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STORY: 2
Even though this is by the authors of Tactics, it doesn’t really match the original series. Apparently, the reasoning for the story is that Kantarou got sick from being in the rain for a funeral and needed love cause he was feeling depressed. As if he’s never held a funeral before that made him feel upset. It hardly made any sense and the characters were being vaguely dramatic over death.
ART: 6
There aren’t really any backgrounds whatsoever, since the characters rolling around on the floor takes up most of the panels (though, the characters were drawn well). It was hard to tell what was going ... on during their “acts,” since body parts were covered by conveniently placed clothes or censored to be invisible. Every page was littered with blushing and tongues sticking out.
CHARACTERS: 4
Haruka and Kantarou’s personalities in Love Sick are really warped. They’re so out of character that they could’ve been any two random guys. The most annoying change was that Kantarou’s comically pompous, controlling personality was replaced by a sniveling weakling who wouldn’t be quiet. I annoyingly wondered where Yoko, the kitsune they live with, could’ve possibly been, seeing as it was raining and the two guys were in the living room or something.
ENJOYMENT: 3
This was hard and painful to read. The characters and their motives were unbelievable, and it was very over-the-top. The only people who would enjoy this doujin are Haruka x Kantarou fans who enjoy subjecting themselves to lazy plots.
OVERALL: 4
The story seemed like it might as well have not been there. It was literally a few intro pages about the story, a lot of “action,” then, “Oh yeah, I forgot about the plot; better quick throw that in there. The end.”

STORY: 3
There isn’t really time for any story here, since it’s a nine paged one shot. Everything and everyone is mysterious, which is kind of cool, but pretty eerie in a spine-chilling way. Conveniently, the main character boy is walking around with a bottle of sake in the middle of nowhere for no apparent reason other than to be BL fodder. The story seems pretentious, with vague allusions to drinking sake and the memory of what takes place.

ART: 9
The art style is good-looking and has beautiful toning. I liked the pacing and how the panels were composed, though they rarely varied from its usual rectangular ... frames. The bad thing is that the setting is a forest at night, but the backgrounds frequently turn into white abyss, taking away from the feeling of the unknown.

CHARACTERS: 5
The characters have strange, extremely creepy personalities. As soon as the fox-masked guy comes, you can tell that he has a disturbing ulterior motive. The little boy keeps switching between naïve and quiet to angrily yelling.

ENJOYMENT: 3
This manga made me uncomfortable. It felt dirty to read how the boy was taken advantage of, but it didn’t even affect him negatively at all. The plot basically seemed like an adult messing with a kid is an okay thing to happen, since the fox-masked guy paid for the act with a sake cup and it was a “prank.”

OVERALL: 6
I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone. I’ve read many BL’s, but this one hit a nerve and made me feel like a bad human being to have read this. I guess if you’re fine with stories about underage boys with men, then the story serves that purpose. The only good thing I can say is I’m glad it wasn’t worse.

STORY: 5
I can safely say this is one of the weirdest manga I have or will ever read. It’s so hard to believe what the characters are doing most of the time and why they think it’s normal (a.k.a. letting demons force themselves on whoever’s within a 10 ft radius and both parties enjoying it). Basically, the plot is attempting to rationalize the strings of excessive “physical indulgence” and why the main characters need to put up with it. It’s full of vague references to demons mentioned in the Bible and bizarre “fight” scenes that leave you wondering what you just saw and why everyone’s ... so naive.

ART: 8
To be fair, the artwork is high quality, even if it does sometimes defy the laws of physics during it’s many, many fan service scenes. I really appreciate that they drew backgrounds. The character designs are detailed, but kind of hideous--they have horrible fashion taste comprised of frilly shirts. I probably wouldn’t’ve kept reading if the art wasn’t up to the caliber that it is. Though, as usual with manga, their face shapes and body types never vary. Also, this story is surprisingly dialog-driven, as they even talk while doin’ stuff, forcing the reader to not be able to skip a few pages even if it gets too extreme.

CHARACTERS: 4
The four main characters are unique in both good and bad ways. First of all, it’s strange that they are so ready to offer their bodies to the demons. In fact, they even fight over who’s turn it is, which is both unintentionally funny and horrifying. The two main characters, Fritz and Kisshou, are pretty unemotional and cliché BL leads. (Long haired cool guy likes girly, dumb main character who secretly likes him. But, “Oh no!” Long haired cool guy has an ex-boyfriend who’s returned.) I really enjoyed the later characters, Viktor (Kisshou’s ex-boyfriend who has some colorful interests) and Suiran (a human tree with the power to control sea gulls, if that combination makes any sense), leaving for some pretty strange, but interesting love triangles.

ENJOYMENT: 8
Even though it’s a mind-scarring book with unbelievable characters, I couldn’t stop reading due to its novelty and can’t wait for the next volume. I love talking about the plot holes and poking fun at it, though it was kind of disturbing and very awkward/embarrassing to read most of the time.

OVERALL: 6
In the end, Nightmare Fortress lives up to its name, causing me to both cringe and smile bitterly at the odd, though morbidly entertaining twists of events. Would I recommend my friends to read it? I highly doubt it. This manga is only for hardcore fans of the guy x guy genre who don’t mind cheesy plots and are basically reading it for the “action."