Same Cell Organism is a collection of short comics printed under Digital Manga’s June yaoi imprint. I picked it up because I figured that the odds would be in my favor in finding at least one story that I’d really, really enjoy. The fact that these are short stories does make it more likely to be low on plot and high in boy love, but sometimes a girl has to take a chance.
The title story kicks off the book, introducing us to Yokota and Nakagawa, best friends and more. Yokota is the feminine and carefree one (also blonde), while Nakagawa is more emotionally reserved and focused on academic success. Their story continues on in the next two story chapters, but I had a hard time feeling any attachment for these boys. Their romantic relationship feels so fake, as it begins with Nakagawa giving the sleeping Yokota a kiss as a joke when he sleeps over at Yokota’s house. It just feels out of the blue that suddenly both of the guys accept their inner gay and starting holding hands at school (I can accept eating lunch together; that’s what best friends do), and then move on to living with each other after high school. Their story seems to strive to illustrate that no matter how different they act and think, deep down, they are the same person. However, the bumpy adaptation (and I’m willing to give the adaptation crew the benefit of doubt; maybe this was just a rough original text) really distracts the reader from this message, erasing the theme of this manga collection.
The next story, “The Letter in the Attic,” takes an entirely different tone than the Yokota/Nakagawa saga. It starts similar to the first story, with two boys at school, sharing their lunch spot up in the school’s attic. The boys, dark-haired Kana and blonde Yuji become friends, then one day, Kana kisses Naire while he’s sleeping. (Sounds familiar, huh?) Caught up in exams, they part company without ever learning their last names or homerooms. Kana, missing his lunch mate, hunts down Yuji, only to discover that he died a few months ago, only leaving a letter addressed to Kana, in the attic room... I was surprised by the tragic ending, and surprised to find myself moved by this simple short story of interrupted love. For me, this story was the gem of Same Cell Organism.
The next two-part story is “To Make an Angel,” which revolves around an angel choosing to leave Heaven and his brothers to live with a human that he met years ago as a lonely child. Only naturally, the angel’s love is all-encompassing. It’s an interesting concept, one that I’d love to see spread out into a full-length series, not as the bits and pieces present in these two short stories.
The final story, “We Selfish Two,” involves a college student and a high school student in love, with each other wishing that the other would quit looking at the other as a child/role model. This was another story that I had a hard time connecting with, as the boys complain about their crushes, and it all simmers down to a “why not?” kiss-in-the-doorway moment.
The adaptation feels very rough and ragged overall, but especially in the Yokota/Nakagawa stories; I had a hard time figuring the flow of the panels, as sometimes the text in balloons didn’t really match up with the next balloon. As I said earlier, I don’t know if the original Japanese is as rough or not, but it definitely distracts from a smooth and pleasant reading experience.
On the other side, I enjoyed Yumeka’s artwork. Her sketchy style is nice, aiming for minimal backgrounds and character details. I really liked her angel wings. On the other hand, Yumeka gets a little wild with the length of the male characters’ hair; some of the characters are sprouting butt-length ponytails and spiky mullets straight from the 80s. It’s hard to take such extreme characters with any seriousness.
The inclusion of extra notes and sketches at the back of the volume was a nice addition, and I also like the wrap-around cover, with the cover’s images reprinted in brown wash on the hard cover. Same Cell Organism illustrates some of the good aspects of yaoi titles, and some of the worst aspects. The “Letter in the Attic” story did redeem this book slightly for me, but there are many other titles out there that successfully manage to capture the theme of lovers being different from each other, yet the same at the core. Sadly, Same Cell Organism suffers greatly from the jumpy text. This a good book for a quick read at the library (if your library should carry yaoi material), but not for adding to your own personal collection.
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