About.com Rating

The Bottom Line

When Akabane and Moriya are transported to a fantasy world, a scantily-clad female warrior tells the pair that they must 'exchange bodily fluids' to fortify her magic powers. Akabane isn't into it, but a guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do to avoid being eaten by dragons. Moriya is more amenable because he has a crush on his classmate. That, in a boys love nutshell is almost all you need to know about Love Quest, a yaoi manga one-shot from Lily Hoshino.


There's lots of guy-on-guy sizzle, plus some laughs on the side. Hoshino's art is also very charming, which is the saving grace of this mostly pointless story.



Pros

• Charming art with appealing, nicely drawn characters
• A cheerfully silly plot that efficiently gets the two leads kissing almost immediately
• Hoshino gives her readers lots of guy-on-guy sizzle that's unapologetically erotic
• Playful and funny, Love Quest also features some headstrong femmes who keep the plot moving
• While there's much mention of body fluids, Akabane and Moriya mostly just kiss

Cons

• This fantasy-laced story is just barely held together by half-baked romantic and political subplots
• The sex scenes in the second story are very explicit, and definitely not for the easily offended
• Both short stories feature fairly pointless plots, so don't look for great literature here

Description

• Original Title:Rabu Kue (Japan)
• Author & Artist: Lily Hoshino
• Publishers:
  • Yen Press (US)
  • Houbunsha Co., Ltd. (Japan)
• ISBN: 978-0759529489
• Cover Price: $12.99 US / $14.50 CANADA / £7.99 UK

• Age Rating:M – Mature, Age 18+ for explicit sexual encounters
  More about content ratings.
• Manga Genres:
  • Yaoi (Boys Love) Manga
  • Hentai (Erotic) Manga / Adult Manga
  • Bishonen (Pretty Boys)
  • Comedy
  • Fantasy
• US Publication Date: October 2008
  Japan Publication Date: August 2006
• Book Description: 176 pages, black and white illustrations, 2 color pages
• More Manga by Lily Hoshino:
  • Mr. Flower Bride
  • Mr. Flower Groom
  • Alone in My King's Harem
  • My Only King
  • Chocolate Surprise

Guide Review - Love Quest

When Kazunori Akabane confesses his affections to a girl, he's frustrated to find that she's turned him down because she has a crush on his classmate, Satoru Moriya. Then faster than you can blink an eye, Akabane is transported to a magical world with a male classmate who turns out to be his romantic rival Moriya. To make matters even more awkward, Akabane is forced to plant a kiss on Moriya because the magical (and scantily clad) warrior who summoned them to this fantasy world tells them that she needs them to "exchange bodily fluids" to super-charge her magical powers.

Akabane is horrified, but he plants a wet one on his classmate, because it beats being eaten by dragons. Bespectacled Moriya on the other hand isn't all that bothered by this turn of events because he's been wanting to kiss (and do much more) to his classmate for a while. That is pretty much all you need to know about the plot of Love Quest, a yaoi manga / boys love one-shot from Lily Hoshino.

The word "yaoi" comes from the phrase "yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi," which means no climax, no point, no meaning -- or "just the good stuff." In other words, the plot can be ridiculous, the story can go absolutely nowhere and it doesn't have to have many literary qualities -- it just has to have some guy-on-guy sizzle, which Hoshino delivers with a wink and a smile.

Hoshino's art is very charming, with clean, simple layouts and pretty boys who are just pretty enough. The plot is silly, but Love Quest gives readers what they want by throwing together two guys in an awkward situation that has them smooching almost immediately.

What redeems this story is Hoshino's sense of humor. If it's going to be pointless, she might as well have some laughs. Love Quest is not great literature but it's disposable BL fun, and really, that's all it ever wanted to do in the first place.