Afterglow

by Wagimoko Wagase

A doctor at rock bottom finds himself entangled with a handsome yakuza who helps ease his sorrows with a night of passion. Is this relationship just what the doctor ordered or merely a case of lust-clouded judgment?

Higuchi Kiyotaka has hit rock bottom. Once a promising doctor on his way to becoming a cardiovascular surgeon, a traumatic incident has forced him to relocate to rural town in Kyushu, where he’s relegated to practicing general medicine. Each day is a struggle to communicate with his heavily accented patients and overcome his intense feelings of guilt and depression. After an evening spent drinking himself into a stupor, he has a fateful encounter with a mysterious yakuza named Tenju, who promises to help the young doctor forget all his troubles for a night. As Higuchi finds himself drowning in unknown pleasures, he can’t help but wonder–just who exactly is Tenju? And what does he want from him?

Genres: Manga, Yaoi, Romance, Boys Love, LGBT, Queer, Graphic Novels

180 pages, Paperback

First published November 18, 2025

Reviews

[aleksandra]

3.75/5

Read it because one mc has a tattoo (yes, I’m weak for guys with tattoos





unfortunately).

[zy忍]

2 stars cuz the art is pretty but the story and character background were lazy and uninspired.

[Peppa]

Where there are yakuzas, there I go🙏🏻 A good plot and the smut is delicious and hot. Very nice art.
They both make a very good couple!!

[kiara ✾ ·˚]

”For a man who doesn’t need anyone’s help, I want to be your only salvation”

shoutout to yakuza bl gotta be one of my favourite sub genres fr

[Lydia Ralte]

The art - Delicious (and warning - uncensored)

The plot - Uncomplicated ( Morally Gray though)

Enjoyable

[Louise]

•4 stars•

The artwork was gorgeous, and even though the story moved a tad too quickly, it stayed narratively cohesive and compelling. Plus, I’m a sucker for anything involving the yakuza~ A solid vibe read with low angst and smutty seggs 😍

[Cas ✨]

Another soft-hearted yakuza? Please inject them directly into my veins at this point (might as well add something fun to my infusions 😂 jkjk).

This was so good. I adore that both the doctor with PTSD MC and the yakuza with a sad backstory ML get a chance to be vulnerable despite being a shorter story. Their chemistry was so good too, beyond just being two lonely men seeking comfort and to forget for a bit.

The beginning starts a little dubious due to the alcohol factor & Doc being a skittish former virgin, but ML is so likeable that it’s easy to hang in there for the explanations/backstory and their bond to slowly form.

[Eric Novello]

Boy's love de máfia publicado no Brasil pela New Pop.
Ele é volume único, o que é uma vantagem, mas no final tive a impressão de a história ter sido planejada para um arco maior e a autoria ter dado uma enxugada para fechar em apenas um volume.

Ele conta a história de um médico cardiologista que, depois de ver um paciente morrer "nas suas mãos", não consegue mais operar e vai trabalhar como clínico num hospital menor de uma cidade pequena. Enquanto tenta superar o trauma ele esbarra com um mafioso que fica a fim dele, e a partir daí temos o vaivém de sempre, com o mafioso também lidando com seus problemas de disputa por território, liderança das gangues, etc (você sabe como funciona).

A arte é muito bonita, acima da média, e é um dos pontos fortes do mangá. Isso contribui para o impacto das muitas cenas de sexo protagonizadas pelos dois ao longo da história. Os momentos sexuais intensos são intercalados com interações mais fofas em que um personagem ajuda o outro a superar os seus problemas e com contextos e backgrounds de ambos. Mas o foco mesmo é o romance e isso tem um arco bem fechado.

Sobre o background de cada um e as histórias para além do romance, ser volume único claramente deu uma prejudicada. Não duvido que no futuro a autoria se dedique a escrever uma versão mais desenvolvida da história, trazendo mais personagens para ajudar na missão.

Para quem quer distrair a cabeça ou para quem curte cenas de sexo bem desenhadas, vale muito.
Para histórias mais elaboradas, sugiro ir de "Noite além da janela triangular", com dez volumes.

[Cassandra]

A bit boring and starts with drunken sex (FYI). The art was okay and it is uncensored. The trauma the doctor dealt with, I don't want to down play it, but it felt kind of basic. Also, the Yakuza guy, same opinion. And I know the feelings grew but I didn't feel it between them. I never felt the love. I liked the two yakuza buddies, they helped build some of why these two might mean something to each other.

2/6 stars

[rory (jess' version)]

the art is so good !! the characters are all pretty. their romance might be too good to be true but damn this was incredible

[Sandra]

Ich bin überrascht, dass für die Menge an Sex sogar wirklich noch sowas wie ne Story dazu gekommen ist :D weil wir fangen eigentlich ziemlich pornomäßig an *snort*.
Der Sex is unzensiert und SEHR steamy im vergleich zu einigen anderen BLs, die Charaktere sind wirklich extrem schön gezeichnet und die kleine Hintergrundstory ist überraschend süß und nachvollziehbar. Beide Kerle wirken ziemlich erwachsen udn selbst der Yakuzakerl, von dem man erst denkt, oh das is wieder so ein typischer Proll-BL-Typ, ist viel vielschichtiger als man denkt.
Ich mag auch die ganze Idee mit dem Arzt und seine Anxiety weil er eine OP verkackt hat und was daraus alles gewachsen ist. Dazu kommt dass der Band (trotz der 01 im Titel) eigentlich auch gut abgeschlossen ist. Dazu kommt kein typische misskomunikations-Drama, wie man das gerne hat, es ist irgendwie super ruhig - wenn nicht gerade gevögelt wird *snigger*.

[nicole]

2.5

[Maria Lago]

La gente que dice que le hace falta más historia a esta trama está ENFERMA.
PD: El detalle de que los niños bilingües sean incapaces de aprender bien ambos idiomas es falsísimo; palabra de lingüista.

[Mychelle Oliver]

I just love men who have tattoos.

[Devin]

3.5⭐️

[anyi]

2.25

[jdvm_92]

🕛 Una historia bonita, con personajes de alrededor de 30, Yakuza x cirujano cardiovascular, cada uno con una backstory que se perfila un poco y que, realmente, tampoco se desarrolla demasiado.

🎭 El diseño de los personajes es chulo, especialmente el de Tenju. El punto del acentillo de pueblo y tal está guay, y las personalidades tan opuestas de ellos encajan muy bien.

💀 ¿El único problema? Que es demasiado corto, tomo único, y realmente va todo rapidísimo y la relación que acaban teniendo no es nada creíble. Hay que hacerle muchas concesiones.

🔥 No obstante, si quieres algo ligero, dejarte llevar, y no pensar mucho (como yo cuando lo he leído, tbh) está estupendo.

🌶️ Además, no está censurado y es bien guarrote.

📖 El mensaje que deja sí que es bastante cuqui, y la historia de amor, si rellenamos esos huecos... es preciosa.

⌛ En definitiva, si te gusta un buen bl picadito y sin muchas pretensiones pero con un trasfondo bonito, este manga es para ti.

[ari]

[⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5]
—> brought to attention by (happy) accident when I saw someone selling the physical copy of this on Vinted and wanted to ask my bf is he’s read it, but spent two days trying to find the book (w/ Nawel’s help) when I ended up forgetting the title💀🙏🏽

a bunch of panels were missing on the site I read this on, but it seemed a cute and moderately well paced one shot! it was also great how the side characters also got some development despite the short format (shoutout to Ryuu)
⚠️the only “problem” was how much Kiyotaka was overshadowed by Tenju’s general charisma despite his being the main character/the effort put into detailing his PTSD struggles

[Heaven]

4.5
the art style and the characters + their characterisation and dynamic was everything. i do feel like this could’ve been slightly longer and given them a bit of a better first meeting as it felt incredibly abrupt and sort of random. it would’ve been nice for there to have been more talk then, made the scene even just a little longer, perhaps also see more of them spending time together around the city/town like that one car ride we got, maybe even another in a different place after the time jump? but overall i had fun reading this

[369Pages]

4⭐️
A gangster and a doctor have a passionate connection that turns deeper, despite each of their challenges. This story is short but sweet. The art is well done and the characters are developed well for such a short story. It was a good manga, and I liked some of the intimate moments the best.

[Nayli]

Me sorprendió que me gustara, fue incluso más soft de lo que esperaba, no es tan común con yakuzas i guess

[Zephorah Dove]

Solid 3.5

[Emily Chimento]

ins for 2026 reading yaoi <3

[Gracie]

2.5 ⭐️

[Faith]

Wow that was smutty lol. I’m not complaining though. This was cute and I love me an intimidating, tatted yakuza who is actually a big softie on the inside.

[beanie]

Banger

[Sara Emme]

Tenerezza e 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Mi è piaciuto un sacco

[Yany]

The art is spectacular, the concept was good, the story execution is meh.

[пташатко]

(3.25)

мене не надто зачепила ця історія, а сюжет навіть дещо розчарував своїм виконанням, але мальовка тут справді 100/10 — тут нічого не скажеш

[Lainy122]

A very sexy story about finding healing and forgiveness in the last place that you would expect.