The Fall 2019 Manga Guide

The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese

What's It About? 

Kyoichi and Watase met in college, and unbeknownst to Kyoichi, Watase was desperately in love with him. When the two meet again almost ten years later, it's because Kyoichi's wife has hired the other man to investigate her husband. Since he has had a couple of affairs, Watase offers to cover them up in exchange for a kiss. Things quickly escalate, and when Kyoichi's wife leaves him anyway, Watase moves in. As Kyoichi fights his own go-with-the-flow nature and his growing feelings for the other man, things continue to escalate. Is it possible for the two of them to find happiness together? The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese is written and illustrated by Setona Mizushiro. It will be released by Seven Seas in November in paperback ($13.99).

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Is It Worth Reading?

Rebecca Silverman

Rating:

This manga (and its sequel volume) have the dubious honor of having been both my first sexually explicit manga and my first BL manga when I read them in French years ago. That certainly made me nervous to reread it, because memory can be a tricky thing in these cases, and I was afraid of what I'd find as a savvier reader. To a degree, my worst fears were, in fact, borne out – The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese is from 2006, when a strictly binary understanding of sexuality was still very much the norm for most people, and that does show. Kyoichi (and Watase) both think that you're either gay or you're straight, and that's at least in part responsible for their tumultuous relationship, because they can't quite understand that Kyoichi could be attracted to both men and women, never mind any other permutations of the concept. While a lot of more contemporary BL also indulges in that sort of thinking, Mizushiro has her characters exist in a rather more grounded world than a lot of other similar series, and that makes this facet of the story stand out more than it otherwise might.

The volume also indulges in some of BL's more problematic tropes, most notably issues of consent. For much of the book, Kyoichi actively says no to Watase, who may or may not listen, depending on his mood. This certainly makes the start of their relationship questionable at best, especially when we factor in that Watase basically just moves himself into Kyoichi's apartment after the divorce and simply begins sleeping in his bed, cooking for him, and other similar things. That Kyoichi doesn't appear to object to most of this is perhaps meant to show his conflicted feelings; that only kind of works. The real root of his character, as Watase observes, is that Kyoichi just wants someone to love him, and then he'll go along with whatever. Since Watase has repeatedly told the other man that, it's just easier to go with it for most of the book, something Watase admits to taking full advantage of. It's the exact opposite of what you'd call a healthy relationship, and that's a pretty big fly in the ointment, even if they don't actually have sex until Kyoichi finally admits to feelings for Watase.

The good news is that, like most other Setona Mizushiro titles I've read, this is compulsively readable. Her art is unique enough not to feel like everything else and her pages are set up so smoothly that it's easy to just sort of get pulled along with the story. How you feel after finishing it is another question, but if you're in the market for a more serious BL and don't mind the markers of its age, this is worth giving a read.

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Faye Hopper

Rating:

The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese is a difficult manga. Its premise is difficult, blurring lines of consent and crossing personal boundaries in its basic makeup. The conclusions it comes to about its characters are difficult, with an ending that could be interpreted as, at best, a betrayal of previous thematic work and, at worst, indicative of uncommented on abuse and gaslighting. It's a problematic piece about messed-up people in a messed-up situation, but it is aware of that key fact. Which only makes it more difficult.

This is partly due to the interiority and sharp, smart character work on display. Both Imagase and Kyoichi are written with a specificity that belies great emotional understanding. From Kyoichi's apathy and doormat personality, letting his destiny be dictated by others to the point of lying to and hurting them, to Imagase's volatile, domineering nature, leading him to stalking Kyoichi, blackmailing him, and inserting himself into Kyoichi's life, this is clearly not a manga interested in framing this situation as titillating, but rather, authentic and unpleasant (further indicated by how it frames sexuality: The emphasis is not on titillation but instead on sensuality, intimacy). It's aware of what it's doing.

But is awareness enough? For one, I'm a little concerned about what Imagase's predatory aspects are meant to represent. Because on the one hand, they do scan as authentic. This is what someone unable to cope with jealousy looks like, someone whose possessiveness forces them to trying desperately to control those they care about. But on the other, what does it say that he is the book's primary window into being LGBT? Doesn't that play into uncomfortable stereotypes about gay people being inherently predatory? This is somewhat balanced out by the other queer characters in the story calling out and being revolted by Imagase's behavior, but the simple fact of his constant manipulation of Kyoichi is enough to give me pause. And then there's the ending, where most of the time spent establishing Kyoichi and Imagase's relationship as toxic is tossed aside, and they consummate and start dating. I don't know how to feel about this story turn. Even though there are things that foreshadow this (Kyoichi actually pursuing Imagase, choosing him instead and leaving compulsory heterosexuality behind, letting his feelings dictate his actions instead of others and broader society), it still can't help but feel slightly at odds with the rest of the book, especially when the final scene is genuinely beautiful (in sharp contrast to how most of their relationship has played out).

I am curious to check out the sequel manga to see if Imagase's abusive tendencies persist, and how functional their relationship is considering the foundation it was built upon. But for now, I am content with my mixed feelings. This is a complicated, richly characterized story that requires a lot of thought and scrutiny. That's ok. One way or another, whether by way of its compelling narratization or its squicky subtext, I'll be thinking about The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese for a long time to come.