Boys Next Door (manga)
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| Boys Next Door | |
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| 少年残像 (Shounen Zanzo) |
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| Genre | Shōnen-ai, Drama, Horror, Psychological, Romance, Tragedy |
| Manga | |
| Authored by | Kaori Yuki |
| Publisher |  Hakusensha Carlsen Comics |
| Serialized in | Hana To Yume |
| Original run | 1998 – |
| No. of volumes | 1 |
Boys Next Door (少年残像 -Boy’s next door-) is a one-volume manga by Kaori Yuki, set in L.A., also known as Shounen Zanzou (literally, 'Afterimage of a boy'). It follows the sadomasochistic love affair of Adrian and Laurence; the former being a school teacher with a dark secret, and the latter being a teenaged male prostitute.
Contents |
[edit] Characters
[edit] Main Characters
- Adrian Clay: A 27-year old elementary teacher. Adrian's mother was raped by a carnie, which was the cause of his birth. Adrian tells Lawrence this after he gets closer to him. Neglected and despised by his mother, Adrian led a miserable childhood in which he was constantly reminded of how unwanted he was. He is an immensely kind person, and he never wanted any other child to go through what he did, so he got a job as a schoolteacher in order to help troubled children. Despite his mild exterior, however, Adrian hides a dark secret: at night, he picks up young male prostitutes, and then viciously slaughters them. Always paranoid of dull, staring eyes, he also makes it a point to blindfold his victims. He hates prostitutes because of his mother, who often slept with men just to get money from them. She was killed by one of her boyfriends.
- Lawrence Hill: A fourteen-year-old runaway who works as a male prostitute. He often passes by Adrian's school as he wanders about the city, and he can see the sadness in the man's eyes. He sees also how kind Adrian is with the young children, and how he cares about them. He is emotionless at first, but after becoming closer to Adrian, he begins to smile often and shows his true emotions.
[edit] Other Characters
- Dallas
- Lawrence's older brother who was once a model student but became overwhelmed by the pressure put on him by school and his parents. He later ran away from home (before Lawrence did) and is now the owner of the prostitution house where Lawrence works. He is a dangerous man who "brands" his prostitutes with tatoos that warn away anyone that might try to assist them in escaping from his clutches. Anyone who does misguidedly help one of the prostitutes is eventually "taken care of."
- Vicky
- A young tomboy, and one of Adrian's students. She has foster parents, and often gets into scuffles with other students. Adrian sympathizes with her because she, too, feels like an unwanted child, and is often picked on by some of the small boys in school. She lives close by to Adrian and often goes over to his house to feed Wolfy. Lawrence asks Vicky if she would still like him and Adrian if she knew they were in love. She says, "That's called prejudice! Lawr and teacher and also Wolfy... I like all of you!" Wolfy is given to Vicky at the end of the story.
- Wolfy
- Adrian's pet iguana. Wolfy's pet tag, which Adrian accidentally drops after his first encounter with Lawrence, is what the boy uses to lure the man out to meet him and eventually what could, if turned over to the police, prove that Adrian is responsible for the series of murders that have been committed.
[edit] The end of the story
After Dallas drugs Lawrence, Lawrence comes after Adrian. Adrian finds out Lawrence's gun had no bullets and Lawrence kisses him before he dies from Adrian's stab wound. The police catch Adrian and he is then put on trial. It is decided for him to go to an insane asylum, but he wanted to be given the death penalty so he could be with Lawrence. At the asylum Adrian continues to be kind and smiles at the nurses. They let him sit outside on the roof with the gates closed so he can't jump. One day while he sat on the roof Lawrence came to Adrian on the opposite roof with a bouquet of balloons. Adrian then jumps into Lawrence's arms. Later the nurses are confused because they remembered closing the gates. Then Vicky is shown outside with Wolfy and sees one of Lawrence's balloons. She exclaims "its Lawrence and Adrian!"
[edit] Quotes
- "No problem, kill me. But only if after you kill me, you eat my dead body. Cook me for a day and night... make me into stew. Afterwards, suck my bones clean. When my entire body has been eaten by you, I can finally become your blood and flesh. Then.. I'll belong entirely to you."
- "As long as it's with someone else, I can still handle it. But you, only you. I can't handle it if you treat me that way."
- "Good bye Adrian. It's been a fun game. I had a lot of fun. I'm going to leave here and join my brother."
- "Lawrence's smile is so beautiful and bright... it burns an image into my eyes."
