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A curious thought came to mind while reading other reviewers reviews of this anime. It was a curious theme that seemed to play out on all the "not recommended" reviews. In short, high expectations with little returns and a very dehumanized opinion of the characters involved.

How many live impoverished lives?

How many knew what it meant to live a life too hard too early?

How many had to do things no one else was willing just to make a few bucks?

Denji has lived such a life as this. He was quite the young boy when his father passed (I won't reveal any manga spoilers here), ... and had to inherit his father's debt to the Yakuza. He was told to pay it off no matter what, be a whore, sell something (which he sold one of his balls, an eyeball, and a kidney I believe), all before the age of adulthood.

Who can say when such tragedies took place, but to anyone else they might lose hope but Denji has a friend in a little Chainsaw demon named Pochita. He talks to him frequently, talks about his hopes and dreams if ever he can get out from his crushing debt. Denji somehow isn't suffocated by the life he's living because he clings to simple pleasures like Jam on bread.

Such a friendship paid off in the end, Pochita saves his friend, wants him to live his dreams. Pochita was happy to hear Denji talk endlessly about his dreams, and now there is a chance to make them come true.

In any other anime such things would feel warm and touching, but this anime factored in one thing, no one can live such a hard life so young and not have a dozen screws loose or missing. His life experiences, the things he's sacrificed all culminate into one very unhinged and seemingly heartless boy. A boy who never went to school, who could only dream of what we would consider, no parents to love and care for him which means no parents who he could emulate. No parents meant he was never taught empathy towards others, and his life style is such that he can only think of himself and Pochita only.

Truth be told Denji is a very realistic look at what it means to have all humanity stripped from you. Though having said that, he has this naïve streak in him as well, he is also easily manipulated by the good looking women around him. Power manipulated him into fighting the Bat Demon for her cat. She offered up a squeeze of her breasts, but ended up giving him 3 because he helped her out significantly. Shortly after, Himeko offered up a "kiss with tongue" if anyone could beat the Infinity Demon (seems like her kissing men while drunk is a common occurrence).

Some might find Denji taking these women up on these offers as unethical, but he always completes very difficult tasks in order to get such simplistic rewards. I doubt anyone would be swayed so easily by such small rewards, but Denji is swayed and it speaks to how childish he is. Did Denji ever really grow up? Does Denji realize he's being manipulated? Does he even care?

Thinking about this anime from the perspective of Denji and his comrades, though they live in a fast paced world where their comrades and friends die unexpectedly, it made the anime feel soul crushingly sad and hopeless.

The story is unfolding a bit slowly, 12 episodes wasn't enough but it was enough to give a glimpse into what is to come.
The music is present but not over bearing, it's very good at setting the mood easily.
I would absolutely recommend this anime.

Desperation. Helplessness.

They are the key focus of this anime, it's what happens when ordinary people struggle and get pushed to the brink. The stories are brief, because this is an episodic anime, but if you're familiar with the emotions involved, you can understand how it might drive a person to extreme measures.

"Is retribution worth sacrificing your afterlife?"

I found myself asking this question through the whole series, would I, if put in such a place in life, sacrifice my afterlife for retribution? I can think of a time or two when I was so helpless and so desperate that I definitely would have.

I think, ... this anime was good for me because I understood what it was trying to convey and it spoke to me. It's certainly not for everyone, but if you're looking for something easy to watch but that speaks to you, then give it a try.

The characters are interesting, the stories do a good job of condensing down tragic events in a few short minutes and still leaving room to see the finale. The music was rather stellar, I was quite shocked and surprised. I really did enjoy the premise of this anime, and I was shocked to like it as much as I did as I went in a little skeptical.

I would recommend watching it first and formulating your opinions thereafter. This is just my interpretation of this anime, please don't view it as the truth. It is a subjective truth, meaning it only really applies to me. However, if you found value in this review, thank you.

Okay, I won't give you the summary like most do, I am just going to jump into it. As far as yaoi's go, I've definitely read better, but the unique thing about this one was the whole marriage thing. It seems to me that most yaoi's try to stray away from the traditional set "heterosexual" concepts like marriage. Obviously in most places it's not even legal, but this yaoi defied that unspoken taboo.

It did it well enough, it could have easily been a little slower in it's pace, but, because it gave us a glimpse of that whole "marriage life" kind of thing it ... was fun! In fact, more than it was sexy, it was funny, in that endearing "aww too cute" kind of way. You couldn't help but get attached to the characters and just find them beyond adorable. I was particularly fond of the first couple, it was just so sweet.

Though despite it's pace, it did hit on an type of yearning one sometimes feels when involved in a same-sex relationship (I can talk, I'm a lesbian after all). So I could understand how one might think of things like marriage and how it affects you. They hit that nail on the head good and well and for me, because of my situation, I could connect to that. They did do very well on that aspect, and you see it in full display with the first couple.

All in all, I found that this manga was unique in a lot of ways, it was funny, it was sad, it was suspenseful but most of all it was a good balance of it all. I wish it was longer, but as I think on it, I think it's fine as it is. Though if you're new to yaoi, or looking for something with more meaning, I suggest you look elsewhere, you won't find it here.

I began watching this series on a suggestion, I'd been complaining to a friend about the lack of well balanced and strong female lead characters. So he suggested I watch this because it was exactly what I was looking for, and I trusted that, he's hardly steered me wrong.

I was severely disappointed to the point where I was just overall very sad and upset. Sounds silly but, I went in expecting a good solid story line which a cast full of characters that were different in their own way, and a strong female character that really made the series. What I was greeted with was ... the same every day crap I was trying to avoid, "Women are weak and they need Men".

Ookami got down played once again by the male lead, which was exactly what I was hoping to avoid. I've never given an anime this low of a rating before, if I wanted flesh bags wagged in my face this would be the perfect anime to do it. Yet when looking for something with a lot more weight and meaning it fell short on all accounts and was a huge disappointment!

Not only that...seeing Ookami nearly hit the peak of a strong woman, only to be yanked back down by a man was too sad to watch. I tried to finish it but, I couldn't unfortunately. So I extend this warning, if you're looking for something that'll exhibit the true strength of a woman both physically and emotionally, you won't find it in this anime. If you're looking for fan service, then please, give it a shot, it'll be right up your alley.

Story: 10/10
I adored the story! I like the unconventional way that each person's story is told, it draws you in and you feel relaxed. Comforted in the atmosphere of the bar, the characters, it grabs you right on the heart strings. It's just amazingly written, if I had to name a bad point is that sometimes it can be hard to follow but, at the end it all makes perfect sense. You just need the mind to read into things a bit deeper than is spoken aloud.

Art: 9/10
It was standard art for the most part, but what got it a 9 overall was the eyes. ... It's hard to portray feelings through eyes alone, yet this anime somehow accomplished that 98% of the time. Sometimes the emotion was lacking, but in those times it seems like it was meant to be that way.

Sound: 8/10
This got a poor rating, at least by my standards. You didn't notice the music much, but that I think was part of it's appeal. It wasn't over powering, it was delicate to the ears, never overriding the speaker, gently playing. White noise of sorts, there but not there, I think that's what set the mood for the anime. Yet it wouldn't have hurt to make it a bit more dominate.

Character: 8/10
You didn't get TOO much back story on the main character to be frank, though what you do get is his humble beginnings. Which for me, means a lot, it shows that he wasn't ALWAYS the "Glass of God" that he had to start somewhere. Most anime's like this one, tend to exclude the main characters beginnings, feeling like it makes them...less special. I think the fact that they made mistakes makes them less perfect and in turn, makes them much more human. It also makes it easier for us to relate to that person when we realize how human they really are underneath it all!

Enjoyment: 10/10
There are so few animes I enjoy thoroughly anymore, it seems like they've got the same theme going at all times. I love anime that defy boundaries, try new things, and go beyond. So Bartender was an amazingly beautiful experience for me. I watched the whole series in a day, I was so entranced by it, I could hardly look away.

Overall: 9/10
This overall score is based on average. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for something more than sacs of fat jiggling around or hot guys being mentally unstable. I don't however, recommend this to anyone expecting something akin to Bleach/Naruto because you certainly won't find that here. It's very human, very realistic, and certainly a far cry from the norm.

Story: 5/10
First off I'm sure a lot of people are big fans of Ayano-sensei's work, to say the least after reading this and a couple other. I don't think I'll be adding to he fan base. I will say that the story had a lot of potential, it had a lot of good ideas worked into it. I liked a lot of the different ideas that she attempted to put into the work, but story-wise it fell apart. It felt rushed and hardly had any context to it, they talked a lot but said little of any real interest. It was a burden, more than ... anything, to read all the text because some of it was entirely unrelated. It just...failed to delivery anything satisfying, so it got a low score.

Art: 9/10
I will say the only good point to the whole manga was the intoxicating art style. Beautifully drawn men, and even some women. The sceneries were detailed and just breath taking, despite the lack of story, the art work was just stunning!

Character: 5/10
Bland and one dimensional, just your typical Yaoi uke and seme and typical supporting cast. They added little to brightly the story line as their development seems to be more sudden than it is subtle. They switch from being one way to another way in less than two pages, and it was just too much to handle.

Enjoyment: 5/10
The only thing I enjoyed was the art, everything else was just a real waste of time frankly. I feel sad that I wasted my time reading it, but I'm glad I at least gave it a chance, despite it being a real shot in the dark.

Overall: 6/10
I wouldn't recommend this to a friend who was hoping to read a good Yaoi manga with good plot and colorful characters. It just wasn't my speed, but just because it's not my speed doesn't mean it won't suit anyone else's. So if you just wanna give it a go, why not sit down and read it, it may be worth it for you, you never know till you read it.

I read this on a whim, despite the fact that it had 25 chapters (which is long for a yaoi manga) I decided I'd read it anyways just to have something to do. Little did I know that I was walking into something that would leave me blown away and breathless.

Yes, it is very big on S & M actually that is the major focus of this manga, but it isn't as if the people involved are emotionless fanatics that don't know the meaning of "love" or "emotional pain". In fact through the story you come in touch with many different people, different personalities, different ... feelings and you get to see different reactions to it all. It's not in any way repetitive, or dull, despite the INSANE amounts of sex (and trust me, it's insane) the story line keeps you interested. I had figured it was all about the sex, but...i found myself immersed in the storyline, which only made the sex scenes even more meaningful.

It was unlike any yaoi manga I'd read previously, I can't believe how much feeling was put into it. You come to realize that while these people may be giving up their bodies, their hearts are totally separate affair entirely. You come to realize that the body and heart can be separated, and the heart can be locked away reserved for someone who would willingly accept it, and hold it dear.

If you read between the lines, and understand the full force of the meaning of each word written in this manga you see that clearly. It isn't just about sex, or who is the S or M, it does go beyond that and without even one part of this manga, it would've been incomplete.

I'd highly recommend it to anyone who can handle S&M and wants a great read!

My only quirk with this manga so far was the length of the stories, I would've loved for some of them to go on longer than they did. Though they were really good either way you looked at them, they were easy flowing, left no confusion and left you sort of on the edge of your seat! The characters were fun and easy to connect with, and you could really feel like you understood how they were feeling. The art was nothing short of fantastic, I love the dynamics the artist put into it to intensify a particular scene, very well done. I just really ... fell in love with this manga so much I had to own it for myself! Worth the read if you want a rather good yaoi manga with a great balance of drama and awesome sex!

I'm going to try to temper my reaction to this manga, but it'll be hard. I have this weakness for eloquently written mangas, and this just happens to be one of those. The stories were short, but the way they moved left nothing to be desired at the end. You felt somehow at peace and that despite everything that might happened, that everything would be just fine. I ended up laughing, smiling, and tearing up all the same, the way the words were written touched the heart in a special way. The characters were down to earth and you felt as if you could understand ... them, despite not knowing a whole lot about them. The feeling of the manga, is nothing short of beautiful, I was entranced by everything, the scenery, the words, the people...its hard to explain, everything was just so wonderfully beautiful and touching. If you're looking for something with more substance than just sex, this is my biggest recommendation, it really is beautiful and worth the read.

I don't know how in-depth I want to go with this review, and I know I'm going to anger a lot of yaoi fans but remember one thing, I'm a yaoi fan myself. Also remember, this is only my OPINION and I'm rightfully entitled to it, if you don't like this review, don't contact me, just click "not helpful".

In fact I had a lot of problems with this manga for various reasons. The first is the length, while most yaoi manga's are typically 1-2 volumes in length, this one should have spanned about 3-4 volumes if not more. It was all squeezed into one volume ... which means the storyline was severely rushed which left a lot of confusion. If I hadn't read the synopsis before hand I would honestly have no idea what was really going on.

The characters were equally rushed, I've read a lot of yaoi but this is the first time I've seen such a poor job with character development. It was like everything was a whirlwind between the characters and their relationships with one another. Izumi, Segawa and Sawatari were all thrown together like a stir-fry and jumbled about repeatedly. You really didn't get to KNOW the characters very well, except Izumi which you got a bit of an in-depth look at what he was really like but otherwise you're left empty handed.

I didn't so much mind this manga at the beginning, in fact I rather enjoyed it until it felt more like i was spinning in circles than I was enjoying it. It was just chaotic to the point where when I reached the end I was dumbfounded. I sat at my computer going "HUH?!" I have never been more disappointed than I am with this manga, this is the first time I've felt so poorly about a yaoi manga.