I first read this when I was still a teenager and had a very naive view. I felt the manga was confusing and illogical, that the characters were unrealistic and basically hated the whole thing.

I just re-read it with the benefit of a few more years and a whole pile more experience behind me. I LOVE it!!! Seriously, what seemed so convoluted and nonsensical before makes perfect sense to me. Yes, the whole situation is messed up, but that is the point! Relationships are not fairytales, people are misunderstood, feelings change, and often people are too scared or concerned to find happiness. I especially liked the way all of the characters were willing to sacrifice personal happiness for the happiness of the one they loved.

One of my favourite parts was seeing the difference between the way Reiko (the older woman) and Miku (the younger woman) handle the who situation. Miku loved like a girl. filled with dreams of marriage and unable to fully appreciate the consequences of her initial decision until it was too late to turn back the clock. She loved wholly and deeply, but without truly understanding her boyfriend, like she was more in love with the idea of love than with Fujio. Reiko, however, had the bittersweet love of a woman who no longer feels like she will be young forever, and is starting to feel the clock tick, so does not want to relinquish her tentative grasp on her boyfriend even know she knows full well that he will never be hers. Her willingness to compromise more, to support the males more fully, and her resignation in accepting the leftovers really defines her as a cool-headed, experienced business woman and sets her apart from Miku.

As for the boys, their reluctance to admit their feelings due to the expectations of society was very beautifully potrayed. The need to have rules and boundries, the desire to keep their girlfriends as justification, and the slow acceptance was what really defined this manga for me as outstanding. Sure, they acted in a strange way, did stupid things and were very frustrating at times, but that is love. People do not act rationally or logically when feelings are involved, especially feelings that have been repressed for so long. Both of them were desperately trying to wash away feelings that were only running deeper each passing year, they were unable to completely cut ties with each other and yet could not accept each other because they knew their passion would overrul their sensibilities. Watching them slowly break down the walls that have been in place for years was very moving.

I think it is a shame that English can not fully convey the delicate meanings of this manga, a lot is lost in the translation which can make the whole thing seem very confusing. I felt this could have been more appealing with a better translation.

Over all, this is a manga well worth reading. Just stick with it, it is worth the struggle and the whole things become clearer after a second reading.

P.S. To the people who are bothered by the fact a woman was made to get an abortion. SPOILER ALERT It turns out the woman was lying about being pregnant in the first place. I know it hardly justifies his attitude, but at least the woman was actually traumatised in that way.

When reading this manga, if you dropped the fact that it's sexy, funny and witty; you'd see some really challenging ideas about relationships. The story basically deals with the idea of pure love and passionate desire. In the end, what the protagonists learn is something more complex than you'd find in a stock-standard yaoi story. That being said, it still has all the staples; hot sex, great art (especially considering it was done in 1996) and plenty of boy-love drama.
I'd really recommend this series to anyone. Though if you want a light read, this might be a little too heavy.

True that it satisfies all of my yaoi cravings AND both of the characters are actually men. I mean, I hate yaoi stories where they make the uke super delicate that he's almost a girl. NOT IN THIS ONE! They actually switch.
The story is really good but Motoni-sensei's works sometimes leaves me confused and most of the time I didn't get it but she's known to do that with her stories.

MOTONI Modoru Sensei has done it again! This has gotta be one of the best manga stories so far... with the best blend of angst, tension, complexity, fun.. love and desire (and smex)... gosh... and what's more... there's like no fixed seme/uke role... it's good...

It's good, but I don't agree that it gets better with age. When I was younger it seemed so tragically romantic. The desperate love, the sacrifices, the tolerance. It all seemed to beautifully painful, but now it seems so unhealthy, so implausible, so irrational. I didn't mind how the relationships were set out, but all the games were unnecessary. The uncle shouldn't have gotten away unscathed. Do the parents know what he did? Anyway, I enjoyed it. It's yaoi. The angst is what makes it so good. Guilty pleasures and stuff. Also, my fave character in this is Reiko. Miki or whatever was so indecisive.

...minus the scanlation/translation. I know they tried their best to distinguish between love and desire but it was still a bit difficult to digest the rest of the dialogues.
That aside, this is definitely a must read for a mature audience. Motoni's works are always beautiful and I've teared up reading a number of them already, this one included : )

this whole series revolves around that single question. if you don't have the patience to sit along with the characters as they figure this out (3 volumes), then this is not for you.

i really liked this series. i agree, the translation can use some improvement but i can tell it's not easy translating this so i'll let that pass. this series does not give any simple & direct answers to the definition of love but the answer will shine through if you are reading and understanding the characters.

i admit it's a bit slow in the beginning because you are just getting introduced to the characters and the story but as the story develops, things start making sense and fall into place.

earlier reviewers have said that this series is full of dysfunctional, stupid characters with no relationship skills -- i beg to differ. They're "dysfunctional" and "stupid" BECAUSE they're strung up between the tough concepts of 'desire' and 'love' (central themes in this series). If you've EVER been in love with anyone and have actually BEEN in a relationship with them you would be able to understand this. Since when did "love" go together with things like "common sense"?

There is no straight forward narration crap like "He is a manipulative, jealous man" blah blah blah that you see in 2nd rate manga...the characters are defined by their actions and their histories, not defined by the manga-ka's laziness.

Bottom line: I recommend this. Go for it! (and the artwork is amazing btw!)

If you like The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese and The Carp on the Chopping Block Jumps Twice, you'd like this series.

... Last updated on June 28th, 2012, 6:27pm

This is a story where the characters keep questioning if love (ai) can be stronger than desire (koi, but koi also means love). This was really hard to translate without make the whole manga loses sense. Even with the confusion caused between ai and koi the story is great, specially because of the humor. It's complex, funny and have a great ending. For me, one of the best yaois I ever read.

This manga is about two guys who are obsessed with one another, but instead of just being straight about it, they turn it into a twisted game; two seriously broken, messed up men...
It's got it's good and bad points, but overall, I gotta say I liked this manga.
The characters are all playing a game, gambling and making bets; I love how that is portrayed, that the girls are manipulating the guys and vice versa, all while testing the boundaries of lust vs love.
I really liked the back and forth here, how they get closer but are scared of it and back off again, it's a nice mix with the smut scenes... the tension between the main characters is first class!

Usually I don't like women in BL manga (they usually only cause unneeded drama) and I also don't like it when the guys have other partners at the same time but, it does work in this manga.
It's not a quick and simple read, it's complicated, it's realistic even though it's not a common situation...

There's a lot of avoidance, pretending, faking and lies here... they do all sorts of 'usually unforgivable things' here so if you prefer BL with characters who can just say something straight out, or "just do it", this might be too long-wound for you but otherwise, if you are not bothered by the fact that these guys both have girlfriends, then go for it!

I'm not sure if this manga is my no.1 but its in my "TOP 10" or even "TOP 5". Its an interesting plot, with ups and downs, questioning the difference between love and desire. the ending doesn't give you a 100% solution, but that wouldn't be to easy, ne? Like ctmoes said really clever hilarious!

... Last updated on November 28th, 2007, 4:39pm