Winter Demon, Volume 3
Author: Yamila Abraham
Distributor: Yaoi Press
American release date: 2008
Format/Genre: Manga/Yaoi
Publisher/Industry Age Rating: Mature
Overall Personal Rating:
Similar series or titles to check out: 9th Sleep
Hakuin and Fuyu deliver the healed girl to her home, which is in the monk's village of Morikoku. Fuyu wishes to spend the night, to get a chance to fondle Hakuin in privacy now that the girl is gone, but the monk insists they need to get to Priest Shidan to fix the demon whip, so Fuyu contents himself with telling Hakuin, in very graphic language, just what he would like to do to him, as they go on their way. As they near the priest's house, they run into another demon - one who has eyes for Fuyu! It turns out to be none other than Figaru. It seems that Shidan cannot fix the weapon, he must take it to his mentor, who cannot abide demons, so only Hakuin may accompany him. Which leaves Fuyu alone with the horny incubus! Although Shidan does contain him in a magic circle, the only concession he is willing to make to Fuyu's safety. Thanks a lot, Priest Shidan!
Synopsis:
Alarming news arrives the next morning, and the two demons set off after Hakuin and Shidan. Which is just what Shidan's mentor wants, for this is a trap she has laid purposly for the Winter Demon - she has a score to settle with him for some past wrongs. In the aftermath, Hakuin broaches a rather delicate subject - that Figaru needs Fuyu to heal. To what lengths will the demon go in order to please his little monk? And what of his new knowledge, of things he wasn't meant to know? Hakuin isn't healing properly, he needs to see a doctor, so he asks Fuyu to take him back to Morikoku, to Doctor Takuma.
In the Epilogue, we meet Doctor Takuma, who is searching for a particular medicinal leaf he needs to help heal his sister; his supply is out so he is searching in a dangerous area, as there is said to be a demon there. But he is determined to help his sister. He is discovered there by the demon, Lord Ryuuto, who takes him to help his ailing wife - but he wishes her taken out of life, not brought back! (As a healer, he could cure her himself, but he cannot kill her) When Takuma eases her from her pain, Ryuuto says he can use the spring whenever he likes, but he won't agree to heal Takuma's sister. The doctor returns to avail himself of the wonderful hot spring, and he finds himself fascinated by the conversations he has with the demon. Ryuuto realizes that the doctor feels an attraction for him, and he is certainly attracted to the human, so he makes him a rather unusual proposal - of marriage! The confused doctor returns home to think. But his ruminations are interrupted by news of a battle - there are wounded coming, lots of them. And he receives assistance from an unexpected source!
Commentary:
By now, the story of the Winter Demon has wrapped itself about my curiousity and my need to know. The character development is good, as we follow these two in their courtship. I hope that Fuyu's newfound knowledge won't queer things for them - no pun intended. And I hope tha the will be able to overcome his past. To err is human, to forgive divine. Does this go for demons too? There are some interesting questions brought into play in this volume about relationships, intimacy, and sex versus love. This is probably the same school of thought used by those who seek out sex therapists, the rationale being that it's medicinal, not sexual. You'll have to decide that for yourself. But there's certainly stuff to mull over in this volume.
The addition of Doctor Takuma is an interesting one - now we have a potential new couple on our hands, and a rather comely one at that. Ryuuto seems to have promise, but at the same time he's a bit of a bad boy; automatic turn-on for a lot of women. I am curious to see how this thing with him and Doctor T works out.
Winter Demon has not only founds its pace, Yamila Abraham is hitting her stride, and hitting it well. The action flows smoothly, with a good balance between action and introspection, never leaving out that element of heat, in the form of the demon's narrated fantasy (with visual aids, of course!), which is pretty damn hot. I, for one, hope Fuyu gets his way, I'd surely like to see that. At the end of the volume there is a preview for Volume 2 of another Yaoi Press offering, Dark Prince.
We're almost to the finish line, enquiring minds need to know - will Fuyu prove that his love for Hakuin is genuine, and will the purification mumbo jumbo prove to be just that, and not the glue that binds them together? Stay tuned, yaoi lovers, for the last exciting volume!
