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I am holding this up as an example of how good BL can be. If you, like me, put this off because you were fooled by the horny cover into assuming that this was just PWP — purge the thought from your mind and go read this manga and the sequel.

We have seduction. We have a good pace. We have romance. We have consent. We have fantastic art. And —holy shit— do we have passion. It all starts from a fairly goofy and idealistic scenario, but not one extreme enough to be unrealistic, and progresses at a good, steady pace. The intimate scenes are beautifully ... done, too, and Ueda does a wonderful job of conveying Yuuki and Takafumi's emotions and feelings through them.

I cannot overstate how good Takafumi is. The man just knows how to seduce. Did he date women until falling for Yuuki? Sure. How does he work out that he's attracted to Yuuki? Actual quote: "It seems that gender doesn't matter very much in my eyes when it comes to love." Beautiful, immaculate. Is he a bit corny sometimes? Oh hell yes, and it's adorable when Yuuki gets flustered about it because he isn't used to being treated with so much care and love by a partner. And Takafumi isn't perfect, either! Despite his age and experience, he still gets insecure and jealous, though it's treated with actual more common sense and realism here, rather than the usual high-drama, zero-brains approach of jealousy in BL.

That being said, there are some relationship problems here and there, and it's not all smooth sailing and wholesome fluff. But there is no truly dark or depressing content, and those problems are the mature kind that you see in real life all the time — work getting in the way of private life, struggling to express how you feel, struggling with self worth and feeling like you don't deserve to be happy (not because of your orientation! this isn't one of those "I deserve to be unhappy because I'm not straight" stories!), feeling like you aren't doing enough to show your partner that you care etc. — and it's great to see the characters work through them, on their own and together.

Goddamn, I feel like these two volumes destroyed all my expectations for BL to come. I can only hope to find more as good as this story.

I wasn't expecting anything big from this, but was surprised to find an interesting plot and a lovable cast. While this is tagged as BL, things never go further than hugs, and Kio and Fraw telling each other that they care about and want to protect each other; in that sense, it falls under the "it's BL if you squint" category. The art isn't the best, but it does improve later on and the wings become prettier and more detailed; even so, it's never that appealing to me and never quite gets past a certain stiffness.

What I appreciated most is that the many side characters ... get their own personalities and subplots, instead of simply existing on the periphery. They help each other out and grow, so it's fun to see them intervene and not just serve as background decor, or to praise or get in the way of the core cast. Kio does suffer from Shounen Protagonist Syndrome most of the time — rushes into battle with little regard for himself, is very "ganbatte", is more than meets the eye —, but is endearing enough to not be that annoying. Fraw, by comparison, is fairly one-note as Kio's stoic counterpart who only loses his cool when Kio is threatened, and I didn't find him as interesting.

'Asterisk' is a much better manga than a lot of its time, considering when it came out. The plot is engaging all throughout, the characters are distinct and fun, and, while the art is fairly dated and stiff, I can overlook it most of the time because everything else is so entertaining.

Now, as much explicit gore as there is in here, this is actually one of the more plot-heavy works of Masumi Nishin (although the plot is straightforward and simple). Do not read this if you're looking to come out of it feeling good, or get attached to anyone, or see sexy and loving scenes. It's a story of two deeply flawed, fucked-up men who cling to and use each other until their inevitable destruction—if you approach it as anything but that, you'll have a bad time.

I'm docking two points because the detective subplot needed a bit more fleshing out, and because it's never addressed how ... easy it is for Andy to do what he does without getting caught or rousing suspicion. However, I did appreciate the attention paid to details like epilepsy, drug and alcohol abuse, how one event can derail one's life, and how sociopaths can go under the radar. Needless to say, I found the art gorgeous; Nishin doesn't shy away from showing the nasty bits, and all her characters are distinct. Points for Andy, because that blank stare gave me more chills than the gory scenes.

The only part of the story that got to me, as a seasoned horror fan, was the animal abuse; fortunately, that part was fairly short, but it was explicit, so be wary of that. As before: read the tags and warnings on other sites, and don't expect that much subtlety.

I have a soft spot for this manga since it's miles ahead of the noncon trash of the time, and because it's actually a pretty good psychological story without the thriller aspect that usually comes with the genre.

On one hand, Ryou is emotionally dependent on Tatsuhiko to an infuriating degree...but, on the other hand, Tatsuhiko also encourages it. It's an interesting dynamic where Ryou acts "spoiled" but is much more aware of his surroundings than others give him credit for—for example, he is aware that Tatsuhiko is "taking care of [him]", and is capable of working on his own when Tatsuhiko can't be around.

In spite ... of appearing to be about creating manga, this story is actually about how Ryou has made Tatsuhiko the center of his world, even choosing to become a mangaka because Tatsuhiko praised him for being talented at drawing. And Tatsuhiko, for all his grumbling, enjoys this role; just like Ryou is anxious and fidgety whenever Tatsuhiko isn't around, so is Tatsuhiko upset when he denies his real feelings towards Ryou.

I do recommend giving this manga a try for at least two chapters, because the first is only enough to show a "needy" type of personality in Ryou and a "begrudging, infantilizing caretaker" one in Tatsuhiko, but it goes beyond that. The art also reflects this, with Ryou being given a messy, unfinished-sketch look while Tatsuhiko is always drawn with precise, defined lines, and it gets better with every chapter.

This is one of the dumbest things I ever read and it made me go through the entire range of emotions available to man. Keigo going "hmm, I think my roommate might be gay 🤔" and acting disgusted when Rio shows him BL manga...only to end up pushing him down like one page later. OK, so stupid it's funny. But the second chapter has...explicit, violent rape?! as an excuse for a comforting scene, which then ends with a joke and a sort-of confession? Absolute whiplash. Then it goes back to screaming and rushed humor, followed up with...a pretty decent chapter about the landlord. There's the ... obligatory Misunderstanding Chapter, which fizzles out into an ending.

This manga doesn't have a plot. Things happen, everyone screams at some point, there are some sex scenes and couples forming, and at the end you get the impression that it wouldn't have mattered if this story ran for one volume or five. There's no point to it, just a collection of moments. Like a kid smacking dolls together while making up a story in their head. The art's closer to the "bad" end of the spectrum than the "good" one, so don't read it for that, either. Should you read it? I honestly have no idea whom I'd recommend this to.

What made me rate this a 4 instead of a 3 is the fact that the mangaka refrained from giving Kyouichirou a romantic subplot, though there were some faux hints about him and his guardian. Actually, that's pretty amazing, considering that this manga is about as subtle as a bowling ball thrown through a brick wall. Still, the bar is in Hell.

Color me surprised when I got to about the end of the second chapter...and discovered that this wasn't going to be a moody, dramatic piece full of angst, but a story with quite a lot of fluff. Most of the story is focused on Hajime and his adjusting to life as a normal citizen outside the underworld, and all the challenges that come with that.

One major downside to me is Kakeru's character, because I've always disliked it when, in yaoi, one lead is depicted as hypermasculine while the other lead is "girly". Kakeru already looks very moe at first, but not unrealistically so; by the ... end, he's gone full bug-eyed, squish-faced. He is very dainty, cute and meek compared to Hajime, which is fine in small doses, but taken to the extremes as this was, it actually comes across as TOO feminine-leaning, if that makes sense. Of course men are "allowed" to be cute and not just testosterone beasts, but...they're still men, you know? If I can picture your male character as a female one (as they are typically written in shoujo!) throughout the story, and that change has very little impact...I'm going to raise an eyebrow.

I wish Kakeru were given more moments to be proactive and independent, instead of worrying so much over Hajime. It's a pity that outside of asking Hajime out for a date, and confessing to him later on, there's not really much that can be said about his character—other than the fact that he's studying to become a vet and that he used to be a sex worker, I suppose. What hobbies does he have? What's he like aside from "loving Hajime"? Both Kakeru and Hajime are given "rescue your partner" subplots, yet Hajime is the one who grows the most as a person, while Kakeru's relegated to sort of a tag-along who doesn't "start existing" until Hajime rescues him (and even then, most of his character is still about Hajime).

At the end of the day, it's not a bad story, but it is unbalanced. If Kakeru were less moe and were given more to work with, I feel that I would've loved this manga much more. Hajime is pretty good, but I do wish there were more moments of them talking and getting to know each other (I'd sacrifice the Kanji subplot for that). But if all you're looking for is a fluff story with an ex-yakuza character, with basically no "unseemly" references to what he actually did, then you'll probably enjoy this. I still recommend it, but can't deny the un(der)explored potential.

There's something about Enzou's storytelling that makes me overlook things that I'd find annoying in other stories. Maybe it's because her characters are all adults and her art style is so expressive—seriously, few mangaka can draw anguish so well. Now, Enzou's plots usually come with a healthy helping of melodrama, and this isn't an exception: there's a lot of feelings being hurt, a lot of insecurity, and some exploration of how expectations and assumptions can lead to disappointment.

What I found refreshing, though, is that Tatsuo doesn't get what he wants from the get-go: Hajime is clear about his limits and the relationship progresses (mostly) on ... his terms. As predictable as the ending is, I did like the journey to it, even if I personally would've toned down Hajime's grand emotional confession, because it comes across as too much of a "he's all fixed now, yay!" moment and a bit inconsistent with what came before it. I also wish Tatsuo were less pushy overall and that Hajime were allowed to have more small steps of getting used to him, outside of the big confession.

The second story—the one that focuses on Hajime's brother, Makoto—has more open communication. I was expecting Makoto to be the typical cold and rude asshole, and was surprised that that was not the case. Even if it has the ol' "I'm letting you go so that I don't get hurt later" trope, it still makes sense considering what we're shown about Makoto's upbringing. These two brothers have issues, but it's nice that they're beginning to sort them out at the end.

But, tbh, I just wanted to see everyone happy at the end, so it worked out fine for me, even with the bumps along the way. I can see myself rereading this and enjoying it just as much, if not more.

NOTE: "Ryuujin-sama ni Oyomeiri" and "Ryuujin-sama no Oyome-sama" are considered a single 2-volume story in publishing, not two separate series. This review covers the entire story.

This is a fairly straightforward fantasy story with quite a bit of romance and smut, some dramatic moments, good art, and a happy ending. If that's something you're into, then I recommend it. By the way—this is 2 volumes (10 chapters) long.

+ Good worldbuilding. It's not complex, but it doesn't need to be since most of this story is focused on Tsuwabuki and Shuro's relationship.

+ Good art, hot smut. The sex scenes are all consensual and show enjoyment.

+ Wholesome interactions ... between Tsuwabuki and Shuro, especially when the former is a child. There are two short "what if" extra chapters that deal with scenarios where Tsuwabuki would've grown up with Shuro instead of the wolf clan, which are cute and fluffy. In the actual story, Shuro watches over the child Tsuwabuki and helps him, none of it inappropriate.

+ Tsuwabuki gets a satisfying character arc. He starts out meek and depressed from all the years of abuse at the hands of the wolf clan, and finds happiness alongside Shuro for the kindness and consideration he'd unknowingly shown towards him all along.

+ Good ending, if bittersweet in some aspects relating to Shuro's godhood.

There were also bits that either lacked something, were too insisted upon, or fell short:

- The characters come across as one-note most of the time, so there's not much development to speak of. Ginsen is the biggest example of this and, while consistent, I do wish her character had some variety instead of remaining a mustache-twirling villain to the end. I also wish we had more details on Suzukake (the sickly stepbrother that treated Tsuwabuki kindly), Shikunshi, and Soyogo.

- It makes sense for Tsuwabuki to be so meek and insecure, but I still would've liked him to be more assertive and vocal towards Shuro (while remaining consistent with his established character, of course). As it is, Shuro does all of the seducing and is the most straightforward, and Tsuwabuki is often left with only saying that it feels good.
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All in all, I'd say the good outweighs the bad. It's a pretty decent, uncomplicated fantasy work, while at the same time offering more than your typical vehicles for smut.

Despite starting off as a one-sided proposal, it's a good story as long as you're willing to overlook how pushy Masamune is and how Ryuunosuke falling in love is inevitable. Points for Ryuunosuke having spirit and not giving in to him right off the bat.

My only complaints are that we don't see enough of Ryuunosuke accepting Masamune outside the whole omegaverse heat/instinct thing, and that occasionally the story does get a bit too silly for its own good. It's also a pity that Masamune's parents and his associates didn't get more time, because they seemed like fun characters, but I suppose that's the curse of ... one-volume stories—you can't always fit everything in such limited space.

But, still, it's not a dark story, it has quite a bit of humor, the art is good, and the sex scenes are hot. Would recommend if you're looking for something light and fluffy, with just a bit of edge.

The art is fantastic, and makes up like 80% of why I wanted to read this and I why I rated it so high. Having read a stupid amount of yaoi in the 2000s, I didn't even bat an eye at the noncon bits, because it's blatantly obvious that everything unsavory will be turned around, since this manga doesn't struggle to be original at all.

The plot is fairly run-of-the-mill "guy buys guy as slave-but-not-really", there's a misunderstanding due to not communicating, some blackmail sprinkled in for flavor, the master-slave/prostitute thing gets dropped fairly quickly, and the first two sex scenes are hinging on that "withholding ... information" trope for that spicy noncon factor. In retrospect, they're really out of place, considering that Amran dotes on Yoru for the rest of the story (while also withholding information from him, Because Plot), but I ended up liking the rest of the story so I'll allow it.

The only part I didn't like is the brief bestiality, but that's on me for getting tricked by the "Animal Characteristic" tag on another site and not seeing the "Bestiality" one on MangaUpdates. Oh well, at least it's only a few pages.

For the smut, art, and happy ending? Great. For deep plot and consistent writing? Lol, look elsewhere.