Was honestly tempted to give both this and the second volume 5 stars just for the choke hold this manga series had on me. I don't condone half the things done in this manga, and I honestly felt sick at some points of it. And yet I can't stop rereading it, and can't stop thinking about it. It has become an addiction which I'm really against. I'm a sucker for obsessive horror type romance (I don't think this is romantic at all. I just don't know how to describe the situation any way else) and I GENUINELY can't get enough of it. But I just can't let myself give such a story five stars. This volume got 4 stars and that is an honest review. But the second volume should've gotten 1 star, yet my obsession for the story and that ONE scene mad eme want to give it 5. So it's 3 stars. ... I have really strong feelings about this manga. REALLY strong feelings.
October 3rd review:
I love psychological horror disguised as romance. Best thing ever. I feel a lot less guilt reading this story this time around, as I don't really feel the shame of "I hope no one thinks I like this type of stories 😟" that I felt almost a year ago (maybe. I'm bad at calculating.) Anyways as long as you don't have the urge to place Shou in a choke hold and force him to react normally to literal S.A, it's a good read. But now, seriously, everytime I read this I have this hope that he'll be less oblivious this time around.
Recensione su Chibiistheway Una storia che intreccia elementi tipici del genere yaoi con altri più cupi e attuali. Si parla infatti di abusi fisici e psicologici e stalking. La mia paura è che si finisca per romanticizzare certi atteggiamenti sbagliati, vedremo con il secondo e ultimo volume
Bueno, hoy la cosa va de gente manipuladora, y en Color Recipe hay uno de los buenos. Harada no decepciona, no sé por dónde irá el segundo tomo pero dese luego cerré este con un escalofrío.
Manipulated seme. He would do anything to get what he wants. I thought he was a good guy. Nice and sweet. When he finally reveals his true colors, I got chills all over my body. That's nice. If you're bad, you're bad. Don't pretend to be what you're not. I just wonder. What happens to the uke when he knows the truth?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
V1CH1P22: "If you really want something, you need to thirst after it so much that you're willing to use others and even kick them down in order to grasp it." I can't believe I last read this on 2022 because it still felt fresh on my mind, and I can still recite some of the lines. I really had a great Harada era.
Re-read 2024: I discovered Harada with this story and since it left a mark it's one of the first ones i bought when i got hold of a proxy who could deliver Spanish mangas overseas cheap.
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First read 2020: Good stories about psychopaths gives me goosebumps and this one didn't fail. Fukusuke is quite the character and I left this volume feeling that it's just the beginning of his plan to get Shoukichi.
Can't give more stars because the whole internalized homophobia, and the cross-dressing character who claims he started to dress like a woman so he doesn't get too much work to do is such an old school yaoi thing I never liked.
Harada no es para todo el público consumidor de BL.
Los temas que trata Color Recipe te hacen sentir algo incómodo, bueno Harada siempre logra esa sensación en mí. Obsesión, acoso, y un gusto perverso por ver las lágrimas, la mirada furiosa, de reproche y a la vez seductora.
Las personas esconden oscuros deseos, y harán lo posible para cumplirlos.
Debo rescatar el panel del primer corte de cabello, ver las manos aplicando el producto, tocando el cabello, un encuentro íntimo que conociendo el final de este primer tomo, tiene otro significado.
Bueno, hoy la cosa va de gente manipuladora, y en Color Recipe hay uno de los buenos. Harada no decepciona, no sé por dónde irá el segundo tomo pero dese luego cerré este con un escalofrío.
Shoukichi è un hair stylist alle prime armi: ha poca esperienza e un carattere un po’ ruvido, cosa che non ispira facilmente simpatia tra colleghi e clienti e potrebbe creargli serie difficoltà sul lavoro nonostante il talento innegabile che possiede. Il suo incontro-scontro con Fukusuke, un collega che sembra il suo esatto opposto (biondo, allegro compagnone e dalla lingua tagliente) porterà a una cosa mai vista in questo tipo di manga: una storia torbida nata in due giorni scarsi tra opposti che si attraggono.
Ora, la storia segue il classico percorso degli yaoi manga trasgry che fanno sentire molto sporche quelle anime candide delle lettrici, con la sola differenza che sta in un colpo di scena/plot twist che ho trovato onestamente abbastanza intrigante (purtroppo gestito con l'ano) che ci viene presentato verso la metà del volume, , e che mi ha fatto optare per la seconda stellina a dispetto del fatto che tutto questo volume è un’imbarazzante sequel di clichè che si ripropongono dall’alba dei tempi, e che risultano come al solito anche incredibilmente diseducativi dal punto di vista sentimentale. Cosa che sarebbe innocua, se non fosse che poi ci si ritrova con ragazze invischiate in amori tossici perché convinte che questo sia il romanticismo!
Ora, come al solito in questi manga la prima impressione di Shoukichi nei confronti di Fukusuke è assolutamente negativa: Fukusuke è sarcastico, lo prende in giro, poi l’attimo dopo è lì accanto a lui a consolarlo in un momento di scoramento con quel bipolarismo che non manca di incantare il nostro protagonista. E manco si conoscono, o così pare. Soprattutto, i due non parlano mai della loro sessualità. Ma perché fare domande inutili come “per caso sei gay? Mi piaci e vorrei invitarti fuori per un caffè” quando puoi perdere l’ultimo treno per tornare a casa, farti invitare a dormire a casa del tuo collega e masturbarti su di lui nel pieno della notte mentre dorme, svegliandolo coi tuoi gemiti e facendogli venire un colpo? Non esiste, ripeto, non esiste, che la cosa sia in qualche modo romantica, e soprattutto non esiste che quando Shoukichi giustamente si incazza e gli intima di smetterla (cosa che Fukusuke ovviamente si guarda bene dal fare, tirandogli la mano verso l’inguine e facendosi toccare in modi poco appropriati) la cosa continui tra ansimi di piacere e lacrime e rossori virginali dopo qualche NO poco convinto. Davvero, basta, questa cosa fa schifo.
Non esiste che dopo aver subito una molestia del genere da un tuo collega che conosci da un giorno (ma ci sarebbe da discutere della cosa anche se fosse tuo marito da 30 anni) poi ti incominci a palpitare il cuoricino e si crei una sorta di trombamicizia romantica dai confini fumosi che non può che crescere e sbocciare come dolce amore di pagina in pagina. Devi tirargli un calcio nei testicoli, sbatterlo fuori a calci e se continua avvisare il tuo capo e le autorità competenti perché questo disturbato mentale non entri pi nel tuo perimetro vitale. Così come non esiste a livello logico che una persona talmente astuta e malata da escogitare un piano machiavellico degno di Will E. Coyote per conquistare l'oggetto del suo desiderio, poi si faccia beccare letteralmente coi pantaloni calati e la cosa non abbia alcuna ripercussione sull'interazione tra i personaggi. Tranne offrir loro la scusa per fare dolce amore fisico.
Creare le storie trasgry non deve diventare un modo di togliersi i pruriti mettendo insieme una serie di boiate a caso che mirano a far finire a letto insieme i due protagonisti a tempo record: occorre una seria pianificazione, motivazioni valide, reazioni plausibili. Tutto il resto è fuffa.
El problema que tiene esto es creer que boys love (término que hace referencia a que el protagonista de la obra es gay/tiene relaciones gays) es sinónimo de romance. Y claro, la gente lee boys love como si todos fueran romance y luego te estrellas con esto, que no te engaña en ningún momento. Al presentarte a los personajes ya te deja claro quién es el malo. Pero bueno, es sutil, así que en el capítulo 2 te lo estrella en la cara para que no te llames a error y creas que esto va de romance (dioses, que lo hace con tremendo abuso sexual). Y por si tienes dudas de quién está detrás de todo lo malo, te lo vuelve a plantar en la escena del control del lavado de pelo, para que te queden cero dudas. Así que flipo con la nota tan baja que tiene aquí y con la gente "sorprendida" con el giro final (spoiler, no es un giro, es el discurso del villano diciendo: por supuesto que he hecho esto, aparta, imbécil).
El libro promete una historia terrorífica de un manipulador psicológico que quiere poseer a otro personaje y hacerlo suyo, a costa de lo que sea. Es lo que da, exactamente. Y lo narra 10/10.
The author is known for drawing fucked up stories, but somehow this one just hits the small line between wholesome and depraved while keeping the discomfited feeling you get while reading their works. You just know something bad is going to happen and the Minute it does, you sit back and question yourself why you just read a Story about a guy stalking and blackmailing the other one, while actively portraying himself as the savior in the situation. Then you remember it’s Harada we talking about and we both now it could be worse. ( And we still going to read them )
Buscas una trama super creepy y enferma? Pues bienvenido a tu manga... Personas enfermas everywhere 🤷🏻♀️. Fue bueno, muy bueno, porque (a mi por lo menos) había cosas que no me cuadraba pero le buscaba explicación en el mismo manga, lo cual hace que dudes... O sea, la explicación cuadraba pero a la vez sentías que algo no estaba bien... Y pues, esa intuición fue totalmente acertada. Me gustó, lo disfruté, pero no creo que sea mi tipo de manga. Igual, quiero leer la continuación, quiero saber si el prota se da cuenta o no 🤔.
What in the actual fuck did I just read. +18 hentai manga, nie sięgajcie po to bo nie warto. Przedstawia toksyczność i molestowanie w sposób tak lekki, że wychodzi na to, że takie postępowanie jest okej. + Obrzydliwie stereotypowe przedstawienie osoby wychodzącej poza spektrum binarności.
I honestly love how disgusting it is, how sick all the characters are, how twisted the whole thing is, even at the end, it's weird, and I love that. As a honest Harada dickrider, I'm still trying to defend this comic as a psychological horror rather than the usual weird fetish her works are. But yeah this time it was mentally scarring, the ending was just the cherry on top that made this a 5 stars rather than a 2 stars, I loved it!
I personally didn't understand wtf was going on with this Yaoi involving large amounts of text bubbles to read through, mediocre art and unlikable characters.....
3.5 stars. Harada's oneshots are some of the best I've ever read, dense and intense and fully utilizing their length. So a longer work feels unfairly attenuated and unfocused, despite that two volumes is still pretty short. But this remains deep within Harada's wheelhouse of psychological dark BL, and I appreciate that a longer work allows for a) a slower reveal of the coercion and manipulation occurring in the relationship and b) more room for the victim to evolve, which becomes an exploration of how and why people remain in abusive relationships. Unfortunately, longform also makes for c) more substantial depictions of problematic tropes like the depraved homosexual; it feels more tropey, more exaggerated, more like the rest of the genre. This isn't as breathtaking as drowning in those phenomenal oneshots, but it's a treat to linger longer in Harada's mind.
Why must it end like that ;-; And here I was harboring all these hopes for him. Sigh.
It's a pretty good story. The plot was interesting, the characters were detailed and developed, and the art was really pretty. It has elements of suspense and dark topics like abuse and rape, but I think the message they got across from such things was realistic and true. The author didn't romanticize it and showed the raw effects of it. The ending isn't the typical ending you would expect it, but again it was realistic and reflected real life. It also teaches quite a bit about trust, being naive, and how to go about getting what you want, as well as the effects. Overall, I thought it was a good story.
Esta historia tiene un poco de controversia, a mi parecer. Primero porque este primer tomo me lo he devorado en una sentada y me ha gustado, y segundo, porque es una historia que se te retuerce un poco en el estomago cuando llegas al final.
Shôkichi y Fukusuke son dos estilitas que se llevan a muerte, pero que con los pequeños roces diarios, provocados por Fukusuke, su relación se acaba estrechando hasta puntos insospechados.
De primeras, a mi Shôkichi me parece un personaje entrañable que solo quiere demostrar su valía ante la persona que le ha dado una oportunidad y le ha transmitido confianza. En cambio, Fukusuke no acaba de gustarme del todo. Es un personaje que si se emperra en conseguir algo lo hace por todos los medios posibles.
La historia pintaba bastante cliché, pero fue llegar al final de este tomo y mis expectativas se rompieron en mil pedazos. Me quedé anonadada por el giro de los acontecimientos, y esto hizo obviamente que leyese el segundo tomo al vuelo.
Pero vayamos por partes, este primer tomo me ha gustado porque nunca había leído una historia sobre estilitas. Además de que me ha sorprendido la nitidez de las escenas eróticas y el dibujo en general, destacando por tener algunas páginas a color a mitad del tomo.
Por otro lado, no me ha gustado la actitud que adquieren ciertos personajes a lo largo del tomo. Había momentos en que quería dejar la historia por la impotencia que me generaba el que no fuese notorio para otros personajes.
He subestimado a esta historia y a sus personajes. Reconozco que no pensaba que la trama fuera a tirar hacia otro lado tan repentinamente, pero en verdad, da que reflexionar. De ahí que tenga un poco de controversia con esta historia y el que si realmente la recomendaría.
First of all, I want to give a warning. This manga contains manipulation as the main theme, along with stalking, rape, abusive, obsessive and psychotic seme, and a hint of future toxic relationship.
OH. MY. GOD. [heavy breathing] Oh my god. This manga had a dark and really strong after-taste. It has a good and really well developed characters. The plot is raw and realistically scary. It has element of suspense. At first, I thought this would be some fluff and tooth-rotting-super-sweet manga, but boy... I was so wrong. Really really wrong. For first few seconds it was cute and warm, then seconds later it got so twisted my innards did somersaults. I GOT CHILLS ALL OVER MY BODY.
Anyway, the art style was pretty and the cover art didn't do justice for the artwork inside.
It wasn't a nice and comfortable read ((I'm really worried over Shou-kun. Apart from Mikado-san, there are no good people around him, poor baby)), but it was interesting, gripping, and a real page turner. I'm very intrigued to see how this would end.