About the Mangaka

Kawai Toko has worked on a number of yaoi titles including this. Couldn’t find much else out sorry.

About the Manga

In the Walnut Vol. 1

What can I say, this is the second yaoi title that took me by surprise today, and it just barely fails to get on my Essential Read List, though only just.

The cover design had me a bit worried at first. Something about it just looks wrong, in the end I figured it was just the huge kick ass splattered right across the middle. It spoils the cover completely. It would have been a really good cover if the title was smaller and better placed.

I wasn’t overly keen on the internal art initially, but I have to admit that as I read through the volume I really got into it.

Our two leads are a fun couple that are so different they oddly make a great couple. Nakai is a fun character, and this is reflected well in his design. I especially liked the way Toko draws his chibi sides. I found myself chuckling over him more than a few times.

Tanizaki was equally well drawn, and his personality fits his style. His more rigid and colder design really fits well with his personality, and the times he thawed out a bit worked really well, since they were usually mixed with a chibi styled Nakai. The two differing personalities and designs worked excellently together.

The thing I found I liked the most, was that while the story revolves around the these two leads, it also spreads out from them and has interactions with others.

The thing I had a bit of trouble swallowing was that both of these guys were supposed to be the same age, I couldn’t get past thinking Tanizaki was a lot older, since Nakai tends to look and act like a school kid a lot of the time.

I really liked the relationship between the two, it has a good feel to it, and a good depth to it. Rather than a generic and superficial relationship.

The story is where it worked really well for me, the whole art dealer/counterfeiter works really well. Especially with the way that Toko wraps things around. I liked seeing the softer side of Tanizaki, and I especially liked the final chapter of the main story, where we get to see his darker side. I have to admit I found myself laughing over that.

What really impressed me though was that Toko was able to draw me in and make me forget that I was reading a yaoi title. Sure there are loads of hints, but they’re done really well and in a teasing way. It’s not until after the main arc that we get into the sex scenes.

I found the sex scenes in this volume a bit much at times, but overall they weren’t as bad as some others I’ve seen. I did find the omake story of how they met, and how Nakai got his revenge to be bloody funny.

While it’s not the “true love” sort of story that Solitaire is, it’s still a great read and one I’m looking forward to seeing continued in volume two. I’m especially hoping to see more stories like the last one, where Tanizaki turns the table on a couple of con artists at the auction. I thought that was bloody awesomely well done!!

Unfortunately where I had an issue was with June’s release. The version I read was on eManga, and the choice of font’s for the most part were okay. However for some of the out of bubble text the font used was to small. Even on the maximum zoom the site allows I was struggling to read them.

I doubt this would be as much an issue with the print edition (or I’m hoping!!) and it’s something I’ll be checking on when I can. Truthfully this is the reason this didn’t make my Essential Read List. Getting a headache while reading is never a good sign :D If this is better in my print version it’ll most likely get on my list as well.

The translation flows well, though I did wonder a few times if it had been tweaked a bit, since some of what they were saying just felt a bit weird.

All told though I have to admit that I did enjoy this volume as well, and I’m eagerly awaiting volume two.

Where to Buy

Note: Currently this volume seems to be out of print, and only available from Akadot.

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