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The one color insert is actually double sided so that is a nice touch. He expresses his love for him like any high school boy with a crush would; he attacks him in an empty classroom and has his way with him. Outside of the color insert, there are only eight black and white illustrations scattered throughout as opposed to the usual ten or eleven. Realizing just what he's done Hikaru is humiliated and asks how he can atone for his actions. Even with that, I still enjoyed it overall. Shima definitely looks the part of the uke and really doesn't look old enough to be the teacher. One thing to be aware of is that the sex scenes are not described.
His personality conflicts with his looks as he acts more like a seme in how he treats Hikaru.I wasn't really sure if I was going to like this one because it didn't seem like there was much to it. Hikaru could not be more thrilled and so their make-believe relationship begins.Hikaru is the seme in this relationship, however, being the younger one he comes across as more inexperienced and nervous around Shima. Surprisingly, I did like it quite a bit. Overall, I really enjoyed this story and think the author did a nice job representing the feelings of the characters.
Hikaru is in love with his teacher, Shima. at all. If you're looking for explicit or even moderately descriptive sex scenes you won't find it in this one. Another thing is that this novel runs on the short side at only 130 pages. Shima acts very indifferent to Hikaru's constant expression of his love but periodically we get a glimpse of his true feelings. The translation is pretty good, there were only a few times that I had to back track and reread a sentence. Instead of turning him in to the authorities, Shima decides Hikaru will be his "make-believe" lover until he graduates. The characters as illustrated are attractive but I wouldn't say overly sexy.
Hikaru's personality is very endearing and I found myself wondering just how this one would end. The author does manage to slip in a little bit of a twist at the end, which I though was a nice touch. As I mentioned earlier, Shima the teacher looks younger than the student so I think they could have done a better representation of the age of the characters. The lack of sexual description and length of the overall novel may make you want to think twice, however.Plot = B+Character Design = BBook Design/Illustrations = B+Sexual Content = DTranslation = A- Overall Grade = B-
I bought this novelization of the manga "Passion" hoping that it would delve more deeply into the characters and their motivations (what was Shima thinking). The writing isn't great - I'd say it's on a par with the cheaper Harlequin romances - and there's absolutely no character development. Unfortunately, it doesn't. It's exactly the same story as the first volume of the manga, but without the artwork that makes the manga worthwhile. I was left knowing no more about the characters than I did when I started the book. If you've read the manga, you can skip this forgettable novelization.
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