Page 45 Review by Jonathan
"Why'd you even like fencing that much?"
"My father was a fencer."
"I thought you didn't know your father. Just some anonymous guy who ditched your Mom, right?"
"... Right."
Nicolas Cox wants to be a fencer to emulate his father, the Olympic Champion Robert Coste. Now, Robert Coste's legitimate son, Jesse Coste, is ranked number one in the country for individual épée, the style of fencing most closely resembling duelling. So presumably Jesse will eventually end up as Nicolas' arch-nemesis, but in the meanwhile, he has the supremely talented and immensely obnoxious Seiji Katayama to contend with. Both as a rival and very reluctant roommate at the Kings Row Boys School, to where Nicolas has won a scholarship, on the tricky proviso that he can win a place on the fencing team. With a roster of only three in the team and several boys competing for a spot, as well as each other's affections, it's going to be a testing time for Nicolas.
Yes, there's many a Yaoi gag I could make about boys waving their swords around, but it really does seem here that at least half the potential team are more concerned about the action going on off the court than going off on it. If you follow me...
It's all hilarious hi-jinks until someone gets poked with someone else's sword... and loses a fencing contest... Then the sulking and self-flagellation begins. Hopefully without a sword in their hand...
Yes, despite being the wrong target audience for this, it amused me greatly. Very titter-worthy, I have to say. It's extremely well-written unpretentious good fun about a group of pretentious stuck-up idiots that wouldn't know good fun if it came and prodded them in the face with its sword. Well... actually... they might, I suppose...
I should add, at this sword point, if you are looking for actual hot boy-on-boy action on the page, this isn't the title for you. However, if you're into being tantalised and teased by the mere prospect of said activities, you're definitely in the right arena. Trades descriptions and all that. Alternatively, if you're just into highly amusing homoerotic sports comics regardless of your personal predilections I think you'll get a rise out of it as well...
Back to the action... the actual sword-fighting variety... The only two who seem able to completely concentrate on the swords in their hands are Nicolas and Seiji, both of whom are equally totally obsessed with being the best. It's a shame therefore for Nicolas that he's lagging a long way behind Seiji in technique, but he's able to compensate for that to some degree with natural raw talent, which is the only thing he inherited from his dad. Clean, crisp and mildly saucy colourful art from the wonderful named Johanna the Mad neatly adds to the fun.
