If you like Nishida Higashi, you'll like this manga. So if all you need out of your yaoi is wispy bishonen, more sex than plot, and clear-cut uke & seme roles, then you had better look elsewhere. If you actually like to read a thoughtful manga every once in a while, then stick around.

There are absolutely no easy answers here: neither lust nor love conquers all obstacles. The objections Nakamichi raises to a relationship with Tsutsumi are reasonable ones, and the manga treats them as such, rather than with the usual exasperation directed at a silly uke only looking to prolongue the inevitable. Their relationship IS inappropriate for a number of important reasons, not the least of which is that Nakamichi needs to work out his grief for Tsutsumi's father first before he can move on. The manga is sensitive enough to recognize that the grieving process is unique to the individual, doesn't end at the drop of a hat, and is often something people have to work through on their own, regardless of whether or not a cute kid is waiting in the wings to speed the process along. Grief can't be rushed. This is a very human message, which I appreciated.

I also appreciated that neither Nakamichi nor Tsutsumi could be regarded as a saint. At bottom, both were decent human beings, but both of them did things which could be called ethically questionable, so the manga never tried to force you to sympathize with one guy over the other. My only objection to this manga is that Tsutsumi's romantic feelings for Nakamichi seemed to come on rather suddenly. Although we could certainly see that he cared for him a great deal prior to that, the leap from "I'm concerned for you" to "I love you desperately" was too great for me. Other than that, I enjoed this manga quite a bit and have no problem recommending it to fans of yaoi with strong plotting and characterization.

She has pacing - both in sharp, clever, meaningful dialogue that says a lot with a little, and in expressive and purposefully chosen illustrated scenes that are clear, clean and simple yet full of bang.
She has tension - both sexual and story spell weaving that takes the reader on a solid, relay-able plot. She is probably one of the best short story tellers I have ever read - impact, depth of meaning and breathtaking art...

A lot of her stories have men that are not a 6 on Kinsey's scale of sexuality; rather, there is a fluidity in range and much unsurity.

Her art and panel layout choices are dynamic with such few lines! She always does seem to stop about 2 pages before I want her to, but she leaves me feeling like maybe she knew best when to stop.

... Last updated on July 26th, 2009, 8:35am

I really enjoyed this one. Maybe I'm forgetting something, but I wouldn't really call this yaoi(I can't recall any sex at all, unless you count being naked in the same room and not showing anything?). This isn't a complaint at all, just noting it. Anyway, I loved the characters and there is really nothing that gets to me more than seeing a grown man cry(for legitimate reasons rather than just being a stereotypical yaoi uke). I love this mangaka's style. This had a great flow and subtle humor that felt mature, but not too dark. More like stylized real life.

This is a manga with a working story in perfect pace. There are no usual "angst for angst sake" scenes, nor do they jump into bed after the third panel (Not that I have anything against those) In fact there are no smexy sex panels. What this manga is, is a fairly realistic, romance story, with a good ending,
If you are looking for an unfolding story, this is your manga.

I actually really like the idea behind this story and the authenticity that the mangaka successfully created for her characters. I just wish the presentation was a bit neater and more engaging as a story-telling medium, but then again I do understand this manga was produced during the earlier stages of sensei's career, and she has vastly improved her craft since then so it's not so much of a problem for her any more.

This is truly a masterpiece by Nishida-sensei. I didn't expect this story to be good, and it managed to make me cry a tearful (from sorrow and happiness too). If you like yaoi with beautiful story line, you should really try this. Kage Aru Tokoro ni is now one of my favorite!

This is a good quality webtoon in terms of art and writing/translation, the plot is interesting, and the MC is strong and goes through good growth as a person. As others have said, the villains were lacking in terms of smarts and never really felt like much of a threat, but this doesn't detract too much from the quality. However, I think this is a story that shines when it focuses on the MC finding herself and her own happiness...I think that it loses that shine a bit when it focuses on other characters too much, such as the ML. His whole backstory felt kinda shoehorned in, and in the end wasn't really important to the plot at all.

The romance with the ML is too rushed to be considered 'great' but if you ignore how it starts then it's alright. As others have stated, the MC and ML's relationship does start with what in modern times would be considered rape. It's set in a time when this sort of thing would've been more accepted yes, but I still feel that we as modern readers we judge with modern sensibilities and so therefore the ML's character is diminished because of his actions. It makes the romance less believable too, especially since the author kind of just hand waves the whole thing away rather than showing any sort of understanding from the characters that the actions were wrong. Still...if you can get past that, it really is a good story and worth a read.

It was fairly realistic, much better to the usual formulaic yaoi manga I see nowadays.

This manga is heavy on content, and there are rarely, if no, smex scenes. So if you are looking for some smutty goodness, check out Zaria or Watanabe Asia.

Excellent excellent!!!
Very different but interesting ^.^
I liked very much