A Foreign Love Affair

A Foreign Love Affair (異国色恋浪漫譚) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ayano Yamane. The manga is licensed in North America by Digital Manga Publishing, which released the first volume in March 2008, and in Germany by Tokyopop, which will release the manga in December 2009. It was adapted into a two-episode OVA in 2007. A Foreign Love Affair is about the son of a yakuza mob, Ranmaru, who gets married for convenience to a yakuza daughter, Kaoru, on a cruise ship in Italy. Because they are Japanese they are the center of attention on the boat. On their wedding night, the couple fight and Kaoru kicks him out of their room. Ranmaru goes to the boat's bar and fights with some yakuza. He is assisted by a blond Italian man who can speak Japanese, Alberto, and as a thank you Ranmaru asks Alberto if he wants a drink in the bar. They get thoroughly drunk and have sex. The next morning, Ranmaru finds out that Alberto is the ship's captain.

Reception
Patricia Beard, writing for Mania Entertainment, found Alberto's capture of Ranmaru "sexy and funny", appreciating Yamane's attention to detail in the art. Beard noted there wasn't much character development, but regarded this as being symptomatic of the romantic comedy genre of A Foreign Love Affair. Rachel Bentham, writing for Active Anime, enjoyed the sexy character designs. Leroy Douresseaux, writing for Comic Book Bin described A Foreign Love Affair as "a bawdy comedy ... with intermittent scenes of torrid sex." A reader's poll for About.com for the best yaoi of 2008 ranked A Foreign Love Affair first. Deb Aoki speculated that its popularity could be due to its setting, the characters, and Yamane's character designs and "knack for drawing very hot guys in sizzling situations".