Finder no Hyouteki The Viewfinder's Target or You're My Love Prize in Viewfinder By Yamane Ayano Publisher Biblos Imprint BexBoy Comics Magazine various Vintage / Length 2000-2002 / 1 volume

Compiled from various BL magazines and anthologies, Finder no Hyouteki is the first volume of Yamane Ayano’s cult "Finder" series. Look anywhere where there are BL fans and you'll find praise heaped to the high heavens on the "Finder" stories. At this point, though, "Finder" isn't much of a series. There are three "Finder" shorts in this volume that loosely follow each other in chronology. Along with the "Finder" shorts are a couple of unrelated one-shots: "Love Lesson", "Koisuru Shokubutsu" (Loving Plant), and "Risky Society". For all the fawning over the "Finder" series, I found these stories pretty much lacking in anything except, well, sex. The main characters are the substance of the series; otherwise, very little goes on besides bonking; rape-bonking, to be more precise (but -fantasy, so it isn't really "rape"). As for the other stories, here was an interesting one, there was a forgettable one, but none of the couples have the pizzazz of our "Finder" men. Finder no Hyouteki could be the beginning of something interesting, but I wouldn't start fawning over it at this stage of the game.

The "Finder" series is about Takaba Akihito, a somewhat reckless freelance investigative photographer, and smooth, cool yakuza boss Asami Ryuuichi. While digging up the dirt on a public official in the first story, "Finder no Hyouteki", Takaba crosses paths with Asami but manages to escape. Asami is intrigued. He has Takaba kidnapped, fits him into some snug bondage gear, force-feeds him an aphrodisiac, and shags the living daylights of him. Set free to ponder his new circumstances, Takaba discovers that his chief/father figure has been using him. Now all he has left is, oh my, Asami, who saves Takaba's tender arse from being shot by his own boss. Their relationship is set up: Takaba vows to bring Asami down with his camera, and Asami says that he looks forward to it. "Fixer", the second story, introduces Asami's rival Fei Long, a traditionally-clad, long-haired Chinese Triad boss. Doing some more work, Takaba accidentally gets tangled up in their conflict, with the result that Takaba gets the same treatment from Fei Long that he got from Asami in the first chapter. Once again, Asami saves Takaba. And then does him in the shower. "Samenai Yoru wo Daite" (Embrace the Heat of the Night), the last chapter and written just for this volume, finds Asami showing up at Takaba's apartment for a little rape-fantasy and other assertions of seme dominance. At this point, Takaba is beginning to wonder why he gets so turned on whenever he thinks about all of the horrible things Asami has done to him.

Plot development is clearly not what Yamane is interested in at this point in the serialization of the "Finder" series. There is no real story, as such, in the works here. Rather, what the reader gets is a basic premise – cat and mouse – from which plot-light, sex-heavy little scenarios can be written. Skanky yakuza rape-fantasy bondage sex scenarios, that is. Oh, there certainly is much dirtier stuff out there, but in Yamane's hands it gets fairly fanciful at times. Asami and Takaba are the appeal of the "Finder" stories in this volume. Takaba may be street smart and energetic, but he can't out run Asami when Asami is ready to play. They have very assertive personalities, and there isn't a pair out there in BL-land quite like them. We're lucky that they're such strong characters, because none of the shorts have anything going for them outside of these two (three when you count Fei Long). I did say that the sex could get fanciful; ridiculous is an apt description, too. A film canister? Oh please. So much phallic stuff gets shoved up Takaba's ass in the first story alone that it is rather more tedious than sexy. This is a bit of personal preference though. I suppose others might like the film canister (is that object three or four?). The first three "Finder" shorts won't deliver an interesting story in the traditional sense, but if you're looking for a fresh pair to kinky-bonk for you, well, Asami and Takaba are a'waiting.

In fact, the "Finder" stories are the most memorable in the volume precisely because Takaba and Asami are the most interesting couple (use that term loosely). "Love Lesson" is, at best, a goofy near-plotless oneshot. Here we have Yuusuke, who starts out looking forward to his first day of high school, only to be molested on the bus ride hither by a pervert, and then molested and screwed at school by the junior who saved him on the bus. Tough luck for Yuusuke that Ichijou, the junior, just so happens to be the student council president. The story is meant to be hot and funny, but Ichijou is a bit too overbearing for my taste. Overall it's substanceless and forgettable. "Risky Society" is a longer, plot-driven sci-fi story about a group of government agents with ESP. The head of the group is Yukimura Rei, the usual reserved and cruel-to-be-kind leader, and Toudou Akira, who is new to the group and is more of a free spirit. This story does little for me, mostly because there isn't much hint of a romance until the very end, when it comes out of nowhere. "Risky Society" is pretty compact for all of the characters that are introduced, and though the pacing is fine the sci-fi aspects are skimpy. Perhaps it would have made a better multi-chapter series than a one-shot. Regardless of the story, neither Ichijou and Yuusuke or Rei and Akira have the singularity of Asami and Takaba.

As a purely personal preference, my favorite story in the volume is "Koisuru Shokubutsu". Mizuno and Hiyama are rivals on their school soccer team and don't get along very well. But when Hiyama suspects that their fathers, both high-ranking government officials, are lovers they form a temporary alliance to figure out what's really going on. Whilst on recon, though, poor Mizuno has a tough time suppressing dirty thoughts about Hiyama. This story is more comedic and lighter than the others in the volume – unless you somehow find "Love Lesson" funny – and more plot-oriented. Mizuno and Hiyama are hopelessly cute trying to pretend that they don't like each other, and there is some good, clean ol’ fashion shagging at the end. Takaba and Asami are a bit more memorable because they're such a flashy pair, but I wouldn't mind reading a longer series about Mizuno and Hiyama.

Yamane is a very talented artist, which is no doubt one of reasons her work is so popular. I like her masculine men. You'll find no androgyny here; even Fei Long of the Flowing Locks has a masculine build and a man's face (although he pops up in drag in the atogaki at the end). Yamane goes for naturalism and non-fussy detail in her panels, which move smoothly from scene to scene. Finder no Hyouteki is very much eye candy, especially if you’re like me and like old-men BL.

This volume of "Finder" shorts is pure cult material, and it is Asami and Takaba who make it so. My feelings on rape-fantasy and goofy scenes of tough criminals shooting handguns with their wrists turned sideways aside, I can see the appeal of the pairing. But I wonder where the "Finder" series will go from here. Will it be more plot-thin sex shorts, or will an actual story develop out of this? I hope for the latter, because – bringing my opinions back from the side – while I see why fans like it, I don't feel that the these shorts hold up to the hype. Yes, Asami and Takaba's cat and mouse is intriguing and yes, Yamane can draw a fine looking otoko, but there isn't much of a story here (and definitely nothing in the realm of a romance). I'm afraid that nothing but bonking will get old after a while. As for the short stories, the only one I really enjoyed was "Koisuru Shokubutsu". I would love to read more about Mizuno and Hiyama. Overall, Finder no Hyouteki is an interesting start to the "Finder" series, but it's just that, a start. I'm expecting something more from the second volume, Finder no Cage, and by that I don't mean an increase in the number of film canisters up Takaba's bum.

"Finder no Hyouteki" has been released in English by Be Beautiful as "Finder Series 1: Target in the Finder", but appears to be unofficially out of print.

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