I tried reading this series on three separate occasions but just could not get past the first two chapters because I found this story to be so dull and cliched. (What finally got me to finish it was falling in love with its fantastic sequel.)
I'm a big fan of this mangaka's works namely because they consistently feature well-thought out characters and engaging plots. This story, however, does not live up to those strengths. Instead, what we get are cookie-cutter character types including a predictably forceful seme fond of making grand claims like "I will prove that [you can love]! I will clear away all your doubts!" and pinning down his uke to make a point. He's a teenager, but he's no different from so many other forceful semes that we've seen before. The uke is also a rather stupid and pathetic creature (no different, unfortunately, from so many other ukes) who gave up archery, moved away from home, and endured celibacy for four years because gasp he fell in love with a man. With such a complex, you'd think it would be hard for these two to end up together right...? Wrong. A couple of trite speeches (and a few forced kisses) from the seme and the uke is not only changing his tune about the evils of gay love, but also thinks he's fallen for the seme. Sure, things always move a bit too quickly in yaoi, but having the seme declare his true love forever at the very beginning before I'd grown to know or care about either character as the reader was a bit too much for me. Yes, the seme claims to have a long-standing love for the uke, but it's hard to root for these two when I don't even know who they are at that point. Given this type of start, after the first chapter, any fangirl/fanboy can easily predict what complications will arise in the plot and how they will be handled.
Had this been done by any other mangaka, I might have rated it higher. However, this mangaka can certainly do better than a by-the-numbers yaoi like this. (Check out the sequel to see what I mean: really fascinating characterization of Reiichirou and a very careful build-up of his relationship with Jinnai. Too bad none of that was here.)