It wasn't amazing.
Okay, I love melodrama; a lot of people complain about that aspect of this story, but I personally lapped it up. It's absolutely everything else about it that bothered me.
I hated the characters. Every single one of them. The seme was a blackmailer and a rapist, the uke was just a worm. Even the eyeless-nameless characters inspired mild hatred.
And speaking of the story - what story? I didn't notice any, at least not any that didn't differ much from the typical seme-seduces-hesitant-uke "plot" that every single yaoi manga ever written has used.
But I say these things only because everyone praises this manga to high heavens.
It was good.
One of the best, really.

I find it odd that people are complaining about the characters being "bad" people. Yes, they're adulterers. This story deals with having affairs, and questions what actually builds a trustworthy relationship. That being said, if you can get past that, the story itself is interesting, engaging, and shows genuine, flawed people and how they deal with logic and reason getting in the way of passion and instinct. Definitely worth reading, if you want a slightly up/down, drawn-out seduction story. Also, it's not as 'dark' as some are implying.. despite dealing with adultery and betrayal, it's never soul-crushing, and it doesn't end in a way that lets you down too terribly. You may feel sympathy for those hurt by the protagonists through the story, but it's not the kind of story that'll make you cry, or cringe in disgust. Serious BL could get far darker than this does; at its heart, it's still a romance. And it works.

... Last updated on March 27th, 2010, 12:33am

I have write a comment about this manga on the sequel part. just because I love this manga, I wanna write a comment again

guys, If you wanna read yaoi manga that can touch your heart, a realistic plot, dynamic seme-uke, and a good story, I recommend you to read this. very very beautiful! you'll see about the a real life of someone who confused about his sexual preference just because his friend who is gay is always chasing after him. okay. they DO IT several times, but Kyouichi always confuse whether he's a gay or not. but when he realize he's a half gay and have a lil feeling for imagase, he always think that imagase is only playing around with him when Imagase think kyouichi is always prefer woman when there are a woman tries to approach him.

I'm not a fan of drama and dynamic seme-uke. but I ADMIT this is ONE of MY FAVORITE yaoi! the sequel's art is not as good as this one, but still okay to see.
Oh..I like the ending too.A REALISTIC ENDING!

Just WOW, This is the first time reading something like this. It makes me sad, mad, annoyed and 1 scene made me laugh "Can you wash me down there" "Can i use the wachine machine" lol. Overall i like it but i can't have myself read the sequel. Its just too much to start reading this kind of genre. If you are looking for like a fluffy romantic BL story then don't read this.

...at first, I hated this manga. The artwork wasn't well done, everything seemed too melodramatic, and it was unpleasantly twisted. As you keep reading it, though, that unpleasant feeling is explained and explored, pulling you in deeper while the two characters hurt each other so much.

Normally, I don't enjoy reading about these kinds of twisted relationships, but as the subject of this review says... there something about this that really resonates with you. I think it was that scene just before the final conclusion that really made this manga for me.

The artwork is very clean and nice, although not extraordinary (it's hard to believe this was drawn by the same person as "1999 Shanghai" which was an incredible story but very different art-wise) but what's striking are the little details the mangaka manages to draw out attention to: a lonely outstretched hand, the way somebody looks away. It makes for a great emotional impact.

I enjoyed the fact that the characters are far from perfect: both are quite nasty pieces of work, actually, each in their own way. However, they feel more real than most yaoi characters, especially Kyouichi. Finally a character for whom "turning gay" is a problem that he's not okay after first two chapters. Well, he never actually turns gay, bi maybe. Women in this manga are not your regular yaoi fodder either: they are characters that I could actually feel for and see the protagonist ending up with - not that it would be healthy in most of cases, but Kyouichi's relationship with Imagase isn't all that healthy either. At the end of the manga you don't get that impression that everything's going sunshine and rainbows from now on, you know they're going to have a lot of problems with their relationship but they have pulled through a lot of crap already (crap they caused themselves) so they might pull through in the future as well.

Yaoi is not really my cup of tea, but this one was a brilliant read. The characters are well drawn, and the relationship between Kyouichi and Imagase is very deep and painful. After finishing the manga, I am convinced again that Mizushiro Setona is really good at depicting the deepness of human soul.

I would love to see more dark and twisted yaoi manga like this. All the characters are jerks, not in a sadistic way, but they are all very selfish and determined to get their own way. I really love reading about selfish people getting themselves into trouble, and this manga provides that in spades.


Over all, I see this as an excellent example of a yaoi manga.

This manga only makes sense if you know that there is a sequel because the ending is not exactly closed. I didn't know there is a sequel when I first read so I was disappointed. The story is very interesting as the characters but the art is not much refined, I found it ugly and poor. I'm reading the sequel because I want to know what is going to happen but this manga didn't made me want to look for more works of this mangaka. It's interesting overall but not unforgettable.

As most manga readers know, the love portrayed in shoujo mangas are usually superficial. This yaoi manga clearly shows a more "real" love that you and I may experience no matter the gender or sexuality. The gay guy could be described as obsessively in love and although I am a female, one could sympathize with him and his unrequited love that didn't come into bloom for about 10+ years.
The straight guy could be characterized as weak under pressure, giving out under female charms when he "has no choice." (aka seduced) Very interesting read and quite serious. You will find no laughs here, but those yaoi fangirls, the last chapter will definitely give you a large nosebleed.