Reading it really stressed me out and make me depress.
It's getting dragged after the wedding and story moved on so slowly and dragged so I fast forward all kidnaping part and read after they moved out to Kain parents house.
It's got many realistic parts, even the cheating part and how his partner forgive him remind me of many married couple and how they forgive the unfaithful one many time.
The most unrealistic one is Mel character, everything about him scream fiction and unreal.
I WOULD give it 10/10 if they never add those ott unnecessary drama in second part of story , I mean who even gaf about a serial killer 😂
Many ppl find ending weird but I find the ending PERFECT with a bittersweet taste in my mouth which suit a tragic story like this the best, at least i didn't cry like a crazy women over this unlike Banana Fish 😂

... Last updated on March 23rd, 2022, 5:09am

Kinda interesting but
I hate the characters, the only reasonable was the seme's father.
The seme is such a jerk, he continuous to cheating the uke but oh well the uke still forgive him. He even cheats on with the uke ex and then boom a happy ending with they marrying and forgetting all that crap.

The first part of the manga is certainly realistic, but the time this was written, 1995, shows through. The seme is a passive aggressive asshole half the time, and the uke is one of the 90s emo boys who has gone through every trauma there is. Still the scenes about coming out and homophobia are much more real than you typical see in BL. The series takes a major nosedive though when it enters this long serial killer arc that takes up over half the story. What a waste of time. The very last chapter is weird, doing this overview of the last 50 years of the seme's life in so many pages. Still, it's a nice ending. The story was a landmark at the time, but it would have been better told without the middle section. And it's not quite the perfect story everyone makes it out to be.

I am a big fan of yaoi genre but this one has more depth than all the mangas I have read... It's about the realism of being a homosexual, the discriminatory treatment you get from society, family and friends. Mental and physical battle of being raped and getting HIV and a homosexual's family responsibility. Many great realistic issues in this manga and for those who do not like yaoi genre, you should not miss this because this does not focus on sex between two males but more about the issues they face in life as homosexuals.

This was the first ( and for a long period the only) yaoi manga ever published in Italy. The reason? Probably the same that all the comments noticed: it's realism, similar to a m/m western novel. And it makes me think that european and american people didn't understand (and actually don't) what shounen ai /yaoi really is.

I was soppy towards the end, such a lovely development for the LGBT reads. I haven't quite read a yaoi with that kind of development it was almost very poetic, at times I almost felt like I was reading a novel.

One of the best I have read.

Many thanks Ragawa Marimo!

I actually don't really like yaoi, mainly because of the tropes it goes through and has the "uke" falling for the "seme" whom happens to be a rapist but he loves him anyway, completely unrealistic. But I liked this one. It steers away from many of the tropes this genre typically has, I would not recomend it to those who prefer these types of tropes and like tons of smut, because there is not a whole lot of it. It deals with tons of issues such as HIV and AIDS, Homophobia, Cheating, Adoption, Marriage, Kidnapping, Dangers on the Police Force, and the trope that there always has to be a "man and a woman" in any relalionship even if it's same-sex. I don't really like yaoi but I liked this one. The only reason I'm giving this a 9.5 is because the ending went by WAY too fast.

I got so mad at Kain since he was a jerk for sleeping with the guy that could be responsible for his lover's death and Mel for forgiving him so easily. But Mel is understandable coz hes so lonely. But the rest of the stories are good, like how the family plays role in this, the parents and the adopted kid. The case was hard to stomach but its good, even the murderer has a very good story. 10/10.

If i say i do not like this one and this manga is not one of the finest works then i am truly a big fat liar. However, it may be just my overwhelming feeling after reading the manga make me think so. The manga is ordinary, everything is normal and almost predictable but may be that is the reason for its huge success.

... Last updated on August 11th, 2017, 7:24am

I put off reading this one for so long because of the yaoi tag, what a mistake that was! This story was simply beautiful. It started off a little rushed I felt, I almost dropped it because I hate the whole "love at first sight" idea. Their relationship escalated so quickly, and Kain was the worst boyfriend, but their arguments always seemed to be over in an instant, I felt it was a little unrealstic.

Don't get me wrong, some people, especially those with abandonment issues like Mel, would be so forgiving, so it wasn't that they were out of character, but more that the problem would appear, blow-up, and be resolved within a few short pages. It made it hard to connect with the characters. Stick with it though, because it gets better, much better.

The main reason I love this manga so much is that it deals with actual serious problems, such as AIDs, homophobia, the struggle to come-out, child abuse, and the dangers of police work in a realistic way. This isn't your typically happy yaoi world where everyone is either gay or supports gays (except the evil woman who tries to split apart the main couple), this isn't a world where people fall in love with rapists or bounce back from a traumatic ordeal just because they were told "I love you".

In short, its realism is what makes it so damn good and you end up falling in love with Kain and Mel yourselves. I especially like the epilogue, but I must warn you not to read it in a public place. I don't usually cry at manga, but the epilogue of this had tears streaming down my face. It was a perfect ending.

This review is kind of all over the place, sorry. It's 4am, so I can't think straight. I'll edit it when I'm more awake. All you really need to know is that this is a must-read. Point were detracted for the speedy start. I think this manga would have benefitted from an extra volume to build up the relationship a bit more.

... Last updated on October 19th, 2012, 11:51am