This yaoi asks a lot of its readers, but rewards them for the effort. I was surprised at the twist in the second half, as well as how much of an emotional reaction I had to what was happening between the characters. This is one of the few yaoi mangas that managed to make me both laugh out loud and cry (at the same time at one point!). What I liked about it: 1. It's a yakuza / mafia setting which means it's gritty and mature. 2. The characters weren't what I expected (in all the right ways). 3. Themannerisms of both men were very manly. Their body language spoke volumes.

What I didn't like about it:

1. The art takes some getting used to.
2. Takahiro started to annoy the crap out of me in the latter half of the story. (Though I think that was intentional.)

STORY: You think you know where this story is going and then everything gets turned upside down and inside out. I really loved that neither character was predictable or stereotypical. I honestly had no clue who was going to end up being the seme and who was going to be the uke, and when I thought I had it figured it, I was wrong. I loved that. There's a distinct transition in the middle of the story and again, it surprised me in the direction that it took. Initially, I was a little annoyed because it felt awkward and forced, but then it became clear that that was because of what the characters were feeling and conveying.

ART: I can't draw a decent stick figure so I'm the last person to be critiquing anyone's art. This manga definitely doesn't have the pretty shoujo art we may be used to in yaoi. If the characters didn't have opposing hair colors, they'd be impossible to tell apart. However, it grew on me. Like I said above, I adored the mannerisms and body language of the characters. These were conveyed entirely through the artwork and it was done wonderfully. One thing that really struck me was the enormous improvement in Jack's appearance post-haircut. It was really astounding how much different (and hotter) it made Jack look. And that too was all due to the skill of the artist. So that's why I phrase it above as "takes some getting used to." I can't say it's 'bad' because it's not. It's just unconventional.

CHARACTER: These two … they’re guys, all the way. There is not anything remotely feminine about either of them. (Even though one of them does start to suffer from some “female type” thinking patterns later in the story. More on that in a minute.) This is where the gritty art style really works. Something about the rough lines adds to the indisputably male mannerisms of these two guys. The character growth in this story is unique. And really hard to describe. What we see is each man coming to a realization of what he needs from the other, and admitting that to each other. We don’t necessarily get to see the full effects of that, just a promise of them.

This is a manga that really needs to be savored. What I mean is, read the speech bubbles through the natural ending of the scene or discussion, and then go back and read it again, this time looking at the faces. I think we tend to focus on the speech bubbles and ignore all but the big art pieces and in this story, you’ll really miss out if you do that. Read the text and then go back and read the body language. It speaks volumes.