Eroica review in a Finnish magazine

Hello! I'm emerging from lurkerdom because I thought this might interest you guys: An Eroica review from the shounen-ai themed issue of Japan Pop, a Finnish anime/manga/Japan magazine, that came out just yesterday.



I love the choice of illustrations! :D The reviewer is a man born in the '60s, so there are a couple of mandatory "lol fags" jokes in the review (like the intentional typo in the title :D), but he found Eroica hilarious and gave it 4 points out of 5! Allow me to translate:

Dorian Gay of the 20th century

I wonder if anyone will believe this. A Boys' Love series, that is also a good comic, exists. It has promising characters. It's absolutely hilarious. There's even a plot. As a living proof that everything was better in the good old days, it began it's serialization in 1976, which also makes it the oldest ongoing series of it's genre. Ladies and gentlemen, especially ladies, may I present: From Eroica With Love.

A fumbling start

Judging by the first stories, you wouldn't believe that this work by Yasuko Aoike (note: Y.Aoike - there's no deeper meaning to it, of course not) has anything going on for it. The adventure begins with the introduction of three kids with ESP that have nothing to do with the story in the long run, so they are quickly sent on their way. In the end, they only serve to give the reader an excuse to get to know the main character of the manga. He's the openly homosexual Dorian Red, Earl of Gloria, with golden locks and a name unceremoniously filched from Oscar Wilde. The eccentric, filthy rich and foppish art thief Dorian is being tailed by Bannai, an Interpol detective, who sounds and looks like a complete Zenigata ripoff, and what do you know, that's exactly what he is. Luckily we get rid of him in time, too.
Soon Dorian's opposing force takes the stage: Klaus Heinz von dem Eberbach, Germanically serious and proper NATO officer, who doesn't see any reason to warm up to Dorian, in spite of the thief's enthusiastic attempts to woo him. Poor Klaus gets constantly and unwillingly tangled in Dorian's grand scale art heists. As is the custom for gentlemen thieves, Dorian leaves a card that reads "From Eroica with Love" on his crime scenes.

Action, suspence, romance...no, wait...

Thanks to Klaus, Eroica is one of the most intriguing manga series dealing with the atmosphere of the Cold War. Our NATO officer brings CIA, KGB and even SIS to the story. The British agent Lawrence has an unlimited collection of James Bond gadgets that, for some reason, don't manage to be as practical in action as they're supposed to be.
As if all of this wasn't enough, Aoike, a Led Zeppelin fan, has managed to sneak all the members of her favorite band into the series. A henchman of Dorian's is even called Bonham. When you think about it for a moment, you'll also realize to whom Robert Plant has loaned his curls.
All of this would make Eroica a pile of complete nonsense if the series wasn't such a great comedy. The basic setting simply works. Dorian, the hopeless romantic, knows well that he doesn't stand a chance with Klaus, but that doesn't stop him from dreaming. The more classic Klaus is more considerate than he's willing to let on. Even though these two constantly plot against each other, in reality they are business partners. And the series has always fantastically absurd plot twists in store. When Dorian steals the most precious treasure in Vatican with the reluctant assistance of Klaus, he takes - the Pope himself, wrapped up in a carpet. I can't stop laughing.
Long ago, when manga scanlations were made with correction fluids and copying machines, Eroica was one of the first works to catch the attention of the fans. There is nothing weird about this. Certainly not many works like this were made in the West in the '80s, and still aren't, for that matter. Perhaps the strong jawlines that Aoike tends to draw her characters aren't of the latest fashion, but there's much to learn from her sense of humor.

Final score: 4 out of 5
+ Hilarious
+ Innocent
- Impossible to review seriously