There comes a point in one’s manga reading life that you get sick and tired of the same old school story. At least for me, when it comes to school-based BL tales, I’ve set a strange expectation that I will find the same tale over and over again. Either the young man falls in love with his brash teacher or the freshman attempts to dominate his senior. I sometimes feel like BL has exhausted almost every permutation on school life.
So I had my hesitations in picking up Smells Like Green Spirit. First, it had a tacky title (seriously, it sounds like it attempts to be as cool as the Nirvana song). Second, the cover art for the first volume is odd. I can’t quite place other than “It doesn’t look like a BL title at all!â€
Perhaps those signs were telling about how unique this book really is.
Let’s start with Mishima’s Kimoi Hair…
The story begins with an uncomfortable scene of a beautiful boy with long hair being bullied by his schoolmates. Apparently, his hair was too beautiful that it was disgusting. We then discover that this bullied boy is Mishima who’s stuck in the boondocks and is surrounded by people who probably won’t understand his newfound epiphany: he was gay.
Mishima’s already resolved that this town will never understand that a boy like him will have an interest in beauty, make-up, and men. He’s resolved enough to be forgiving of his classmates who know less, reasoning with his mother that his small injuries were a result of some fun afternoon rough housing. I find Mishima’s character commendable and interesting because unlike most characters I’ve read who view their abuse as their trauma or victimisation, Mishima makes it his strength.
Given the backward mindset in his town, Mishima continues to live by the day, expressing as much of his new found identity when he can. A cute stroll around town with his lipstick on is not bad, isn’t it? However, a strange encounter with one of his bullies eventually leads him to a deep secret and a new ally. Kirino’s one of Mishima’s earliest perpetrators (and one who actually gave him a really cute haircut!) is also secretly gay in their little town. This then starts a beautiful friendship between two boys who are starting to grapple with their newfound sexualities.
Age old BL formula will tell me that this will eventually lead to the two of them falling in love and how this is a story of how they become meant for each other. But it isn’t. And I’m happy that this title even goes beyond that. Instead, Nagai dedicates the first volume to the birth of a friendship between these two kindred souls. Smells Like Green Spirit is one of those few BL titles that traces the growth of two young men (maybe three if we include the other ‘confused’ bully, Yumeno) as they discover more about their identity and sexuality. It’s a beautiful friendship, I might add. Laced with an interesting complexity which Nagai beautifully narrates.
Hick town is the best town
The series turns into an interesting mix of humour, discovery, romance, and fear that leaves every turn of the page quite unique and unexpected. To a degree you are engaged with how these two boys grow and it’s amusing watching them talk about mascara and all that stuff. And usually, in BL, the story will revolve just around them, but what I love so much about this series is it takes into the context their small town and the people around them and it gives their story this rich complexity often forgotten in the usual BL.
Unlike most BL, Smells Like Green Spirit has this small town consciousness and this is heightened in the second volume where the boys’ actions lead to particular repercussions. Its effect can be frightening, as in the case where Mishima discovers a teacher’s interest in him. It can also be heartwarming, as in the case when Yumeno struggles to identify his emotions for Mishima. It can also be heartbreaking, in the case of Kirino as soon as he hears from his mother the rumor that has been going around town.
Spoilerrific as those sound, it’s really barely grazing the surface. If anything, it’s one of those stories where the book fully immerses and connects you not only to its characters but to their community as well. And you know what’s funny? It’s not even a fantastic escapist town! It’s a small Japanese hick town in the mountains but damn, rarely do I read a community so alive and present in such a text.
This comic divorces from the whole “you and me against the world†BL logic and reframes it to “how can we be ourselves in a world like ours.†It’s a beautiful reframing to which this story answers in two different ways. And I love how this story placed these two endings in parallel with each other. It’s a good reminder of reality and how, as readers, there should be times when we shouldn’t set ourselves to expectations.
Does this mean this is not your conventional BL? In a way it is and in a way it isn’t. And that’s good isn’t it? I love it when a comic like Smells Like Green Spirit appears because it challenges every conditioning I’ve received from comics and gives me something new. Something fresh yet still familiar. Something real and yet something different.
I love how this story turned out and I’m glad I gave it a chance. It was rightfully peculiar. Because it had such an odd first impression, my expectations on this title was really low that it was such an amazing experience when it started breaking it. Oh god, I love this story. I love how it has made me uncomfortable at first and amazed at the end. So this is how a fairly realistic school-themed BL would read. It’s a gem in the rough among all the other stories out there and rightfully well placed and well recognised not just by BL fans but also by manga fans.((Interesting note, Smells Like Green Spirit has been at the top of Chil-chil’s BL and was recently listed in Comic Natalie’s Best Manga of 2013))
Did I tell you guys how I love this story? Yeah, I love this comic.
Series Information
Smells like Green Spirit by Saburo Nagai
No. of Volumes: 2
Serialized in Comic Be
Published by Fusion Product
Get the Japanese edition via: Amazon, Honto, Ebookjapan
Amen! This is a truly special story with some AMAZING artwork.
I’m am waiting for translations with bated breath, but even the raws blow me away.
The magaka is particularly gifted at drawing facial expressions.
And some of their frames are wickedly creepy, like nightmare inducing (I mean that as a compliment)
Hope this artist has a lot more stories to share because I can’t wait to read another!
I love the story of this manga… Love not only the plot but how each characters make their own impact to readers. Things got quite vague later on or is it just me that expected a different flow that what it ended up to be. I expected Kirino to end up happily with Edogawa-sensei on his early stages of becoming his true self but he made his decision afterall. For Yumeno and Mishima, I’m happy for the both of them. I love this manga as a whole even though I haven’t read yet the ending part in the manga bc
Ahaha. I must agree and for myself this continues to be my favorite manga of all time. When people tell me what’s your favorite BL, I tell them HAVE YOU READ SMELLS LIKE GREEN SPIRIT!?! It is so beautiful and to be honest, if I have time, I’d be happy to translate this series. ; A; Maybe in my spare time. I dunno. I don’t have time to scanlate but I am super happy that there are others who feel the same as I do about this title.
I find it interesting how people react to the ending of this title differently. There are those who super love it and there are those who feel like it ‘sold out’ to the ‘system’.
I exactly feel the same way as you… This was so far my favorite BL manga, I’m really into BLs that have nice stories and melts my heart. I also love The Specific Heat Capacity of Love manga.. It’s a nice BL manga, i highly recommend it if you haven’t read it yet (:
This story is soo diferent that you can’t find it almost nowhere translated.. A fansub started doing it but it only has until now 5 chapters translated. I was so enchanted to the story that I searched and read it with the chinese scans, and of course I didn’t understand almost anything but just by the drawing it got me this feeling that it was so beautiful, then I searched like crazy the scans at least in japanese and the cd drama (I had to register in two forums) and it was dificult even to find where I could buy it because I definetly want it! (the links you gave doesn’t work anymore), I’m trying to re-read it in japanese now given the fact that I understand a little more, until one day finally there will be a complete translation of this diamond~
Sometimes I feel fansubs translate the same things and similar stories..to sad but well, I think everyone should give it a try to this.
There is a new chapter updated yesterday, u can check it out on any manga sites but it only updated one chapter tho. I tried looking on diff sites or tried reading raw of this but i still can’t find anything bc just like u, i was also enchanted and hooked to the story
Luckily as a Chinese reader I was able to read this. I gotta admit, this book always leaves me crying in the end. It’s a really nice fresh breath of air from the other usual BL titles that I’ve read. Thank you for your review for this.
Could you summarize the ending perhaps? 🙁 I didn’t quite understand it.
I love this series as well. Very glad that I read your review today!
can you do a review for hitorijime my hero?
I will look into this once I get a copy of this manga! I read hitorijime my boyfriend when it ran in Jmanga and I liked it! This spin-off looks interesting!
Nice review! Unluckily I don’t read Japanese so I hope it gets licensed in English. It sounds like a very interesting story and different from the usual BL. Thanks for expressing your thoughts about this!
Thank you! I do hope so although it’s such a small publisher so I don’t know if it’ll even be published. But here’s hoping that it will because it’s an awesome story!