A review of the h manga The New Bondage Faeries, which can be read here.
Content Warning: Humanoid/Insect sexual activity (Feral? All insects portrayed are fully sapient)
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Kondom's Bondage Fairies, originally published as インセクト・ハンター (Insect Hunter), is a true standout in the hentai manga scene: niche enough to be a little notorious, but largely inoffensive enough to avoid true infamy in the vein of such works as Metamorphosis or Mai-Chan's Daily Life. Published by Kubo Shoten in the early 90's, it's old enough to be considered a "classic," but not old enough to be obsolete or forgotten. For the over-30 crowd used to scrounging around on sketchy scan sites, it's a comfortable and familiar name, in no small part because it managed to enjoy actual publication in the United States as early as 1994, with full volumes from Eros Comix appearing just a few years later.
For any adult comic, much less one from a foreign market, this is notable enough, and though it's difficult to say precisely what makes one comic succeed and another fail, the lasting charms of the manga speak well enough for itself. And The New Bondage Fairies, published stateside in 1998, is as good a sampling as any to showcase its quality.
Issue 1, localized and available uncensored under the name "Fairie Fetish 01," provides a brief look into the series' world that requires little explanation or need to worry about lore or setting. At a scant 18 pages, excluding the cover, it truly is only a morsel, a low-stakes and fluffy bit of lightweight pornography that, at times, borders on sex comedy. But Bondage Fairies, like many other early imports, is largely episodic in nature, where any semblance of plot is relegated mainly to a singular conceit needed to justify main characters Pfil and Pamila's sexual exploits. There's no time in these slim issues, after all, to worry about complicated storylines when there's so much bug-on-fairy (fairie?) sex to be had.
Fairie Fetish 01 opens with the issue's main plot conflict, a fairy (the unnamed older sister of Pfil, our protagonist) struggling to give birth to her baby as she is tended to by a ladybug midwife. The ladybug flies out, distressed, to find help, asserting that she must climb inside the birth canal to help pull the baby out, for which she will need additional lubrication to ease the way. The store-bought stuff obviously not being an option in the forest, homemade is what she needs, and it's up to Pfil to provide. And of course, the insects of the forest are more than happy to help. It's admittedly a pretty flimsy plot, just enough to provide a basic narrative structure. But the plot isn't the point, when it comes to episodic porn comics like this. The point is nearly a dozen pages of bugfucking pornography that follow, the excuse having been made and the scene having been set. Set upon by a trio of male ladybugs and a weevil, Pfil is doted on and pleasured, while watched by Pamila, the secondary protagonist and prickly sidekick, who plays voyeur while enlisting a little assistance from a nearby slug to have a time of her own. The fluids gotten from all that sex are not salvaged, having been drunk up by one of the male ladybugs, and for a moment all seems lost, until Pamila reappears with her own (and the slug's) to save Pfil's sister and her baby, and all is well.
All told, no attempt is made to go hard or heavy with the storytelling. Rarely will any conflict in Bondage Fairies garner much more than a light gasp and an "oh, no!" But if anything, this is part of the appeal. Ironically, despite the title, Bondage Fairies rarely contains much by way of serious BDSM elements, keeping the tone consistently light and witty rather than relying upon heavier sexual tension. Single-panel gags and light jabs of rude dialogue make it feel more like an X-rated shoujo manga than anything else. And, to some extent, this does create a certain limit to the breadth of its appeal. One of the benefits of manga as a narrative medium means it is possible to allow tension of premise and more explicit action to not only co-exist, but benefit and intertwine with one another. This series does not, as such, tell a story with its use of sexuality. While the art style is appealing, even cute, it also feels very safe and conventional. This does not necessarily detract, but it does, certainly, corner it into a very particular kind of "casual" pornographic niche, in the same vein as a 6-minute porno with a 90-second comedy sketch introduction or a 2000-word explicit fanfic, and places it squarely as a recommendation for those wanting a light bite, rather than a piece of proper genre "erotica."
[CAPTION: The art style of Bondage Fairies hearkens back to other works of the late 80's and early 90's such as Slayers, Sailor Moon, and Ranma 1/2 with its soft shapes, fluffy hair, and cartoon faces.]
All of that being said, Kondom-san knows what he's doing, and he does it well. The art style is charming, simple but still detailed enough to show an understanding of both human and insect anatomy (though, admittedly, the comic forgoes bothering with accurate aedeagi for the insect characters, using more traditionally phallic genitalia instead) that is presented with a sense of carefree, fearless desire to just have fun. Readers who enjoy bugfucking (but not necessarily formicophilic content) will have the rare treat of realistic insects of a fuckable size being presented as, at least, secondary erotic focus. The primary erotic focus, of course, tends to be on the fairy characters as the series at large, including this issue, is composed in a way clearly intended to appeal to men who want to fuck women. Even the instances of sapphic homoeroticism are presented in a way that makes it clear it's for the male gaze. But even if one falls outside of this target demographic (as I do, as a gay man) it's still a fun and friendly bit of bug porn that will have even the more picky fans of carapace and compound eyes humming in approval at the beautiful illustrations of anatomically-correct insects. And though not explicitly intended for a queer audience, it's a friendly series that's easy for queer readers to get comfortable with, in no small part due to the almost total lack of humanoid men. The male characters are almost all bugs, which creates a kind of focus that will not put off readers who prefer to not have men around at all, or readers who are very picky about what type of men they like.
[CAPTION: Lovingly researched and shaded insect bodies are a boon largely unfettered by the occasionally cheesy, dialect-localized dialogue]
Having the benefit of a western release, all issues of The New Bondage Fairies are available uncensored, allowing the reader full view of both human and insect genitalia and showcasing Kondom-san's care and attention to detail with regards to both general and specifically sexual anatomy. The fairies' bodies are predictably hairless and very thin but otherwise only lightly idealized, with breasts, vulvas, assholes, and small fat deposits that actually look correct and drawn from life. Both penetrative and frotteuristic sex are freely presented in ways that feel believeable and, importantly, visceral enough to be titillating, rather than clinical. The sex scenes are short, providing little time for building fantasy, but the attention to detail placed in each panel and page makes up for it, with not a single image being lazily composed or drawn. Where many a hentai manga drawn by a less skilled artist might be inconsistent in posing or composition, Kondom-san provides a sleek, professional feel that reads well and never distracts from the point at hand with messy paneling or excessive negative space.
All of that being said, it's not a perfect little series. Even taking the shallow plots in stride, the dialogue is localized in a way that can feel cheesy, with written-out accents and profane moments that don't quite feel entirely natural all the time. The excitement of seeing a weevil show up to service Pfil with his phallic proboscis is, admittedly, tempered a bit by his good ol' boy sort of southern dialect, complete with a delighted "YEE-HAW!" before he dives in. For readers who prefer minimal dialogue in their porn, the chatty bug characters may detract just a bit from the experience, and considering that the English release is incredibly easy to find, the easy cheat of reading it in a language one does not know is a slightly harder option than it might be for most hentai. This is relatively consistent with the series in general, not only Fairie Fetish 01, so there's regrettably little escape from this style of writing. But it's hardly the worst offender, with almost nothing by way of literally-translated but badly-localized dirty talk or overly crude casual dialogue that distracts with seemingly random grossness. As with the art, the writing in Bondage Fairies displays a level of elegant skill and class that make it feel, at least, like the work of a professional. The cheesiness in the dialogue is a stylistic choice, not vulgarity borne from ignorance or lack of experience. And for people who enjoy the cute, tongue-in-cheek type of dialogue that but for its target audience and subject matter might be found in Slayers or Sailor Moon, it's perfectly serviceable, even nostalgic.
All of that is perfectly well and good, you may be asking, but what about the fetish content? After all, bugfucking, voyeurism, miniature women, and at least the titular promise of bondage seem pretty promising. And indeed, for the reader who doesn't much mind what else is present as long as there's insect sex involved, it's a rare and explicit treat, a sparkling little jewel in the comparative wasteland of formicophilia and worms being stuffied into orifices, or creatures that only barely resemble insects at all that seem to exist only to fill a forced pregnancy niche. Nothing is wrong with these things, of course. They're fine, and it would be wrong to diss someone else's kink, particularly when uplifting one that's equally strange. But for those whose tastes skew towards "insect as consummate sexual partner" without the the desire for forced impregnation and breeding that many bugfuck manga tend to have, it makes for a nice find indeed. The size of the fairies is pretty consistent, with ladybugs being about the size of a small cat while a slug might be more like a dakimakura. In other issues, large beetles are a frequent fixture, so size differences are not only an idle possibility, but a readily-embraced feature. Other small creatures (moles, turtles, etc.) might make an appearance, but bugs are the most common. But though the insects are beautifully drawn, readers hoping for an accurate aedeagus will be a bit disappointed, as all of the creatures who do the fucking tend to have humanoid penises.
[CAPTION: The relative size of things compared to the fairies makes for a fun bit of variety, offering a lot of room for imaginative scenarios.]
The crown jewel of Bondage Fairies is its bug fucking, but what about the rest? Unfortunately, there doesn't really appear to be much else. Yes, there's a little bit of bondage, of course. Occasional issues of Bondage Fairies Extreme have blindfolds and ball gags, as well as slightly darker plots, but for the most part, the BDSM aesthetic is generally taken only as far as collars, opera-length latex gloves, and thigh-high leather boots. They're lovingly drawn and very cute, but actual bondage is rather uncommon. And while there are occasional issues with human characters, they're few and far between, leaving the "minigirl" angle an uncommon one to be explored. Searching for the full exploration of Bondage Fairies' possibilities requires a bit of a dive into the series' many issues, and a great many are, for lack of a better word, rather vanilla. But rather than detracting, this is tonally consistent with the lightweight writing and cute art style, and the series is best enjoyed when in the mood for meandering around. It's unlikely to scratch every unusual itch, but it's a fun little series with plenty of material to look through.
As always, it is advised that any would-be readers take a look at content warnings and kink tags for individual issues if reading much of Bondage Fairies online, as there is occasional portrayal of dubious or absent consent, a bit of light violence, and other potentially-distressing content, but none of that is much of a concern for Fairie Fetish 01, a pleasantly lightweight and fluffy bit of easily-digestible porn. If you're not put off by bugs who behave like people getting their dicks out, it's a perfectly friendly read and easy to recommend for beginner hentai reader and seasoned internet veteran alike.
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