is a

yaoi , also known by its abbreviation , is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that depicts homoerotic relationships between male characters. It is typically created by women for a female audience, distinguishing it from the equivale ...

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

by the

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese

manga artist A manga artist, also known as a mangaka (), is a Cartoonist, comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist before entering the indus ...

Hinako Takanaga is a Japanese yaoi manga artist from Nagoya. She has also provided illustrations for several yaoi light novels by other authors, including '' The Guilty'' by Katsura Izumi. Most of her works have been translated into English and German (chiefly b ...

, who also authored '' Little Butterfly'' and '' The Devil's Secret''. The first volume of this series was originally called before the series was retitled Challengers. Challengers is licensed in German by

Tokyopop Germany Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licensed ...

under the title ''Küss mich, Student!'' and in French by Taifu Comics under the title ''Rien n'est impossible''. A spin-off series to ''Challengers'', which follows Tomoe's older brother Souichi, is titled ''

The Tyrant Falls in Love is a Japanese ''yaoi'' manga series written and illustrated by Hinako Takanaga. ''The Tyrant Falls in Love'' is a sequel to Takanaga's series '' Challengers''. The series has appeared on manga best-seller lists both in Japan and in Germany, ...

''.

Plot

Tomoe Tatsumi, a high school student from

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

, goes on a trip to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

to take a university entrance exam. He gets lost wandering around Tokyo when he runs into, Mitsugu Kurokawa, an office worker who had been out drinking with his friend Isogai. Isogai throws up on Tomoe and so Kurokawa takes him to clean his now ruined coat and tells him he'll help him find his hotel, but then they realize that the address to the hotel is in his coat pocket which is now in the wash, further complicating the situation. Since Kurokawa has an extra room at his place, he offers to let Tomoe stay at his place for the night. Tomoe accepts and the next morning he goes off to take his entrance exam. When Tomoe is getting on the train back to Nagoya, Kurokawa kisses him. Tomoe appears shocked and appalled at this and Kurokawa thinks he'll never hear from him again, but is surprised to receive a post card from Tomoe telling him that he passed the entrance exam. When Tomoe returns to Tokyo to look for a place to live, he asks for Kurokwa's help and Kurokawa offers to let him sub-lessee the extra room in his apartment. Tomoe thinks it would be a good idea since it would save his family money and accepts the offer. Kurokawa eventually confesses his love to Tomoe and their relationship develops gradually, but not without interference from various friends and relatives. Tomoe's short-tempered older brother, Souichi Tatsumi, is suspicious of the living arrangement and tries many times to get Tomoe to move back home. It is revealed that Souichi is homophobic because he was almost raped by one of his professors at his university but his lab assistant, Morinaga, saved him. As it so happens, Morinaga is gay and has had a crush on Souichi for 4 years starting from the moment he saw him. While sick with a cold, Morinaga inadvertently confesses that he is gay and in love with Souichi. Following this, he thought that Souichi would hate him because of his homophobia, and said he would leave school, but Souichi insists that they forget about it and remain friends. It also helps Souichi accept Tomoe's relationship more and he stops trying to force him to come home. Souichi and Morinaga's story is continued in the spin-off series, ''

''.

Characters

*Tomoe Tatsumi *Mitsugu Kurokawa *Taichirou Isogai *Souichi Tatsumi *Tetsuhiro Morinaga *Richard Coldman *Reiko Hino *Phil Lloyd

Manga List

Reception

Julie Rosato noted that it was obvious that ''Challengers'', dating from 1995, was one of Takanaga's early works, as the art is not as polished as her later works, and there are some cliches in the storyline. However, Rosato found the first volume on the whole amusing. Writing about the second volume, Rosato feels that although the story is like other BL, Takanaga's execution is entertaining.

References

External links