Ouroboros: Keisatsu wo Sabaku wa Ware ni Ari

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tl;dr: A manga about a police officer involving a core plot and various side cases that is mostly pretty well written, though the core plot seems to drag on towards the end.

This is a manga that is described as and has covers the make it seem like there are two main leads, Ryuzaki and Tatsuya, though I don’t think that’s really the case. Rather, I think that Ryuzaki is the clear protagonist, and his two partners, Tatsuya and Mizuki, are both equally important. The overarching plot is centered around Ryuzaki and Tatsuya as in their roles of cop and yakuza respectively they search for the ... truth behind what happened when they were children when their foster parents was murdered and the murder was covered up by the police. This core partnership is where the name of the manga comes from and is one similar to incredibly close brothers, though ones that are keeping their relationship a secret. However, this is only part of the story and just as important is Ryuzaki and Mizuki serving as police officers and dealing with various crimes that essentially serve as side cases. Their partnership is somewhat opposite to the one between Ryuzaki and Mizuki in that it’s one that’s right in the open and that slowly builds into a reasonably solid romance.

The manga starts off mostly focusing on the side cases aspect to the story instead of the overarching plot. While doing so, it fleshes out a lot of characters quite well and develop thier bonds. Mizuki especially gets especially strong development seeing as she’s usually the other lead in these portions. The dynamic of Ryuzaki being a police officer that can also rely on the help of a big shot yakuza is quite satisfying at times, and also allows the narrative to flesh out the bond between the two even during the side cases. Ryuzaki himself is also a really interesting protagonist, in that despite seeming kind of dopey is quite capable both in terms of investigative and combat abilities, but even more importantly he is shown to be incredibly empathetic compared to other police officers which allows him to deal with certain crimes and save people that otherwise may not have been able to be saved. I felt that these cases were also generally pretty well written with good variety and paced pretty well with a good build up. Though it should be noted that the cues and foreshadowing hinting at things are pretty similar across cases and the ending to cases are pretty much always the most cynical way things could reasonably go, so eventually cases do start getting incredibly predictable. There’s also some surprisingly decent comedy during these portions, though it’s not really a focus.

For the majority of the manga the narrative focuses on these side cases and thus the overarching mystery moves at a snails pace. That’s not a bad thing though, as the side cases are solid and move pretty fast and thus even if the overarching mystery is moving incredibly slowly the pacing doesn’t seem to be slow. Furthermore, these portions are really good for getting the reader invested in all the characters that’ll be important for the overarching plot. There does come a point about 3/4s of the way through where things change in a pretty big way and the narrative focuses all in on the overarching mystery. Surprisingly, it’s at this point that the pacing starts to seem slow. The overarching story overall I feel has too many twists and false leads, and when it reaches the point that it’s being focused on completely that makes it feel like the manga overall is kind of dragging on. Still, in the end it manages to a reach a pretty great ending. I felt that it was somewhat rushed in some regards and it would have been nice to see the effects that the events that occur during the ending have on society overall beyond just a short info dump in the epilogue. But in terms of how it handled the main characters I felt it was an ending that fit the manga really well and was one that I was pretty satisfied with.

As some general notes, this manga also goes very in detail on the police of Japan, of Tokyo in particular, so it might be a good a window into looking at that. I say might, because I’m not sure how accurate it is. General themes about police corruption and the role of police in society were a pretty heavy focus and likely exaggerated for plot reasons, but the concepts are pretty universal and their implementation was solid enough so that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the more nitty gritty information aspect which it also seems to try to get quite detailed about at times. I came in with essentially no prior knowledge on the subject and nothing stood out as seeming obviously wrong. However, over the course of the manga it also talks about a bunch of random other things, such as references to literature or scientific explanations for why things occurred, and a lot of those are just blatantly wrong so the research surrounding them was definitely lacking. These incorrect aspects are just minor things that were basically just window dressing and didn’t really matter all that much and it’s probably likely that the material relating to the core subject matter is more accurate, but just something to keep in mind. The art was decent enough, in that it was pretty realistic in terms of style and decent quality, so it worked well with the type of story it was trying to tell, but in and of itself I found it kind of boring and not particularly nice or interesting to look at.

Quite possibly what is known as one of the top crime detective manga out there.

Ouroboros is filled with a diverse character list and clashing motives. When people have such huge motives, what will happen when someone goes against them?

The story is a long string of complexities, all of which have their small branching stories and interesting moments. Each character gets time to show what they believe in, and justify their way of living before it is compared to another character's, and the climax is seeing who's justification for being alive was better.

The art is always clean and allows each character to look distinct. Thugs with ... little to no reason for living all are identifiable while characters who have a strong desire to live are imposing. This manga intentionally lets you spot the main characters without strictly making their appearance different.

The characters are very complex and have motivations and reasoning for the things they do. Nobody does anything which isn't explained. Characters bounce off of each other and seeing how they react to each other (which is usually in a hostile manner) is extremely suspenseful and interesting.

This manga is definitely enjoyable as a crime detective manga.
However, I would agree in how people who don't like the genre of crime/detective might not like this manga. This manga stays true to it's genre, and when it tries to branch out to a more romance genre, it's noticeable on how it doesn't compare.
The ending was a little short-lived in peoples minds, but it was still a good conclusion to the series. I wouldn't find myself rereading this manga, however I will say that this is one of the top thriller crime mangas I've read.

It’s really strange and unfair that you hear so little about this manga. Sure, it’s not particularly high-brow, but it’s madly entertaining, even addictive, has sympathetic cast, and the main mystery is intriguing.

The story is told in separate police cases (maybe I could call it procedural) and the storytelling stays at the level of, say, a fine TV-series. As I’ve mentioned, there are some silly moments, when mangaka tries to show off the characters, makes them cry or overdoes the evil face trope, but the core of the story is… healthy? solid? I like that in the end when it comes to the killing, they ... kill without much ado. Killing earns this series a 7. The main characters are slaves to their goal to the end, properly, and it helps to ignore the occasional “handsome yakuza in a good suit poses” moments. Oh, and also from the description it’s easy to think that this series is woman-targeted, but it isn't, at least not in the usual way. (Btw, I suspect that the cheesiness is due to the legacy of Sanctuary, but I don’t know for sure.)
The main twist here is that the story is focused on battling corruption in the higher echelons of the police itself. The protagonists try to look for the mysterious figure who wronged them, but they clean off smaller fries in the process. The author puts a lot of effort in explaining the complex structure of Japanese police and makes a good use of it in building the intrigue.
The worst thing about the plot I can say is that it becomes a bit too dense and slow-moving, since the author makes a lot of detours to extend the chapter count. It's not a series, where you can drop in and drop out easily.

What holds your attention even through the weakest moments is, of course, the dynamic duo of the protagonists. They are very different and complement each other well, their ties run deep, and both have complex personalities.
The story focuses more on Ikuo the detective, the younger and the more innocent one of the two. Among his police peers Ikuo plays the amiable klutz part, yet he is not liked - it's said he is too introverted. Ikuo offers most of the comedic relief, but the highlight of the series is when he shows his true serious colors or fights – he is very strong physically and good at a brawl.
His counterpart is older and colder Danno, a high-level yakuza, who rose due to his strong personality and talent in accumulating dirty money. Danno is not a fighter and is referred as “yakuza intelligentsia”, outwardly he is a young entrepreneur, you’d see at a prestigious company. Danno is an interesting mix of good heart, coldness, that runs deeper than him playing the part of a thug, and dangerously strong fixation on revenge. Danno has class, which Ikuo lacks in any of his forms, exactly in the double the normal person’s amount. Unfortunately, Danno is always shown off, which gets annoying (the art is not quite there), and he plays fairy godmother to Ikuo – it’s like he has no other things to do. What Danno does for the yakuza is skimmed over too, but, well, at least, there is no glorification of the criminal lifestyle, or not much.

The other notable characters are the female prodigy partner of Inuo – Hibino, with her own set of troubles (second generation, a girl, partnered with the supposed idiot), though, unfortunately she gets sidelined a bit lately, and Chono, a detective so good, that he starts to suspect the two protags.

The art is decent. Some shots are “off-model”, Danno is unintentionally funny at times, and the female detective loses her nose a lot, but in the end the art carries the story well, it is detailed as it is necessary for a detective story, the characters are recognizable at all times. The quality doesn’t drop anywhere, and some panels are imaginative, I especially like it when silhouettes are superimposed on the scenery, as if in a night-time window – this gives off a tasty noire vibe.

(I should also point out the good quality of the available fan translation and the amazing margins comments by the team – guys, you’re good reader partners, thanks!)

To sum it up – if anything I’ve mentioned clicked with you, I advise to read this. There’re no serious downsides (like excessive violence, sexism or fanservice), and what I’ve described as silliness is nowhere near the level of what we see in many popular manga. And you know what? Awesome Danno is awesome, can’t do anything with it. Even if you’re not swayed by his or Ikuo’s charisma, deep underneath in Ouroboros you’ll find the heart of a proper police drama – questions of duty, justice, crossing the line, power and loneliness. The plot may start to drown in politics and over the top relationships, my current worry is that it is becoming too melodramatic, but it will get to another high-stakes high-tension shootout in the rainy night, there is no doubt. The pros severely outweigh the cons, seriously, so – hands up, this is grab and read.