Manga Review | Tenma and Sakaki by Arinco

A BL With a Vers Couple Featured

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Review
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Warning:

This review will contain spoilers for the manga and anime series Tenma and Sakaki. While the manga may vary slightly from all other forms of media, it may have similar story elements and could be considered spoilers.

Content Warning: There may be references to jealousy, gossiping, amateur piercing, and dubious consent, as they appear in the manga.

Synopsis:

Tenma and Sakaki are the kings of their school. They are constantly surrounded by endless streams of girls who worship them and even receive the admiration of other boys in their classes. While they are both beloved, they couldn’t be more different, and exist in entirely separate worlds. Sakaki is perceived as this charismatic, extroverted, cool guy, while Tenma is more of an aloof, prince-like teen. They never interact… at least as far as their classmates know.

In reality, they are in a secret relationship.

A super sexual one, at that. They spend all of their evenings taking turns topping each other and seeing the personalities they hide deep inside. No one knows each of them as well as they know each other, and they wouldn’t have it any other way.

Review:

The cover art on this one is interesting. If I had seen it in passing, I don’t think I would’ve read it, but I saw this being mentioned as a vers title, so I had to give it a go. While I wouldn’t say the art is fantastic or the most consistent, it is much nicer than the cover might have led me to believe. The main issue it has is when the characters are turned in profile, and they look squished vertically – they honestly don’t even look like the same characters from these angles, which is wild. But it is otherwise, nice. I also want to mention there are visual pubes, and they are actually nice looking (none of those wire pubes like in Tiger’s Den). It was a nice surprise.

Another nice surprise? This is 99% smut. I talk about smut titles that try too hard to have plot, or that successfully integrate superficial narrative to facilitate the smut (Bane of My Existence, highly recommend). This, thankfully, falls into the success category. I’d even go so far as to say this barely even tries to have a plot, focusing instead on Tenma and Sakaki flip-fucking in a never-ending stream. With that said, if you are looking for BL with a plot, stay far, far away from this one. I’ll admit, it can be a bit tiring just seeing these two constantly having sex with very little reprieve in between, but it is so rare to see two characters in BL actually swap positions, especially within a single session, that it is refreshing in its own way.

I will say, what made it interesting, beyond the sex, is seeing how differently Tenma and Sakaki feel about bottoming. Since most characters are exclusively a top or a bottom, there is a whole other side of themselves that we tend to miss out on. Sakaki, for example, doesn’t actually feel much pleasure from the act of bottoming, but he is so turned on by Tenma’s reactions and the fact that he can still take control (gosh, I love power bottoms) that’s where he derives his pleasure. Meanwhile, Tenma is super sensitive and enjoys it because he feels everything while bottoming. They represent the range and variety of pleasure and where it can be derived from, which I appreciate seeing. Tenma is the physical, and Sakaki is the emotional.

Now, while I did say there is pretty much no plot, what plot there is is just enough to make you feel the warm fuzzies. About halfway through the volume, we get a flashback chapter that shows Sakaki’s first encounter with Tenma. It emphasizes, again, how different they are, but when they do collide, they reveal that their outsides hide their true inner selves. Tenma, though seemingly aloof, is actually just inexperienced and sensitive. Sakaki, similarly, who seems to be a bright, friendly person, has a deep-down sadistic streak. We see this reflected time and time again during sex, and how much they adore this hidden side of their partner, but it’s in this chapter that we see when they first expose themselves to each other in an intimate, though less sexual, way. Sakaki gives Tenma his first piercing, marking him as his, and exposing Tenma’s soft side in the process. It is pretty powerful for an overall superficial manga.

Results:

It is so nice to see true vers representation in BL. Admittedly, that rep might have skewed my views on this one, but if I have to give a million positive reviews on a title like this to get more vers work made and licensed, then I’m willing to do it. It is a very superficial and very smutty title, but deep within, in a very short and small window, there is some depth in there. Not enough to satisfy anyone actually looking for a story, but just enough to see why these two are so desperate to tear down their partner’s walls. It’s fun. Enjoy it for what it is, and you won’t be disappointed.

Have you read Tenma and Sakaki? If so, what do you think? Do you agree with my assessment? Do you not? Let me know, and comment below!