By Nase Yamato
Deux Press, 176 pp.
Rating: Mature (18+)

Right off the bat, I should let you, the reader, know that the “adult content” warning slapped obnoxiously on this book’s cover is misleading to say the least. The only x-rated action in this volume is at the very end, is extremely tame, and is quite short. Honestly, the short sex scene feels like a tacked-on addendum to a teen-rated yaoi manga. That being said, if you don’t come into this volume expecting the two cute boys on the cover to get it on, you’re still in for a cute, if somewhat unremarkable, story.

In short, adorable schoolboy Fumiya (::cough, cough:: the really obvious uke ::cough::) is haunted by ghosts and his only remedy has been the ministrations of childhood friend/son of a temple priest/handsome-and-aloof seme archetype Shogo. Though Shogo reluctantly agrees to help Fumiya with each successive ghost problem, he wants something in return. Shogo, however, is no longer interested in the doodads that Fumiya used to give him in exchange for his services. Now that Shogo is in high school, this apparently is not enough. No longer an innocent kid, the handsome and still-virginal Shogo wants a monogamous gay relationship with his childhood friend Fumiya, the only person he’s been seriously attracted to. According to Nase Yamato, this makes him a “playboy.” Go figure.

The only reason this manga doesn’t get a WAY lower grade is because of its extremely cute art. Both Fumiya and Shogo are quite attractive, and that counts for a lot in yaoi manga. That being said, you could do a lot better in Nase Yamato’s body of work. I recommend Cigarrette Kisses (also published by Deux) and her ever-popular Chinko no Tsubuyaki (still unlicensed) as alternative showcases of Yamato’s lovely art without the lesson in storytelling mediocrity that is Take Me to Heaven. Hopefully Deux Press (R.I.P.?) can come back to life long enough to bring us some of Yamato’s better works. Hell, I’m going to “spoil” the ending of Take Me to Heaven right now. It’s that predictable.

The BFFs do get into each others’ pants. I bet you never expected that from a yaoi manga, eh? And then the manga ends. That’s it. Apparently she wants to do a second volume. I can only hope that it’s a no-holds barred sh**show as the protagonists slowly realize that getting romantically involved with your childhood best friend is perhaps not the best idea in the world. I’m not holding my breath.

Take Me to Heaven is available now.

Review copy provided by the publisher.