Color Recipe · review
Spoiler warning
This review may discuss plot details.
Honestly, I was a bit let down by this Manga. I was hyped up by the reviews of its dark and psychological nature but the work keeps toeing the line between a normal BL and a psychological thriller. However, it never settles into one or the other and fails to sell the horror aspects to its full potential, and the disturbing events get in the way of a proper romance. There are glimmers of this like in chapters 10-11 (IIRC?) which genuinely sent a chill up my spine with how the genre cliche of r-pe gets played deadly seriously as Koukichi becomes seriously mentally damagedand changes as a person, which ruins the fun of stalking for Fukusuke and causes him to slowly lose it. It was a really smart play, turning a genre trope usually played off as inconsequential into something disturbing. I thought it would only ramp up from there, but then they make up later? As I said, it fails to sell the horror and tries to salvage their tainted relationship near the end. It wasn't as scary as I thought it could be but it has some clever writing elements here and there as well as a unique plot. It might be worth the read if you're OK with its non-committal nature but be aware that this leads to tonal inconsistencies.