This is definitely a favorite, however I don't like to read it too much. I find it somewhat depressing, with everything that goes down. I especially have a hard time reading the end, because after everything shouldn't Ryuu and Hitomi have ended up together!?!?! It is clear that they love each other and I can only hope that Miyamoto Sensei will be kind enough to continue their story one day and tell us whether or not they do end up together or not!?!?!

Please save yourself the trouble of reading this if you are anything like me and hate three way relationships, uncertain feelings that one still acts on and hurts everyone, misunderstandings, undecisiveness, being a damn useless human and making everyone suffer in the most illogical way. I read this because it was supposed to be realistic. Fuck no. It was a horrible read and I trully regret finishing it just to see what happens and to not have wasted my time, but the ending upset me in impossible ways. My first review has to be like this, but it has all of the elements that make me hate a piece of work. I am holding my anger in as best as I can because I just finished it and am very much so.

I think that's something people enjoyed and I certainly enjoyed that aspect. This manga seems to actually use common sense and doesn't throw insane settings, characters etc. in there, things that happen make sense, they're in there because of a reason instead of just to enhance the drama or something. It's the struggle between friendship and love, and really my personal belief is at the person you love should also be a close friend to you, but sometimes the transition between friend to love is hard and it's even harder to go from love to friend. I wouldn't say it was amazing or a tearjerker but it's extremely likeable because it doesn't have much of the annoying stereotypes other yaoi/romance have, everything about the story likely isn't original in real life but it is certainly original in yaoi, it's a really nice break from the shallowness of many romance stories.

To be honest, I got really pissed at Hitomi. Not just a little pissed, but really, REALLY pissed. But I just want to say, Hydra made me become very involved with all the characters and situations. Now whether or not I enjoyed this, I'll have to contemplate on for a while. Overall, I can't even tell what type of read it was for me yet.

It's such a pity that there are so few comments here. I guess most readers, after reading this manga, were in lack of words. They cannot describe, or reason how they were so profoundly moved and impressed by the manga.
I bet those who haven't read the manga also think the same thing. On the surface, there seems to be nothing special about it, no steamy sex scenes, no handsome guys, no beautiful art, no melodramatic plot. So why does it receive such an impressive rating?
I have read hundreds, may be thousands of BL manga, and I can confirm that Hydra is truly a gem in the Yaoi, maybe manga world. It is realistic: the author didn't attempt to idealize the characters, they appear more human than most characters in manga nowadays. They're so real that you can imagine them existing in real life, being a part of your life!
Her characters are not perfect. They have flaws, like any of us do. Ryuu, the seme, is not intelligent, nor rich, nor powerful like the all famous Asami of Viewfinder. In fact, he can be just any ordinary man you see out there, if it wasn't for his love towards Hitomi.
Hitomi is not beautiful. He doesn't have sparkling humongous eyes that may have taken up half of his face like those of girls or other ukes; he has a man's body frame. He is not a woman and he certainly doesn't look like one. He is not the typical stereotyped uke that you expect.
The plot itself is also not over the top. It doesn't involve love at first sight, and there was not any death, nor cancer, nor memory lost nor anything that you may find in Korean melodrama.
Nevertheless, all of these compound into a masterpiece. The striking quality of the manga is how it makes the love story so realistic, and yet doesn't turn it into something uneventful and tedious. It enables the readers to empathize with the characters instead of idolizing them. I cannot recount the number of times I have cried for the protagonists after rereading the manga over and over again.
I understand that the manga may seem dull and boring for those who have only read a few titles. Don't be quick to dismiss the yaoi's success, please continue to read up some more BL novels, and return to read this manga when you've grown tired of them. That will be when you realize the ingenuity of Miyamoto Kano in crafting this manga.
For those who are hooked, please don't hesitate to read her other works. I recommend Rules and Not/Love which are enjoyable and poignant at the same time.

... Last updated on November 23rd, 2016, 7:28am

I won't rate the serie since I believe I'm not a good judge of this one in particular. Actually I would like someone to explain it to me. Not the plot of the manga, but the humongeous deal that everyone makes about it. For real, please explain it to me, I'm even writing a comment in what obviously is not my mother tongue...Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's a bad manga, but for me it's average, I wouldn't read it again if asked. I don't think I'm going to read Rules, this series didn't hook me on, so I won't lose my time.
I have to admit that I'm a comedy-lover, if it makes me laugh, it's good enough, but I actually read any kind of yaoi (oldies, drama, smut, rape, threesome, love-triangles etc etc etc) so I can say that I absolutely adore (per example) Yoneda Kou's works, or Hidaka Shoko's. If you don't know this mangakas, please be a dear and go read their works, all of them. My recommendations? Saezuru Tori wa Habatakanai [Kou] and Yuuutsu na Asa [Shoko]. Oh yeah, I also utterly love Sojou no Koi wa Nido Haneru and its prequel, but even if slice of life and drama are also my thing, this manga...how can I describe it? It was unsatisfying. I had my hopes up for this one, I was expecting a masterpiece, but it felt slightly forced. I mean, murder, love triangles, the strugle accepting the homosexuality, time gap, all in one? I don't know, I felt as if the mangaka was trying too hard to make it work, and at the end just mixed up all of her ingredients without taking measures...

However, read it and judge it yourselves. I don't feel like I've lost my time reading it, it isn't awesome but you can enjoy it.

... Last updated on June 23rd, 2012, 12:58am

*blows nose* Good! So frigging good! I'm crying as I write this because I am so sad that it is over! One of the best yaoi mangas I've ever read. It's got a wonderful plot and very likable characters. I'm just glad I'll be able to see more of them when I read Rules. This mangaka has gained my utmost respect.

I just saw the 99 and couldn't help myself... I...I'll talk about the story later, because right now I feel like a brick hit my chest.... Ahhh what was it that got me again? The friendship card...

without said, miyamoto kano is definitely one of the better yaoi artists out there. You can easily tell that she puts a lot of thoughts and effort into her characters, each of them (both major and minor) is very distinctive, memorable and 3 dimensional, even the guys who can be considered an 'antagonist'. Her storytelling is utterly realistic, and just simply, the slap u in the face, hit u in the heart kind... Hydra, out of all, is actually the most angst-stricken one. No matter which couple or character u root for, the story will just rip u apart, just to sew u up and then rip u apart again... nonetheless, it is still quite a perfect romance manga, much closer to reality than many others that are out there
Of course, another great thing about this story, which makes me prefer it over the rules series, is the bonds and friendship between the characters, which stand strong until the end despite their conflicting feelings towards each other...
I didn't give this story a 10 simply due to my personal bias - even though I like my stories angsty and relatively realistic, the reason I read in the first place is to be entertained and at many points in Hydra, I did have to force myself to keep on reading to see how it will turn out instead of enjoying the flow of the story, because the drama does get quite tedious and the drawing, although good, lacks that compelling draw - of course, many might disagree with me on this

i truly love this manga.... i've read some of sensei's works and most are really human-like....

i really wanted to see more of Ryuu x Hitomi; which i was looking forward to. too bad there's no continuation of their relationship (i think??) ** if there is, i will love to to read it.... will, more like I HAVE TO READ IT!! now i'm in the process of reading the "Rules" series... ^^ i can't wait!!!