Afterglow

by Wagimoko Wagase

「最悪な夜に出会った沼な男――」
医学部をストレートで卒業し、心臓血管外科でエリートドクターの出世街道を歩んでいた樋口聖高。
しかし、専門医資格を取る直前に"とある理由"で九州の辺ぴな田舎町に内科医としての異動を命じられ、現在はご老人たちのキツい訛りのリスニングに日々、悪戦苦闘している。
左遷とも言える自分の状況を嘆きヤケ酒を繰り返す聖高は、ある日の夜、酔い潰れて泣いているところを、"テンジュ"と名乗るヤクザの男に助けられ、訳も分からないまま淫らな行為に耽ってしまい――

Genres: Manga, Romance, Yaoi, LGBT, Boys Love, Contemporary, Adult

176 pages

Published November 19, 2025

Reviews

[aleksandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/5

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





unfortunately).

[zy忍 · Rating 2 out of 5]

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

[Peppa · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 ✾ ·˚ · Rating 4 out of 5]

”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 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The art - Delicious (and warning - uncensored)

The plot - Uncomplicated ( Morally Gray though)

Enjoyable

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

•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 ✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[rory (jess' version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Maria Lago · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love men who have tattoos.

[anyi · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.25

[ari · Rating 3 out of 5]

[⭐️⭐️⭐️.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

[Nayli · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Zephorah Dove · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid 3.5

[Emily Chimento · Rating 4 out of 5]

ins for 2026 reading yaoi <3

[Gracie (gracie.belle.reads) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️

[Lainy122 · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Tati · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish the story would have been longer to show more depth in the plot and characters.

but the smut and the art was really nice 🤌🏻

[Janina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Expliziter als erwartet haha. Ich hatte nur den Klappentext gelesen, aber wenn man den Manga umdreht, steht da noch fettgedruckt drunter 'Hot - sehr explizite Erotik im Yakuza-Milieu' lol. Aber hat mir gut gefallen, obwohl der Dirty Talk etwas gewöhnungs-bedürftig für mich war. Die beiden Hauptcharaktere mochte ich zusammen, bin aber etwas verwirrt, weil die Geschichte sehr abgeschlossen wirkte, es aber 01 heißt. Vielleicht ein anderes Pärchen in der gleichen Welt?

tw/cw: Mafia, traumatisches Erlebnis, Sex / mit und ohne Spielzeuge/Extras

[Hayeley Norris · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite 💖

[Frank Chillura (OhYouRead) · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG! They are so hot!!! A Yakuza and a Doctorate student, both of which have a lot of past trauma, finding and saving each other. This was trauma porn, but also actual porn and I loved it.

[ross! ★ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Me habría gustado que hubiera más desarrollo. Usualmente, no me atraen las historias que empiezan con gogogo; prefiero aquellas que avanzan lento pero seguro! Aun así, estuvo bien 👍

[空 · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a traumatic experience, Kiyotaka, our “elite doctor”, is serving as sort of a GP, listening to patients’ complaints instead of performing high-octane surgery or whatever. It’s here that he meets “Tenju”, who is part of the local yakuza, and his life is ~irrevocably changed.

I mean, for one thing, he gets fucked on the regular.

This manga seems largely self-indulgent and I’m OK with that. I know we can’t be all “THIS ISN’T REALISTIC,” when nothing about BL is remotely realistic, but for realsies, Wagimoko was like “I want to draw a hot man with a back tattoo, and he will have a happy ending.”

Here follows a mix of thoughts and spoilers, you have been warned:


✦ Tenju is unreal. He’s everything Maya (see 酷くしないで) wishes he could be, only Tenju actually is a bad boy. Scratch that: he’s a bad, bad man. Possibly an actual killer—he has definitely beaten up a lot of people in his lifetime—but the manga is like, “shhh, don’t look at that. Don’t think about that. Don’t you see how sweet and tender he is towards Kiyotaka? How crazy he is about Kiyotaka?” This person does not exist in real life, only in manga—and only in アフターグロウ.

But this is not a complaint, because I am on board with Wagimoko’s self-indulgent manga where, despite Tenju not leaving the organization, they have a happy ending (a happy for now ending?). Tenju can be happy with a カタギ, and apparently his indulgent adoptive father (also the head of the organization) is happy to have Tenju shack up (for all intents and purposes) with someone outside of the family. That said, it’s probably useful to have a medical doctor outside of the family very closely linked to someone in your organization. And also it’s probably good to reward loyalty (Tenju was so loyal he took a bullet for his adoptive father); you don’t want to alienate the man who saved your life.

Aside: I do like the idea that at some point Kiyotaka will no longer be quite so “clean.” I imagine him being persuaded to offer under-the-table medical services to members in the organization. Everything you touch, Tenju, will fall into shadow. Tenju would absolutely be so torn up about it, because he is that kind of dramatic fucker.

✦ Kiyotaka is also this remarkable combination of sweet and sexy, and you can totally understand why Tenju went nuts for him. I can’t believe he was like, “I don’t care about what you do! I’m not going to interfere!” (*cue Backstreet Boys’ As Long As You Love Me in the background*) when he was confessing his love to Tenju.

It was a good monologue though, coming on the heels of Tenju telling Kiyotaka to “leave and never show your face here again”:

お前の生きてる世界が危険だってことも
そこから逃げ出す気が更々ないことも
覚悟はできてる
お前の生き方に干渉するつもりはない
でも
この俺を落とした責任とって
せめて傍にいさせろ

I mean, that’s why Tenju afterwards tells Kiyotaka:

落とすつもりが
落とされたんは俺のほうやったか

✦ I couldn’t help but root for Kiyotaka and Tenju though, despite thinking how much of a mindfuck it was to root for the happiness of a man who probably beat someone to death and is engaged in distributing illegal, possibly lethal drugs, and potentially also the skin trade. You ignore all of that because the manga tells you to ignore all of that. It’s not really all that important to the story, only that this is a love story and don’t these two hot dudes deserve a happy ending?

Sure, why not. Tenju and Kiyotaka are hot together and apart, so they absolutely deserve to be happy.

✦ I can’t help but think of some of the dark paths their story could end. They could die together old and happy. Or they could die together in a shootout or beaten to death. Or someone could kidnap Kiyotaka and use him as leverage against Tenju, only to kill both him and Tenju after. Or Tenju could die first, leaving Kiyotaka to live the rest of his life alone, unable to regret giving his heart to someone who he knew could die anytime, and also unable to move on (because how do you move on from Tenju). But sure, we can go with the very first option.

✦ To end on a more upbeat note: Wagimoko’s art is so good. Tenju and Kiyotaka are both grown, actual men who reasonably have means to get fit and keep being fit. (Tenju is 32, but for the life of me I can’t figure out how old Kiyotaka is. He’s got to be in his 30s considering he’s a doctor. 35?) I’ll be on the lookout for more of Wagimoko’s work.


In conclusion:

♪
I don’t care who you are
Where you’re from
What you did
As long as you love me...

[K · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was pretty hopeful about this one; the cover art was gorgeous, the character design and art looked promising, and the synopsis was intriguing. A young cardiovascular surgeon winds up working in a countryside medical office after a mysteriously traumatic incident, and forms an unexpected relationship with a local yakuza.

Great potential, right? Except there's just no emotional connection at all. There were a ton of ideas packed into a story that was too thin to hold them. (Like an artery that's primed to burst, I guess.)

We start off with Higuchi outside of a bar late at night, following his usual routine of trying to drown away his sorrows. A handsome guy wearing sunglasses (at night) comes up to him, speaks to him in Chinese, then switches to Japanese (for some reason surprised that he's meeting a Japanese guy in a remote Japanese seaside town?) and offers to cheer him up.

They go and have marathon sex, which is a little dodgy on the consent side due to how extremely sloshed Higuchi is, but he's aware enough to enjoy it and to remember it the next day. When Tenju shows up again - letting himself into Higuchi's house without an invitation - he decides he's going to make Higuchi fall for him, and proceeds down a seduction path that lasts a couple months, maybe.

During this time, Tenju shows up whenever he's in town (not sure where he actually lives, but he only seems to check the ports periodically), semi-abducts Higuchi, and then sleeps with him. Which he engages in as a sort of Educational Exercise, because Higuchi is a 29 year old virgin doctor. Unlikely, but sure. It's part of the story's kink, I guess. Even Tenju's subordinate says "that's hot" when he finds out.

Speaking of kinks...there were a couple included that I'm super not into, which is two too many for a single volume.

This could've all been fine if there had been actual conversations or relationship development happening, but Tenju just shows Higuchi some factory lights, tells him what you do in a place is more important than where you are, and listens when Higuchi tells him his big traumatic medical story.

Higuchi had been trapped in an unexpected situation where he failed to save a patient who'd had a sudden rupture that hadn't even been flagged in a pre-surgery check, and with no other surgeons around to step in. Higuchi wasn't experienced enough to handle it on his own yet, but all his colleagues assured him a skilled, certified surgeon wouldn't have succeeded either. Nevertheless, because he has a kind heart and truly cared about his patients, valuing them as people and not just bodies on a surgery table, he couldn't get over it, and had panic attacks when he heard patients coding or had to pick up a scalpel.

Yet he was still upset and offended to be sent away to be a country doctor who wasn't doing surgeries anymore.

And, somehow, even though he has tons of actual medical professionals who are very gentle and caring with him, he only gets over his panic when Tenju says no, you did your best, you'll save lots of other people.

And then disappears for weeks! And is ready to never interact with him ever again!

The only reason Tenju returns to sleep with him once more is because his subordinate convinces him to go see his "lover." Whom he doesn't consider an actual lover because he doesn't want to drag "civilians" into the yakuza life. Then when he tries to abandon Higuchi again, the same subordinate shows up and takes him to Tenju.

There's this speech where Higuchi says he's in love with him and he's a doctor so he's not afraid of death and would be okay with losing him. Which is...fine I guess. Except that's exactly the opposite of who he is, considering his breakdown.

He ends up deciding to stay in this small town, mostly because he doesn't want to leave Tenju. And they live happily ever after. And then have more sex.

That's pretty much all the depth there is. It's not a terrible story, but it's not a great one, either.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m of two minds when it comes to this manga 🤔

On the one hand, it’s hard not to see it as just primarily smut, and dismiss it as anything beyond that. On the other hand, it does have some genuine character development which makes me feel like a liar if I just call it smut. It’s a real conundrum 🤷🏻‍♀️

I guess I’ll start with this: The artwork in this manga is beautiful. I love the character design of both Higuchi and Tenju. They suit the characters perfectly. With Higuchi, he generally gives the vibe of being a caring person while also being naive. Tenju, however, has that perfect mix of you can see how he can be perceived as threatening and dangerous, but there’s also a tenderness and sweetness to him that makes you want to trust him. It’s fantastic! And don’t even get me started on the smut! Truly stunning work there as well 🙂‍↕️ Tenju has no chill, but in the best way ✨

Truly, it was the combination of the artwork and the character work that left me genuinely enjoying this. Higuchi is a doctor who recently had a traumatic experience while at work and hasn’t been able to shake it. He’s trying to return to his field of interest (cardiovascular surgery), but he’s really struggling with PTSD from what happened not too long ago. Tenju, on the other hand, is a yakuza who’s dedicated his life to protecting and taking care of others to the point of neglecting his own emotional well being. Together, the two of them navigate these experiences and find a way to be a place of shelter and care for one another. It was quite heartwarming!

However, I can’t finish this review without mentioning the questionable way their relationship started. It all begins because Higuchi is down in the dumps, feeling sorry for himself, and drunk sitting in an alley when Tenju finds him. From there, Tenju takes him to a hotel to have sex despite Higuchi being drunk. The saving grace of this is that first of all, Higuchi completely remembers the events that transpired, and second of all he was embarrassed by his willingness to participate in such an activity (rather than viewing it as something that was unwillingly done to him). Furthermore, every other encounter between them Higuchi is absolutely stone cold sober and doesn’t reject Tenju’s advances.

All in all, I don’t regret picking this up at all. It’s a neat addition to my collection. I just think I was expecting a bit more from it since I saw the girlies on TikTok raving about it 😂

[iammichbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️4/5. ❤️3/5. 🌶4.5/5

“Una historia entre un mafioso y un doctor que se conocen de una manera totalmente inesperada y que, a raíz de eso, inician una relación únicamente física, con encuentros pasajeros. Sin embargo, con cada uno de esos momentos juntos, algo en ellos empieza a cambiar: surgen sentimientos encontrados y salen a la luz muchos problemas personales que ninguno de los dos puede expresar en voz alta.”

Esta historia me sorprendió totalmente. Me gustó mucho que se puede leer de una sentada por lo fácil y adictiva que es. La empecé ayer y no me duró ni 24 horas de lo enganchada que me tuvo. Realmente la disfruté muchísimo y me quedé con ganas de leer más sobre ellos.

En cuanto a la trama central, se puede decir que es un poco apresurada en algunas situaciones de los personajes, especialmente en lo que respecta a los encuentros casuales y ciertos acontecimientos. Aun así, la historia logra mantener momentos duros y reflexivos sobre dos personas de mundos completamente diferentes, pero con un problema en común. A medida que pasan más tiempo juntos, se permiten hablar y expresar aquello que no pueden compartir con nadie más, creando espacios de vulnerabilidad en los que ninguno siente miedo de decir lo que tanto les atormenta.

Una de las cosas que más me llama la atención de historias como esta es cómo una relación que comienza siendo únicamente física, con el paso del tiempo, empieza a transformarse en algo más complicado, íntimo y profundamente emocional. Son situaciones que muchas veces los personajes no buscan, pero que ocurren por la conexión que se va formando y por lo bien que logran entenderse. Eso es algo que esta historia logró transmitirme muy bien. Ellos no buscaban amor ni algo parecido, y aun así, todo sucedió sin que se dieran cuenta. Amé cómo la relación entre ellos se fue construyendo y fluyendo de manera natural.

Sinceramente, me hubiera gustado que este manga no fuera un tomo único. Siento que la historia daba para más y que algunas situaciones podrían haberse desarrollado con mayor profundidad para comprender mejor ciertos momentos. Aun así, me gustó mucho. Creo que logró transmitir muchísimas emociones a través de los personajes y de todo lo que tenían que mostrar. Sin duda, fue una lectura que me sorprendió bastante.

[Ester · Rating 5 out of 5]

La vida de Kiyotaka Higuchi estaba destinada a brillar y a ser perfecta. Graduándose en Medicina con honores en la Universidad Imperial, Higuchi se estaba especializando en la cirugía cardiovascular, siendo una de las más jóvenes promesas del país en ese campo. Todo pintaba a que su carrera como médico iba a estar marcada por el éxito, pero el destino no pensaba lo mismo que Kiyotaka. Siendo desterrado a la medicina interna por su mentor, para «tomarse un descanso», Higuchi se siente un fracasado y también frustrado por tener que atender a ancianos con acento raro que le cuesta comprender y limitarse a actualizar recetas. Esto lo tiene tan abatido que sale a beber por las noches para ahogar las penas en el alcohol, y en una de esas noches, frente a él, aparece un hombre guapísimo que se ofrece a hacerle olvidar todos sus problemas.

Acabando en un hotel y siendo asaltado por el hermoso desconocido, que juega con su cuerpo como quiere, despertando en cada fibra de su piel un ardor y un placer tal que se le nubla la vista y le deja la mente en blanco, Kiyotaka se da cuenta de que ese hombre llamado Tenju es un yakuza, y uno peligroso, del cual le habían advertido sin que él lo entendiera. Comprendiendo al día siguiente lo que le ha pasado, y con temor a que Tenju aparezca de nuevo para asaltarlo, lo que no espera Higuchi es encontrárselo en su casa para trasmitirle su deseo de hacer que se enamore de él.

A partir de ese día, Tenju va apareciendo cuando Higuchi menos se lo espera para pasar tiempo con él, hablar para conocerlo mejor y, sobre todo, ¡para tener sexo con el objeto de sus más profundos deseos! Y es que, a pesar de lo mucho que se queja de él, la realidad es que Higuchi no puede resistirse a los besos y a las caricias del yakuza, el cual sabe encender una llama que nunca nadie había prendido antes. Y a él ya le está bien así, pues Tenju está cumpliendo con lo que le prometió la primera vez que se vieron: hacerlo olvidar. Porque Kiyotaka quiere olvidar que está en un pueblo perdido y alejado de la cirugía, algo que, si no le pone remedio, le quedará cada vez más lejano e imposible de retomar... ¿Pero cómo volver a ser cirujano si no se ve capaz de sujetar un escalpelo?

Siendo una obra puramente erótica, pero con un trasfondo serio y complejo, Afterglow es una obra adulta por las temáticas serias y dramáticas que toca, además de por el contenido sexual sin censura de alto voltaje con el que Wagimoko Wagase demuestra tener tantísimo talento. Ante nosotros tenemos una nueva mangaka que da voz al BL más erótico y que está a la altura de grandes del género como son Ranmaru Zariya o Ogeretsu Tanaka, una experta en historias con grandes tramas tras unos personajes bien caracterizados y con psicologías complejas.

Reseña completa en mi blog:

https://unabibliotecaentremundos.blog...