Maniac Shorts Shot (Yaoi)

By Leroy Douresseaux
July 22, 2010 - 14:47

Maniac Shorts Shot cover image

Rating: “18+ Mature Content”

Maniac Shorts-Shot is a collection of yaoi manga short stories. In these four storylines (over the course of fives short stories), four couples grapple with their inhibitions and sexual eccentricities.

In the title story, “Maniac Shorts Shot,” two college students find a large box of novelty men’s underwear. The aggressive Jin, a photography student, encourages his modest pal, Issei, to try them on. What starts off as a joke soon turns into a photo shoot and sex romp with some bondage thrown in.

In “Lo-Fi You, Hi-Fi Him,” Yasuhiko Hirose, who was formerly everyone’s errand boy in high school, meets an old classmate, Mao Azuma, who now works in a host club. They have feelings for one another that remain unspoken, and Mao has a girlfriend, of sorts.

In “Custom Heart Beat,” Sano has recently inherited his father’s motorcycle sales and repair shop, but he knows little of the business. Into his life roars one of his late father’s best customers – the tall, dark, and thugnificent Maeda. Maeda has strong feelings for Sano, but how can someone like him show his softer side? And can Sano make the shop and this relationship work?

In “Hair,” Inspector Tsukasa Hayashi is having a torrid affair with the popular hair dresser, Shougo Sawa, who has a hair fetish. Then, he learns that Sawa is a suspect in the investigation of a possible serial murderer. Hayashi does think that Sawa is eccentric (to say the least), but he is also an incredible lover who leaves Hayashi panting and moaning. How Hayashi resolves these dilemmas is a shocker.

Creator Miya Ousaka has created a collection of really crazy stories, and yes, crazy is the correct word. All the stories involve love to one extent or another, but obsession and naked lust shape much of these narratives. Readers looking for romance will find little of it here, but they will find an abundance of male genitalia. Because of its depictions of sexual acts and male anatomy, Maniac Shorts Shot is by far the most explicit 801 Media title that I’ve seen. To enjoy it, readers will have to suppress their prudish instincts.

On the other hand, Ousaka does offer some of the best figure drawing that I’ve seen in a while. Ousaka cartoons the human figure with exceptional skill and reminds me of the work of the great Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. So readers looking for beautiful bodies and pretty art will find it in Maniac Shorts Shot.