Golden Cain (aka: Kin no Cain) Vol.#01

By: Mike Dungan
Review Date: Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Release Date: Sunday, August 01, 2004



Creative Talent
Writer/Artist:You Asagiri
Translated by:Ikoi Hiroe
Adapted by:

What They Say
Shadows From The Past. Shun works very hard to live up to the memory of his older brother, even at the cost of his personal life. Suddenly, a beautiful stranger comes into his life and takes Shun on a ride down a dangerous road of love, loss, lust, guilt, passion and taboo! Shun craves excitement, and the stranger gives it to him... but at what cost?

The Review
The Review: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Shun is a "college" student (yeah right) trying to live up the memory of his older brother Keiichi, but nothing he does is ever enough. One night in a dodgy bar, he's nearly raped, but it rescued by a beautiful young man. His rescuer is Cain Hino, a famous model, and Shun is a fan of his. Cain seduces Shun that night, allowing him to live out a fantasy he's harbored for a very long time. His one-night-stand is complicated when Cain transfers into his "college" (uh huh). Photos of Shun's night at the club are being mailed to both his and Cain's houses, creating problems for Shun, but Cain simply ignores them. Shun is falling in love with Cain, even as he suffers terrible self-esteem from the circumstances surround the terrible accident that took his brother from him. The story all leads to a confrontation between Shun, Cain and the blackmailers, as well as a ton of revelations about Keiichi and Cain.

Comments
With Golden Cain from CPM's Be Beautiful manga imprint, my yaoi cherry has finally been busted. The story is not all that different from a shoujo romance. Certain conventions are observed, from the tall, wild, beautiful stranger to the shorter, more withdrawn boy who is seduced by him. The relationship works, as Shun is stronger than he seems, and Cain has more depth to him than it would seem. The avalanche of revelations at the end of the book give the feel that the artist wanted to do more, but ran out of time. It makes it feel rushed and somewhat incomplete. The art is, not surprisingly, light and airy. There were some very humorous moments concerning Shun's admiration of Cain's beauty. The only real problem with Be Beautiful's presentation were a couple of instances where names were mixed up in word bubbles, creating a bit of confusion. It's a bit humorous to read the disclaimer at the beginning of the book claiming all characters are 19 years old or older. I doubt there are many colleges with school uniforms. But hey, if they say they're 19, they're 19. Who am I to argue? The cover features Cain and Shun in an embrace against a black background. There are a couple of pages of postscript by the author at the end of the book, as well as an artist profile. At $16 a book, it's rather more expensive than the norm, but it's the price to pay for explicit yaoi manga. I think most fans of the genre will willingly pay the price.