is a Japanese

yaoi ''Yaoi'' (; ja, やおい ), also known by the '' wasei-eigo'' construction and its abbreviation , is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that features homoerotic relationships between male characters. It is typically created ...

manga written and illustrated by

est em is the pen name of Maki Satoh, a Japanese manga artist. Career She made her debut as a professional manga artist with three yaoi collections after being scouted in art school. She was a student of Rachel Thorn, who provided translations for ...

. Initially serialized in '' Mellow Mellow'', the individual chapters were published in a single ''

tankōbon is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...

'' volume by Ohzora Publishing in January 2008. The volume also includes some one-shots, including "Baby, stamp your foot" and "Tempos extra", that were originally published in the gay men's manga magazine ''Gekidan''. It is licensed for an English release in North America by Deux Press which published the single volume in December 2008, with English translation by manga scholar

Rachel Matt Thorn Rachel Thorn (formerly Matt Thorn; born May 12, 1965) is a cultural anthropologist and an associate professor in the Department of Manga Production at Kyoto Seika University's Faculty of Manga in Japan. She is best known in North America for ...

. The "Best and Worst Manga of 2008-09" panel at

Comic-Con A comic book convention or comic-con is an event with a primary focus on comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events hosted at co ...

2009 nominated ''Red Blinds the Foolish'' as "best adult manga" of the year's offerings.

Plot

;Red Blinds the Foolish A matador, Rafita, and Mauro, the butcher who disposes of the bulls' carcasses, have sex and then fall in love, leading to Rafita losing his concentration in the ring. ;Corpse of the Round Table A prequel to ''Red Blinds the Foolish'', tells how Mauro became a butcher. ;Baby, Stamp Your Foot A shoemaker discovers a pair of high heels in his lover's closet, and figures out how to bring back the spice to their relationship. ;Tiempos extra The brother of a soccer player and a security guard at the soccer field fall in love. ;Lumiere A dying man reminisces about a failed relationship between a dancer and his instructor.

Reception

Debi Aoki from About.com describes ''Red Blinds the Foolish'' as "Carefully researched and drawn with the depth of style and content that readers have come to expect from est em." Andrew Wheeler says, "I have to admit that yaoi is very far down on the list of things I’d typically read, but Est Em has a scratchy, exceptionally expressive line and a feeling for real characters and settings". Comic Book Resources says, "There is an intensity and realism to her work and the men she creates always feel like real men, experiencing love, lust, and friendship." The Comic Reporter notes est em's "richly drawn characters and angular, unconventionally attractive art." Slightly Biased Manga calls it "stylish" but finds it "hard-pressed to call it great." The Journal of Lincoln Heights Library Society says that they "just have a hard time with it."Yaoi Review: Red Blinds the Foolish
/ref>

References

External links

Review
by Anime News Network *{{usurped,
Review
} by PopCultureShock Manga anthologies Yaoi anime and manga 2008 manga Aurora Publishing (United States) Ohzora Publishing manga