▪	RELEASED BY:		DIGITAL MANGA PUBLISHING
		▪	AUTHOR / ART:		KANME ITSUKI
		▪	FORMAT:		JAPANESE / B&W
		▪	PAGES:		200
		▪	RATING:		M
		▪	RELEASE DATE:		12/12/2007
		▪	REVIEW DATE:		11/19/2007
		▪	REVIEWED BY:		HOLLY ELLINGWOOD

Cute Beast is a collection of six cute and mostly comedic stories that see all types of fun and light hearted yaoi romances everywhere. A boy tries to tame the “wild beast” at his school, a prince tries to repair his bad reputation, a young man attempts to hide his love for his grieving older cousin, a bizarre first meeting leads to a romantic pursuit,  and a crush on a teacher ignites a taboo rendezvous.

The first romp is about the short but rather bossy Kisaki who takes it upon himself to reform and makeover the school “beast” that he found out is so cute. But cleaning up the very tall and stubbly Onizuka leads to some grief when Kisaki realizes he wants this beast all to himself!  In “The Prince’s Commitment”, the local school ‘prince’ has developed a shady reputation for being unable to commit to girls. When a pretty boy named Sakura asks him out, Miki thinks he might just break his curse of getting dumped at last. Next in “Ramune, First Love, and Summer Break” Aki has loved his older cousin Nao ever since they were little, has been in love with him for just as long. When Nao’s wife passed away a year ago, it opens the door for a reunion and possibly a long held in confession. Then in “Alice Reunite” readers are treated to a highly humorous tale of first meetings and ardent chasing when a young college student literally trips over a handsome young guy amongst the cherry blossoms. In the last full tale, “I’m Serious Because it’s Love”, Misato has fallen hard for the handsome English teacher Naoki. They share one of the most explicit moments in the manga but Misato takes it hard when he thinks Naoki is just playing with him and not taking his feelings seriously. The final little tale is a bonus story going back to Cute Beast and seeing how things are progressing with the odd and endearing couple of Kisaki and Onizuka. 

Most of the stories in cute beast are fun, high energy romantic comedies. All are first time stories and each holds their own charm. There are two that hold more drama than the rest. The story involving a man who lost his wife early in life a year ago and finding solace and a new start in the arms of his young cousin proves moving. The next to last tale dealing with the taboo student/teacher relationship also is dramatic and is one of the longer stories in the manga as well as having more graphic scenes than the other tales. 

The one personally most preferred was that of “Cute Beast”. It had such an enjoyable energy to the tale and a lot of fun comedy that it makes it stand out for entertainment value. The story of the young man tripping over the other fellow in the park and then having him as an admirer is also one of the funniest tales in the collection.

The art style is great. It has a confident feel to it and lively appeal. Another attribute in the anthology is that the various characters all look different from story to story so there’s no confusion thinking that a new character is someone from a previous and unrelated tale in the book. It’s an occasional trap noticed in some other manga anthologies when an artist doesn’t vary their character designs enough. Happily that is not the case here, and readers are treated to a wide assortment of personalities and looks. Due to the varying range of the stories and types of romantic tales, so too does their graphic content vary. Some are light and sweet while others get more heated. That way there’s a little something for everyone in this manga.

IN SUMMARY:
Cute Beast is a yaoi anthology with six stories of first love. The variety offers a little something for everyone and the tales lend to the more comedic side of romance.