WHAT?! I totally agree with faerygoddyss! This is one of the few manga I thought I could call "amazing". It's not really long, but not so short either - enough to get such deep feeling in what seems to be only some pages! But then the ending screws it up! So much that I had to wait a couple of days to get less frustrated with it and be able to read the short stories (the last chapters).
I first got interested in this because it suits all the categories I want in a manga: angst, heartbroken, loneliness, love-hate relationship, unexpressed feelings, unrequited love, and even had musical stuff to it as a bonus! Well, the two first chapters and even the third one were really what I was expecting and probably even more, since it was all subtle in a very angsty way - which I love. The 3rd chapter itself's not even bad, the problem is that there should be some more and not stop there, it feels as if the manga's been discontinued.
What I especially like about this, though, is that it's so.freaking.painful! And not in an ordinary way. The narrative is constructed in a way I've never seen before, with lots of flash-backs, passing time and background story to top it off. It didn't even seem like a common manga, the storytelling was different from the usual feeling. I love it.
Billy's feelings towards Nick were really deep, not the superficial way a lot of yaoi portrait it, and he seriously got to me. I can relate to him, understand him and feel for him too. Some parts were he cried really touched me, and there was no need for words, explanations or thoughts about it. And then you can also see Nick's vision of things, and maybe he just wanted to monopolize Billy because he also couldn't get to say how he felt either. I could also feel their passion towards each other on that one single kiss!
It was so realistic in some ways that I even held my breath. The drugs, Nick's over-the-top carefree personality and, most of all, their struggling and how they even fell for each other. Nick was the first, in my opinion, as soon as he heard Billy's guitar, he fell in love with it and then gradually with Billy, over Kate (which leads me to the everlasting question: how did he get to break up with her?). Billy was slowly captivated by Nick's clever way of chaining him by being spoiled and depending too much on him.
I also like 'The Rebels''s past. After all, Joe and Pete were in the same situation as Nick and Billy, but they couldn't get together and Joe couldn't handle the pain. Then again, did he kill himself? Was it an accident? Another list of unanswered questions.
As for the art, it's also unusual, maybe even a little bizarre and dark, but also pretty once you get used to it.
Over all, I really enjoyed it, but I don't recommend it because you'll get frustrated with the "end", and that's never a good feeling =/
(-30)
