I am in love with Shoowa-sensei's art style. When I started reading Non Tea Room I thought it too sketchy for my liking and perhaps not as much detailed as I would have it. However, by the end of the first chapter, and now here, I'm utterly convinced. Did it grow on me? I'm not sure, perhaps I just did fall in love with it.

Now for KnT, one immediate complain: it should have definitely been longer. It was simply too much information to grasp from a 6-chaptered volume and one can only understand so much. I loved the concept and of course it kept me on edge right from the beginning, desperately aching for more, but part of that happening was due to my endless confusion and frustration. Like someone here already pointed out, there was a part of me that couldn't stop on her feet until I was done with the whole thing: I just wanted closure and hopefully some sense. Ahah.

But overall, of course, it was definitely worthy. The characters were very well developed, most of them reliable, even likeable, and I daresay realistic to some extent. Of course I'm still waiting for someone to pop out of nowhere and tell me Kai's real age, ahah. Oh, oh. And the European setting was so refreshing, it felt like home <3

It was a great experience nonetheless, totally recommend it, and I can't wait to read more of this artist's work.

So nine.

EDIT: Oh my God, who else cried "Matt and Mello" at Mari's first "real" appearance with Jin? No one? Of course, neither did I. Ah...ah.

... Last updated on February 18th, 2013, 5:56pm

This was a very good read. It has some serious flaws unfortunately holding it back from being great but all the potential is there for the mangaka to someday write a really great story. It's very different from your average BL, for one, it actually has a plot; too much plot, in fact. There's no doubt that Shoowa is overflowing with ideas, there's more story packed into this one volume than there is in ten of your average BL manga combined, but ultimately there is just too much crammed in and from midway on the story is too rushed, something the mangaka herself admits to in the afterword.

Still, there's so much to like about this manga. The way it's storyboarded gives it an almost cinematic feel. There's very liitle narration or internal monologue, instead there are a lot of panels per page building up the scene, following in detail the changing expressions of the characters as they speak and move, very much like watching a scene being played out in a movie. A tenuous relationship develops between the leads where each is attracted to but wary of the other; Shoowa is skilled in using subtle variations in facial expression to depict all the conflicting aspects of this relationship, the guardedness versus the yearning, each trying to work out the hidden agenda of the other without giving away too much of the self.

The first half of the story builds up the intrigue and suspense nicely. The artwork is clean, edgy and has a realistic look that suits the straight style of the story. I loved the character designs and personally found Cys very sexy! The reader is all set for a dramatic reveal of Kai's mysterious past when, frustratingly, the plot goes into overdrive; there are pages and pages of exposition to explain Kai's past. The story is unnecessarily complicated and convoluted. The latter part of the manga is about Cys and Kai dealing with the aftermath and coming to terms with everything but for this they're only given a scant couple of chapters to do so when really they needed another volume, if only to make the scenario more believable.

Overall it was an exciting though frustrating read. I would definitely recommend this to BL fans looking for something a little different from the norm. I didn't like Non Tea Room, a previous title by Shoowa, but this manga has changed my opinion and I look forward to seeing more of her work in future.

... Last updated on December 20th, 2011, 11:14am

Just......beautiful. It's hard to come by stories that are breathtaking story wise. This one just had the whole package. Beautiful drawings and a compelling story. The characters all have likeable personalities and the romance really spoke for itself. I've read this story more than once and I wouldn't think twice about reading it again, for surely, this story willl never get old to me.

Art: 10/10
Story: 10/10
Characters: 10/10

Wow…..really wow. I just can´t understand why I waited with reading this for a whole year. I deply regret that I didn´t pick this up earlier. Also, I can´t describe how much I loved this. The plot, the concept, the characters and the unpredictable ending that followed it. I´ve read a lot of yaoi, both good and bad, but this one definitely belongs to my favorites.
From what I´ve read many people here think it´s flawed or lacking in the plot department, and I must agree with them a bit. The plot had an incredibly huge potential to become flawless, but instead it left tiny holes here and there. Maybe the most dissatisfying thing was that it was too short, I wish we readers could´ve meet his brother and followed Kai and Cys before Cys lost his memory. That would´ve made the story have more depth to it.

Personally I loved the art, it has this sketchy art style that I´m weak against, I´m definitly looking forward to see more from Shoowa. It´s not easy for me to find something that suit my taste in both plot and art section.

... Last updated on January 7th, 2012, 6:58am

I wasn't disappointed by Koujitsusei no Tobira (just like NON Tea Room impressed me).

Everything draws you in about this manga. The beautiful and appealing art, the clear lines to accentuate emotions, the hazy images to give you a fuzzy feeling. The realism of the situation and the personalities of the characters. Not to mention I'm infatuated with the style she used to draw the characters and the smex scenes.

This promises to be a very good manga, based on the first chapter alone. Thanks Dangerous Pleasure. Looking forward to another great release from you!

i really like this whole convoluted plot. im a very simple thinker i like to read simple things and initially the plot is confusing. that is because i do not analyse the words i read. however by the end of the manga i pretty much understand most of them, so i am quite happy that the mangaka take the time to explain the plot.

i like the characters, kai is very cute! the dirty old man is not bad either lol. the art is nice and i like the way the panels seem to be crowded but i dont get lost at all due to the simplistic, clean lines. the characters are not very differentiated between each other though, so a larger cast may put a strain on my mind.

all in all, a good read.

This one's definitely one of my very favorite BL manga. It has twists and turns and can really take you by surprise (in case you didn't stumble upon any spoilers). It has great character depth and an unique plot. I have read it several times already and it never got boring. Shoowa's art is - as in all of the manga I've read by this artist so far - very beautiful. I definitely recommend this one.

Beautiful and sensitive. I love the activeness of the line quality, which adds a certain emotion to an already engaging story. Most manga have clean-cut lines, which is good, but I've never seen this style before. A must-read, whether or not you like yaoi, because it's seriously amazing!

It's a bit confusing, especially since I was sometimes unsure of the sequence of images and also to whom the text bubbles belonged (when the little lines were missing it was difficult so I judged on the mouth, which wasn't much help).

Art is very good, better than her other works. It's cleaner. Sexy as hell.