In search of a beloved – review of the comic book “Theory of love” vol. 1 and 2

Helpful spirit

Kenji Yarahata is a young boy passionate about video games. In addition, he dreams of becoming a real playboy or at least finding a sweetheart. Unfortunately, his inborn shyness towards women prevents him from doing so. The hero has to be content with fantasies, adult magazines and … his own company. Fortunately, his late grandfather watches over him from the underworld. He sends Aiya to his grandson, the spirit of a man who dressed in women in his lifetime and knows the art of seduction like no other. It is with his help that the young man is to win the heart of his colleague Saki from work. Or any other whitehead. However, it soon turns out that theory is much easier than practice.

With distance

The theory of loveis a manga screenplay by Mizuno Keiya. This creator is the author of a handbook on seduction and a series of lectures released on DVD. Moreover, he works under the pseudonym … Aiya! I doubt we have any coincidence here. Both the first and second volumes focus on the already mentioned Kanji Yarahata and his heart problems. Well, maybe not only. The boy would like to find the one, but also stop being a virgin. In his efforts to achieve both goals, he is assisted by Aiya’s spirit giving him valuable advice. Like a sensei, an envoy from the afterlife teaches the boy how to deal with women. At times he does it quite bluntly, beating the protagonist right in the crotch when he starts to think “not with this head”. By the way, he himself is eager to take advantage of the fact that only Kenji sees him and looks up the girls’ skirts or between their cleavages. He is also happy to throw dirty jokes that no uncle Janusz would be ashamed of. The whole story is kept in a comedy convention and should be approached with a considerable distance. Otherwise, the female audience in particular may be offended. Our spirit says that all women are the same and with just a few tricks you can get everyone. It is enough to pretend that you are listening, often say “I sympathize”, be superficially friendly or surprise with gifts and in a moment we will end up in bed with the chosen candidate. Fortunately, the author himself shows how wrong Aiya is and ridicules his methods. The apprentice, trying to listen to the master’s advice, keeps pushing his dream girl away from him, while corrections in the form of real commitment make Saki look at him more and more favorably. The whole plot has a lot of twists and coincidences, not necessarily desired by the heroes of coincidences. We also have a whole lot of eroticism everywhere. These are overtones or even blunt phrases about sex and everything related to it. The scenes are fun, however, and if you take the whole thing with a grain of salt, taking it as a joke, you can have a laugh while reading it. In addition, the author in many places also referred to the world of pop culture in a funny way, but more on that in a moment. then you can laugh while reading. In addition, the author in many places also referred to the world of pop culture in a funny way, but more on that in a moment. then you can laugh while reading. In addition, the author in many places also referred to the world of pop culture in a funny way, but more on that in a moment.

Face, neckline and …

Satou Masaki is responsible for the graphic layer of the manga. The cartoonist decided to introduce us to The Theory of Lovein black and white and color only the first four pages of the first volume and the cover. It’s a pity, because the painting technique he uses looks very nice. As for the pictures presented in the manga, there are no outstanding works. Most of the frames show only a close-up of the characters’ faces or their entire silhouettes without any background. And again, there is something to regret, because when we get the interior of a store or apartment, we have really interesting pictures with lots of details, reflecting the Japanese atmosphere. In addition, a large part of the pictures are filled with speech bubbles with dialogues, and several pages are just text, describing examples of “superficial kindness” or a person at a party. Just like the plot, the graphic design is full of eroticism. Every now and then we can see a large cleavage, long legs or shapely buttocks of women, but also a few muscular male torsos. However, do not imagine too much (or, on the contrary, stimulate your imagination). All strategic places are covered with underwear all the time and in both volumes only the bottom of the two protagonists is shown only twice. However, the creator skillfully emphasizes all the advantages of the girls and makes the manga definitely unsuitable for reading by younger people.

Polish theory of love

As I have already mentioned, The Theory of Love is not only about sexual overtones, erotic jokes and a comedy of mistakes. The creators also eagerly refer to the world of pop culture. We have here references to numerous computer games or RPGs, the works of Spielberg or the music of Justin Bieber. At this point, a tribute should be made to the Kotori publishing house and its translators. While we all know the works of the Hollywood director, the manga probably also joked about Japanese artists that no one in Poland has heard of. That is why in the text we can find references to our native artists, headed by Dawid Podsiadło. The titles of the adult magazines held by Yarahata were also very skillfully translated. Among them we can see Alice in the land of sinfulness , Attack of the Buttocksor the Hills of Apollo . Personally, I was quite bought by a little detail that probably some people will miss, and I couldn’t help but mention it. Well, in the manga there is a book of 1999 pick-up texts by a certain Nostra Damek, and its translation by Paolo Dibala. For the uninitiated, the name of the latter probably means nothing, but football fans and especially Juventus (myself included) will be delighted. You know – a small thing, but it makes you happy.

What’s next for Yarahata?

Both volumes one and two of The Theory of Loveit’s a pretty good comedy, if we approach it without much expectations and with a lot of reserve. If we start taking it literally, we can easily get offended or offend someone on whom we will want to apply the advice of the messenger of the afterlife. In fact, it can teach us something, but let’s not exaggerate and consider it an “inverted guide”. It is, above all, one great joke in which the creators play with male-female relations and eagerly use numerous verbal and situational jokes. Due to the high dose of eroticism in the manga, it is not intended for minors. You read it lightly, and at times the smile comes to your lips. It is a pity that the whole thing is so weak from the visual layer that brings together, it could be much more developed. Nevertheless, Yarahata’s story draws in and the reader wants to find out