Holiday Review #15: BLACK BLOOD by The Manga Test Drive / Anime Blog Tracker

Holiday Review #15: BLACK BLOOD

Only one book this year dared to ask the question "can you make a BL manga about a man and a cyborg, much less make it good?"BLACK BLOOD, by Hayate Kuku. First published in 2021 and first published in North America in 2025.PLOT:In the far-off future, a cyborg named Ethan is sent to the planet of Peridot to work as a security guard on a human terraforming project. It's there that he meets Mihail, a botanist trying to study the native plantlife of this strange planet. Ethan gets assigned to be Mihail's security on his missions, and the two soon find themselves drawn to one another. Is it love? And how does love work for a man who is no longer human, a man made more for the battlefield than romance?STORY:Science fiction not only allows creators to exercise their imagination by picturing future worlds, but using those worlds to explore some of the big philosophical questions of life: what does it mean to be human? How do you determine your own sense of humanity when most of your body is artificial? Black Blood tries to explore these sorts of questions within the framework of a gentle gay romance.Most of that angst comes from Ethan, who's been a cyborg for so long that he's gotten used to the distance he feels not just from other people but his own emotions. His emotional journey is the backbone of this story, as falling for Mihail has him anxious for the first time about these strange new feelings and the keen differences between his artificial body and Mihail's body of flesh and bone. It adds poignancy to what is otherwise a fairly standard and safe romantic arc. Alas, Mihail can't help but come off as a flatter character in comparison. He's meant to be a more eager, happy-go-lucky sort of guy, but as the book goes on his eagerness and emotional sensitivity starts to feel distractingly maidenly, as if his personality is slowly being swapped out with that of a teen shojo heroine.If this book has any sort of answer as to what makes anyone human, it's the ability to form relationships with others (be they romantic or platonic). It's a cozy ethos that is reflected not just in Ethan and Mihail's relationship but the ones Ethan forms with the other cyborgs in the security department. They are not as technologically advanced as him, but they all support one another, compensating for the features others may lack and providing Ethan with the support he needs as both a man and a cyborg. When he's at a loss to define his feelings, they spell it out plainly. When Ethan is hesitant to make a move, they cheer him on from the sidelines. They are even willing to chip in near the end to buy Ethan a robo-peen! If that's not a sign of true friendship, I don't know what is. Their support and comradery works hand-in-hand with the romance to make this the most cozy sci-fi manga I've read in a long time, BL or otherwise.ART: Kuku certainly set themselves a challenge with this story when it came to Ethan. His cyborg body needed to be removed enough from the human form to make the story make sense but still needed to be attractive enough that your average fujo would understand why Mihail would find him attractive in the first place. The way they chose to thread this particular needle was to give him a body shaped like that of a well-cut man but a distinctly robotic head, a mostly featureless glass dome with only a stylized jawline with fangs to give it any sort of definition. Thus, anything Ethan cannot say out loud has to be conveyed entirely through posture and pose. Thankfully Kuku is more than up to the task, conveying everything from longing to concern to anxiety. They even managed to think up a mildly amusing sight gag for him, visualizing what would be a raised heartbeat by having the hydraulics in his neck suddenly spring a leak.They definitely had a lot of fun coming up with the various forms the other cyborgs, conveying how technologically different they are from Ethan while playing around with how human they do or do not appear. They are by far the most fantastical and futuristic touch this story has to offer, since so much of it takes place inside buildings and the planet itself is seemingly devoid of life beyond small plant-like lifeforms. They also managed to liven up what are some otherwise rote (but otherwise well-drawn and tastefully storyboarded) sex scenes by the fact that Ethan wasn't given any genitalia as part of his standard build. It forces Ethan and Mihail to be a little creative during their first time and if anything I think it kind of enhances the intimacy of the entire scene.RATING:Just as Ethan and Mihail's relationship is a sweet fusion of man and machine, Black Blood is a fusion of BL romance and science fiction that is approachable but substantial. It's a quiet little gem that I feel could appeal even to those who might not otherwise read BL (or consider themselves robo-sexual). This book is published by Seven Seas. It is currently in print.There's only ten days left in our Holiday Review Giveaway! To find out more and potentially win a $25 Bookshop.org gift certificate, click the link above.

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