Let me first respond to the previous reviewer, because as much as I agree with them about the artwork being lovely and all, there is one point they make that I must dispute...
Frankly, I don't understand why blueseeker is displeased by women in yaoi - there are women on the planet, you know? I think that only makes the yaoi more realistic in this manga, since there are actually women who also play an important role in these men's lives. Because to find anyone in whose life there are NO important women or alternatively NO important men is... kind of impossible. We don't live in a mono-gendered world, right? I far prefer this type of yaoi to weird little fantasy-worlds that are all-male and where women do not exist.
As for the bit about intimate scenes - I can see how blueseeker might want more of them if s/he has read the earlier volumes only, but later on the number of such scenes does increase. By a lot. 😀 It's never hardcore, though, if that's the issue... There are only softcore scenes at most, and they always have to do with the plot; they're never just there for the eye-candy. That's actually why I like them, though... They're more emotionally effective this way, since they have relevance to the plot and to the characters' emotional states.
I also just wanted to say that the plot is really complex and scintillating, very dark and psychological and full of every conceivable variety of heartbreak - each of them very well-done, not "weak" melodrama at all but developed properly and handled with subtlety. The whole social structure of this sci-fi society is also really well done, very comprehensive and genuinely intriguing to anyone that likes good and coherent world-building. But I should warn readers that later on (in the raws - I've read ahead to the end of vol 4) there are some pretty bad things that temporarily happen to Kai, so if you aren't fond of character torture happening to your favorite character and even to the main character, then... This might kind of freak you out. @@; It even freaked ME out for a while, and I was sitting there with my hands clapped over my eyes, saying: "No, no, no..." Gah. ;; Yeah, I'm pathetic. Lol. Another addendum is that some of the characters are pretty messed up internally, so romantic/sexual fidelity isn't always a constant. If that bothers you too, then once again, this might not be your style of manga - but that's also the reason I actually LIKED it, because this isn't some sort of glossed-over romance where things go straight from the confession to the bedroom without a hitch, but a complex story of how agonized and flawed people's hearts can actually be.
A very tragic tale - it doesn't end tragically (yay!), but everything before that is tragic. Lol. So if you're not fond of angst then you should steer clear of this - BUT if you like your plots interesting and your characters deep and full of rich personal histories, and if you like manga that you'll actually remember for a long time because it's so good, then this is for you. 🙂
I prefer this to the inexplicably licensed sequel, Steal Moon, which feels rushed in comparison and doesn't really go into the nitty-gritty of WHY that lead couple (Coyote/Nozomi) is together, or why the plot ends the way it does - I would have preferred a longer manga to really tell that story and explore the characters' dynamics a little deeper. I mean that manga's still decent and enjoyable, but it's not great... Whereas this manga IS. Great, I mean. I think this should have been the licensed one... Heh. Well I'm glad that Steal Moon was licensed anyway, because any of Tateno-sensei's works being licensed and therefore bringing her more financial support and international exposure is a good thing for me, too, as her fan.
Please do read this manga. Very highly recommended.