Let’s get this started in style!
TSF Showcase 2024-27
Two Beauties for Takeout [Sono Karada, Omochikaeri de] by Hyoui Lover and Duokuma
This week marks the first standalone TSF Showcase post, so let’s get things started in style! I originally wanted to do a big blowout showcase on a lengthier work, but other time constraints nipped that prospect in the bud, so… let’s talk about Hyoui Lover!
Hyoui Lover— or Possession Lover, is a TSF manga writer who worked with a wide number of different artists on, surprise surprise, possession stories! Since their debut in 2019, they’ve assembled a respectable library, and have been releasing a handful of doujins every year.
Meanwhile, Duokuma is a prolific TSF artist who came into the scene in 2020, has since then been making a well-sized following, and has frequently collaborated with Hyoui Lover over the years. They’re also friends with the prolific Vel and Kawaii Tsun’aho, which I just think is a cute connection.
Now, these two did just put out a new possession comic two months ago, but there’s no English translation out at the moment, so I’m going to cover the one that introduced me to both of them. Two Beauties for Take-Out. A comic I actually found a few years ago, as it is one of the few TSF comics on DLSite with an official English translation. It’s a pretty small niche— there are only 217 of them per my latest search— but when I see something I find promising under that category, I nab it. I may as well with all the store coupons, product discounts, and weakness of the yen at the moment. Though, you do need to buy points to use DLSite these days, thanks to the influence of cowardly erotic-hating executive class scumlords who definitely don’t have their own unscrupulous sexual tastes.
Two Beauties for Take-Out is a structurally and fundamentally pretty simple possession comic. One mostly concerned with erotic thrills and mental rewriting takeover fantasies above all else. …But it is also being completely insane, unhinged, and features a protagonist who fully realizes what kind of story he’s in, and does not bother to even question the morality of his actions.
The story begins with Kousuke, a man who died in an accident five years ago and has been wandering the world as a ghost with the power to possess people. Immediately, this small, throwaway, detail adds so much depth to this character. Kousuke is not somebody who just died and is coming to terms with their possession powers. This dude is a veteran of his craft, and one who has accelerated his powers beyond the scope of a simple lingering spirit.
We see this as he begins to spy the two titular beauties, Aki the busty blonde and her black-haired friend Sena, who are casually minding their business, making plans as they walk down the street. Kousuke then possesses them, but rather than just aiming for one— the traditional approach— he sinks his hands into both of their heads, splitting off his ethereal essence as he possesses both of them. Their bodies shiver, their minds become clouded, and all life drains from their eyes, before the takeover is complete. Kousuke looks at his other half, and he (they?) valiantly declares the possession to be a success.
After this fantastic little possessions sequence, Kousuke(Aki) and Kousuke(Sena) return to their go-to base of operations. An apartment that is owned by a woman named Rei, who Kousuke brainwashed earlier on in his travels so he could have a secure and regular location to enact his every sexual desire, and store the tools required for his satisfaction. Now, you might think that by ‘tools’ I mean a double-ender dildo a la JK-ka Refle or a fucking machine a la Transformed Into A Busty Blonde. But… nope!
After testing out these two bodies with the expected amount of vigor, Kousuke breaks out the cosplay closet and begins dressing up as various characters from popular anime or manga. Mostly Fate/Grand Order. This part of the comic is mostly a series of erotic vignettes before jump-cutting to a different cosplay for each body, and it goes on for about half the comic. This, by itself, would not be of interest to me… if not for the dialogue.
Kousuke is in both bodies, so he is effectively just playing with himself, but he maintains a dialogue with his other half. As he speaks, he does so in a vulgar and informal manner, clearly relishing in being able to make these classy-looking young women speak in a manner unbecoming of them. I cannot be sure how this was done in the original Japanese version, but the accented text in the English version does a pretty great job of selling this allure. Selling this defilement and corruption.
This is mixed in with a lot of roleplaying as the Kousukes swap from different outfits, pick up stray traits from the characters they are cosplaying as, and even maintain a casual sexual competition with each other. It’s really just someone doing kinky roleplay sex with themselves, taking what would be a masturbatory fantasy, and using possession and cosplay to make it into reality.
Then, just when things start getting a bit too familiar, the story enters its endgame by revealing the true extent of Kousuke’s powers as he leaves Aki and Sena’s bodies. He appears before them as a ghost (somehow) and uses his possession powers to mix a part of his soul into the women. Doing so turns them into “perverted sluts” who love to cosplay, retain knowledge of Kousuke and, implicitly, regard him as their master.
Now, I just want to pause and balk about how… insane this level of power Kousuke has. Not only can he possess people, he can double-fist possess two people at once. Not only can he manage dual possession, but he can also tear off bits of his soul and mix them with the souls of the bodies he chooses, effectively turning people into his slaves. Slaves who are, somehow, completely complicit with being underlings. Possibly because they know their master is generally chill and if he does ask for something, it’s going to be hot as a volcano and wet as the sea. It all makes Kousuke out to be a force of destruction, one with an insatiable sexual appetite, and I have to wonder just how far he has spread his wild oats or how his powers will develop over time. Because I can imagine him having servants in every area code…
There actually is a prequel comic that goes into this, subtitled Rei’s Side, showing how Kousuke made Rei into his servant, but it’s only eight actual pages, so it doesn’t feature much. Rei was just an ordinary college girl before Kousuke possessed her. He used her body for his own sexual satisfaction, while cosplaying as Mashu Kyrielight from the atrocious Fate/Grand Order. He was so satisfied by the pleasure she provided that Kousuke decided to mix his soul in with hers, turning her into his peon, who maintains the apartment for him and eagerly awaits whenever her master offers her some satisfaction.
On one hand, I could point at Two Beauties for Take-Out as being a very shallow and gauche story. One that really is none too concerned with the meaningful narrative potential of possession. One that only views the transformation method as a way of gaining sexual pleasure. And one that is utterly enamored with the idea of mind control sexual slavery. All of these things are indeed true… but focusing on them is to miss the point of this story.
This is ultimately a TSF power fantasy about some dude who not only wants to experience the pleasures of a female body having sex, but wants to maintain his own damn cosplay harem. It’s a spectacle without shame or restraint, heightened by the bizarre grab bag of characters it features. I don’t know who wanted to see Asuna from Sword Art Online scissor Tifa from Final Fantasy VII, but… somebody did. Probably the artist.
On that note, it should go without saying, but Doukuma is a very skilled artist, and I have nothing but praise for their work here. For bit characters, there’s a striking amount of care put into their designs. The paneling and framing can be inspired and does a wonderful job of selling the fantasy pushed by this story. And it is all rendered in a clean, professional manner that really doesn’t skimp on anything.
Anyway, that’s it for this week. I’ll try to get out something bigger next time, and if you have any feedback, criticism, or suggestion for TSF Showcase, let me know. Because I’m playing this all by ear.