There are times in life… when the right piece just snaps into place…

Gen, 20, plays guitar in a rock band called Eve. After playing a gig, he’s approached by a young man who tells him, “I’m a fan”. Gen realizes that this man was in the audience when he was playing and that their eyes met during the performance. This self-styled fan turns out to be the singer in a rival band (called Adam, natch) and is just about to go onstage. Gen is sceptical about his abilities at first but the instant he hears him, is blown away by the sheer power of his singing.

It turns out that not only are they at the same uni, they even attend some of the same lectures, so the next day they meet on campus and Gen learns that the singer is known as Mike. Gen, as earnest and intense as Mike is easy-going, keeps bumping into him and eventually insists that he tell him his real name, which turns out to be Mika. The more they hang out together, the more of an effect Mike’s powerful singing has on Gen, until he realizes that his style of playing guitar has changed under Mike’s influence. And then a battle of the bands is arranged in which Adam will go up against Eve. The two groups accept the challenge… but all along, both young men are longing for the chance to make music together. How can they do that without breaking up and betraying their respective bands? On top of this, the growing tension – attraction – between them leads to Mike kissing Gen – but then breaking off, saying, “I’m sorry.” Is everything over for them before it’s even begun?

Shout Loud, My Heart! is the first of Youga Rayri’s published BL manga to arrive in print in the West and the mangaka delivers a very attractively drawn story that flows well. The details of a band playing in concert as well as Gen’s practice sessions are well researched and convincing. There are also several wordless sequences showing the bands performing, notably one in which Gen’s experience while listening to Adam in concert is portrayed as if he were sinking into deep waters.

Since Given, Natsuki Kizu’s hugely influential Boys’ Love manga, we’ve seen a number of other mangaka set their stories in the world of Japanese rock music (and that’s without even mentioning the popularity of idol series!). Whether it’s young musicians starting out, like Given or Shout Loud, My Heart! or tales of more seasoned, hard-bitten rock pros like Harada’s The Song of Yoru and Asa or Whimsical Jaguar by Unohana; Jyanome and Mone Sorai have created rock group-based one-shots too! All these works have come a long way from the title that arguably started it all off: Gravitation (recently re-issued in a newly-translated 2-in-1 omnibus edition by Seven Seas). However, if you like Given, there are a number of points the two works have in common that make Shout Loud, My Heart! a title to recommend, even though guitarist Gen is very far from Uenoyama in personality (although not when it comes to falling for a vocalist!).

So to what extent is the music that draws the protagonists together essential to the story – or is it merely window-dressing, giving the manga a ‘cool’ veneer/outer shell but not really motivating Mike and Gen in everything that they do? Happily, for the reader, Mike and Gen are drawn closer by the music they make and the aim to perform together becomes a meaningful metaphor for their growing feelings for one another. And because the music they create is a unifying thread running through the whole story, everything slots into place in after initial uncertainties. The way the concert is portrayed at the end of the manga is also very well done. Here, the mangaka gives us the comments of individual audience members as well as showing the musicians giving their all onstage to build up a convincing picture of the raw excitement of attending a live concert.

And yes, as Shout Loud, My Heart! is a BL with a Mature rating, the story builds to a relatively explicit scene. But because Youga Rayri is an accomplished artist and storyteller, it all feels earned and is sympathetically  portrayed. Due to some deft character-building, we’ve come to know Gen and Mike/Mika and to understand why they have fallen for each other.

The Kodansha edition of Shout Loud, My Heart! comes in trade paperback format which displays the art to great advantage; there’s a colour image at the front, a cute bonus story, an extra chapter and two pages of character profiles (always fun!) of the members of Adam and Eve. The translation is by the ever-reliable Jacqueline Fung and is brought to life by Nicole Roderick’s clear and helpful lettering.

If you like BL stories about musicians that understand what makes musicians tick, this is definitely a manga for you – and even if you’re not so bothered about the musical background, it’s also recommendable because of the character dynamics which make for an engaging read. And that catchy title? Read the manga to find out more!

• Shout Loud, My Heart © Youga Rayri/Ichijinsha Inc.

Our review copy from Kodansha was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.