Minori no te is one of Scarlet Beriko's first titles released in France, three years ago. Taifu editions offer the services of the popular mangaka, who unfolds in this one-shot her limpid line and her complex and endearing characters. Get ready to pass into the expert hands of an osteopath with special methods!
The story
Minori Shigefuji works alone in a discreet osteopathic practice. He sees a variety of patients, from the neighborhood's yakuza chief to a television star. The particular massage method he has put in place causes them instant well-being. Nevertheless, he himself is enigmatic and seems to hide a great trouble behind his smile of facade …
Dedication and grey area
Minori no te (in English, "The hand of Mineri") is a manga that questions and disturbs in more than one way. Especially because Minori himself does not always respect his patients and "partners", quickly drifting his massages towards a much more sensual and intrusive session. Nevertheless, Scarlet Beriko does not fall into putrid or perversion, thanks to the context underlying the story. The first two chapters are thus an opportunity to approach the mysterious osteopath. He literally devotes himself body and soul to his patients and seeks to rid them of all their tensions. This has the consequence of giving characters, even secondary, whose psychology is worked and mastered. Nothing seems implausible, everything makes sense through words and actions. While Minori uses his position as a caregiver to allow himself to reach his patients in the most intimate way, he is not doing so for his own benefit. Indeed, if we learn a lot in a few boxes about Tatsuyuki Ôyamato and Yû Umehara, Minori keeps secret about the feelings that assail him. At the same time, Scarlet Beriko denounces the cult of appearance as well as societal pressure to play a public "role", sometimes in total contradiction with our personality and our own inspirations. But these patients are much more perceptive than the osteopath expected, and reach by their words the sensitive area in the heart of the young man …
A memory is embodied in the present
In the first part of her story, Scarlet Beriko subtly instills an atmosphere of expectation regarding Minori's past. In two or three boxes scattered here and there, she gives substance to a memory against which the young man seems to be fighting. A boy running in the rain, a passionate embrace… Then settles a rather melancholic atmosphere, which is easily guessed under the cabotinage of the osteopath. Who is this mysterious boy? What connection does he have with Minori? The mangaka makes the suspense last with tact, until the revelation. This is Sôta Yanai, former rising star of football, whose manager Minori was in high school but also the lover … After being forced to end his career due to a serious injury, Sôta lost sight of Minori. The latter actually fled, overwhelmed by the guilt of not having been able to treat his companion. But that was forgetting Sota's determination! He finds Minori after several years and he is determined to reconnect with him. It is at this moment that Minori no te takes on a new dimension and turns into a true love story. Scarlet Beriko then puts all her graphic talent at the service of this reunion. Touching moments and very hot carnal moments follow one another, and it is with pleasure that we see the relationship between Sota and Minori rebuilt and strengthened. The manga ends satisfactorily, with some nice bonuses as a bonus. In conclusion, Minori no te composes a story where regret, love and desire are entangled. The softness of Scarlet Beriko's features compensates for some of the harsher aspects of this one-shot, such as the anger that sometimes arises in Minori or her very particular way of caring for her patients. The whole offers a complete and in-depth story, whose graphics are an undeniable added value. Nevertheless, if this one-shot does not satiate you, go discover our review on another flagship work of the Taifu catalog, 10 Count ! Other works by Scarlet Beriko: Taifu comics, Queen and the tailor, Yondaime Ôyamato Tatsuyuki, Jackass!, Jealousy. Available in VO: Amefurashi.
