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The Desert Butterfly Yearns to Be Caught
Seto, the young head of a desert country, was restless and dissatisfied. Even when he wanted to enjoy a night out, his personal bodyguard Kyle was too controlling.
As lord of a thriving desert country, Seth is responsible for the prosperity and protection of his people... even if that means occasionally putting himself at risk. Fortunately, Seth's bodyguard, Kyle, is ready to yank his master out of harm's way... whether Seth likes it or not.
In the decade since Seth bought him out of servitude, Kyle has become a dogged, dedicated (obsessive, overbearing) bodyguard, willing to sacrifice everything for the safety of his master. Seth, however, resents feeling caged by Kyle's constant controlling attentions...
When Kyle finally crosses the line, will it be enough to capture his master's heart...?
As lord of a thriving desert country, Seth is responsible for the prosperity and protection of his people... even if that means occasionally putting himself at risk. Fortunately, Seth's bodyguard, Kyle, is ready to yank his master out of harm's way... whether Seth likes it or not.
In the decade since Seth bought him out of servitude, Kyle has become a dogged, dedicated (obsessive, overbearing) bodyguard, willing to sacrifice everything for the safety of his master. Seth, however, resents feeling caged by Kyle's constant controlling attentions...
When Kyle finally crosses the line, will it be enough to capture his master's heart...?
200 pages, Paperback
Published August 19, 2025
6 people are currently reading
26 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
May 29, 2025
Seth? Ryan? KYLE????? Just the names alone make me hate this lol. Like I don't necessarily hate non Japanese names in manga, BUT these names don't match the setting at all and KYLE??? Absolutely not. Not that the plot has any regard for the setting. Everything is so messy and not thought out. I hated every second of this. Also there were so many holes. The story starts with Seth offering his body for deals clearly to men, but later they talk about how he sleeps around with women and hasn't done it with a man yet just so he could have a virgin hole to offer to Kyle. Like show him talking to women to make it believable? Every conflict that happens is so ill planned and resolved quickly. It's clearly just to make the story more "interesting" but has no real substance. The stuff with Kyle being a slave as a child (which also doesn't seem true? Like he was a street kid and some guys who caught him stealing were considering selling him because he's blond and then Seth shows up and buys him) and them accusing him of still being sneaky and a thief when he's been with Seth for several years at this point and is clearly loyal to him. None of it makes sense. I don't understand their age differences or the timeline. The sex scenes were mid. This was just not good.
October 20, 2025
what the heck is the setting of this but also the names took me out of it ahah
October 31, 2025
Dropped I can’t read that 💀
December 21, 2025
Ja war okay, der Trope hat mir schon gefallen aber da hat das gewisse etwas gefehlt 🫠🤌
July 23, 2025
The art is nice but everything else is a huge mess.
August 28, 2025
Enjoyed the gay parts, obviously. The "he's just a beggar who uses rich people" thing didn't make sense to me since he was with him for so long.
December 15, 2025
This manga was bad. Don't know why I bothered finishing it.
July 6, 2025
Wenn verschenktes Potenzial ein Manga wäre, wäre es dieser, denn „Blue Monarch of the Desert“ besticht zwar mit einem wunderschönen Zeichenstil, kann aber inhaltlich nicht wirklich überzeugen. In Sachen Handlung fehlt mir einfach der Reiz, der eine Geschichte wie diese ausmachen sollte, und auch der Nervenkitzel einer Bodyguard-Romance kommt gänzlich zu kurz. Im Klappentext wird die Spannung zwischen den Protagonisten geteasert, die zwar vorhanden, aber für meinen Geschmack nicht „kurz vorm Zerreißen“ genug ist. Dafür, dass Kyle seinem Herren Set sein ganzes Leben lang widerstehen musste, gibt er hier ganz schön schnell nach, was der Story irgendwie die Luft aus den Segeln nimmt. Schade, Schokolade!
May 28, 2025
The cover art of this book is gorgeous, and I had high hopes for the story, and while it was ok, ultimately it was not what I was hoping for.
The art is well done. I liked that well enough. The story was just not interesting enough. I kept putting it down to do other things. The use of common English names jolted me out of the story often. I didn’t feel like there was really any plot or any real reason to drive the characters to get together other than just “the author said so.” And the title doesn’t really fit the story.
The art is well done. I liked that well enough. The story was just not interesting enough. I kept putting it down to do other things. The use of common English names jolted me out of the story often. I didn’t feel like there was really any plot or any real reason to drive the characters to get together other than just “the author said so.” And the title doesn’t really fit the story.
August 23, 2025
Two stars simply because I didn't hate it, and it didn't lean as heavily into the assault as it seemed like it would at the start, but this was not a good story.
I truly don't understand how Tokyopop chooses its licenses. Do they just throw darts at a board and license whatever they hit? Do they snap up bundles of super cheap options?
This release got delayed a lot, so maybe none of the editors enjoyed working on it, either. It's not the worst thing I've ever read, but it's a pretty pointless story that doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
For some reason, this is set "in a desert country," with Seth supposedly being the ruler. That seems to have just been an excuse to draw him in vaguely Egyptian-looking clothes, particularly the revealing styles, but the other main character - "Kyle, "a randomly very white name - dresses in an extremely modern suit and tie ensemble. So where is this even set? I guess it's supposed to be modern day Middle East but it gives zero impression of the mangaka knowing anything about any cultures.
This is the first time in a while that I've read a BL and thought: "this is just a straight woman's assault fantasy, but using a man because it seems Less Bad to have a man being put into these situations." I don't know. Just lean into it and write it as heterosexual. That's fine. It's fiction, pursue your bliss.
But it also started to back away from that, after setting up Kyle as this really obsessive, controlling "bodyguard" who wanted to keep his "master" (even though he's a freed slave?) for himself. The story ended up contradicting itself pretty quickly.
We're introduced to Seth as this ruler who uses his sexual appeal to sway others to him and to get the kinds of negotiations, treaties, business deals he wants, even if it means using his body. He has no issue sleeping with either women or men. But even though we only see men trying to hit on him and sleep with him over the course of this story, it turns out it's never actually happened, because omg how romantic, Kyle is the first one he ever does it with.
Except his first time with Kyle was definitely rape. After that, Kyle backs off and says no, I love you too much to touch you unless you want me to. Which?? He should've thought of before he already did that???
So then the rest of the story is Seth being frustrated that Kyle won't touch him again, because he wanted that, really. And I guess is in love with him even though they have zero chemistry or a reason for being together.
The "buying him out of slavery" bit wasn't real, either. Kyle was an orphaned son of a former palace servant, so he was on the streets as a kid, stealing food and other things to survive. Seth, also young at that point and his country's heir, happened to walk by while some hoodlums were talking about catching and selling Kyle, and he said, "oh okay, in that case, I will buy him then."
...if he was the prince or whatever of his country, why wouldn't he just. Throw these hoodlums in prison? Take the boy without paying people for him???
Kyle then decides he wants to protect Seth by becoming his bodyguard, so they grow up with that dynamic, with Kyle being in love with Seth but always seething about the attention he shows to other people. And eventually Kyle reveals that he didn't feel worthy of Seth, because he was a criminal, etc.
Which is supported by some guys who show up later on to kidnap Seth, try to rape him, and then claim that Kyle is one of them. Except he's not? He was stealing things for a short period of time when he was a starving child. In all the years since, he's been living and working in the palace, not running with this random thieving gang.
So yeah, absolutely nothing made sense. And the spicy scenes weren't even interesting or unique enough to justify any of the bad storytelling.
I truly don't understand how Tokyopop chooses its licenses. Do they just throw darts at a board and license whatever they hit? Do they snap up bundles of super cheap options?
This release got delayed a lot, so maybe none of the editors enjoyed working on it, either. It's not the worst thing I've ever read, but it's a pretty pointless story that doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
For some reason, this is set "in a desert country," with Seth supposedly being the ruler. That seems to have just been an excuse to draw him in vaguely Egyptian-looking clothes, particularly the revealing styles, but the other main character - "Kyle, "a randomly very white name - dresses in an extremely modern suit and tie ensemble. So where is this even set? I guess it's supposed to be modern day Middle East but it gives zero impression of the mangaka knowing anything about any cultures.
This is the first time in a while that I've read a BL and thought: "this is just a straight woman's assault fantasy, but using a man because it seems Less Bad to have a man being put into these situations." I don't know. Just lean into it and write it as heterosexual. That's fine. It's fiction, pursue your bliss.
But it also started to back away from that, after setting up Kyle as this really obsessive, controlling "bodyguard" who wanted to keep his "master" (even though he's a freed slave?) for himself. The story ended up contradicting itself pretty quickly.
We're introduced to Seth as this ruler who uses his sexual appeal to sway others to him and to get the kinds of negotiations, treaties, business deals he wants, even if it means using his body. He has no issue sleeping with either women or men. But even though we only see men trying to hit on him and sleep with him over the course of this story, it turns out it's never actually happened, because omg how romantic, Kyle is the first one he ever does it with.
Except his first time with Kyle was definitely rape. After that, Kyle backs off and says no, I love you too much to touch you unless you want me to. Which?? He should've thought of before he already did that???
So then the rest of the story is Seth being frustrated that Kyle won't touch him again, because he wanted that, really. And I guess is in love with him even though they have zero chemistry or a reason for being together.
The "buying him out of slavery" bit wasn't real, either. Kyle was an orphaned son of a former palace servant, so he was on the streets as a kid, stealing food and other things to survive. Seth, also young at that point and his country's heir, happened to walk by while some hoodlums were talking about catching and selling Kyle, and he said, "oh okay, in that case, I will buy him then."
...if he was the prince or whatever of his country, why wouldn't he just. Throw these hoodlums in prison? Take the boy without paying people for him???
Kyle then decides he wants to protect Seth by becoming his bodyguard, so they grow up with that dynamic, with Kyle being in love with Seth but always seething about the attention he shows to other people. And eventually Kyle reveals that he didn't feel worthy of Seth, because he was a criminal, etc.
Which is supported by some guys who show up later on to kidnap Seth, try to rape him, and then claim that Kyle is one of them. Except he's not? He was stealing things for a short period of time when he was a starving child. In all the years since, he's been living and working in the palace, not running with this random thieving gang.
So yeah, absolutely nothing made sense. And the spicy scenes weren't even interesting or unique enough to justify any of the bad storytelling.
August 15, 2025
If you're astounded at seeing such a long review for a work of this caliber, so am I for writing it. I blame HRCYED for giving extra points for reviews. Technically, the real culprit is the new releases challenge paired with my dislike for starting incomplete series, not wanting to read novels that are not fantasy and my general reluctance at binging a whole new-to-me series with my massive backlog staring at me. Which means I'm mostly relying on questionable one-shot bl manga to complete said challenge. The Desert Butterfly Yearns to Be Caught, bar the amazing character art that is saving it from the dreaded 1 star, happens to be even more lackluster and less developed than the usual representative of the genre.
My favorite character, or the only one with any semblance of a personality, is Seth. He is a pretty, long-haired anime boy that behaves like a cat, which is a trope I really like. Had it not been for the synopses however, I would have never known ''Mater Seth'' was supposed to be the ruler of a country. At no point in the story does he do anything different from a regular noble, nor is he addressed as such. Not to mention that we barely see the country or hear much about its inhabitants, besides the main couple. Seth's characterization is not very consistent, but since he gets verbally or physically assaulted every chapter and the only person we see him communicate with gaslights him to high heaven he gets a pass. At least he seems aware of his questionable taste in men.
The other male lead, who's name I believe was Kyle (a couple of minutes were needed for me to remember his name, although I just finished reading the manga) has exactly one personality trait - being overbearing. Basically, he is what people would call a red flag parade. In hindsight, maybe he was supposed to be a yandere, but with how little of the character we were shown it wasn't exactly clear. His only ''redeeming'' quality is his face. Which isn't even utilized to its full potential, as it stays frozen in the same frowning expression for the whole book.
Overall, this feels like a particularly bad first draft. There is no big plot, which is understandable for the genre, but the relationship between the leads was also completely flat. Even yaoi can/should have some tension between the leads or a convenient setting. It seems like the author attempted to do a master-servant relationship, but failed dully (I was going to write spectacularly, but there is nothing spectacular about this manga, besides the character design). Even the ''action'' sequences themselves were lacking.
My favorite character, or the only one with any semblance of a personality, is Seth. He is a pretty, long-haired anime boy that behaves like a cat, which is a trope I really like. Had it not been for the synopses however, I would have never known ''Mater Seth'' was supposed to be the ruler of a country. At no point in the story does he do anything different from a regular noble, nor is he addressed as such. Not to mention that we barely see the country or hear much about its inhabitants, besides the main couple. Seth's characterization is not very consistent, but since he gets verbally or physically assaulted every chapter and the only person we see him communicate with gaslights him to high heaven he gets a pass. At least he seems aware of his questionable taste in men.
The other male lead, who's name I believe was Kyle (a couple of minutes were needed for me to remember his name, although I just finished reading the manga) has exactly one personality trait - being overbearing. Basically, he is what people would call a red flag parade. In hindsight, maybe he was supposed to be a yandere, but with how little of the character we were shown it wasn't exactly clear. His only ''redeeming'' quality is his face. Which isn't even utilized to its full potential, as it stays frozen in the same frowning expression for the whole book.
Overall, this feels like a particularly bad first draft. There is no big plot, which is understandable for the genre, but the relationship between the leads was also completely flat. Even yaoi can/should have some tension between the leads or a convenient setting. It seems like the author attempted to do a master-servant relationship, but failed dully (I was going to write spectacularly, but there is nothing spectacular about this manga, besides the character design). Even the ''action'' sequences themselves were lacking.
October 3, 2025
I requested "The Desert Butterfly Yearns to be Caught", partially because of the colours in the cover, and I was half right because the fashion was the best part of this book.
The story itself reminded me of the Tales of Tavamara series by Megan Derr, with a sprinkle of Captive Prince by C. S. Pacat. I enjoyed how the power imbalance between these characters was addressed and how they toed the line but never crossed it into something that was truly unconsensual.
Although there were parts of this book I liked such as seeing the older royal being submissive to his bodyguard who he had saved from enslavement as kids and a scene straight out of 50 Shades of Grey when the bodyguard marked him so his monarch didn't wear the slutty clothes he didn't like, all in all it was a pretty weak story, save for the very last part. All I could think of is this is the manga equivalent of: we have Captive Prince at home.
Thank you to Edelweiss, TokyoPop and LoveLove for this DRC.
The story itself reminded me of the Tales of Tavamara series by Megan Derr, with a sprinkle of Captive Prince by C. S. Pacat. I enjoyed how the power imbalance between these characters was addressed and how they toed the line but never crossed it into something that was truly unconsensual.
Although there were parts of this book I liked such as seeing the older royal being submissive to his bodyguard who he had saved from enslavement as kids and a scene straight out of 50 Shades of Grey when the bodyguard marked him so his monarch didn't wear the slutty clothes he didn't like, all in all it was a pretty weak story, save for the very last part. All I could think of is this is the manga equivalent of: we have Captive Prince at home.
Thank you to Edelweiss, TokyoPop and LoveLove for this DRC.
September 1, 2025
Kyle was saved by Seto when they were both children and has served him ever since. As bodyguards go though, he's rather controlling and overbearing in his protection, to the point that Seto takes some questionable risks at the request of others to try and ditch Kyle's watchful eye. With the bull headed nature of both characters, it's not a surprise that they don't react well when lines are crossed. In the end, Kyle may not really juts be a bodyguard, and Seto may be just as possessive as Kyle is, he just didn't see it in the same light until their relationship started changing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 29, 2025
Couple plot holes smattered through a jumbled plot. Also, I liked the art at the beginning. Towards the middle, though, the characters heads started looking like guitar picks, and I couldn’t get that image outta my head. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
December 12, 2025
Seltsamer Mix, wann soll das spielen, wo? Das ganze Manga hat keinen erkennbaren Stil.
Die Dynamik zwischen den Hauptfiguren war so hölzern und hat mich leider nicht mitgenommen, die "Liebes"-Szenen waren kurz vor peinlich.
Die Dynamik zwischen den Hauptfiguren war so hölzern und hat mich leider nicht mitgenommen, die "Liebes"-Szenen waren kurz vor peinlich.
August 12, 2025
super mid story. beautiful art tho.
August 21, 2025
Why do these characters all have white frat boy names?
September 21, 2025
This was cute Yaoi. Not an intricate story but good enough for a one shot.
October 5, 2025
There was no plot to this, it was just an excuse to depict gay sex. Not that there's anything wrong with gay sex, but I want a story to go with it. It was such a strange book.
November 17, 2025
Hmm
It was good…
It was good…
December 3, 2025
It was good for what it was. It's a one-shot so not much plot, mostly spicy scenes. The art is really pretty.
November 1, 2025
I don’t understand why or how Tokyopop chooses their licenses. I’ve read many stories from Tokyopop that have been disappointments and there have only been a small handful of manga I’ve picked up from them that I’ve actually enjoyed.
This was not great. The story is all over the place and it didn’t make a lot of sense to me at all.
The characters have zero chemistry and the story contradicts itself with Kyle being a bought slave but yet he’s still serving his ‘master’ all those years later. So either way he’s still a slave or ‘bodyguard’ as he puts it. That’s not the main issue for me though.
My main issue is that the story doesn’t make a lot of sense. I was bored and ended up skimming about 60% of the way through it. The only redeeming quality of this one for me is the fact that the art is pretty.
This was not great. The story is all over the place and it didn’t make a lot of sense to me at all.
The characters have zero chemistry and the story contradicts itself with Kyle being a bought slave but yet he’s still serving his ‘master’ all those years later. So either way he’s still a slave or ‘bodyguard’ as he puts it. That’s not the main issue for me though.
My main issue is that the story doesn’t make a lot of sense. I was bored and ended up skimming about 60% of the way through it. The only redeeming quality of this one for me is the fact that the art is pretty.
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