Sunflower 2 cover image courtesy of animecastle.com.

Rated “M” for “Mature Audiences 18+”

Sunflower 2 closes out the two-volume, high school romance by creator Hyouta Fujiyama (Ordinary Crush).  The series is set at Kinsei High School.  Not only is this academy the home of Japan’s future leaders; it also has a student body population that is 90% gay.

Boyish, blond Kunihisa Imaizumi unwittingly became a student at Kinsei and has had to deal with his fellow male students trying to date him.  The toughest advance, however, is coming from his best pal, the dark-haired Ryuhei Ohno.  When Kunihisa tells Ryuhei that he only wants to be friends, he’s shocked by how easy Ryuhei takes the rejection.  But Ryuhei, much to Kunihisa’s consternation, isn’t really taking “No” for an answer.

THE LOWDOWN:  Having not read the first volume, I don’t know how much the tone of the second volume of Sunflower is like the first.  Sunflower 2, which contains the last four chapters of this story, is a talky romantic drama/comedy about the pursuit of romance.  One character plays hard to get (Kunihisa), while the other comes across as a sly, but persistent rogue with a charming “Who? Me?” attitude (Ryuhei).  Manga-ka Hyouta Fujiyama’s figure drawing is not pretty or accomplished, but she gives her characters large, expressive eyes – the next best thing (after sexy bodies) in yaoi manga.

“More Than Just Heart, More Than Just Body,” a sort of coda to the Sunflower series, is actually better than the Sunflower chapters, if for no other reason than that the narrative has a smoother flow.  While Kunihisa and Rhuhei’s romance continues, this story focuses on the romance of two supporting characters (Fumiaki Kozue and Leiji Sumiyoshi) and deals with the complications of master/servant sexual relationships in an interesting and unique manner.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Because it’s so talky and light on sex scenes, Sunflower may appeal to fans of dialogue-heavy romance.

B-