Candy Color Paradox Graphic Novel Volume 1 cover image

Candy Color Paradox is a yaoi manga from manga creator, Isaku Natsume (Dash!).  Yaoi manga is a subset of boys' love (or BL) manga, which depicts amorous situations between male romantic leads.  Yaoi manga usually features explicit depictions of sex between those male leads.  Candy Color Paradox follows two reporters whose news agency forces them to work together and whose bickering eventually turns romantic.

Candy Color Paradox, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 4) opens at Shinkan News.  Satoshi Onoe has just learned from his bosses that he is to be paired with an old rival, Motoharu “Kabu” Kaburagi.  Onoe is known for his writing skills and ethical reporting.  Kaburagi is a photographer with a knack for stakeouts, for using informants, for assuming false identities, and for using sexual intercourse to get tips and leads for his assignments.

Onoe is irritated that he is now on stakeouts of high profile public figures and celebrities with Kaburagi.  He chafes at the notion that Kaburagi, who started his career about the same time he did, is some kind of quasi-tabloid journalism star.  But when Kaburagi suddenly kisses him...

[This volume includes the bonus story, “The Aftermath” and an “Afterword.”]

THE LOWDOWN:  Yaoi manga is not pornography.  Explicit depictions of sexual intercourse may be inevitable in this genre, but yaoi mangaka deliver boys' love stories that are about drama, character, and romance.  In the best of the genre, the creators also take their characters' careers, professions, jobs, and/or social status seriously.

Candy Color Paradox Graphic Novel Volume 1 could be mistaken for a normal workplace drama and romantic comedy.  Isaku Natsume makes her readers earn the sex scenes by enjoying how she fully delves into the world of journalism that she has fashioned for Candy Color Paradox.  I am intrigued by the news stories Onoe and Kaburagi chase, and I look forward to more of that in future chapters.

I like the sharp line work of Natsume's art and her attention to detail in composition and in backgrounds.  I like that she suggests that one night of sexual romps won't change the fundamental conflicts between her two stars.  This is a series worth following.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Readers looking for a yaoi manga that is truly a romantic comedy and also takes the characters' careers seriously will want to try Candy Color Paradox.

A
8 out of 10

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