Bad Boys, Happy Home

I don't usually review anything. As far as I know this is my first review. I don't care if anyone will read this, I just have sooooo much to say about this manga. Short review: this is the best BL work I have ever stumbled across. It's mature, the romance is great and doesn't feel forced, the characters are free from most annoying tropes, the art is really different from other BL, and it deals with topics such a homophobia and stuff like abuse in much better ways than probably any anime I've ever seen. It's definitely worth a read. Long review (when I mean long Imean LONG bro, I have much to say about this): Art: 9/10 What drove me to read this story was really just the cover. I knew the synopsis, but didn't think it was anything special -- the cover, however, drew me in. I love the story behind it because it's so simple, and I love the art style, and I love their expressions, and I love how strong both of them look. I absolutely love the art style. It's nothing special by itself, but it's pretty unique for a BL to have this shounen-like art (I think the artist has illustrated some shounen manga, though I'm not sure). None of the characters design's fall into those annoying clichés of one being more feminine. One is more husky and the other leans to a more athletic shape, and it fits their characters very well -- and I'm not talking about personality, but their background. The only thing I found weird were the mouths, because sometimes their expression wouldn't translate very well and look pretty weird, but I still like it. So there's a 9/10 for the art style being pretty and kind of out of the box for the genre, and less one point for the awkward moments :p Plot 1: 10/10, Plot 2: 8/10 I consider this to have two on going storylines. One, is just their love and personal lives. Akamatsu and Seven living together and falling in love, all that. The other one is a bit of a spoiler, but something I already expected because for some reason BL stories can't seem to avoid this. Specially japanese BL. However, I will first talk about the first plot. It's wholesome. It's beautiful. It's different. Best of all, it's mature. I am someone who just rushes through sex scenes because I find them so uncomfortable and weird and just unnecessary overall, but the ones in this manga did not bother me at all. They never felt like thirst traps for horny weebs. They felt so mature and _kind of_ realistic, and they were actually fun to watch because the writer was simply not afraid of not taking these scenes a whole lot seriously. I also loved that they felt just as natural as their love. Dang. I talked so much about sex. But that's how good they are, I guess, because I absolutely dislike sex scenes, and these ones I really, really liked. But... the plot isn't about sex (phew), so I guess I should talk about the other elements present in it. I would say this is more of a slice of life than romance. I mean, yes, there's focus on their romance, but it's more about their life together overall -- things normal people struggle with. I think that's why it felt so natural -- because their love wasn't forced. The way the story deals with their sexuality is incredible. Now, this is kind of a spoiler: homophobia. Akamatsu, differently from most BL protagonists, already knows and accepts he's gay. He has some bad thoughts, of course, such as considering to pretend he's straight because people won't accept him, but he doesn't feel disgusted by himself or anything like that. He just wants to avoid people treating him like a plague for being gay. The way his sexuality is handled is fire. His dad is seemingly the only one in his family who doesn't accept him. And his family's reaction to him cutting them off of his life, I would say that's pretty realistic. His brother and mother are constantly trying to reach out, and even excited to meet his supposedly boyfriend. This manga isn't afraid of dealing with homophobia and depicting sexuality as something normal, so it rocks. Another thing I really, really liked, and this one I would say is kind of weird, is how he and Shuusomething (forgot his brother's name) are twins, and that's it. Most stories try to use twins to cause conflict or whatever, such as the mc's twin becoming a threat to their love life, but in this one it's just mentioned once they're twins and that's it. I don't know why I liked this so much. As for Plot 2... it's Seven's backstory, and the stuff that happens because of it. If you don't want spoilers, just skip to the characters section. His family was involved with drug trafficking. One day, his parents are killed, and he kills the guy who killed them. You know, the usual cliché mangas love so much, of the child being so full of hatred they kill someone. Nothing against it, just... it's a cliché. Then he ends up with this guy, his adopted father, who forces him and his adopted brother into prostitution. Another cliché. And, as much as I didn't really like this plot, I have to admit, the way the story handled it was really good. Not perfect, of course, it has its flaws -- for example, there is that one annoying cliché where one of the romantic interests gets kidnapped and (almost) raped. Then they just brush it off like "Yeah, that guy was pretty rude." That's this manga's only sin. However, they deal with everything in such a simple, (kind of) realistic, empathetic way. I really loved seeing that one guy (I think his name was Takanami?) who gave up on the organization because, even after they found out what was happening, the leader didn't kill him or send him to jail or nothing like that, because he was too "important" for the business. I liked the brief peek we had of his conversation with Eight, telling him he can trust and tell him if there's anything bad happening. I find most characters to behave and react to the events pretty realistically. Unfortunately, in real life, people will not always stand up for you when you face homophobia or abuse. And these characters aren't portrayed exactly as bad or good. They just are. This manga isn't teaching a moral lesson, of how you should react when you discover a kid is being abused. And yet, in the end, the adopted father ends up facing the consequences of his actions, and Eight and Seven had their disclosure. I would say this story deals with those heavy topics better than any other anime I've seen or any manga I've read. A close one is Banana Fish but, as much as I love that anime, I can't help but feel like it walks dangerously on the rope of trauma porn. It's tragedy after tragedy, and it gets unrealistic to the point where you don't really feel bad because that much shit doesn't feel real. DYAS has a lot of bad stuff -- none of it is really explicit (except for Akamatsu's rape... I just pretend that didn't happen). They could have easily showed the kids being raped just for shock factor, but they don't. They show the interactions of pedophiles with them, but never the graphic stuff. It feels more like part of the story and less of an entertaining factor. Just like almost everything else, it's just there. Though you don't see as much trauma in Seven, you can see how everything impacted Eight greatly. Now, to the characters section. I have a few things to say about a few characters. Characters: 10/10 This manga isn't perfect. The characters aren't perfect. But they sure are so much superior to other yaoi or even shounen ai works. Just like the art style, there isn't that annoying trope of one character being feminine. And -- for this I thank the universe --, there isn't a "uke" and "seme." They are written like... people. They're human. They have their own distinct personalities. Their likes and traits aren't because the writer was trying to fit them into a trope; that's just how they are. Stupid, awkward and moronic boys. Another reviewer has said this, and I second it: the conflicts aren't solved in a melodramatic ways with tears and "WUuuuuuaaaaaah but I thought you would die oaujd98as8 hawjew I am so sorry I for kissing you seme-kuuun". The characters talk, and they sort things out in messy and awkward ways. One trope that always bothers me is the head over heels in love character (who is probably the seme) and the tsundere who falls in love because he was turned on by the other. This doesn't happen here. None of the characters resort to violence, verbal or physical, because they are embarrassed or something like this. Their love feels natural. It just happens. It's not rushed, it's not too slow -- probably slower than most yaoi, but doesn't feel like it. It's well done and wholesome, really. Another thing about sexuality -- not all characters are gay. GASP! Yeah. Usually, in BLs, you will have a ton of homosexual characters, and they will either abuse another character, present a threat to the main couple's love life, or just be there to get together with another gay secondary character. I think only the main protagonists are gay and that's kind of refreshing, to be honest. Now, a bit of spoilers. About the character of Eight -- I find him really, really interesting. First things first, again on the topic of BLs having all their characters be gay, he doesn't seem to be one. He was abused by what I believe were mostly men, but he has a girlfriend. He could though be bi or a victim of the "they were abused so now they have sex with anyone" trope, since he doesn't seem to mind homosexual relationships, but I don't think that's the case. Something else I really liked was Eight's girlfriend. I don't know why, but him having a girlfriend and the brief moments we saw them together was something cute and different from most BLs. As I said before, you don't see as much trauma in Seven as you see with Eight. They reacted in different ways. And Eight is much more broken, while Seven seems to have a lot more control over his life. There is a scene where Eight kidnaps Akamatsu and is almost raping him, then he stops, realizing something. Now, my memory is blurry, but I believe he stopped because he realized what he was doing. Either that, or he heard Seven coming, but I don't think that's it. Then Seven comes in, and threatens to rape and kill his girlfriends if he ever touches Akamatsu again. And that's where I was like "Oh damn." I think that their actions in that whole scene are showing how not normal they are because of the things that happened to them. However, as much as I want to say that it was all purposeful and they don't see rape and abuse as the rest of the characters because of their trauma, it's hard to say that because of Akamatsu's reaction. He literally says, I kid you not, "But your brother is pretty rude. Where did he get the idea of kidnapping and putting an anal plug in someone?!" so yeah, I won't really say it was all purposeful and not just a way of showing that Seven cares about Akamatsu so much he would rape someone for him... That's it. I told you it would be long.