is a Japanese

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series written and illustrated by

Marimo Ragawa is a Japanese manga artist. She began submitting manga to comic magazines when she was only 12 years old, in the sixth grade of elementary school. She continued to send her manga to the same magazine for four years, but failed to receive a pos ...

. Originally serialized in the

manga magazine Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is used ...

Hana to Yume , also known as , is a semi-monthly Japanese manga magazine published by Hakusensha on the 5th and 20th of every month. The magazine is B5-size, and always comes with or free supplements, such as drama CDs, pencil boards (shitajiki), manga ...

'' from 1995 to 1998 and adapted into an

audio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...

in 2000, ''New York New York'' is a (male-male romance) series focused on the relationship between a police officer and a civilian.

Synopsis

Cain Walker, a police officer in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, is gay but remains

closeted ''Closeted'' and ''in the closet'' are metaphors for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and other (LGBTQ+) people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and human ...

. He engages in a series of

one night stand A one-night stand or one-night sex is a single sexual encounter in which there is an expectation that there shall be no further relations between the sexual participants. It draws its name from the common practice of a one-night stand, a single ...

s in the city's gay bars until he meets Mel Fredericks, with whom he decides to pursue a relationship. The series follows their often tumultuous relationship as they confront a variety of challenges, including sexual assault,

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

parenting Parenting or child rearing promotes and supports the physical, emotional, social, spiritual and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the intricacies of raising a child and not exclusively for a ...

, and

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

Characters

; : :A 25-year-old police officer at the

New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

(NYPD). Born in

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

, he moved to

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

in order to work as a police officer. He is

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

, but

. ; : :A 22-year-old

barista A barista (; ; from the Italian/Spanish for "bartender") is a person, usually a coffeehouse employee, who prepares and serves espresso-based coffee drinks. Etymology and inflection The word ''barista'' comes from Italian where it means a male ...

born and raised in

Upper Manhattan Upper Manhattan is the most northern region of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its southern boundary has been variously defined, but some of the most common usages are 96th Street, the northern boundary of Central Park ( 110th Street), ...

. He was raised by his aunt after his mother committed suicide, but left the home after being sexually abused by his uncle while in high school. ; : :A former colleague of Cain's who became involved in smuggling

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

. ; : :The chief of the NYPD, and Cain's boss.

Media

Manga

The series, which was developed by author

after a visit to New York City, was serialized in the manga magazine ''

'' from 1995 to 1998. It was subsequently collected by

Hakusensha is a Japanese publishing company. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company mainly publishes manga magazines and is involved in series' productions in their games, original video animation, music, and their animated TV ...

as four volumes in 1998, and later re-published as two volumes in 2003, featuring essays by manga scholar

Yukari Fujimoto is a manga researcher and professor of global Japanese studies at Meiji University. She was born in Kumamoto Prefecture. She was an editor for Chikuma Shobō. She is a manga critic, gender theorist, family theorist, current events critic, author, ...

and author Satoru Ito. An English-language translation of the series published by

Yen Press Yen Press, LLC is an American manga and graphic novel publisher co-owned by Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group. It published ''Yen Plus'', a monthly comic anthology, between 2008 and 2013. In addition to translated material, Yen Press ...

was originally slated for release in October 2021. However, it was delayed until March 2022.

Audio drama

adaptation of ''New York New York'' was produced by (a subsidiary of

Animate Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anima ...

) and released on two

compact discs The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Octobe ...

on May 24, 2000.

Reception and analysis

In '' Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics'', writer

Paul Gravett Paul Gravett is a London-based journalist, curator, writer, and broadcaster who has worked in comics publishing since 1981. He is the founder of ''Escape Magazine'', and for many years wrote a monthly article on comics appearing in the UK magaz ...

describes ''New York New York'' as a "moving, 700-page

melodrama A modern melodrama is a dramatic work in which the plot, typically sensationalized and for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodramas typically concentrate on dialogue that is often bombastic or exces ...

," praising its thriller elements and its realistic depiction of gay identity. Mark McLelland of the

University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (abbreviated as UOW) is an Australian public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2017, the university had an enrolment of ...

similarly notes that in contrast to "pre-political" of the 1990s that typically focused on romance to the exclusion of sexual identity, ''New York New York'' is notable as among the first manga to depict social realism in its treatment of gay identity through its portrayal of

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

coming out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

gay bashing Gay bashing is an attack, abuse, or assault committed against a person who is perceived by the aggressor to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). It includes both violence against LGBT people and LGBT bullying. The term covers v ...

, sexual abuse, and rape. He commends the series for its attempt "to refer to the very real social problems in which same-sex desire is grounded," but writes that the sentimental and melodramatic nature of the story "works against a realistic interpretation of the narrative." In a separate review, McLelland qualifies his assessment of ''New York New York'' by noting that as is "not written by or for gay men," it "should not be criticised for failing to represent their concerns accurately." McLelland further notes Cain and Mel as an archetypal example of and dynamics in . Mel assumes the role traditionally occupied by women in heterosexual romance fiction: he is physically weak, subordinated, emotional, and repeatedly the victim of crimes from which he is saved by his lover. McLelland argues that Mel consequently exists to serve as a figure of identification for the genre's largely female readership.

References

External links

* {{Hana to Yume 1995 manga Comics set in the 1990s Comics set in New York City Crime in anime and manga Hakusensha manga LGBT in anime and manga New York City in fiction Rape in fiction Shōjo manga Yen Press titles