Despite featuring someone dying or wanting/trying to commit suicide almost every chapter, Deep Love: Host is somehow less annoying than its prequel, Deep Love: Ayu no Monogatari. Unlike that one, Host has the advantage of more side characters who create conflict and keep things entertaining in spite of the main character's lack of personality.

It's kinda funny how lifeless Yoshiyuki is, really: people call him "dangerous" but he's the most boring out of everyone. His main "thing" is the fact that he doesn't understand why Ayu called herself "dirty"...despite her outright telling him the reason. Apparently, he finds it difficult to comprehend that being repeatedly degraded makes one feel ashamed of themselves. He then gets creepily attached to the child of a friend of Ayu's, just because she's also named Ayu. I couldn't make up a stupider plot if I tried.

That being said, Ayu no Monogatari had simple writing that was easy to follow, but I frequently had to go back and reread panels in Host because the writing feels like there are panels or pages missing sometimes. Frankly, I didn't even bother to remember most of the characters and their dramas, and in the end it doesn't matter, because all of it is bonkers and silly.

I also like the running theme of homeless people imparting wisdom out of the blue on the main characters. Of course, there's the return of the text fragments that spell out what we just saw, because the author thinks his readers are idiots. We love consistency!

Stupid Moment Supreme: leaving a young, blind child on her own, unsupervised, to play in an area across from a busy road. This happens regularly. The blind child, naturally, also imparts wisdom.

Ayu no Monogatari irritated me, but Host made me laugh several times. Thank you, author — I've rarely seen such trash writing that tries to take itself so seriously, and fails so hard at it.

... Last updated on January 11th, 2024, 7:20am

This is the one I dislike the least. However, this isn’t worth to read like the rest.

This is a great sequel, after Ayu's death, but really it's soo sad! Deaths at the spur of the moment of happiness, Bitter yet heartfelt. But reading this made me disappointed in Reina. How could she?! She just dumps her daughter, Ayu, and goes serving as a prostitute for money and meanwhile,

it was so sad.. i really want to cry but i just cant i really wish that the mangaka could have just a put abit of feelings here and there and i might have cried but no.. it just have to end..
*sigh* it was such a sad story..

anyway.. even though its still dramatic.. i still like it!

... Last updated on December 18th, 2010, 3:08am

I do like this sequel of Aya's story as Yoshiyuki grew stronger and moved on in life in search of Reina. Its really a life lesson but also tragic at first. But i do like the story of this as its more positive at the end and Yoshiyuki did not chose to commit suicide in the end.

very tragic but beautifully done!
almost every character that revolves around yoshiyuki meets a tragic ending.
i cant say more because its so sad. iam sad.

I can't express how heartbroken i was for Yoshiyuki!!
Yes yes, you have to read the prequel to understand anything! Seriously, to think that he would become such a handsome lad, i really wish his beloved Ayu was there to see him so grown up.
It was amazing, i've never read tragedy sequel/prequel related stories until this one it touched my heart so much.

The lengths he goes to try and understand Ayu's pain, it had me regretting her death every single page. And to think that little Ayu was so much like her mum's friend, not her mum (lawl i think something happened there coes it really doesnt seem to work out in reality)..

oh God, Ayu was such a strong girl. To be able to live with hope and sadness and understand that one day you have to let go.. To die with such a respectable manner. To leave Yoshiyuki in lost of another loved one.. This manga was just amazing..

Don't read this manga when you haven't read its prequel. You won't understand the main char at all then. Also little Ayu (the daughter of Ayu's friend Reina from the prequel) will play an important role in this.

Its tragedy is exaggerated, the same as in the prequel. But it isn't as sad and dramatic.
The pace of the story is quite fast and the TL of the scanlation full of mistakes (wrong wording) which make following the events unnecessary difficult.

This sequel of Yoshiyuki follows a similar path as Ayu from the prequel (from the emotional side). Seeing no meaning in life and thus unable to enjoy it he is in quite the same position as Ayu before and same as her he'll find something he wants to protect. Since he's not someone who talks that much and hasn't personal conversations this one isn't presented as much from the main character's emotional point of view as the prequel with Ayu.
The message is still coming through though.

Unlike elalendi below me I think that he realized a lot and had a personal progress forward at the end. It wasn't just that dramatic as Ayu's way of progress:


Now I'm waiting for Deep Love - Real to be scanlated :3

... Last updated on January 19th, 2010, 1:12am

I just don't get it. Why did he go do hosting? Wasn't the whole point of Ayu dying was because she was selling her body for his life?

Besides this, I thought it was ok. I just wanted to know what happened with Yoshiyuki. There were some intense action-packed moments there so that made it worth reading. But I just didn't really understand... I mean, it ended without him having a dramatic realization or anything...

i read the prequel then this and i didn't even know i was crying till i touched my eyes. i was in a good mood before i read it, but now it's totally ruined. i like the ideas it tells u, but i don't think it was wise of me to read it when i was happy...