Content Warning: Sexual Coercion, Sex Work, Organised Crime, Dubious Consent, Stalkers, Non-Graphic Sexually Explicit Content
Synopsis
Juri and Akatsuki are the top two hosts at the Velvet Kiss Host Club. Try as he might, though, Akatsuki just can’t beat Juri to the top spot. Desperate to find out Juri’s secret, he decides to bite the bullet and ask for some direct advice. He’s surprised when Juri not only agrees but takes him back to his place. Having had a taste of what it’s like to be pampered and flirted with by Juri, Akatsuki wants to go back for even more. The pair soon became lovers, discovering whole new forms of pleasure. But the situation becomes complicated when Suki (a regular at the club who won’t stop texting Akatsuki) and Mari (a porn star and big spender who seems to have a deep history with Juri) stir things up.
The Good
Host clubs don’t have the same connotation in Western manga fandoms as they do in Japan. Instead of bars run in the red light district where they sell you a two-million yen bottle of champagne with the promise of getting to spend more time with a hot stranger in a suit, we think of eight-million yen vases and half-French twinks who can spontaneously produce roses. Shoot Juliet Down is a work of fiction, and does not reflect the actual lives of host club staff. But if you’re looking for a series that is more gritty and adult than sakura-tinted 90s shoujo, this is a good place to start.
Juri is a very entertaining character. He has the professional image of a beautiful prince who always stays cool and collected. But when Akatsuki flirts with him, he turns into a giggling teenage girl writing in her diary with a glitter pen. His gap-moe personality is sure to appeal to Boys’ Love fans. Akatsuki is more straightforward; the fun part of his character is when he’s so busy enjoying having sex with Juri that he forgets he’s meant to be getting information so he can one-up Juri in the club polls. The various characters within this series all have good chemistry with each other. While their relationships are quite soap operatic in their over-the-top drama, that doesn’t make them any less exciting to read about!
The Bad
Shoot Juliet Down is another BL series that falls victim to demonising its female characters. Mari and Saki are undoubtedly complex characters with their own backstories, and I enjoy the toxic relationship elements they bring. But they are still the antagonists whose search for power leads them to break apart Juri and Akatsuki. This is yet another series where women are the jealous clients and lovers getting in the way of the boys’ relationship.
Certainly, the host club dynamic is a change from high school romances and office flings; however, the artist Komachi Katsura can’t decide if she wants Shoot Juliet Down to be dark and thought-provoking like Birds of Shangri-La, or more funny and intimate like Wanna be My Dress Up Lover. The series speed runs a rivals-to-lovers relationship between Juri and Akatsuki so it can then explore the dark side of the adult entertainment industry. But the reader is given just one chapter of them together as a couple before everything falls apart. That just isn’t enough development to make either the romance or tragedy rewarding to read. On a final note, I have to say, I am tired of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet being thrown around as synonyms for any pair of lovers. I cannot see what makes Juri Juliet. Whilst Mari is said to be his Romeo, you have to grasp at straws to see why these two should be named as such. And why does Juliet need to be shot down? Is the title suggesting that Juliet needs to be killed, or that she needs to be rejected? In the original play, Juliet is a victim of a patriarchal family feud, not a high-flying star. She is not an arrogant or particularly privileged character in the context of the play. So what parallels are being drawn here? If I was to compare this series to a piece of classic literature, I think a Greek tragedy would be more appropriate; the complex power dynamics are similar to that of Helen of Sparta, Paris of Troy, and the goddess Aphrodite in the Iliad.
The Verdict
Shoot Juliet Down doesn’t offer anything new or exciting. It’s a fine and enjoyable read that I’d recommend if you’re after something light on a rainy afternoon. But on the whole it’s just another BL attempting to be dark and interesting without having anything new to say. Still, there is joy in the familiar, and this by-the-numbers BL ticks all the boxes for a BL fan: senpai/kohai dynamics, sexy midnight rendezvous, androgynous beauties.
This is the McDonald’s menu of BL. You’ll probably find something that will suit your needs, but nothing unique or noteworthy.
You can buy Shoot Juliet Down Volume 1 from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop
If you liked Shoot Juliet Down you may also like…
- Midnight Rain by Chongtak
- The Man Who Shattered My World by Moriya Satoru
- I Didn’t Mean To Fall in Love by Minta Suzumaru
Credits
- Story and Art: Komachi Katsura
- Translation: Sawa Savage
- Lettering: Carolina Hernández Mendoza
- Editing: Alexandra McCullough-Garcia
- Production: Shirley Fang, Yanfen Wu
- Proofreading: Kevin Luo
- Published in English by Kodansha
Thank you to Kodansha for providing a review copy. Receiving this copy had no effect on the reviewer’s opinions as expressed here.
Article edited by: Adam Wescott
The Good
- Ticks all the BL Boxes
- Interesting character dynamics
- Highly competent
The Bad
- Average
- Demonises women
- Uncertain what it wants to be
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