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Manga-ka: Eiki Eiki
Publisher: DMP/June
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: October 2007
Synopsis: “It’s been four years since Hirofumi and Daigo started living together. But because of his psychological scars, Daigo gradually starts imposing frightening restraints on Hirofumi! Caught in a café of love and madness, what will Hirofumi’s ultimate answer be?!”
World’s End is the sequel to Eiki Eiki’s previous work, Dear Myself. After an accident causes Hirofumi to loose his memory, he falls in love with a boy he meets in the hospital, Daigo. But when his old memories return, and his years spent with Daigo disappear, Hirofumi is horrified to be told he’s missing two years of his life and that they were spent being a man’s lover! When a letter he wrote to himself reveals the truth, Hirofumi finds himself falling for Daigo all over again. Now, years later, the two are living together and some dangerous truths about Daigo start manifesting.
I enjoyed the opening chapter of this book the most, as it fills in the years of Hirofumi’s amnesia. At first I was a little tripped up, missing the fact that it was indeed those years in the past and not the present. But once I figured it out, it was all good, and it was nice seeing how Hirofumi worked up to writing the letter that would later prove to be so important.
But things got dark pretty quickly as the story whips us back to the present and everything’s not all shiny, sparkles and rainbows for the two love-birds. Daigo’s feelings for Hirofumi start taking form in obsessive and twisted ways. When Daigo fears that he could lose Hirofumi, he chains him up in their apartment and keeps him as a prisoner. Suddenly their love doesn’t seem so pure and ever lasting when Hirofumi is near death at the hands of Daigo.
This is when my enjoyment of the book ran rather cold. While a little dark drama can spice up a story, in this case it was just creepy. The situation is dangerous and anything but healthy, not exactly the kind of story that generally leaves me rooting for a happy ending.
After the main story is done and over with, there’re two unrelated short stories: the first is about two boys trying to find some alone time on their ‘honeymoon’, while the second follows a teen’s trials with his new stepfather, who is only eighteen years old – two years younger than him!
Overall, I’d recommend World’s End to those who’ve read the prequel, for the opening chapter, to fill in the gaps from the first book. While some may find the rest of this book more endearing, I unfortunately can’t say it left me with much more than a dissatisfied pit in my stomach. Such a shame, as I’d really been looking forward to this one.
Review written September 2, 2008 by Lissa Pattillo.
Book purchased from One Million Comix vendor at Fan Expo 2008
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