some very glaring typos in the main story, which suggest very careless proof-reading.
I've often toyed with the idea of getting this second volume since I bought the first volume about five months ago, but less with any great zeal to read more of Tagame's Bara manga than merely for the sake of completeness, but having finally got it I don't have any regrets. I could more easily pick up this volume and enjoy reading it than I could volume one.
Something I found helpful with this volume, as I did with the first, was to read the short stories first. That way you have a chance to get the comparatively more trivial pieces out of the way before having all your attention and interest swallowed up by the one main long story. Short stories don't allow so much time and opportunity for you to be drawn into the lives of the lead characters/victims so it is better to get those less absorbing stories out of the way first before tackling the main story in order to avoid any feelings of anticlimax if you were to read them in the officially ordained sequence.
I do have a few things to find fault with in this second volume. Volume one had epilogues and title pages between all the stories which helped to clearly demarcate. For some reason you don't get that in this second volume, so apart from the words 'the end' at the bottom corner of one page, it's often not obvious where one story ends and another begins. And in spite of having a contents page listing the contents of the book and giving the page numbers, no page numbers actually appear anywhere in the entire book! And, just as in the first volume, there are some very glaring typos in the main story, which suggest very careless proof-reading.
I've often toyed with the idea of getting this second volume since I bought the first volume about five months ago, but less with any great zeal to read more of Tagame's Bara manga than merely for the sake of completeness, but having finally got it I don't have any regrets. I could more easily pick up this volume and enjoy reading it than I could volume one.
January 5, 2023
As previous ratings have stated, this book isn’t for everyone. However, if you understand or are a part of the BDSM culture, you’ll find Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 of Tagame’s work pleasurable.
Yes, there are hypermasculine men drawn in some of the most erotic and extreme sexual experiences I have dreamt (and some I never thought) about. But each of Tagame’s stories are captivating enough where I never felt aghast. Personally, the kinks were skillfully selected for storyline. The volumes will have your mind racing about the clash of sex, perceived masculinity, kink, power, submission. This was my first gay erotic manga as well as my first work of Tagame. The interviews in the book help the reader understand his simple message: this man knows what he likes and wanted to see. He has made his name in the magma world from this. I respect that.
Both volumes have a home on my bookshelf. I see myself rereading them for arousal, for creativity or with a partner. I hope to use this as a conversation starter when I place them on my coffee table for select guests to my home.
Yes, there are hypermasculine men drawn in some of the most erotic and extreme sexual experiences I have dreamt (and some I never thought) about. But each of Tagame’s stories are captivating enough where I never felt aghast. Personally, the kinks were skillfully selected for storyline. The volumes will have your mind racing about the clash of sex, perceived masculinity, kink, power, submission. This was my first gay erotic manga as well as my first work of Tagame. The interviews in the book help the reader understand his simple message: this man knows what he likes and wanted to see. He has made his name in the magma world from this. I respect that.
Both volumes have a home on my bookshelf. I see myself rereading them for arousal, for creativity or with a partner. I hope to use this as a conversation starter when I place them on my coffee table for select guests to my home.
February 4, 2025
It's not really my cup of tea, but appreciate that this is a fantastic way for westerners like myself to familiarise ourselves with the work of such an important figure of Japanese queer culture. I now understand the comparisons between Gengoroh Tagame and Tom of Finland, although I'd say they really do a disservice to both as they're very different styles of art and story-telling. This translation does have some jarring spelling mistakes though.
September 7, 2022
frankly more perverse than the original volume, if that is what you’re looking for. if the first felt too superficial for your taste, this will not. interpret as you will lmfao
September 8, 2022
Filthy.
January 9, 2023
Well.
March 1, 2023
Fair warning for those interested, Vol. 2 crosses all the lines.
April 7, 2023
Love anything by Tagame. I had to add this to my collection just to support the art and talent of this artist. M/M kink book. NSFW
October 19, 2023
This one was definitely weirder than volume 1, I'll give it that. I wasn't very fond of the first story that took up more than half of the book.
December 31, 2023
Not as good as the first one but still hot.
February 19, 2024
Segundo volumen de esta recopilación.
April 22, 2024
Oof. This was a bit rougher even for me and the anthropomorphic characters in several stories weren't quite enough to balance it out. Still a solid read but doesn't quite hold up to vol 1.
November 15, 2025
generally there were more fantasy elements to this than in volume 1, which struck me as kinda funny and fun.
August 25, 2024
Do ponto de vista dos desenhos, grande mestria. As histórias... horríveis... Pornografia sado-masoquista nada verosímil em forma de desenhos. Não achei que as histórias tenham muito bom gosto... Não é o meu estilo... É um livro para um nicho.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews