Love Mode
Encyclopedia
Love Mode is a yaoi
manga
series by Shimizu Yuki
.
It was first serialized in the Japanese monthly yaoi
magazine Be x Boy in 1995 and released in 11 individual paperback volumes by the now defunct publisher Biblos. The series is currently being published in English
by BLU.
In addition, seven volumes of drama CDs have been released, with one of them Love Mode: Host Hen covering the story in volumes 6 and 7; Fly Me To Heaven, Thunder Honey and Sweet Trap.
Though all of the couples get a considerable amount of spotlight, without a doubt, the main focus of the story is the once dysfunctional Aoe family and their lovers. Aoe Reiji himself owns the Blue Boy and is the only main character to appear in all eleven volumes.
relationship
throughout most of the first volume, he finds himself slowly falling for Takamiya and eventually comes to terms with himself, loving Takamiya for the person he is. Still, Izumi is rather skittish about his relationship with Takamiya and often rejects the older man’s advances.
Takamiya Katsura: Twenty-eight years old, first appearance: Volume 1. He first met Sakashita Izumi when he was originally supposed to meet Yanase Izumi (see below), but fell in love the high schooler anyway. He is very kind, gentle, considerate, cares about Izumi’s feelings, and is enthusiastic to win Izumi’s heart. Although he often pushes his young lover’s boundaries, he doesn’t violate them. In a poll once hosted by Biblos, Takamiya got the most votes for someone female readers would want to marry. He and Reiji met while in college in England.
Aoe Reiji: Twenty-eight years old, turns twenty-nine at the end of Volume 7, first appearance: Volume 1. He’s the owner of several establishments and businesses, including the Blue Boy, the gay dating club responsible for Izumi and Takamiya’s happiness together. He’s also a long-time friend of Takamiya’s. Aoe is work-obsessed and often cold to those around him (particularly Izumi), but his actions and words always mean well. Reiji himself had topped the polls for the favorite seme
in Biblos during Love Mode's run.
Shirakawa Naoya: First appearance: Volume 2. Orphan
ed at a young age when his parents died in an auto accident (a traumatic
experience that haunted him for years), he was taken in by Aoe Reiji, “out of kindness.” As a result of Aoe’s charity, he fell in love with the older man. Naoya is well obedient to Aoe, and his brother Kiichi (see below). Naoya is often attributed to a cat (he also adopted a kitten Gyoku), known simply as the 'kitten' when people talk about Reiji's lover.
Yanase Izumi: First appearance: Volume 1. The “other” Izumi Takamiya was supposed to meet with from Aoe’s club. He’s tender and soft-spoken. He has a very troubled past: He was brutally rape
d at the age of thirteen because his parents couldn’t repay a Yakuza
debt. He meets and falls in love with Arashi (see below), but couldn’t decide if he could fully express himself to him because he feared Arashi’s family couldn’t cope with their gay
son, and because of his past. Due to his health problems and his falling in love with Arashi, Izumi retires from Blue Boy.
Iketani Arashi: First appearance: Volume 3. He’s a carefree, laid-back, playful high schooler who thinks Yanase Izumi is cute, even though he’s a guy. Even after learning of Izumi’s troubled past, he lets Izumi know he doesn’t care about it and that he loves Izumi for who he is now, and even offers himself to ease the pain.
Aoe Kiichi: Thirty-one years old, first appearance: volume 2. A doctor, Aoe Reiji’s elder brother, the self-professed "Queen of Aoe", and a close friend of Yanase Izumi and Naoya, both of whom he tenderly endears. He thinks of Naoya as another brother. Kiichi is always concerned about Reiji, and is often pokey about his (other’s) business. He’s playful, too. He's the one who came up with the kitten nickname for Naoya. He served once as doctors to both Yanase Izumi and Saginuma Tomoki.
Kashima Haruomi: Twenty-eight years old, first appearance: volume 3. He is the adopted, elder brother of Kashima Shuei (see below), current housekeeper
of “Aoe,” and Kiichi’s personal bodyguard
and lover. He was prepared for his position since childhood, as he learned several kinds of martial arts
and other essential abilities (it’s somewhat of a tradition for any member of “Aoe”). Haroumi is generally calm and solemn, in contrast to Shuei. Haruomi also has a twin younger brother whom he was separated from when he was adopted into the Kashima family.
Kashima Shuei: Twenty-seven years old, first appearance: Volume 2. He is Aoe Reiji’s personal secretary, and works for the “Aoe” house, like Haruomi. He's one of the most carefree individuals in Love Mode, seemingly immune to Reiji's anger and readily joining in Kiichi's antics. He’s also the only heterosexual
guy in the entire series.
Takimura Rin: First appearance: Volume 7. He’s a host of Aoe’s Blue Boy, and became the number one uke
after Yanase Izumi retired. He’s cute, but has a nasty temper, and he accepts only high-class customers and doesn’t welcome sexual relationship requests. However, since Ian (see below) has signed him up for a long-term contract, it seems Ian is the only club member Rin has ever actually had any relationship with. Rin is reserved and well mannered, but easily irritated when coupling with Ian. He was raised by Jin (see below), who is Rin’s primary consultant in several matters.
Ian Sanders: Seventeen years old, first appearance: Volume 7. Even at the age of seventeen, he is one of the world’s most famous super-models. He requested Izumi of the Blue Boy, but got Rin instead. Ian is a passionate young man, and bursting with energy and testosterone
, which Rin doesn’t take too well to.
Katsuki Kyosuke: First appearance: Volume 7. The “Wild Boar
” of the series, he falls in love with Jin (see below) at first sight. Katsuki looks to become a host at Blue Boy, with Jin as his personal trainer
. He’s friends with Seiichi (see below), and he also cries easily when he’s drunk.
Kuniaki Jinnai: Thirty-six years old, first appearance: Volume 6. Called “Jin” for short, he’s the oldest host at Blue Boy. He’s also the number two seme
, after Seiichi (see below). His first love was originally an Arab
prince. Jin never shared his love for over an entire decade, until he met Katsuki. He is also one of the hosts that has worked for both Reiji and his father Shougo, Blue Boy's previous owner.
Saginuma Tomoki: Fourteen years old, first appearance: Volume 6. He was the son of a famous actress, but his existence was never revealed. Suffering from a terminal illness
, he wanted to know what it was like to be truly loved as his last wish. Kiichi was his doctor, and hired Seiichi, whom Tomoki first met at a hospital when Seiichi went to see Yanase Izumi, to be his lover for two weeks. This came to a screeching halt when Tomoki’s sickness got the better of him. Seiichi retired from Blue Boy in order to be with Tomoki, who decided to return home instead of stay in the hospital. He lived the final chapter of his life with Seiichi. To date, Tomoki is most likely the youngest client Blue Boy has ever had.
Amagai Seiichi: First appearance: Volume 6. He’s the number one on the seme side of the Blue Boy. Kiichi hired him to be young Tomoki’s lover for a two-week period, and was confused about his feelings toward the boy after the contract expired prematurely. Seiichi followed Jin’s advice to retire from Blue Boy and stay with Tomoki as a spouse, but returned to work after Tomoki died. He is also good friends with Katsuki.
Aoe Shougo: Reiji and Kiichi's father, and the person responsible for the existence of the Blue Boy. A coldly manipulative
and sadist
ic person, he enjoyed profiting off the misery and ruin of others. He had almost no relationship with either of his sons and only saw value in Reiji, whom he believed could both run the family and carry on the Aoe name. He saw Kiichi as more of something just there and something to be used for his own gain. One instance of this is when he imprisoned him on the family grounds for a few years. Though Shougo ended up leaving everything to Reiji, Reiji only took hold of the businesses and gave the Aoe estate to Kiichi.
Yaoi
In careful Japanese enunciation, all three vowels are pronounced separately, for a three-mora word, . The English equivalent is . also known as Boys' Love, is a Japanese popular term for female-oriented fictional media that focus on homoerotic or homoromantic male relationships, usually created by...
manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series by Shimizu Yuki
Shimizu Yuki
is a Japanese manga artist. Shimizu-sensei hit it big with Love Mode and is currently working on the popular Ze for the publisher Shinshokan. She's very health conscious and loves motorcycles. Shimizu-sensei's introduction to boys' love manga was when she read an issue of the magazine June...
.
It was first serialized in the Japanese monthly yaoi
Yaoi
In careful Japanese enunciation, all three vowels are pronounced separately, for a three-mora word, . The English equivalent is . also known as Boys' Love, is a Japanese popular term for female-oriented fictional media that focus on homoerotic or homoromantic male relationships, usually created by...
magazine Be x Boy in 1995 and released in 11 individual paperback volumes by the now defunct publisher Biblos. The series is currently being published in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
by BLU.
In addition, seven volumes of drama CDs have been released, with one of them Love Mode: Host Hen covering the story in volumes 6 and 7; Fly Me To Heaven, Thunder Honey and Sweet Trap.
Plot
Love Mode itself is a compilation of several stories (most often short) involving various degrees of gay couples. Every one of these couples is linked to an establishment known as the Blue Boy. The Blue Boy is a gay host club where anyone wielding enough money can hire out a very attractive man either to pretty up a party or for sex. Most of the couples consist of either hosts/ex-hosts, clients/ex-clients, or both.Though all of the couples get a considerable amount of spotlight, without a doubt, the main focus of the story is the once dysfunctional Aoe family and their lovers. Aoe Reiji himself owns the Blue Boy and is the only main character to appear in all eleven volumes.
Cast
Sakashita Izumi: Sixteen years old, first appearance: Volume 1. Izumi was an average high school kid interested in meeting girls. He is set up on a blind date, thus meeting Takamiya Katsura, a handsome, older man. Izumi tries to back out, but he finds himself going out with Takamiya anyway and actually enjoying himself. As it would turn out, Takamiya was originally supposed to meet another person also named “Izumi” from a high-class gay dating club. Although Izumi opposes the idea of a homosexualHomosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
relationship
Interpersonal relationship
An interpersonal relationship is an association between two or more people that may range from fleeting to enduring. This association may be based on limerence, love, solidarity, regular business interactions, or some other type of social commitment. Interpersonal relationships are formed in the...
throughout most of the first volume, he finds himself slowly falling for Takamiya and eventually comes to terms with himself, loving Takamiya for the person he is. Still, Izumi is rather skittish about his relationship with Takamiya and often rejects the older man’s advances.
Takamiya Katsura: Twenty-eight years old, first appearance: Volume 1. He first met Sakashita Izumi when he was originally supposed to meet Yanase Izumi (see below), but fell in love the high schooler anyway. He is very kind, gentle, considerate, cares about Izumi’s feelings, and is enthusiastic to win Izumi’s heart. Although he often pushes his young lover’s boundaries, he doesn’t violate them. In a poll once hosted by Biblos, Takamiya got the most votes for someone female readers would want to marry. He and Reiji met while in college in England.
Aoe Reiji: Twenty-eight years old, turns twenty-nine at the end of Volume 7, first appearance: Volume 1. He’s the owner of several establishments and businesses, including the Blue Boy, the gay dating club responsible for Izumi and Takamiya’s happiness together. He’s also a long-time friend of Takamiya’s. Aoe is work-obsessed and often cold to those around him (particularly Izumi), but his actions and words always mean well. Reiji himself had topped the polls for the favorite seme
Seme
Seme may refer to:*Seme Border, a settlement in Nigeria on the border with Benin*Seme , a Maasai term for a type of lion hunting knife*Seme , Japanese martial arts term meaning to attack...
in Biblos during Love Mode's run.
Shirakawa Naoya: First appearance: Volume 2. Orphan
Orphan
An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...
ed at a young age when his parents died in an auto accident (a traumatic
Psychological trauma
Psychological trauma is a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a traumatic event...
experience that haunted him for years), he was taken in by Aoe Reiji, “out of kindness.” As a result of Aoe’s charity, he fell in love with the older man. Naoya is well obedient to Aoe, and his brother Kiichi (see below). Naoya is often attributed to a cat (he also adopted a kitten Gyoku), known simply as the 'kitten' when people talk about Reiji's lover.
Yanase Izumi: First appearance: Volume 1. The “other” Izumi Takamiya was supposed to meet with from Aoe’s club. He’s tender and soft-spoken. He has a very troubled past: He was brutally rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
d at the age of thirteen because his parents couldn’t repay a Yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
debt. He meets and falls in love with Arashi (see below), but couldn’t decide if he could fully express himself to him because he feared Arashi’s family couldn’t cope with their gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
son, and because of his past. Due to his health problems and his falling in love with Arashi, Izumi retires from Blue Boy.
Iketani Arashi: First appearance: Volume 3. He’s a carefree, laid-back, playful high schooler who thinks Yanase Izumi is cute, even though he’s a guy. Even after learning of Izumi’s troubled past, he lets Izumi know he doesn’t care about it and that he loves Izumi for who he is now, and even offers himself to ease the pain.
Aoe Kiichi: Thirty-one years old, first appearance: volume 2. A doctor, Aoe Reiji’s elder brother, the self-professed "Queen of Aoe", and a close friend of Yanase Izumi and Naoya, both of whom he tenderly endears. He thinks of Naoya as another brother. Kiichi is always concerned about Reiji, and is often pokey about his (other’s) business. He’s playful, too. He's the one who came up with the kitten nickname for Naoya. He served once as doctors to both Yanase Izumi and Saginuma Tomoki.
Kashima Haruomi: Twenty-eight years old, first appearance: volume 3. He is the adopted, elder brother of Kashima Shuei (see below), current housekeeper
Housekeeper (servant)
A housekeeper is an individual responsible for the cleaning and maintenance of the interior of a residence, including direction of subordinate maids...
of “Aoe,” and Kiichi’s personal bodyguard
Bodyguard
A bodyguard is a type of security operative or government agent who protects a person—usually a famous, wealthy, or politically important figure—from assault, kidnapping, assassination, stalking, loss of confidential information, terrorist attack or other threats.Most important public figures such...
and lover. He was prepared for his position since childhood, as he learned several kinds of martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
and other essential abilities (it’s somewhat of a tradition for any member of “Aoe”). Haroumi is generally calm and solemn, in contrast to Shuei. Haruomi also has a twin younger brother whom he was separated from when he was adopted into the Kashima family.
Kashima Shuei: Twenty-seven years old, first appearance: Volume 2. He is Aoe Reiji’s personal secretary, and works for the “Aoe” house, like Haruomi. He's one of the most carefree individuals in Love Mode, seemingly immune to Reiji's anger and readily joining in Kiichi's antics. He’s also the only heterosexual
Heterosexuality
Heterosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, physical or romantic attractions to persons of the opposite sex";...
guy in the entire series.
Takimura Rin: First appearance: Volume 7. He’s a host of Aoe’s Blue Boy, and became the number one uke
Uke
In Japanese martial arts, the is the person who "receives" a technique.The exact role of uke also known as a partner, varies between the different arts and often within the art itself depending on the situation...
after Yanase Izumi retired. He’s cute, but has a nasty temper, and he accepts only high-class customers and doesn’t welcome sexual relationship requests. However, since Ian (see below) has signed him up for a long-term contract, it seems Ian is the only club member Rin has ever actually had any relationship with. Rin is reserved and well mannered, but easily irritated when coupling with Ian. He was raised by Jin (see below), who is Rin’s primary consultant in several matters.
Ian Sanders: Seventeen years old, first appearance: Volume 7. Even at the age of seventeen, he is one of the world’s most famous super-models. He requested Izumi of the Blue Boy, but got Rin instead. Ian is a passionate young man, and bursting with energy and testosterone
Testosterone
Testosterone is a steroid hormone from the androgen group and is found in mammals, reptiles, birds, and other vertebrates. In mammals, testosterone is primarily secreted in the testes of males and the ovaries of females, although small amounts are also secreted by the adrenal glands...
, which Rin doesn’t take too well to.
Katsuki Kyosuke: First appearance: Volume 7. The “Wild Boar
Boar
Wild boar, also wild pig, is a species of the pig genus Sus, part of the biological family Suidae. The species includes many subspecies. It is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig, an animal with which it freely hybridises...
” of the series, he falls in love with Jin (see below) at first sight. Katsuki looks to become a host at Blue Boy, with Jin as his personal trainer
Personal trainer
A personal trainer is a fitness professional involved in exercise prescription and instruction. They motivate clients by setting goals and providing feedback and accountability to clients. Trainers also measure their client's strengths and weaknesses with fitness assessments...
. He’s friends with Seiichi (see below), and he also cries easily when he’s drunk.
Kuniaki Jinnai: Thirty-six years old, first appearance: Volume 6. Called “Jin” for short, he’s the oldest host at Blue Boy. He’s also the number two seme
Seme
Seme may refer to:*Seme Border, a settlement in Nigeria on the border with Benin*Seme , a Maasai term for a type of lion hunting knife*Seme , Japanese martial arts term meaning to attack...
, after Seiichi (see below). His first love was originally an Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
prince. Jin never shared his love for over an entire decade, until he met Katsuki. He is also one of the hosts that has worked for both Reiji and his father Shougo, Blue Boy's previous owner.
Saginuma Tomoki: Fourteen years old, first appearance: Volume 6. He was the son of a famous actress, but his existence was never revealed. Suffering from a terminal illness
Terminal illness
Terminal illness is a medical term popularized in the 20th century to describe a disease that cannot be cured or adequately treated and that is reasonably expected to result in the death of the patient within a short period of time. This term is more commonly used for progressive diseases such as...
, he wanted to know what it was like to be truly loved as his last wish. Kiichi was his doctor, and hired Seiichi, whom Tomoki first met at a hospital when Seiichi went to see Yanase Izumi, to be his lover for two weeks. This came to a screeching halt when Tomoki’s sickness got the better of him. Seiichi retired from Blue Boy in order to be with Tomoki, who decided to return home instead of stay in the hospital. He lived the final chapter of his life with Seiichi. To date, Tomoki is most likely the youngest client Blue Boy has ever had.
Amagai Seiichi: First appearance: Volume 6. He’s the number one on the seme side of the Blue Boy. Kiichi hired him to be young Tomoki’s lover for a two-week period, and was confused about his feelings toward the boy after the contract expired prematurely. Seiichi followed Jin’s advice to retire from Blue Boy and stay with Tomoki as a spouse, but returned to work after Tomoki died. He is also good friends with Katsuki.
Aoe Shougo: Reiji and Kiichi's father, and the person responsible for the existence of the Blue Boy. A coldly manipulative
Psychological manipulation
Psychological manipulation is a type of social influence that aims to change the perception or behavior of others through underhanded, deceptive, or even abusive tactics. By advancing the interests of the manipulator, often at the other's expense, such methods could be considered exploitative,...
and sadist
Sadism and masochism as medical terms
In psychiatry, the terms sadism and masochism describe a personality type characterized by the actor or actrix deriving pleasure and gratification from inflicting physical pain and humiliation ; and from suffering pain and humiliation upon the self ; such pleasure often is sexual, but not...
ic person, he enjoyed profiting off the misery and ruin of others. He had almost no relationship with either of his sons and only saw value in Reiji, whom he believed could both run the family and carry on the Aoe name. He saw Kiichi as more of something just there and something to be used for his own gain. One instance of this is when he imprisoned him on the family grounds for a few years. Though Shougo ended up leaving everything to Reiji, Reiji only took hold of the businesses and gave the Aoe estate to Kiichi.