Sleeps In Sunbeams's manga / #Yakuza(69)

An interesting story about Yakuza members Odajima and Kataoka and the inheritance of the group when the boss dies. There is a casual approach to sex and murder that suits the story and gave it some dark edges. Something that didn’t work as well for me was the transition into the recent and distant past then back to the present. I found it a bit confusing who knew who and when, who was actually in the past (because some characters looked the same as different ones and the characters who were the same looked different- confusing I know). The little twist at the end was well done.

What an amazing story! There was a lot of awful history in Ai’s life and you can only wonder how messed up his home life must have been for him to still choose school in his freshman year. When transfer student Nagato meets him as a fellow sophomore he mistakes the beautiful Ai for a girl, earning himself a fist in the face. From there these two delinquents begin a romance that neither expected. Nagato was a really kind and decent guy, delinquent or not. Perfect for the mistreated Ai.

Trigger warning: Rape Son of a Yakuza boss and high school student, Jinguuji has been missing classes. So Yuuki, the assistant teacher in charge is tasked to visit him at home and get him to attend. But Yuuki has the misfortune to intrude upon Jinguuji while he is being serviced by a girl. His interruption turns Jinguuji’s rather predatory attention on Yuuki who is unable to evade his student. The rest of the story follows this violent start to their relationship but there is some redemption in Jinguuji being at the mercy of his beast in heat. There is definitely an intense connection between the MCs. A recommended read.

A gritty and painful story. A life in the Yakuza is stained in blood and this story was drenched in rape, loss and death. It was very well done, but it sucked.

These oneshots were all worth a read though they were very short and mutual love wasn’t always obvious. I think I liked the yakuza one best.

A yakuza story is something that I usually love and while I liked this it wasn’t as good as I hoped. Little Thomas was adorable, as were all the yakuza whipping out their phones for photos when he was particularly cute, but otherwise the art didn’t really grab me. Also, the story plot was rather dull, it took a while to differentiate between the secondary characters and the conversations were immature. For all the sex scenes, I think that’s what lost me. Maybe it was the translation (especially in the beginning) but this felt like it relied on trite topics and I just didn’t connect with the characters. Just me though, it’s got a good rating so others obviously like it.

Too short to judge.

Ex yakuza Sudou Reiji (28 yo) is leaving the business when his clan dissolves. Time to look at something new. When he is encouraged to write manga he attracts the attention of the cold eyed BL editor, Hirose Akihiro (26yo) and soon finds himself floundering amidst the unknown intricacies of Boy Love. Good thing his editor has some ideas for getting Sudou to relate to his characters.I liked the story, though some more backstory on Hirose would have been appreciated.

Trigger Warning: Rape This wasn’t the easiest story to read with multiple rapings over time of the MC along with a concerted effort to humiliate him and break his spirit. On the positive side, Masamune Tatsumi was beautifully protective and gentle with Matsunaga Kai, who was the proprietor of a little flower shop. Tatsumi and Kai got off on the wrong foot but soon Kai yearned to be able to lean on the older actor. The only mention I will make of Yagami Shirou is that I am not interested in a redemption arc for him. A good looking guy doesn’t stay that way when their actions are so vile.

This was a fast paced story but it was still a good read. Running late for work, busy Kakeru stopped to knock out a thug mugging an innocent looking Haruma. His actions and good looks were enough to have Haruma set his sights on another meeting. Turns out Kakeru saved a young master of a yakuza clan and that not so innocent boy was set on Kakeru being his lover. Even though this was only 2 chapters, they were long enough for the story to be entertaining in the way that fond, familiar tropes are enjoyable to indulge in at times. I liked the gap moe, the yakuza/ delinquent element and that they fall for each other. Wish it was longer, but still worth reading.