Winter Demon Volume 1 (Yaoi)

List Price: $12.95 Discount Price: $6.89

Customer Reviews:

Good, very good [Posted on 2006-11-24]
I loved this one. When I read the first short story in the back of "Enslaved by the Dragon", I'll be the first to admit that I didn't care for it. I thought it ended to abruptly, and wasn't thrilled with the over all content. I thought it was to violent (odd, because I enjoyed "Enslaved by the Dragon...oh well). Anyway, when I read "Winter Demon", I fell in love. The poor demon who was so cruel in the short story learns his lesson in the most basic of ways. What he has done has been done to him. And even though the three fire demons are the "Bad Guys", I can't bring myself to dislike them. They're a tightly knit group that obviously cares for each other. And how bad can a guy be when he refuses to corrupt the child who tempts him because he needs something good in his life? The death scenes in this story are so touching. The monk remains steadfast in his dislike of his winter demon, but let's face it. The last time they met wasn't exactly a "pleasent" experience. So I forgive him. Hopefully, he begins to thaw in volume 2 (get it? "Winter Demon"? Thaw? I'm sorry.)

The other demon story was also very good. The good demon and the poor, emotionally abused but really well built mortal finding happiness together...aww. Oddly enough, it's the mortals who are the bad guys in this short story. Everyone is cruel to our poor uke, even his mother! And the monk who goes to "save" him gives the impression of cunning, not caring.

The one-page epilouge to that was also very cute.

The last short story, "Pinfeathers", left me unmoved. It might have been good as a full length story, but I don't think it worked. Oh well.

Rent the Book [Posted on 2007-12-08]
I didn't really have high hopes for Winter Demon considering Western manga is new and different from Japanese manga. Although I thought the plot was okay, I disliked the art in this manga. It's too simplistic and has none of that superior quality of bold effects so it makes the character's two dimensional. What I did like about this new manga is that I was pleasantly surprised that I wasn't bothered about Fuyu's change of role, it usually bothers me when a seme switches roles to a uke, but I found in this manga that it fit.

A good western yaoi [Posted on 2008-02-13]
This westernized yaoi manga is not as good as most Japanese yaoi that have been licensed in the U.S. However, it is much better than many other western offerings, and some Japanese ones, with an unusual story. Fuyu is a winter demon who raped a monk from a local village not long ago. Now the village is under attack by fire demons and only that monk can convince Fuyu to help. But, what will it cost him? And Fuyu will get more than he bargained for when the fire demons turn out stronger than he anticipated. These two have an uneasy relationship to say the least!

The art is not as clean looking as that of Japanese mangakas Nitta or Kodaka, but it doesn't look cartoonish either. The panels are laid out in a clear manner, with sufficient background to give some depth, and the text bubbles are clearly directed to their speaker. There is sex in the book, but while graphic it is not explicit (as with Nitta or Yamane). The book is laid out left to right, rather than in the Japanese style, but Yaoi press makes no bones about the fact that they do OEL/western yaoi. The cover art is lovely and the book well made. There is a secondary story after the primary one about another demon called Figaru. One nice thing Yaoi press has done is to take a "bonus" story and make it more than just an add on as with most Japanese yaoi. Figaru's is a sexy little story that will have surprising developments in the next two volumes of this series when they stories cross-over.

Overall, "Winter Demon" is worth the purchase if you're a yaoi fan looking for something new while waiting for the next volume of your favorite series. It's hot, with good art and an interesting storline. Recommended.

Winter Demon [Posted on 2008-09-22]
There is nothing cold about this demon because he's hot for the beautiful
monk. Haklin [the monk]is gorgeous alright but a little timid for my taste. There are 4 volumes with the 4th yet to be released. I love the art work of Studio Kosaru and the only fault I have is it's done right to left but then the good old USA seems to prefer this style. Sex is slow but gets hotter and more frequent by the third volume. Possibly the 4th will be the best. Volume 1 was enough for me, I was hooked and wanted more. I love demons and Fuyu is as pretty as new fallen snow.

Well...I don't know. [Posted on 2008-12-01]
I was simultaneously engaged and disappointed. I'll tell you up front, the uke and the seme both look like women to me. Also it reads left to right which threw me off after reading so much native manga. My favorite part of the whole thing was the epilogue, "Figaru." It has nothing to do with the main story except for the appearance of the priest, Shidan. It's about Figaru the incubus and Ichiro. Everyone makes fun of Ichiro; supposedly because he's ugly, which I don't get because he's really cute. (Especially when he blushes!) The dark-skinned Figaru is quite a tasty treat as well. Figaru is kind to him when no one else is, even his own mother! In this one, both uke and seme are decidedly male. In all honesty, I didn't like Pinfeathers at all. Radik has no redeeming qualities, and why the uke sleeps with him I still don't know. I'm a big softie, and frankly I felt nothing at all when I read it. While the uke had his cute moments, on the whole the characters weren't very pretty. I prefer my men a la Ayano Yamane. I know, I know, I'm a broken record! Although I liked "Figaru," I don't feel that it was worth the price of a whole book. Right now, I'm undecided as to whether or not I'll buy the next volume.

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