The Delight of Boys & Love Masculinity - Gekko Hayashi

HAYASHI, Gekko

The Delight of Boys & Love Masculinity. 
8vo. 318pp. Illustrations throughout. Paper wrappers with colour illustrated dust wrapper. Tokyo: Éditions Treville Co. Ltd, 2022. 
A new, fine copy with obi. 

Born in 1923, Toru Ishihara started drawing movie signboards in 1943 and took the pen name Gojin Ishihara. He then worked as an illustrator for various boys' and girls' magazines drawing monsters, mysteries, sci-fi and ghosts. In the mid-1970s, he started using the pen name Gekko Hayashi to create illustrations for gay and SM magazines like SABU, QUEEN, and many others. The artist enjoyed creating drawings for the pleasure of gay men and women alike. His work is pioneering in the manga genre of "Boys Love".

The publication contains over 275 drawings in full colour and monochrome pencil. The clear reproductions show the dazzling sensuality of Hayashi's drawings across many themes. The book chapters are divided into into eight sections: Play Mate, Kinky Chic, Muscle Man, Erotic Fantasia, Mature Love, Samurai Love, Gekko Theatre, and Homme Fatale. Gekko Theatre includes illustrations of real-life stories which he collected from a telephone hotline he set up at his workplace to hear readers' experiences and give consultation. The publication also includes essays on the works and a bilingual profile of the artist.