Geez, talk about drama. My take on the "complicated" storyline:


... Last updated on May 6th, 2009, 10:35pm

I found the art to be magnificient! The eyes! Wow. So beautiful.

Carlucci was the most interesting character. He had such a dark, complex mysterious personality. I think that there could be more manga made on his back story. I really wanted to know more about this masochistic, beautiful, broken but still manipulative and strong man.

The story wove along seemingly effortlessly and kept me grasping the sides of my manga in anticipation.

It was very swoon worthy. (I'm a sucker for capes and masks and phantom of the opera-esque style.)

One of those mangas I can read over and over and not get bored.

Just...what? It's one of those angsty manga, but annoyingly disconnected. When it ended, it honestly could have gone on b/c nothing defined it as the end. Every single chapter was disjointed. Hell, WITHIN the chapter was a disjointed hot mess.

To be fair, the sex scenes were pretty smokin', but I was definitely not feeling the love between these two, so I wouldn't recommend this to anyone or read it again. Ever.

... Last updated on April 26th, 2013, 10:06pm

Hm, I'm not sure what to think of this.
It's dark, complex, a bit disturbing and confusing. I didn't fully understand everything that was going on, but I also got bored of too much text at times and skipped some parts.
All in all, I liked it, even though a few little parts were not so much mine, like Lorenzo dressing up like a woman.
I enjoyed the art a lot, it was really beautiful and sensei has no flaws in expressions or anatomy.

I'd recommend this for the pretty art, and to anyone looking for something very dark and serious, with a ton of text to read but also very steamy sex scenes. If you are looking for something light, sweet and romantic though then read something else instead.

I liked the music theme of this one. The art was also decent. The characters all have their dark,broken pasts which have an impact on the storyline. Kenzo has a past mishap in a concert hall that shakes his confidence in himself, but Carlucci takes him in anyway. Carlucci is a character with a complex past that obviously haunts him. He will do anything to see Kenzo perform on the big stage. I would really like to see more about Carlucci's past, especially the fears that grip him. The story was for the most part good, and did have some nice scenes and good emotions. I love the cat. He was a nice touch. Overall, it was an enjoyable read.

I didn't like this manga very much. I felt very detached to it and didn't care much for any of the characters. It could have been a good yaoi story, but it failed to catch my interest throughout the entire volume, so I must say that it failed (for me).

The art isn't amazing either. It's as if the mangaka has forced herself(?) to draw like this, because this is a popular style - and it just doesn't work well. But that is just my (very subjective) interpretation.

... Last updated on March 12th, 2011, 3:04am

Virtuoso di Amore is a manga full of great art and delicate yet complicated storylines. Ogasawara's main strength lies in her artistic style. The characters are very sumptuous, with gorgeous eyes and sharp facial features. The story was enjoyable too, with an interesting twist. The only let-down was the character development. Both characters seemed too unrealistic. But in the end, I'd very much recommend this title to everyone. It's very enjoyable and beautiful.

For starters, the summary has implications that aren't exactly what you might think if you are familiar with the standard Yaoi plots. There's a seriously cracked subplot, too, that keeps the story left of center. I liked the intensity of the story and the art, but it's not really a "perfect" manga. It's definitely worth a read, though, but I wouldn't pay through the nose for it.