I had seen this manga passed around as a BL masterpiece of dark content, and mature storytelling - the Hannibal of BL, basically. Even with me not being a fan of noncon/rape being so excessively fetishised, I tried to read it. I am a big fan of horror and thrillers, after all.

What I got, however, was torture porn with a story that does not hold up. The story unfolds, the mystery sets up, and the more information I got, the more flabbergasted I was at how this story continues to get worse. I quit after Volume 2, after the "amnesia" tag hit me at full force. There is "setting up a mystery", but then there is also "characters willingly withholding information they should tell the protagonist and don't do so because PLOT".

As a thriller/mystery, it simply does not work. The rape fetish is too excessive and too long, dragging out for pages on end (although with great art), the characters are more stereotypes rather than fully fleshed out persons, glaring logic holes and tropey plot points to make rape scenes happen (alarm button out of reach, bodyguards disappearing, living in an extra house with no connection to the outside for a case (😕)) The whole thing ends up being unenjoyable as neither smut, nor mystery.

Maybe I would have been more gentle if people hadn't been hyping this up so much, but I was severely let down, and cannot understand why this manga is so successful.

I am a fan of OEL BL authors. We need more of them. This series is a great start in the right direction. Purchased the first volume when it released cannot wait to buy more. TogaQ's art style is unique and still fits the BL mold even tho its more in the direction of realism.

... Last updated on December 8th, 2020, 1:08pm