Katsumoto Kasane - Hands Off!, vol. 01-02 (Eng. trans.)

[oyceter]

For some reason, I thought this was about psychic basketball players. There is one psychic basketball player, but the manga is not actually about basketball, thankfully.

It is, however, about psychic kids. Oohira Kotarou is aforementioned psychic basketball player, though the basketball really is not very important so far. He's recently transferred to Tokyo from an all-boys school, as his smaller physique and feminine face used to get him into situations. In case you were wondering, the first page of the series has him in a schoolgirl uniform (oh manga!).

But now he's living with his grandfather and his surly cousin Tatsuki, who used to be a good childhood friend of his and now brushes off any attempt at niceness. He's made friends with Urushiyama Yuuto, your standard womanizing guy with a heart of gold. Little does he know that his touch enhances other people's psychic powers; Tatsuki sees the past while Yuuto sees people's auras. Together, they fight crime!

No really, they actually do fight crime, albeit in a non-structured, very random way.

I wasn't too drawn in by the art, which is somewhat too sketchy and skinny for me, but I am already deeply in love with Tatsuki, who is your standard manga variation of the alpha male. Namely, he is brusque and gruff and says about three words every five pages and he will just as silently and gruffly put himself into mortal danger to protect Kotarou and then pretend nothing just happened. I am not sure why this version of alpha male gets to me, as opposed to the romance novel version, which just annoys the hell out of me, but it invariably does.

Kotarou, Yuuto and Tatsuki are all fairly standard manga and BL types (Kotarou fills the role of the clueless girly one), but I'm enjoying what Katsumoto is doing with them and how their respective powers embody their types. Kotarou doesn't know his touch enhances psychic powers, Yuuto is good with people because he reads auras, and Tatsuki violently reacts to being touched because he has been tragically non-literally scarred. And I absolutely adore the dynamics among the three, particularly the Kotarou-Tatsuki relationship (where is the fic??).

Just like with the main characters, some of the side plots are fairly standard manga tropes, but Katsumoto does small things with them that I enjoy. For an edging-toward-BL manga, the main female love interest has been very sympathetic. Also, as Kotarou is the girly one, he endlessly gets into trouble and needs to be rescued by Tatsuki. I might get tired of this some day, but so far, I love it to pieces.

And for anyone wondering, we already have completely random sibling incest complete with cross-dressing!

Also, have I mentioned completely falling for Tatsuki in a very dramatic and embarrassing way?

Comments

[octopedingenue]

There is no shame in loving Tatsuki with a pure and burning love. For I love him and Hands Off! so much! Kotarou, who will die fighting and biting against his girly uke helplessness destiny, who is genuinely crazy about basketball, who does not realize his own power of Naruto Jesus love! Tatsuki, who burns with secret rage and pain and guilt and above all love, shadowing his life like a hat of darkness! Yuuto, who flirts and talks tough but just wants the world to be happy and Yuuto/Tatsuki 4-ev-a! The recurring female characters, who actually recur, usually with speaking roles! The OT3! The omake with handpuppets!

Also, I love the English adaptation, which is by the same writer for Saiyuki and has much of the same snarky snap.

I have ancient posts that amuse me more than they should, if you want them.

[oyceter]

Eeee! Awesome!

I love Tatsuki SO MUCH! Your reviews are so right because he is so totally an Uchiha but I do not care despite how much I mock Sasuke because Tatsuki is more awesome! *blows raspberry at Sasuke*

Yay! And I even found some fic by following some of your links because there must be fic! Why is there not more fic?

I am planning on camping out at Borders tomorrow and reading the rest of this, muhahahahah!

We love Tatsuki!

[greenapple2004.livejournal.com]

Booo! Buy the rest of it! It is totally worth it, I personally guarantee. :-) Tatsuki only gets more awesome (as does Kotarou, once he stops getting kidnapped every two seconds), we only get more cool female leads, and Lianne's rewrite is continually a riot.

[oyceter]

Oh, I am planning on it! Just... when I actually have disposable income.

[greenapple2004.livejournal.com]

*gives you the Editorial Eye*