There’s an incredible amount of variety to the types of stories and characters in Love Me Tender. Each of the 12 chapters has a totally different vibe from the last, with some being sweet and romantic while others are absurd and hilarious. Each one, though, is just as sexy and erotic as the last. The variety of characters themselves are equally unique. Fujimaru doesn’t just rely on identical bodies and faces with swapped around hairstyles and outfits. Each girl is drawn in a completely different style, with varying types of faces and personalities that make them instantly stand out from each. Even the men in the stories are varied, with some being young handsome idols, others being tall well-built older men, and others still being awkward and average young men. Each person featured in these stories truly felt like a unique individual, and that kind of variation helped take this manga to the next level.
There’s also great attention to detail when it comes to the art of the manga. Women in Love Me Tender have cute, slender bodies that don’t necessarily ooze sexuality. They’re drawn with sharp lines and vivid expressions, with a subtle softness to their exposed thighs or slight cleavage. It isn’t until their clothes are off and the action begins that you’re really able to appreciate the erotic side of Fujimaru’s art. Large, soft breasts smoothly fill out their bras and naturally hang from the chest. Backs arch seductively as their firm asses seductively take shape. Admittedly, the actual sexual anatomy itself might be the one flaw of the art in Love Me Tender. Girls in the story have nearly identical body types, save for some being equipped with slightly larger chests. The uncensored artwork also reveals the often awkward and strangely simple ways that dicks are drawn by Fujimaru. Thankfully, the somewhat shoddy details of some anatomy are made up for by the incredible way that other bits of the body are drawn.
It also helps that the overall art style of Fujimaru is so cute and fun. Characters have soft and incredibly expressive faces that really shine in any part of the story. In the more comedic scenes of the manga, though, these sharp expressions are especially potent. I often found myself busting out laughs at some of the dumbfounded or absurd facial reactions characters have to the events in their stories, making them funnier stories in the anthology my favorite parts by far.
While most of the stories in Love Me Tender are single-chapter affairs, though, there’s also a 4-chapter series included in the volume called Battlefield. It’s all focused on Sumire, a busty and beautiful short-haired talent manager at an agency in Japan. She’s in charge of Takumi, a star talent who’s incredibly gifted in singing, acting, and modeling. His only problem is that he desperately wants sex. With Takumi constantly frustrated that his success hasn’t led to sex and that girls aren’t throwing themselves at his feet, Sumire decides to offer her body to him as a way to keep him satisfied. The problem there, though, is that he’s dense as hell and never has the balls to make a move on her. As she constantly struggles to try and get him to give in and sleep with her, the two clash heads throughout the first chapter until she eventually manages to get through to Takumi, leading to a physical relationship that soon evolves beyond just sex.
The cocktail of frustration formed by mixing these two airheads together was one of the most entertaining things in the entire book. Takumi is horny as hell but an absolute chicken and Sumire sets the goal of sleeping with him and works relentlessly to achieve it, resulting in pages of hilarious awkwardness as the two fail to see eye to eye. When they eventually do, though, the rest of the chapter is a satisfying series of erotic encounters between the two that sported some of the sexiest artwork in the entire volume. As the story progresses and the two grow from awkward fuck buddies into forming a caring romantic relationship, Fujimaru still manages to balance comedy with sexuality in the perfect way.
Another stellar chapter of Love Me Tender that mixes hilarious antics with sexy action is Romantic Dust Shooters. It’s all about Gomi, an awkward-looking dude with a suspiciously phallic hairstyle who’s best friends with the most popular boy in the school. Because of that status, he has girls coming up to him constantly who are only ever interested in knowing what his friend Ike likes or what kind of girls his friend Ike is into. Every girl who comes to Gomi is obsessed with doing anything to impress Ike, so Gomi decides to use that to his advantage. When Yuuki and Chiaki come to him looking for info about Ike, Gomi decides to tell them that Ike won’t be interested in a girl if they’re a virgin. Thankfully, Gomi is willing to help the two of them experience their first times so that things go smoothly once they get together with Ike. What starts as sexual practice for the sake of Ike, though, eventually turns into passionate sex with two girls who end up realizing the charm of Gomi himself.
I can easily say that all of my favorite facial expressions in Love Me Tender come from this chapter alone. While Chiaki is instantly on-board with sleeping with Gomi in order to impress Ike, Yuuki is extremely hesitant, rocking a series of incredulous looks on her face as her best friend and Gomi start to fool around right in front of her. The two girls go through some incredibly erotic transformations, though. Chiaki soon ends up addicted to the feeling of sex, pouncing Gomi and begging for more. Yuuki, meanwhile, starts off shy and scared, but soon mistakes Gomi’s feelings for being in love with herself, embracing him romantically for the rest of their time together. On top of silly characters and hilarious facial expressions, Romantic Dust Shooters has some of the sexiest art in the entire volume, making this one of my favorite parts of the book by far.
Love Me Tender may be billed as a compilation of romantic and sentimental stories, but don’t be fooled. This is hands down one of the funniest and most absurd hentai anthologies I’ve ever read, and it’s only made better by the incredibly sharp artwork of each and every page. If you’re looking for unique characters, gorgeous art, and hilarious stories, look no further. Love Me Tender by Fujimaru is available at our shop here, along with many other great hentai manga series.
