WOW WOW !!! I love most of Watase Yuu shoujo manga but when I read this one her first yaoi manga I LOVE IT like that in one shot I didn’t even have to wait to read the second chapter, it is one of my favorite yaoi mange ever. It made me feel bad for Masataka and even Souma because they go through so much in life as kids and they are still going through a lot. I can’t wait for the next one, right now I have no patient I want it right now!!!

Please

I've read up to chapter 4 and I have to say, WATASE Yuu has left me speechless.

I've read most of all of her manga works and found the repetitiveness of them to be veeery bland. It was a huge shocker that this SHOUJO mangaka actually made a YAOI manga. The art work is beautiful and the dark and riveting plot leaves you captivated and wanting more. I personally don't like dark, tragic manga but the way Yuu incorporates it into her deep plotline seriously leaves me speechless.

It's a sad thing that she releases each chapter SEASONALLY, meaning only four chapters a YEAR. *sigh* At least the scanlators get the chapters days after their initial release in Japan and pop out the chapter faster than normal...This is a HIGHLY recommended read for any die hard YAOI fans who want a more serious malexmale relationship story...be prepared for pretty boys and lots and lots of angst...

What happens when your fanbase grows up? Either you look for a new fanbase, or like what Watase Yuu has done with this manga, you mature as well. I mean, one can't possibly listen to N'sync and Hannah Montana forever, right? Through this work, Watase-sensei was able to demonstrate that she can break free of her own tired, albeit successful, formula. Her art has never been better and her story telling has never been as compelling as with this new work. This story has tragedy, dark family secrets, forbidden relationships and loyalty among other elements. It does not revolve around malexmale sex; rather, the mxm is one of the facets that serves to further the story.

Had Watase Yuu assumed a different pen name for this new work, she would have recieved far better comments for this masterpiece. I highly recommend this to mature shoujo readers, budding/seasoned yaoi enthusiasts, and even open-minded shounen/seinen readers.

wow, this story is super unique. Normally I don't like tragedies, but this is such a well-written story that I really enjoyed it. Sometimes reading outside of your usual things can be enriching. I really liked these characters. I was rooting for them all along. I choose to believe it was a happy ending. Like the author said in the post-script, everyone was saved in their own way. Maybe even Souma lived on. Who knows. At least Masataka got into his chosen school. His character development is so wonderful and sincere. No one is perfect, but he truly does have a pure soul.

These feelings that are running through me are so indescribable. What is this story to make me feel such emotions? Never have i spent 3 hours of reading manga so well.
This yaoi was the deepest one i have ever read. Ever. And ive read a lot. I cant beleive this. Really, Avatar had 14 years to make his movie and it isnt half as good as this manga that took 10. I feel all the things that had been needed to be said about this manga have been said and so all i can say, is thank you mangaka for making me cry so wholehartedly because i dont cry often and i feel like a new person now.

To me this story was bizarre in a sense. Each chapter it got darker and darker to the point where if something "shocking" happened I laughed or had a "wtf moment" even though it was supposed to be something depressing. It became so strange that it lost it's shock value. I think the author tried a little to hard to shock the reader every chapter.

Despite this I became wrapped in the characters and story and couldn't stop reading until the end. The story may have lost it's shock value but it still wasn't predictable. Especially the end, I never expected that kind of ending. I felt sad at the end and my eyes almost welled with tears but I couldn't cry. I wanted so bad to really cry for the characters but I think because of the bizarre happenings before the ending I couldn't. If this story would have touched me to tears I would have given it a 9/10.

I've read quite a few yaoi manga myself, and I've got to admit that this wasn't one that I would normally read, might be mainly because of the style of drawing....the face looks kinda childlike (if you know what I mean).
Anyway I saw that the rank of this manga was pretty high so I gave it a go. At the end I found myself reading the whole 3 volume nonstop!!! It's really captivating and the characters and really interesting and unique in their own way.
I totally recommend this yaoi manga to those who like yaoi, it's so enthralling and you won't be disappointed =D

Just one word for this manga: masterpiece

I have never liked Watase Yuu's shoujo manga, I hate Fushigi Yuugi and I can't even bring myself to read Ayashi no Ceres...simply because I hate her whiny female characters and the cheesy romantic stories. But then I found this manga and firstly I was attracted to it because it's her first yaoi work and because the art looks a bit different from her usual shojo manga style...and I never looked back since then...
The artwork is simply gorgeous with Taisho era as the setting, the story is dark, deep, complicated with lots of twists and the main characters are loveable and realistic with their own good and bad sides. Yes, there are lots of rapes and sexual violences, but those are important parts of the story that makes it more emotional for the readers. Watase-sensei has done a marvelous job in connecting the feelings and emotions of the characters to the readers and despite the dark theme of the story, every scene in the manga is drawn very beautifully that even murder and rape scenes don't look gross.
I can't recommend this manga enough and I'm very glad that I found this, it will definitely be one of the very few best manga I've ever read.

Nothing to say except... I wish I could give this MORE than 10.

I have read a LOT of Watase-sensei's works, and I enjoyed most of them (Ayashi no ceres and Fushigi Yuugi were two of the first manga I ever read, so they both hold a very special place in my heart; I didn't particularly like Zettai Kareshi though, and as for most of the others - Oishii Study, Imadoki, etc - I think they're all pretty average). Yet, although I enjoyed them, I couldn't really think of them as particularly great: in one way or another, they all felt too unrealistic and even silly at times.

But this...? Man, I think this lady's finally found her true calling here!

Okay, I will admit I am a great fan of extra angsty, heart-wrenching tragic and depressing stories, and twisted characters with dark pasts fascinate me to no end (two of my all time favorite manga happen to be Cut and Zetsuai 1989 XD), but the way Watase-sensei was able to mix all this with her beautiful art (Souma=Tamahome=Touya <3) and her usual, incredible twists and unexpected turns



, and a wonderful, touching plot... pure art.

I fell in love with her characters, too. The whole story is pretty much character development, and how everybody sooner or later learns to get over their past and "live on"; Souma was very interesting, but I especially liked Masataka who didn't end up becoming the "perfect goody goody two shoes" who is always nice and gentle and forgiving



And that ending? Perfectly fitting.



I also enjoyed the whole adult/child Souma thing. Very sweet.

Okay, I better stop now. Seriously, forget my review and go read the thing. It's WAAAAY worth it.

... Even if you're not a shounen-ai fan. You definitely won't regret it.

PS Let's hope she hurries up with that sequel!!! XD

... Last updated on March 23rd, 2010, 5:55pm

This is an awesome manga, I don't know why some people are complaining so much. There is a great and intricate plot, there are likable and hateful characters, there is suspense, there is drama, there is betrayal, there is sex. It's totally awesome, like a big soap opera! Can't wait for next chapter. I couldn't help myself but think on Bannin (Kunieda Saika) while I was reading, it's just very alike. The coincidence about the albino child is just too much for me. This made me really curious but in my personal opinion, Bannin is the original story that "inspired" this one, since Bannin have a plot less intricate and more dark and it's one shot. But still this is a great manga, I'm definitely having fun reading.



... Last updated on October 20th, 2009, 4:35pm