Title: Love Stage!!
Genre: Yaoi, Romance
Publisher: Viz/Sublime (US), Kadokawa Shoten (JP)
Artist/Writer: Taishi Zaoi, Eiki Eiki
Serialized in: Asuka Ciel
Original Release Date: May 12, 2015
Due to his discreet personality and otaku-like features, people usually don’t give Izumi Sena a second glance on the busy streets of Tokyo. But things would have been different if they were aware of who he truly is: a member of one of the most successful families in show business, the Sena family.
Son of the famous singer Seiya Sena and actress Nagisa Sena, and also the brother of the leader of the band CRUSHERZ, Izumi’s last name is a pretty heavy burden for the guy, who simply wants nothing to do with show business and instead, wishes to be a great mangaka (regardless of his lack of talent for drawing). Yet, that wish is put in peril when Izumi is forced to participate in the 10th year anniversary of the commercial which led him to become so hostile to show business, and by the side of none other than Japan’s number one actor at the moment, Ryouma Ichijou.
What I love the most about Love Stage!! is how it’s incredibly easy to jump into regardless of whether you appreciate Yaoi or not. There’s light-hearted humor, the main character’s hilarious, and there is actually a story. Sure, looking forward to the cute interactions between the main characters is obviously important, but having an intriguing plot around them makes everything much more enjoyable. The fact that it includes the Entertainment world with its issues easily keeps the readers at the edge of their seats to see what delicious scandals the authors come up with as the manga goes on.
There have been times where things have gotten out of hand and were terribly dramatic, though, but love stories in manga are generally known to be that way.
Regarding the relationship between the two characters, I’ll have to admit that I’m not exactly a big fan of Izumi and Ryouma together. This is mostly because of Ryouma having somewhat of a creepy and dislikable personality in regards to Izumi and his older brother, especially in the first volume of the manga. In the beginning of Love Stage, not only do we learn that Ryouma is terribly in love with the Izumi (whom he believes is a girl) from ten years ago and has a picture of his child self as a phone background, but he was also incredibly close to sexually assaulting Izumi. There are many other elements which bring me to dislike Ryouma, but those two are the major things that have perturbed me the most.
Fortunately, we have other relationships to appreciate which can cater to slightly older audiences or those who aren’t really into Izumi and Ryouma’s love story.
While Love Stage!! might have its problems here and there, I truly believe that it’s a Yaoi one shouldn’t simply ignore since it’s easy to jump into due to its pretty – yet very familiar — artwork, its great humor which brought me to appreciate it, and the overall light and fresh atmosphere it manages to bring.
