Oni to Tengoku
Heaven and Demon

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*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

I was surprised to see no reviews on this so I decided to write one because this yaoi really made me smile when I finished it and as a proud fudanshi, I felt obligated. this is my second review so it may be rough.

Story 9/10
So this yaoi is sort of perfect for me because sure college students are fine but teachers for some reason, I like and they are in their 30s, which add to it because mature sex, please don’t judge me, I guess it’s just something new.
Getting back on track, when Aoki and Tengoku first encounter, it reminded me of Ten ... Count, which is another yaoi I enjoyed (and my first yaoi). I like how the story progresses and it’s really cute.

Art 15/10
The art was certainly nice. I like the details to make the characters not look like they are in college. Writing this made me realize I might have a thing for older men...

Characters 10/10
Trauma is a funny thing. Childhood trauma, brother complexes, and obsessions but I won’t say who, READ IT!

Enjoyment 9.7/10
I enjoyed it.

Story 9/10
Art 15/10
Characters 10/10
Enjoyment 9.7/10
Overall 10/10

"Oni to Tengoku" is, on the face of it, rather disturbing. I did originally believe that it was going to take a darker route, given the story appeared to be setting up sexual extortion (twice in fact), but it was played rather lightly. This is endemic to this story. Students are seduced by someone who can only really read as a chronic sexual offending psychopath and the other MC has been abused thoroughly by his mother. But these aspects of the story are played in a rather soft way. Of course, this situation in real life would be totally morally bankrupt - as the reviewer ... "kenzokun" pointed out, our non-psychopathic MC becomes quickly complicit in the nurses chronic sexual abuse. This would not fly in reality, so I can understand why it turned them off the story.

For me personally, the fantasy situation shown to us does not demonstrate the amorality of the author, nor make me enjoy the story less. Mainly because this is one of the most thematically bountiful yaoi I’ve read - nihilism, abuse and love vs sex being but a few. Both characters feel they have been ignored by the world around them, and compressed into the shapes that their families (primarily) expected of them. As we move through the story, the drama and comedy are all conveyed through expressive and well constructed art, panelling and character dialogue (this is most certainly not poorly written as kenzokun claims). It was refreshing to have a story where the characters are drawn with notes of realism and were a bit closer to expiring than a high school student. I was thoroughly hooked from the first time the MCs spoke to each other -the weirdly off-kilter psychoticism of the nurse being shown as a reptile eyeing up the archetypical sufferer of an oedipus complex. It’s great and I’m glad the author gave the story some time to breathe with 10 chapters. Thoroughly recommended if you don’t mind the aforementioned issues surrounding a character, who if existed in IRL, would be completely indefensible (I would like to note for any readers that this is arguably true for many enjoyed characters in popular media e.g. yanderes, the spiders from HxH, and I could go on endlessly). Fiction exists for a reason people.

I am a little conflicted about this manga. Plot wise, Oni to Tengoku is great. Right from the start I liked the setting and the fact that the characters are not high schoolers. I noticed I tend to enjoy mangas with more adult characters these days, so Oni to Tengoku was right up my alley. Not to mention that the synopsis is interesting enough to make you want to read it.

Another plus is the art which is really pretty. I really liked how the manga is drawn, so we add points to the pleasure of reading it.

When it comes to the story itself, I have ... a few things I want to bring up. While the plot is pretty interesting, the character’s development is a little… steep. Aoki was pretty linear, most of the time, but Manabu’s personality seemed to change throughout the manga and that made me confused, I even thought I might have missed something, but nope, everything was there.

There are two volumes of Oni to Tengoku and it might have benefited another volume right between them. It feels like some things happened that caused the characters to act slightly different.

I’m not complaining too much, though, oh no! I really enjoyed the manga and if at first I had some fears that the characters relationship might remain on a more… professional level, I was happy to be proven that no, it would not. If you read this manga you’ll get what I mean.

Bottom line, Oni to Tengoku is a good manga, it deals with some trauma, some complexes, and some obsessions that I liked how were introduced to the reader. If and how the characters deal with those, has only one answer and that is to read the manga.

I utterly adore this! A beautifully drawn and written story about two guys navigating their various issues with themselves and each other with an oddly sweet lust/romance story, and a good cast of extras.

The story is so tragic and compelling. You fall in love with the characters almost from the get-go, and their dynamic is just wonderful. They also have adorable mannerisms and just... they're so wonderful.

The art is just so gorgeous. I particularly like the way Oyoushikawa draws arms. When the protagonists are just holding each other is just... really beautiful.

Overall, love it, beautiful story, 30/10, please get an official English release!