Comics / Manga / Yaoi Manga

Where Has Love Gone? (Yaoi)

By Leroy Douresseaux
January 26, 2009 - 19:04

Where Has Love Gone cover image is courtesy of Anime Castle Books.

Rated “M” for “Mature Audiences 18+”

Motoi Takayama is in the closet as far as his co-workers at a pharmaceutical company knowing that he is gay.  Still, he has his eye on Ryouichi Ishikawa, a highly successful sales representative who is straight, but his no-nonsense personality is off-putting to his colleagues, including Takayama.  A coincidental meeting outside of work between Takayama and Ishikawa reveals the former’s homosexuality, but Ishikawa doesn’t “out” Takayama to everyone.

Instead, Ishikawa uses this information to force himself on Takayama, and for some reason, Takayama finds himself unable to resist this forced sex.  The question before Takayama is will a purely physical relationship be enough, and can he trust Ishikawa, a straight man who insists on having sex with him?

For all the tawdriness of its concept, Where Has Love Gone? is, sadly, rather tame.  A story about a straight man who blackmails his gay co-worker into having sex shouts out to be steamy, especially in the form of yaoi manga, but manga-ka Ryoku Tsunoda is perfectly happy to plod along to a predictable conclusion.  Where Has Love Gone? is not a disaster; it’s simply a work by a creator playing safe in a genre that gives her room to be unrestrained.

Included in this tankoubon (book collection) is a story entitled, “March Revolution,” about a girlish-looking young man named Sachi Ueda and his childhood friend, the ambitious young man, Daisuke Hinata.  When they were little kids, Sachi was laughed at because his thick, wavy blond hair made him look like a girl, but Daisuke had no problem befriending him.  Now, just having entered adulthood, they have to be honest with each other about what could be the end of their friendship or the beginning of something daunting.

While “March Revolution” is certainly a “typical” romance – straight or gay – it’s livelier and more heartfelt, even more genuine, than this collection’s title story.  It makes you care about the question, Where Has Love Gone?

B

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Last Updated: November 29, 2025 - 16:51