I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone: Shameless

I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone: Shameless
Genre	Yaoi
Manga
Written by	Shiuko Kano
Published by	Magazine Magazine
English publisher	Digital Manga Publishing
Published	December 2001
Volumes	1
Manga
Maybe I'm Your Steppin' Stone: Loveliness
Written by	Shiuko Kano
Published by	Magazine Magazine
English publisher	Digital Manga Publishing
Published	October 30, 2004
Volumes	1
Anime and Manga Portal

I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone: Shameless is a manga by Shiuko Kano. It is licensed in English by Digital Manga Publishing, which published I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone: Shameless in November 2007.^[1] It involves a construction worker without a high school diploma who falls in unrequited love with a woman who likes intellectuals. He approaches her brother for tutoring, but the brother agrees on the condition that the construction worker pay him in sexual favours. A sequel volume, Maybe I'm Your Steppin' Stone: Loveliness was published by DMP in February 2008.^[1]

Reception

Rachel Bentham, writing for Active Anime, described I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone as being "some of the raciest, raunchiest stuff I’ve seen in a yaoi". Bentham also commended the masculine character designs.^[2] Danielle Van Gorder found the relationship between Sakai and Ezumi to be "a lot of fun", even given that Van Gorder felt that the primary purpose of I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone was to titillate.^[3]

Leroy Douresseaux felt that the masculine character designs of Maybe I'm Your Steppin' Stone came right out of "gay porn", contrasting them with Kano's "unattractive, awkward looking women". He found the characters and story to be "actually quite engaging", although he noted that these came second in the author's priorities to showing sex scenes.^[4] Danielle Van Gorder felt that Maybe I'm Your Steppin' Stone would appeal to a variety of BL readers, as she felt it was "well written", with "gorgeous art" and had "interesting characters", as well as being "dead sexy", with sex scenes "a little more hardcore" than most yaoi manga released in English.^[5] Rachel Bentham, writing for Active Anime, described Maybe I'm Your Steppin' Stone as being "one of the more raw and explicit yaoi out there", praising Kano's skill at drawing "vulnerable expressions".^[6]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "801 Media - I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone". Digital Manga Publishing. http://www.801media.com/?view=62. Retrieved 23 November 2009. 
2. ^ Bentham, Rachel. "I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone - Shameless (Advance Review)". Active Anime. http://www.activeanime.com/html/content/view/2078/57/. Retrieved 23 November 2009. 
3. ^ Van Gorder, Danielle (3 December 2007). "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone Vol. #01". Mania Entertainment. http://www.mania.com/im-not-your-stepping-stone-vol-01_article_83615.html. Retrieved 23 November 2009. 
4. ^ Douresseaux, Leroy (30 August 2008). "Maybe I'm Your Steppin' Stone: Loveliness (Yaoi)". Comic Book Bin. http://www.comicbookbin.com/maybeimyoursteppinstone001.html. Retrieved 23 November 2009. 
5. ^ Van Gorder, Danielle (24 April 2008). "Maybe I'm Your Steppin' Stone Vol. #01". Mania Entertainment. http://www.mania.com/maybe-im-your-steppin-stone-vol-01_article_83784.html. Retrieved 23 November 2009. 
6. ^ Bentham, Rachel. "Maybe I'm Your Steppin' Stone - Loveliness (Advance Review)". Active Anime. http://www.activeanime.com/html/content/view/2564/57/. Retrieved 23 November 2009. 

External links

• I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone: Shameless (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Maybe I'm Your Steppin' Stone: Loveliness (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia