Best BL I've read in over a year. It's powerful. There's actual meaning. It's intense.
There are many flaws, of course, starting from the art style (kinda grows on you though... but the mouths are still weird sometimes. The expressions aren't drawn well, either).
I felt the traumatic background story was handled too quickly. Shouldn't have gone for a plot that dark with only two volumes to work with. Mihael forgave Chris for what he did to his son way too quickly. Something like that would take at least 4 or 5 volumes.
Cliche? I didn't think so. This is nothing like the other BL I've read, for the most case. They actually didn't pretend that HIV didn't exist, and even used condoms. The horrific backstory itself was handled more realistically. It's common for the chain of abuse to be passed through generations, which most other fiction tend to ignore. That kind of shit actually happens, so don't even with the "cliche", because it was executed much better than most.
My biggest complaint, however, is that the mangaka chose to end with a flashback featuring Chris with someone else as the epilogue, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. Put that in the middle instead! Don't spoil the perfectly good ending before that!
Even though Chris was immensely flawed, I still find him incredibly interesting. Until the Alex-in-hospital scene (you know the disturbing one), I found him really likeable. Afterwards, I had... a lot of mixed feelings.
The fact that he ordered his own servant to kill him if he ever did anything to Alex made it easier for me to half-forgive him.
Sexuality in this is not portrayed as black and white, which I appreciated.
Mihael and Chris really have chemistry. I loved that.
I also appreciated that there were other things besides Mihael and James and their relationship; they included Alex, who's also quite likeable, and dealing with lost loved ones in a natural, non-melodramatic, gently melancholic way. Usually, when you hear people dying of car accidents, you think "oh god, really? Not that BS again"--but the way it was said here, and phrased in a way that wasn't begging for sympathy... It was believable and well done.
What I loved the most was when
Mihael woke up and realized that Chris had shaved him, and was waiting for him probably at the concert hall. When he was done, Michael tore out a few of my heartstrings as clumsily as he grabbed those fake flowers and used it to shove aside the expensive bouquet some other guy was propositioning Chris with--curly stem and all. I pretty much melted when Chris tossed them aside and jumped Mihael right there and then oh my god i'm gonna die from the moe. And of course, the cum on the ceiling had me laughing my ass off. Ah, and when Chris smiled when he saw Mihael's reaction to that piece he played... oh man
Could've done without the you-know-what, but still really good nontheless. Definitely worth reading, but it's surely not for everyone. Golly, no BL has moved me this much for a while...
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