This looks like it's going to be a long series full of complications, and there's no telling what kind of an ending it will have. And that's a good thing- I love unpredictable stories.

But there's really no sign of BL in this yet, except that the pictures of the men are hot hot hot, and that there's a bit of hinting at pairing a couple of the characters. I'm encouraged by this sign that the author is going to take it slow and make the story meaty. She's not just focusing on the three main characters, but also their families' reactions to the situation. The combination of manga and novel adds so much to it. It's such a great idea.

I do have to say that the villain/uber-seme in this one is hair-raisingly stunning. I can't wait to see how bad he gets. ;P I have the feeling he'll eventually end up on a lot of Top 10 seme lists.

Note: For those concerned by the middle school kids mentioned in the blurb, that's only the set-up for a page or two. Everyone is an adult for the real story.

So, I had some doubts about this new project but I've now finished reading the first episode and I'm happy to have those put to rest! First of all, it turns out this is not a school life story with a supernatural twist, so for those of you who were worried, rest assured that it's more complicated and mature than that. The guys are all grown up with grown up problems. The supernatural elements, contrary to what you might think, didn't make the story seem juvenile either. I thought they were weaved into the plot really tastefully. It was so interesting! >.< Looks like another great universe by Yoshihara! She really is one of the better BL authors.

The manga & novel thing works surprisingly seamlessly and you get the best of both worlds. No need for excessive verbal descriptions in the manga and you get a very good idea of the visual aspects of the story in the novel parts from the illustrations. The art is excellent!

I was a little worried about the quality of the English language release with the time pressure of doing it simultaneously with the Japanese release and seeing as this is SuBLime's first light novel project. I worried for nothing though. I don't mean to put down DMP – I own all the volumes of AnK after all – but if I'm gonna be completely brutally honest, the quality of the English version is so much better in Into Illusion.

And for people looking for plot over smut, looks like there's much plot to be had in this one! I felt like by the time it ended, it had barely just gotten started! Not that there isn't a lot of material per episode, there's just a lot of ground to cover. Can't wait for the next installment!

So far, I really enjoy where this is going! Mystery and intrigue. Only bromance at this stage but I love all the characters – Kouki and Takumi were cute – and was that a hot antagonist(?) there at the end!♡

... Last updated on May 4th, 2013, 12:39pm