Sen: Jouya no Chigiri

This manga sets a prime example for the saying "Love is the most twisted curse of them all." While the first chapter introduces the encounter between our unlikely duo, every subsequent chapter follows their footsteps to different lands led by the souls of those who Sensai had consumed, and upon their wishes (or curses) must they fulfill. Delving deeper into the curses and reincarnation cycle of the story is the throbbing passion between men in brutal settings. Within the span of six chapters, the author manage to incorporate every trigger warning imaginable but it is the impure purity that these characters have for each otherthat pains the reader every so often. The art, to me, is irrefutably masterful, conveying both the wild and barbarous yet meditating essence of all the characters and the theme engulfing them. Blatantly a work aimed at the "bara" side of the genre, the macho character design and their mannerisms are spot on! So lively, so vigorous, so arduous, especially towards one another. Their men-loving ancestors from the Edo period would have been very proud of their posterity. My favorite one would probably be the thematically sad separation between the sumo wrestler and the artist, one that has a rare tinge of humour in it as a sort of relief, albeit futile in the grand scheme of things.