Okane ga Nai
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Stuck between drama and comedy, but never quite becoming one or the other, Okane ga Nai is a rather clumsy but enjoyable yaoi. Reading it, I feel that the creator is never entirely sure what category it really fits into.

The series starts abruptly, exploding onto the pages with a rape by the end of the first chapter. Our seme, Kanou buys a boy named Ayase (at the perfectly legal age of 18) at an underground auction, ostensibly to save the kid. Being a big shot guy in the money business, handsome, powerful and rich, he's used to getting what he wants when he wants it. ... When Ayase refuses his advances and frustrates him, Kanou rapes him. In his mind, the rape is a way of forcing his 'love' on the boy. However, he is also rather kind to Ayase, worrying about him getting sick and taking care of him. So Ayase, who has long been alone and poorly treated by his cousin, despite being horrified by the rape is somewhat drawn to the kindness and protection offered to him by Kanou.

Put that way, it seems to me like the brilliant beginning of a very dramatic, psychological manga that goes where readers may not be comfortable, exploring human feelings and emotions as we watch the destructive and painful, not quite love, not quite hate relationship between Kanou and Ayase.

But this never happens. Ayase is weepy, girly and clingy. He grates on my nerves; after being raped by Kanou he apologizes for scratching him under the eye? Really?

The creator can't seem to decide if Kanou is a jerk or not. He claims to love Ayase and want to protect him. And he does, more or less. Then he humiliates him by forcing Ayase to beg when he needs to 'come', then throwing it in his face how much sex between them turns him on. I found that somewhat more of a turn-off than the rape, as the rape was more spur-of-the-moment, something he immediately regrets while this was a more calculated and a premeditated attempt to manipulate the kid.

Then there's the element of humor. Though honestly funny, the funny bits don't quite fit into the darker bits. So I'm never sure quite how to feel towards everything. It's confusing.

And yet I gave it a pretty decent rating. Why? Well, accepting it for what it is, the way you accept a trashy swashbuckling romance novel, it's quite good.

The art is top notch. Kanou is handsome and toweringly tall. Ayase is pretty with beautiful eyes and gorgeous hair. The bed they share is like triple king sized. XD The scale of the whole thing is so over-the-top you just can't take it seriously, but I mean that in the nicest way possible.

The adventures and scrapes Ayase gets into, always being saved at the last moment by Kanou are full of fun and swooning moments. So if you're a bit squeamish to read a truly violent manga, Okane ga Nai offers all the naughtiness and perverted fun, without being depressing or too dark or too gory. It's darker than your average fare, with the rape, but handled in such a light-hearted, humorous way that everything turns out ok somehow.

So if a manga where rape is tolerated and even considered romantic turns you off or disgusts you, which is perfectly understandable, then this is not for you. If you like squealing with girlish (or boysih) delight over cute boys being ravished by older, powerful men, then you'll be sure to have some fun. I certainly enjoyed it overall, though it's not on my best ever list by a long shot.

For a manga with a similar idea, but without the rape (think a not entirely unwelcome hand job), check out Junjou Romantica, which features a similar pushy, dominant seme and high school kid, only in this case the kid is boyish and hot-tempered himself and their relationship actually makes sense and the humor is hysterical and totally fitting.

I personally adored this read, it was so beautifully drawn, and the characters had stunning detail to them, the beautiful expressions and attention to detail, made each new scene more moving or some other chapters to be very steamy.

At first i felt alittle sorry for Ayase in his situation but later came to realise Kanou's reasoning, and wanted Ayase to accept and understand Kanou more earlier, but each small step into Ayases understanding meant a new step into the story and relationship.

Making me fall even more in love with the two, and the extreme love within them and how much they deep down cared for ... each other.
Sometimes the character Kanou seemed alittle harsh with Ayase but it was more an act of over protection and love for Ayase, probably not the nicest of ways to force love upon someone but it makes this a great yaoi manga if he didnt!

Kanou cant stop his lust when he is filled but nothing but desire for Ayase and wants nothing but him.

Well worth a read for people who truley love Yaoi its got lots of steamy action as well as a wonderful storyline full of all the romance and twists you could ask for.

Okane Ga Nai had the potential to be an intriguing and emotional story. Unfortunately, the plot line can be summed up in two words: Fan. Service.

The story begins well enough, if not a bit cliche,but the chapters are filled with cycles of boy-in-trouble/upset, boy gets rescued, boy is raped, boy cries. Rinse, repeat. Characters are flat and entirely two dimensional, with little to no growth throughout. Ayase's constant tears also grates on my nerves. The only good point about OGN is its art: Ayase is the typical girly, slender type, and Kanou is the possesive, dominating "master". The characters are pretty, and backgrounds wonderfully ... detailed.

For what it's supposed to be: shameless yaoi, OGN definitely delivers, and a good choice if a bit of yummy man-on-man action is what you're looking for. If you want something with a bit of substance, however, this isn't for you.