Well I have to say I adore how this manga started! The whole situation and him just randomly ending up staying there.... it seemed so promising of a fun story. In the end, the whole "romance" came very sudden, random and just sort of happened. The like comes outta nowhere and then stuff happens that is disconnected and confusing... there's no rhyme or reason to it.
The 2nd story was really good! It's gloomy, disturbing, generally not for the faint of heart. It was a gem for me and moved me so much I felt like my heart was gonna stop at one particular scene.
Thirst story was interesting at the start but the ending is just .... wut?! I don't get it, and if it's what I think it is then it's horribly done! Not satisfying AT ALL!

Well, all in all, I still liked the stories. I love the art! It's beautiful and if it weren't for the hideous censorship, the smut scenes would be perfect! The translation is probably coming from the Chinese cause a few names not correctly translated.

I'd recommend at least the 2nd story (ch 2-3) if you can handle various difficult themes; it's certainly not for the faint of heart and if you are looking for something positive r happy then read something else, but if you look for something a little bit deeper (for a 2 chapter story anyway) and darker then give it a read!

the manga really is a 'bitter fruit'...you can't help but take a bite to desire, and just when your need gets satisfied you find a bitter aftertaste in your mouth. I would like to think it's a literary title, well anyways, going back to the manga. the last part was good unlike what the majority felt like, I wasn't confused as to how the real story ended....it was plain and simple, people should read it again if they couldn't understand it. anyways, the 3 stories are equally bitter with the second story as having a bit more of an edge to the rest ( and yes, the uke DID NOT die)...

I recommend this to those who aren't afraid to take a bite to the temptation of a bitter aftertaste

Second story nearly had me in tears... i enjoyed its bitter quality, but i felt so much pain for the characters involved. Its made an impression on me... but from the start you could tell the ending probably wouldn't have been a happy one. Yet... somehow you keep hoping.
The final story was also interesting. Don't see many manga set in the states after all. But the way the story progressed also made it interesting and again it has that bitter quality.
Quite a good set of stories overall, though not much for happy endings. I expected as much though given 'tragedy' is one of the big genre headliners.

some found some stories to be confusing I have to admit I was a little when it came to the last story BLUE PERIOD but IF you read it twice HAHA (like I did)..or at least read it very carefully pay attention to the names and follow the story closely and you will understand what is going on and for those who thought it was a dream it WASN'T not literally but figuratively as for the other stories they where intense yeah but not every yaoi gonna end with sunshine and rainbows it was a awesome read and a "grownup" change of pace. I love this mangaka's work it can go from very dark to comical...this is just not one of her comedy stories. It is very dark and very intense if you don't like stories like these then don't read it but if you're looking for something more grown up and intense and tons of smut..lol.. then this is it!!!

Dark Passion, like what the past comments have stated, was very raw. It wasn't heart-wrenching, but it did make you feel for the characters and their inevitable demise. It was very consistent with it's 'tragedy' theme, which is a rare occurence in yaoi manga.

Blue Period was, for lack of a better word, confusing. The ending was VERY unsatisfying.

that second story was too much im bout ready to turn emo! why did it have to end like that. i mean they say there is a silver lining to every cloud....but i didn't see it this time.

I found the stories (well, perhaps not "A Bitter Fruit") to be pretty depressing, which is fine considering "comedy" isn't one of the genres listed for this collection... instead you get plenty of "drama" and "tragedy"-- there's nothing light-hearted here...but (ahem) I gotta say, Atsushi from "Dark Passion" was damned fine.

... Last updated on March 31st, 2009, 11:18am

A Bitter Fruit is almost there. I like the story concept but the scenes all seemed under developed and left me thinking, I almost care about there characters, and then *blam* scene change or story end.

Dark Passion: I was surprised I didn't enjoy this one more. I like tragedies. I like 'force' scenes. I like angst. I went in fully expecting to rate this one high. But I discovered, as I read, that I was annoyed and not enjoying myself. Maybe because it involves drug addictions and maybe i find the raw pain of literal drug addictions too 'ugly.' I know it is inconsistent - i like stories about other addictions but more along the line of emotional addictions, not chemical. Maybe it's because I can relate to chemical addictions and the raw pain of it all. And i read to escape: I don't want my own reality! Also, this one just seemed so hopeless and terrible. Even my most favourite tragedy, Kage no Tori, had a scene of hope.