I think I MAY understand what's being told through the story as confusing as it is to others. If others found that there was no beginning, let alone an ending, then the author was probably saying that those weren't the things they wanted the reader to focus on. Yes, those two are important, but like I stated, the author probably wanted readers to focus on what was going on between the first point, to the last point.

I personally do not know how to say why I may understand this without confusing myself and other people. Though, I can say that the whole manga was sort of like a montage of someone who are showing what they want to show you, like, important changes, events, etc. to themselves. I don't think this story was ever supposed to be in a order, I'm sure it would've been if the author wanted it to be.

I DID feel that this manga ended far too quickly, but I liked it like that. I think that it was supposed to be ambiguous, and I liked that too.

Really confusing to follow because the story seems to start right in the middle, and you have to infer what's gone on before from various hints throughout. I had the feeling it was almost an experiment in storytelling. It definitely made much more sense in the second or third reading - and then it becomes almost breathtakingly poignant. Still not sure how to rate this ....

Messy, but still slightly unique.

While reading the first chapter you'll surely feel that you've skipped a chapter or two, but by the time you reach chapter 2+ it makes more sense. The lousy introduction of the story does drag the manga down, since it's a fairly good angsty piece of yaoi. As mentioned by others, it's also far too short.

Well, it's not good nor bad. Just a yaoi story to pass time, really. There are plenty of better alternative angsty yaoi stories out there.

... Last updated on May 22nd, 2011, 1:53pm

how frustrating. and i don't really think it's a matter of the translation, because it's not like the art is making any sense either. i can't make rhyme or reason out of the first two chapters at all (and i see the first reviewer felt the same way). do i need to be intimately familiar with the way of speed tribes to figure it out? i did like (not enjoy, just appreciated the choice) what akira did after yugou told him to destroy his universe. beyond that i usually like myself some angst in my yaoi, but the melodrama in this manga is too overwhelming. i'm not rating it yet because it seems unfair to do so without rereading and checking the original first to see whether i can make more sense of it all.

listening to beethoven's appassionata while reading it makes the experience more pleasant, however. it's pretty much the perfect choice, considering how violent it is.

... Last updated on May 30th, 2007, 11:31am

I love Takaguchi-Sensei's art and usually her stories also. This one, while still visually nice (ummm...pretty boys), seems like it's a quick aside to another story in which we are already familiar with the setting, the characters, and the main plot thus this side story connects together in context with the main manga. I will, however, give a few kudos to the fact that this story does (like most of this Mangaka's works) deal with more complex three dimensional characters--however sparse the explanation of what occurs--than a lot of Yaoi manga. So much Yaoi is of the "small cute passive reluctant uke, big aggressive seme" variety, that any story that deviates from this standard is a welcome (even if not fantastic) change.

... Last updated on May 14th, 2008, 10:44pm

It's like watching part of the movie with missing begining and ending - you can mostly figure out what's going on, but still have a definite feeling that there have to be smth more to it...

I think I get it.



In general I think the storytelling could have been better. :\

I loved the relationship between them but it was like all over the place especially in the start. I wish i had read the reviews before i started reading it. I love some of the contents as there are lots of categories i LOVE. The art was quite nice too. But really i wished it was more organised and easier to follow. The ending wasnt satisfying enough. But really i think i liked it.

You know when you read manga and something happens that's really confusing and comes out of nowhere? You flip back a few pages to see if you missed anything, you check the page and chapter number to make sure you're reading the correct part. Now imagine that happening every few pages. I read the first chapter of this story 3 times, compared it to the Japanese original to make sure everything is there and only then was I able to sort of understand the where, how and why of what was happening. With this story you always get the feeling you're seeing the end result of things you never got to read about. Add to that the lack of background information about time, location or story advancement and you get one very confusing story.

For example- according to the chapter descriptions that I've read, the two heroes meet for the first time during chapter 1. That's usually how it happens, right?
And yet for the life of me I couldn't figure out whether the first scene that shows them interacting is a a shockingly melodramatic first meeting or an emotional reunion of two people who already know each other. During the first 2 chapters I was constantly confused- Who is that new guy? Why are there people lying on the ground? What was Akira sent to do? Why was he sent to do it? How much time has passed? Where are they now?

Chapters 3-4 manage to make sense but by then it mostly doesn't matter. I'm giving it a 3 for the pleasant artwork and the powerful ending.

... Last updated on May 30th, 2007, 9:38am

Hmmm... this was a definitely odd story. The setting was fairly interesting and it was fun reading about the bikes and stuff, though it sorta lacked the intensity or even cohesiveness that suck you into the story.

The plot: I didn't mind the first few chapters but the last chapter was a real weird one. There's got to be a better way of creating tragedy and angst than such a drastic ending.

The art was not too shoddy though the scenes were kinda difficult to connect with. It was technically good though I wish the mangaka was better at portraying emotions. Either that or the scenes were so disjointed, it was hard to get a feel of the emotions at times.

Conclusion: I did like some of the mangaka's other works but this is definitely poorer compared to her gems.

... Last updated on May 1st, 2008, 1:03pm