There was so much I wanted to say about this manga now that I read it but it seems that everybody has said what I was going to say. I thought that this was one the best yaoi titles I have ever read and its the first one that I have read from Miyamoto. I have some respect for this mangaka. I love that there are many real themes that have been put into the story and you don't see that very often in yaoi. It was an all around great series and I hope to read another.

... Last updated on June 12th, 2009, 3:21pm

Definitely in my top five favorite manga - all of them, not just the yaoi stuff. Miyamoto's art is very expressive. The characters look and act (mostly) real. The story is well paced and engaging.

I couldn't get enough of the characters, especially Tooru and Hikaru. Fortunately, there are numerous doujinshi and a couple other series in the Rules universe.

If you like character driven stories, I'd recommend Rules, and I'd also suggest it as a first yaoi.

This is probably the best yaoi manga I ever ever read and ever will.
It's so romantic and touching and almost had me in tears because it was so good!

A must read for any yaoi fan!

*exhales* WHEW. Well I just finished reading, and I have to say it's excellent. I read the whole series (Hydra to Rules) in like 14 hours, and my main thoughts are:

1) After a while you kind of get the sense that everyone in the series is very similar. Miyamoto's characters all have a similar feel...I guess it's just a style thing? Or maybe it's just because they're all human...? Lol redundancy much? But they all deal with issues like loneliness.

2) Reading the series became something which made me think about humanity. And it makes me think that sex should be a way to express intense feelings, not just relieve sexual frustration (though there's that, too).

3) It's hard to keep track of what chapter is where cause there are so many little volumes and scanlations...but I guess if you read lots of manga you're used to this.

Miyamoto definitely has her own story-telling style (unconventional yaoi) and is one-of-a-kind in this field.

... Last updated on June 11th, 2010, 1:25am

OMG, I loved this series. Highly recommended to those who love brooding over love. I love the way the story takes us on a journey. I could identify with all the emotions the characters felt- ranging from Hikaru to Atori's age-appropriate thoughts and inner conflicts. This takes place over summer, you can almost hear Cicadas in the background.

Great story- it sucks you right in.

One of my favorites. Characters are well made, storyline is fantastic and let's not forget the artwork either. A definite must read.

Very good manga, and indeed not the typical yaoiAllsex about.. the comment bellow say it all))
The art is so-so, but is quite realistic so not too much complains from my side (I'm a big critic of manga art^_^";)
so read it!



*edit* I saw the "1" votes, yeah... if you don't like yaoi, sorry, if you are a homofob so don't vote, or at least explane... and this one is so much more.

I don't like silly shounen but you don't see me voting low marks because of it..

... Last updated on December 25th, 2007, 12:13am

I held off on reading this series because I thought it would be another one of those dime-a-dozen cliche manga that pop up. The level of wrong that I was in would probably shoot me out of the atmosphere and into the next galaxy. I'm just really happy that I chose to read it after the last volume was finished because I don't think I could handle not knowing what happened to Tooru and Atori.

This series is a perfect example of how yaoi manga isn't all vapid and sex0rs (not that I have anything against that...*eyes 4 gigs of yaoi*). The mangaka fleshes out each of her characters in different little story arcs that gives the reader an idea of their life. I love how even side characters play important roles in the stories (Shige-san, I <3 u). These frequently cross-over with each other, since, duh, it's the Rules Universe, and the stories revolve around a set of friends/lovers/prostitutes ^_^.

Anyway, a lot of people agree: read this series if you're even a little bit of a fan with the genre. If you're scared of angst this series is not that heavy on it. Read now! /ends car-salesman-like pitch

... Last updated on July 30th, 2007, 9:59am

It's wonderful manga done by a mangaka who's characters have depth. Understandably this has a few volumes as well as doujinshis attached to it so she had room to allow her characters to grow. There are only a handful of mangaka's that create this wonderful world exploring different facets of a gay relationship and Miyamoto Kano is one of them.

whenever somebody complains that yaoi isn't realistic (yeah, and erotica in general is?) i whip out miyamoto kano's work. it's very different from the idealized bishounen world; miyamoto's people feel real. there are no stupid stereotypical seme and uke here; the terms should never even come to mind; it is completely irrelevant who sticks what where. the realism also means that not all relationships work out, and not all her stories end happily. "rules" is probably my favourite of her work overall because we get so much time with the characters, and we see them grow and change as they move into adulthood.

at first i didn't like her art a whole lot because it is so loose and sketchy (except for her colour art which i've always loved), but i came to appreciate it quickly because she is so adept at showing emotion with the tiniest quirk of a line.

the sex is not glossed over, but it's also never gratuitous; it's simply a part of the lives of the characters. i just don't see this primarily as erotica, and i never use it that way.

... Last updated on July 17th, 2007, 8:23pm