Black Sun     Aug 17, 2010     reviewed by Shiroi    

Kazuka Minami's having a very unique style of drawing humans. (At first I wasn't that big of a fan of her either. I've found the faces kind of flat and the poses somehow stiff. However, this manga totally changed my mind!) I absolutely love it. I love the way the movements and the poses of the human body are drawn. They're somehow more realistic than in most BLs. I also liked the way she was so bold about drawing her characters absolutely naked with a hard on or erections. It added to the realistic tone. (Even if the story itself is non realsitic) She draws armor and little details very well too.

Also, I really liked the way this story enveloped. It was full of surprises for me. It never lost it's tension or humor. (Sometimes I had a feeling that even the mangaka didn't take this story seriously... XD - even though it IS supposed to be serious.) The way her style and this (supposedly) serious story contradicts with the sudden stupid faces or reactions is what I like the most. I could say it's somehow insane - in a lovely way. The cliffhanger at the vols end is a killer ... But all in all, I recommend it. Especially to those who would love a little difference from your everyday BL story.

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Mediocre Manga     Jan 17, 2009     reviewed by Patat    

Art: Backgrounds and armour were drawn very well. The faces were kind of weird to look at in the beginning but got better towards the end of the book. The eyes had this creepy flat quality to them whenever the characters had their heads turned. I also found the penises very weird to look at. I have never really cared about how mangakas drew penises before, but something about the way they were drawn in this manga disturbed me. o.O

Story: Lots of rape in this one. I'm not sure what I was expecting after reading the summary. I guess it just wasn't as compelling as I thought it would be. It ends on a cliffhanger of sorts, but I wasn't interested enough to care. I'm having a hard time even remembering the plot.

Overall: It took some effort to finish this book. I did not find it fun at all. If you're into castle intrigue and angst stories, then you might have more fun than I did.

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