Not only does the art style brings back memories of old shoujo manga like Candy Candy, the characters do as well. The main character, Ian, has low self-esteem and Raymond, the other main character, is a selfish and manipulative man who plans to use Ian to ultimately get revenge. If you like those themes and you like reading BL, then give this story a go!

The story has a good pace and honestly, I thought it was 10/10 for four-fifths of the story in. The creator did something near the end that I thought was really lousy and cliche; but I guess they thought they needed that for a happy ending. The rated-R scenes were alright. You can read the all-ages version without an issue since the scenes are still there, just covered in shadows. The story is why the comic is so great anyways.

... Last updated on August 9th, 2023, 10:04pm

I really would have loved to read this with different art. It might just be my personal taste, but it feels so flat. The plot is well structured and stays interesting to the very end. All the threads were tied up nicely, but not so cleanly it felt forced. It's more than a romance, but the relationship between Ian and Raymond stayed the focal point.

I found the main characters a little one-dimensional, but not so much that I lost interest. In spite of all of the drama, their emotions are strangely consistent. Like, Ian is always a bit desperate and a bit resigned. Although his thoughts and motivations might change, the intensity of his feelings seems the same no matter what he's responding to. It isn't bad, but I probably won't reread it. It's worth reading once, though.

... Last updated on November 11th, 2022, 4:12pm

Just finished the 5 side stories and just WOW. One of the best written BL series in a long while that I've come across. I am not a fan of historical genre manga/manhwa but this grabbed your attention from the beginning and was so good from start to finish.

Story was great, the premise, the writing, character development, characters with depth and backstory to support why they are the person they are today and reasoning for their actions. Art was great! Only critique about the art is that the face is not a strength of the creator when it comes to drawing. Background art were great and body they could draw very well but faces was not a strong point. HOWEVER, the writing (and many memorable quotes) made up for that slight weakness.

This really felt like a great novel: had a beginning, middle, end; back stories; good pacing; great panel layouts.

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I am such a sucker for in debt protagonist male leads and a sucker for stories where the seme falls hard for the protagonist and doing anything and everything to protect them and keep them next to them, even if they have to resort to drastic measures. I feel like if you have read normal romance novels then you already know there's cliche character developments/plot points that you can anticipate.

... Last updated on July 22nd, 2023, 12:41am

I was thoroughly impressed with this. The pacing was excellent, where it was plotty but not confusing, without too many subplots like many stories get. The characters were interesting and believable, and the backstories were compelling and the character development felt complete. The ending was satisfying. Not the most beautiful of art (but not bad!), but that’s my only gripe.

This was a solid story all the way through the end. There were some plot points where the reader was left to assume the endings but for the most part the story was well written.
I almost wish the art would’ve been a little bit better. However I still highly recommend the story because it was written so well.

... Last updated on May 2nd, 2022, 6:57am

Salute to Munamu for this outstanding work! Reading "Painter behind the Curtain" is as satisfying as watching a great romance movie. The human emotions expressed in the comic are sweet, desperate, dangerous and vibrating. I truly adore the characters Munamu created. I give this work 10. I look forward to Munamu's next work.