Bikachou Shinshi Kaikoroku
Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen

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I consider myself to be a pervert. And that’s good, I know what I want, I know how to describe inner feelings. I grasp my desires, have them in the palm of my hand.

And that story is all about perverts.
But…
Not in the considered normal, ecchi style of story.

This story is much, much more realistic, much more brutal in the way of describing perverts. A realistic story about people who live their own lives with the knowledge what arouses and interests them.

Our plot is set in the ~~20th century Paris, in a luxurious brothel where women are held as hostages. Even though the ... are free, they have to live in the brothel and work, work and work, because they earn less then the brothel pays for their livings (or so the brothel mom says).

They are in the endless cycle of debt.

We see everything from Colette’s point of view, a young prostitute working there. She wants to be a writer, this is her dream, her goal. But how can a seemingly ordinary prostitute achieve anything in the world where money is everything? Can she even find her own truth about the world? Can she understand love? She struggles a lot trying to find answers, and we can see exactly what was pushing her forward.

We can see the daily routine of her coworkers, clients they need to attend, how they behave and how they feel about everything. It’s interesting because it’s real. I don’t doubt a real brothel from that time looked exactly like that.


What makes this story interesting are definitely characters. Courtesans and perverts paying for them. We can see how they think and how they try to grasp their desires. Interesting to people who are really degenerates, you can find yourself here.



Sooo, the story is about a brothel but can we actually see some erotic motives?

Sure we can, all the time. If you are too sensual to see naked bodies, sex scenes, penises, strap-ons and pegging, don’t try to get into that. The manga is full of hardcore erotic elements. And they are wonderful, truly for perverts.



What can we expect from this manga?

1) Comedy, mostly dark humour.

2) AMAZING drawings, my god, the art is just WONDERFUL, expressions, gestures, architecture…. Certainly it makes the manga stand out.

3) Perverts, sex, degeneration, and so on. Beautiful, right?

4) Drama. There is a lot of drama. Human hardships, harsh loves, disappointments… A lot of stories are… sad. Just sad. It’s not really philosophical, it’s just… human.


It’s not a perfect manga, it could be longer, it could be explained more in-depth. But it isn’t and I still enjoyed every single chapter. Do I recommend this manga? I sure am! But not if you are a casual reader looking for something to binge. If you want some mature story, than it’s a good take.


Everyone has desires. Everyone. But… some of us want something really…. really… indescribable;)

I'm spoilering this as there is 1 quote from the manga and say my opinions abt the ending without being tooo explicit, otherwise should be fine to read w/out spoilers xox

This work provides undisputable evidence for why Moyoco Anno is one of the champions of Josei as it quite literally encapsulates the phrase "written by women, for women". If you're interested in the psychological, philosophical undercurrent behind the protagonist's & her fellow's psyche as they deal with the reality that brothels are patriarchal institutions that have long objectified women, this is definitely the manga. It's pretty much a political conversation starter.

Art - 10/10
Hyper-feminine to ... the point it becomes celebratory of 20th century Paris Salons in all it's maximal, decorated desires. From clothing to makeup, it blends you into this lavish historical world the women, clothes and backgrounds are beautifully (and accurately!!) drawn to intricate detail. Moyoco's art resembles the usual thin laden style of Josei such as in Kyoko Okazaki, barely complicated to the eye and quite forthwith when portraying anatomically challenging (nsfw) scenes. Additionally, many of the men who are appear unconventional/ugly have an impressive level of detail that even in NSFW scenes arent unsightly which I think is a real skill particularly in comparison to certain NTR manga... My favourite thing about the art is that the hurried, more serious scenes were drawn with messier lines which really sets the scene and becomes more appropriate when exploring psychological themes. Overall, I was drawn to screenshot many panels and look back at it forever onwards, but caution, lots of not very detailed nudity.

Plot - 7/10
If you're looking for something action-packed and busy with plot you'd best look elsewhere. This is more like a slow read into the mind of protagonist and those she is acquainted with. The plot aims to investigate many different angles to the protagonist's life so neither does it hyper-focus on the protagonist's suffering. What makes the work so unique is that the author portrays a variety of perspectives from many sides, those you disagree, agree, desire and are grossed out by. She is unashamed of who the readers will encounter and you can really tell. Sometimes, she delegates some chapters to the male characters and uses them to support the plot in both good and bad ways, in such a wildly feminist work, I found myself validifying the men's emotions too. One major criticism, however, is that the end ties too well together which I believe undoes the significance of the plot, it's supposed to go full circle and it does quite nicely but for such a realistic and unabashedly crude story, it sure gave everyone opportune endings that seem so coincidental that it undoes the major systemic criticisms of the real world that have left many real prostitutes without fulfilling endings (not to mention, there wasn't enough focus on those that were implied to have suffered directly from the brothel, but you could interpret this in many ways). Either way, the dialogue was so good I could look past it. Oh, and yes, the plot had themes of orientation and sexuality both minor and sort of major, for me it was easy to forget but I can see why many who are interested in exploring the political message behind desire, love and certain mature themes would appreciate this.

Dialogue - 9/10
Almost as appealing as the art, the dialogue read like a wonderful book. It was beautifully consistent with prominent iconography that really brought everything together, especially at the end. The dialogue essentially lulls you into the same eye-opening development as the protagonist, wherein even her own thoughts and philosophies become challenged frequently and the concept of right and wrong becomes quite blurred. You, too, become slowly adjusted to the objectification and commodification of women as the dialogue breaks down how one comes to the conclusion that they are worth being sold. The men also had significant contributions in terms of dialogue, with such direct feminist commentary such as "The best way to fool a man is with the help of another." One would be surprised to see that the most insightful dialogue comes from a mans perspective, as well as his mutual experience in the pursuit and exploration of love and desire with women. The dialogue really engaged my mind, though, at some times too vague, it was mostly understandable and carried certain metaphors that really shaped my understanding. It was great.

Characters - 8/10
For one, lots of the themes are quite sensitive so it's essential that the characters are written ethically - and they are!! Very much so!! Both the major male and fem characters share about the same detail in terms of backstory or at least what I believe to be appropriate for such a short story. All of which are perfectly aligned with the plot (as they carry or exemplify a certain moral). More importantly, most of these characters are unconventional in different ways, and as such they are presented with vivid personalities and enough of their own individuality as to not reduce them to that master status. There was definitely an open-minded approach to the creation of these characters which I find ethical and authentic, it definitely educates you on the duality of people. The only issue with the characters is that it may have been too short a story, while the other characters were explained enough that I felt a sense of fulfillment, I would have liked to see more exploration for the protagonist.

Overall, this work follows a lot of the trends of great Josei artists, there's a reason she was controversial when her work came out- she's unashamed and willing to break taboos where nsfw, aestheticism, luxury and desire are put front and centre as a criticism of how everyone contributes to a patriarchal society. I thought there were a lot of feminist metacommentary that were very direct and obvious that I had no choice but to to make a review centred around it. As such, this work has a sense of social awareness that can't be ignored, and if you're interested in that then have fun reading~~