
Preview: The landing page is widescreen, so if your monitor isn't configured at 16:9, you'll want to be scrolling. At top right you can translate the site to French, Spanish, German, Italian. Click Our Quality Standards for an overview, or so you'd think, it's actually a join page. From around the site - they use the best cameras, high quality video, high definition HD 10180P, select models, cinematic video. And they're claiming either 5-7, 3-5, or 3 updates per week – make up your minds people. "Every single image you see on this site is an actual video screen cap" - okaaay. I'm guessing they expect previewers to be shocked that the stills are so good that how could they be mere vidcaps. Anyway, there's 42 hot pix and each has 'play video' text links for trailers. Preview every scene? - not gonna happen. After 3, opening on a join page, the freebies stop. Next! There's one content top-link, Guys, going to the join page as well. But, for the rest of the tour, go to Members Login, bottom-link to Our Quality Standards, then Scenes top-link. Click for the dated/timed scene index. Click a pic for a scene page showing viewing options and a few more preview pix. Click Guys here, and you'll get the model index. Btw, bottom-link Submit Your... is a straight site.

Joining: The join page also translates. They default a random username and password if you don't wanna pick your own. Payment processor – who knows – there's prominent Vendo links at top; Vendo and Segpay at bottom as 'authorized resellers; Billing Support goes somewhere else; same on T&C to Segpay, Vendo the reseller, and 2 more outside billing support companies. How confusing. Payment is by credit card – Visa, Mastercard – or check, via WTS. Rates are listed, but rebilling is not clear here. The 1-month membership is $24.95, 3 months for $59.96, 12 months for $95.40. There's a 1-day, limited-access trial for a buck. Page 2s finally indicate rebilling as same rate for 1 and 3 months; 12 months too except is listed as 13 months. Credit card page 2 is a secure site of yet some other company. The dollar trial seems to bill at $1.12, recurring at $39.94. Phew!

Inside: It's simple – Scenes and Guys. Quick Nav at left at least/most short-cuts to models. The first 23 site-populating scenes sorta updated 3 per week. But now it's a week from the last update. And I guess the 42 pix from the preview are yet to come or reflect some stuff and studs on brother sites. They have 21 guys now, first names only; including 2 Alex's and 2 Devins – they oughta differentiate 'em. The scene page features a screen-wide pic, running time, browse links to streaming options and photo galleries, download options, rate it, comments; but no descriptions. A model page has a big scene pic link first, and if he has more appearances, those scene pic links are medium. There's a buncha glitches. There may be some browser-dependent display difs, nothing crucial. The two recent updates have errored running times. In the Guys index there are 2 identical dropdown boxes and letter linkings, kinda redundant. Tyler Saint is not listed under T, and his dropdown name adds a 'G' which throws off a title in the scene index. In Quick Nav, the Most Popular Scenes (and there's no similar most popular models) indexes randomly. The inside Our Quality Standards page still lacks much info but has a sexy, sharp trailer, but compares it with a competitor vid that's displaying as an x-box. Atop the scene index, and over comments on scene pages, it says Live Chat Cam Guys, which is nothing. My favorite thing - the 'ago' dating on scene pages. And this is one pornsite where keeping the trailers in the members area is a plus.

Tech Stuff: First, there's no tech help page. On each scene page, above the super-hot "Actual Video Screen Cap" are links for Trailer, HD Video, Standard Video, Screencaps, HQ Pictures. The video links are for Flash streaming. Below are the Download Full Video links for high def .mpg or .wmv at 1280x720, and .mp4 at 750x411 (maybe for mobile). Both streaming options are screen-wide and sharp and HD. The bigger and faster your computer, the more you'll be able to enjoy. Videos range about 20-45 minutes and the download files about 400-800mb, downloading, on mine, in 3-6 minutes. The two photo galleries are similarly high res, differing in quantity. They're just different shots. There are hundreds of images per scene. When you're in Screencaps, the HQ Pictures link mysteriously disappears. Galleries are 40 thumbs per page and enlarge to screen-wide at 950x534/633. Pix don't navigate and there's no exit link – click outside the image to close it. You can download a zip file of the HQ gallery but not the screencaps. Hmmm. Unzipped or saved pix jump to 1500x1000 and run like a flip book. Cool! The preview landing page has a mobile link that reformats the site outside, but there's no mobile link inside. My browser formats the site mobile-like. Who knows.

Camerawork: "Man Royale takes the utmost care in ensuring our videos are superior than what you can get on any other website. We use the latest camera technology and our videos go through a strict post-production process." OMG, I could not take my eyes off the screen. When they say they have a cinematic style of shooting, they really mean it. They film with two cameras, edited together almost seamlessly. Camera one is stationary, but professional stationary, with the scene perfectly framed to the utmost visual precision and beauty. Camera two is handheld, and it goes in for the languorous, lingering, roaming close-ups of all the different stages of action. Everything is genuine high-definition, meaning you can see every pore and hair on every body, and if you can't, it's just the narrower depth of field. Exposure is perfect, which is amazing considering that so many of the interior scenes are shot backlit from exquisite window treatments. So, like camerawork of old, ManRoyale achieves transcendent cinematography with its framing, lighting, exposure, focus, and editing. And there's no talk involved, except the occasional "I'm gonna cum". Music scores each scene, going on and off throughout. It's kinda new-agey porn music, unobtrusive but necessary.

The Guys: "Every model is hand-picked; if they aren't extraordinarily good looking, we won't shoot them." Wow. There's 20 guys onsite now, identified by first name only. But there are recognizable porn stars - along with named Tyler Saint, there's Christopher Daniels, Christian Wilde, Kirk Cummings, Marc Dylan, and Valentin Petrov. The star of ManRoyale is Luke Haas, in half the scenes. He's the 'big' star of program site Damn That's Big, and here he's a seriously talented top who looks great in – and out – of speedos in a tropical pool scene. Tyler is next with 5 appearances - another top top who's also the star and resident masseur at program site Massage Bait. The other guys are in 1 or 2 scenes each so far. Award-winning new super-star power-bottom Marc Dylan is in 3, including a super-sensual shower scene with Brandon Wilde. And so is buff blond bottom Christoper Daniels. You can tell from the instant boners popping up that these guys are gay and proud. The set-ups are kinda lover-based so they're sensual and erotic from beginning to end. Whether the seductive scenarios are set at a mountain picnic, L.A. roof-top patio, in the kitchen, bath, bedroom, or fabulous other interiors, these boys keep the sex slow and deliberate, more intimate than the usual suck 'n fuck porn. They're slim, defined, and smooth. With hi-def filming showing everything, they also gotta be perfectly groomed and/or manscaped, perfect skin, meaningful facial expressions, beautiful hard cocks and assholes. Except for the lack of sex talk, young gay boys could use ManRoyale as their visual textbook of how mansex can be romantic, erotic, sensual, sexy, hot, and every other adjective that describes how you really want sex to be in your own life. ManRoyale is luxurious body worship, sucking and fucking, building to ecstatic orgasms by the performers, and probably you too. They're just that good!



mmmmmmmm....!!!!
ManRoyale
REVIEWED MAY 4, 2012
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