Shards of Affection (Yaoi) (Yaoi Manga) Paperback – December 30, 2008

It was amazing and sweet. I loved the story lines. They had me laughing, crying, and smiling while I read them.

This is a definite must for the Yaoi collector. A surprisingly entertaining series of interconnecting stories involving sword spirits. The art work is beautiful. I really hope there is a sequel!

It took some work, but I finally understood this book. The problem is, the stories are told out of logical order, which is why I had to struggle with the plot until about halfway through. I'm going to try to convey the interconnected plot here without spoilers.What you need to know up front is that there are five special swords made with extremely rare spiritual material. In each of these swords lives a fighting spirit meant to destroy other evil spirits. The fighting spirits are men with glasses and fancy coats and when they're not on a mission, they live on a shared spirit plane with the priest(?) who made the swords. On the earthly plane, there are priests who can see the evil spirits as well who wield the swords and call forth the battling male spirits inside them to destroy evil. These priests (exorcists) usually have helpers when they go on a mission -- other, less spiritually sensitive acolytes, male and female.(no offense to the Japanese or the sense of religion that is missing from this narrative; I'm trying to be general both to help Westerners understand and to avoid giving insult by *trying* to use the proper terms and failing)OK, that said, here's a rundown of the stories, some of which are multiple chapters:1. A new priest on the earthly plane has a hard time facing down evil spirits, even with one of the 5 swords. His backup and lover wants to help. This story is like the culmination of everything we learn later.2. A science geek is friends with the local pastor, who tries to get the scattered man to clean up his act at work. When the geek doesn't listen and faces the consequences at work, his relationship with the pastor changes. (there is noncon in this story, but not with the main characters; it's short -- 2 pages -- and not too graphic, but at least the act is treated as a rape as the story continues; I could stand it by skimming it quickly, and I abhor noncon; what comes after is also one of the silliest cliches, ever, but, again, skimming!)3. Finally, an introduction and explanation of the swords and what's going on with them! Oh, how I wish this brief, humorous account came first. *sigh*4. A boy thinks an evil creature (who looks like a vamped-out man, i.e. hot) has stolen his brother's soul. The boy is allowed to borrow one of the five swords to hunt the creature down. The men from Story 2 show up as support in this story.5. Because his sword has gone missing, one of the 5 sword spirits is beginning to fade away. If he can't find his sword in time, he will cease to exist, and yet he keeps rejecting help from a concerned fellow sword spirit. Stories 4 and 5 intertwine for the rest of the book.There's a sizable problem with pacing and clarity in this book because the way the swords work is revealed late, and also because some of these huge religious and cultural concepts are stuffed into a few pages. I think the original story is written for an audience that automatically understands most of the underlying concepts, and that translators at June did their level best to give us English-readers everything we would need to understand the story, even though we have to read it out-of-order. Still, I wonder if this set of stories wouldn't have worked better spread out over two volumes.What I like about the book is the art (drop-dead gorgeous) and the sweetness of the pairings. I also like that when the characters' plots are dire, there is a sense of desperation and concern that is real. The adult scenes have a bit more depth to them in terms of positioning and length, but they are still typical of June in that you really don't see details below the belt.I dinged the book one star for the plotting issues and one for the noncon, which is automatic for me. Still, I like the book well enough to keep it for possible rereading. The art alone makes it worth revisiting in my book.

I really love the story on Nanaki and Ninomiya, 2 of the 5 powerful sword spirits made by a meddlesome but well intentioned cheerful Shinto priest. I wish there is at least a stand alone story on this couple or better still all 5 sword spirits. Their angsy story consists of 3 chapters as Nanaki lost his blade and starts to slowly disintegrate. It is up to Ninomiya to help this much younger inexperienced spirit but because of a misunderstanding Nanaki refuses his much older lover's help.Another story which I enjoy is the love between a priest and a scientist geek. Sweet and tender theirs has a comical twist to it.The 2 chapters story on a boy who seeks a Monster for revenge as he believes the Monster has stolen his brother's soul is equally enjoyable as this couple's story interweaves with the above 2 stories.By comparison, the first story about 2 warrior priests, one struggling bravely to fit his father's shoes, is almost average.Swords flashing (love Japanese period Yaoi pieces), romance, sex (enough to satisfy), handsome warriors spirits, I am pleased to add this to my Yaoi collection.