Lawful Drug, Band 1

合法ドラッグ [Gohou Drug] #1

by Clamp

A drugstore that deals in medicine ... and danger!Kazahaya Kudo has a gift. When he touches a person or an object, he sees visions. With no money and no place to stay, Kazahaya was out of luck until fate brought him to the Green Drug pharmacy. Now, in exchange for working in the store, he gets room and board. But in order to make ends meet there a catch ... he must take on 'special' assignments from his boss that can only be handled by someone with Kazahaya gift.With the help of his co-worker and roommate Rikuo, who has unusual powers of his own, Kazahaya finds himself on missions most surreal.

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Comics, Yaoi, Mystery, Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Ōkawa Nanase 大川七瀬
[born: 2 May 1967; Ōsaka, bloodtype: A]

Mokona Apapa もこなあぱぱ
[born: 16 Jun 1968, Kyōto; bloodtype: A]

Nekoi Mick 猫井みっく
[born: 21 Jan 1969, Kyōto; bloodtype: O]

Igarashi Satsuki 五十嵐さつき
[born: 8 Feb 1969, Kyōto; bloodtype: A]


CLAMP originally began in 1989 as a twelve-member dōjinshi circle, but by 1990, the circle had diminished from twelve to seven. Of the remaining seven, Tamayo Akiyama, Sei Nanao, and Leeza Sei left the group during the production of the RG Veda manga. Other former members of CLAMP also included Soushi Hishika, O-Kyon, Kazue Nakamori, Yuzuru Inoue and Shinya Ōmi. Currently, there are four members in the group.

In 2004, CLAMP's 15th anniversary as a mangaka group, the members changed their names from Nanase Ohkawa, Mokona Apapa, Mick Nekoi, and Satsuki Igarashi to Ageha Ohkawa, Mokona, Tsubaki Nekoi and Satsuki Igarashi (her name is pronounced the same, but written with different characters) respectively. The August 2004 issue of Newtype USA, a magazine specializing in events of the anime and manga subcultures, reported that the members of CLAMP simply wanted to try out new names. In a later interview with Ohkawa, it was revealed that initially Mokona wanted to drop her surname because it sounded too immature for her liking, while Nekoi disliked people commenting that her name was the same as Mick Jagger's. Ohkawa and Igarashi, wanting to go with the flow of Nekoi's and Mokona's name changes, changed their names as well.

In 2006, they made their first USA public debut at Anime Expo in Anaheim, California. They were well received at the convention, with 6,000 fans in attendance at their panel.

Reviews

[Sheziss · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bizarre.

It's like reading a surrealist picture, absurd and weird, yet not completely understandable.

Romance is absent.

*****

Volumes in the series:

[Sushi (寿司) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rilettura. Infatti è la vecchia edizione della Star. Peccato rimanga inconcluso anche se recentemente ho scoperto che c'è un seguito uscito nel 2011 mentre ero in pausa. Un giorno lo recupeterò. 😊

[Kaylee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll be the first to admit that I am super biased. I've loved this series so much since it first came out and I wish sooo much that it had continued. But, ya know, CLAMP...

It's been such a long time since I read/bought these - I'm hoping I'll be able to find the third, but not promising with all the moves and not being next to the others in the box. D: I actually even did a pottery project in high school with Kazahaya.

I still love this! So much potential! CLAMP...! *sigh*

[Kati · Rating 4 out of 5]

This reminded me of the early volumes of xxxHolic, when Watanuki was still learning about Yuuko's world. It's the same here for Kazahaya and Rikuo, with the added mystery of their past.

[Bibliothecat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review for complete series


With no money or roof over his head, Kudo finds himself working at a drug store after almost dying out in the cold. But working in the drug store isn't only about filling the shelves - Kudo has special powers that give him visions, an ability the drug store is putting to use. Together with his colleague Rikuo, they set out on various odd jobs that all seem to have something supernatural about them.

Can there really be anything worse than a mystery series that gets cancelled before it has revealed a single secret? It's nothing new that CLAMP tend to put their series on long hiatuses and, unfortunately, sometimes even indefinitely so. Legal Drug is no exception - it ends after volume three in the middle of the story with nothing even close to a conclusion. If anything, we get more questions than answers. The drug stores actual function is never explained, all characters have a mysterious past, their powers never fully explained and just the point of all the supernatural missions to begin with. Luckily, CLAMP moved to continue this series in the sequel Drug & Drop - the bad news is, it is now also on hiatus.

As infuriating as it is to read a mystery that leaves you hanging in the middle of nowhere, Legal Drug certainly has its merits and should be read by those who like to be familiar with the wider CLAMP-universe as their works are usually linked. While we don't really get to know where this series was headed to, it makes an interesting premise and the two main characters are pretty likeable - I would have read it for them alone.

The art in the early chapters is of CLAMP's older style but the second half of the series is well improved and has all the typical gorgeousness that I would expect of these artists. And although CLAMP often includes LGBT characters, this is the first and I believe only work that is actually labelled as such a work. Romance isn't the biggest focus of this series, in fact, most of it is more along the lines of comedy. Nonetheless, the humour and banter between Kudo and Rikuo is entertaining and makes them even more likeable.

It's not my favourite of CLAMP's, but it's definitely among the ones I'd like to see a conclusion to someday. Fingers crossed they will one day continue to work on Drug & Drop.

[Veronika]

Ich hatte vergessen wie sehr ich diesen Manga mag. Sehr viel h/c und süße Storylines.
ABER - mein Gott, ich hatte auch vergessen, wie unglaublich übergriffig Charaktere in Mangas sind und wow, das geht heutzutage so gar nicht mehr.

[La lectora desastre · Rating 2 out of 5]

Extraño cuanto menos

[Zombieslayer⚡Alienhunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book read: 3/31/16.
Review: 4/1/16


I hate to call someone's art cute, because I know how disrespectful it is, but, I can't help myself. The ladies behind CLAMP made some really cute art for a really intriguing story.




A month after almost freezing to death, Kazahaya works for the beautiful, mysterious Kakei at the Green Drugstore.
He and his rescuer (for lack of a better word) Rikuo are placed in charge of several... Shady side jobs by Kakei, and, being completely off the books as it were, they rely on Kazahaya's abilities.
Kazahaya can view the memories of people, and even of things. He uses this ability, which, to smaller degrees, Rikuo and Kakei share with him, to complete these tasks for Kakei. They tend to drift into a supernatural nature, and they're always dangerous.

Kazahaya and Rikuo face a cursed book, ghost insects, and a mystery concerning a woman from Rikuo's past.

As for the art? Maybe a five out of ten. Very generic, nothing special at all. But it works with the story flow, which is all you can really ask for.

Now the plot? Seven out of ten. Kazahaya's a whiney bitch, and i love it. The back-and-forth with Rikuo is funny and realistic, and Kakei and his... very special friend, Saiga, were (besides being the only reason this manga would be mislabeled 'yaoi') were captivating to say the least.
Dialogue is, as expected, sometimes a little odd and forced, but overall it's decent. The characters work extremely well off each other, they're memorable, and they're hystarical.
I especially liked the chemistry between Kakei and Saiga, they seemed like an old married couple who can still pick on each other. I hope to see more of them in the future.

I'm curious to find out more about these characters, and learn more about their business.
Will definitely be persuing the other Legal Drug volumes, and the renamed Drug and Drop.

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first volume of one of those manga where CLAMP goes "New phone, who dis?" regularly.
I know it wasn't their fault the first time this story went on hiatus - I think the magazine it got published in was discontinued or something like that.
It then took years for the continuation to come out, fittingly re-named Drug & DROP, since it's on hiatus now, too.

I clearly remember how excited I was when I picked up this first volume when it came out here in 2004. And how couldn't I have been?
The art is beautiful (even if it's not in my favorite CLAMP style), our POV character Kazayaha is adorable, his dark and brooding 'partner' Rikuo is mysterious and his boss is a comic relief character who only shows his true, much darker self to his boyfriend.
There are missing loved ones, who might be dead already, fish in the sky and fireflies you can't see.
Everyone has some deep and dark secret.

In many ways, it's a much more subtil work than what one would usually expect from CLAMP, but no less enjoyable.
I want to say that I want more people to read this manga, but I also don't want anyone to be disappointed when they've finished the second volume of Drug & Drop and there is just... nothing more. Except waiting.
And everyone who has read X-1999 - or worse: Clover - knows that it could take a really very long time. I'm talking about more than a decade here.

So, yes. This is a great manga, but loving it hurts.

[Jeninne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can honestly say I think (because I'm super old and I can't clearly remember back then) this is the first manga I ever read as a teen. It was loaned to me from a shitty friend who shouldn't have even really been a friend, I assume so she could get a chuck out of me running acoss the heavily implied homosexual portions of this manga. Joke was on her, of course, because I loved it from day one and thus began my love affair with yaoi.

Now probably fifteen years later, I think I appreciate this manga so much more. Back then I was really only interested in the characters having romantic moments, or implied romantic moments. As an adult now I can appreciate the nuances of the relationship, the story, and most importantly, the art work. And I can say I love it even more now than I did then.

I've kind of got a soft spot in my heart for CLAMP anyway. They always do the best stuff imo, and they rarely disappoint.

I decided to reread this not to get the feels from long ago, but because for some reason I never picked up the next two volumes, and I just did now. So I'm really excited to finish the story that I started fifteen years ago, and get some kind of resolution on these characters.

Is this a perfect manga? No. But for me, perfect can just be a feeling, and this book gives me the feels.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars at the moment and idk after a reread I might go with four stars instead but right now I'm just finding this so much fUN that I have to round up. I love these idiots bye.

[Francine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly, doesn't feel too dated. The homo-eroticism is non too subtle, but it doesn't read homophobic, unlike many manga from its time!

I'm kinda invested.

[Roo Winchester · Rating 2 out of 5]

Demasiado corto, necesita más historia, más desarrollo y más páginas. Sin embargo me ha enganchado.

[Jenni Noordhoek · Rating 2 out of 5]

Welp, let's talk about this for a moment. (Full series review)

I really wanted to like this.

But the BL overtones basically overpowered the story. Any story that's more interested in potential romantic plots than in the actual HEY WHY DID THEY PICK UP THAT GUY IN THE SNOW HM? plot is annoying to me.

The character interactions just don't click the way they do in xxxHolic (which I really enjoyed and I

For the record, I'm not into BL as a general rule but don't mind it if it's well-written. This just wasn't. There was no chemistry between the MCs and it felt like the tension between them was being put on by circumstances like a bad shoujo manga. =P

Noooo thank you.

(Yet I will try again with the newer series pickup of this because my vague theory is that this is a fairly early CLAMP work and maybe the new version will be better? I just so wanted to like this because I enjoy the setup of the shop as well as Kohou's special powers.)

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series is bad. Objectively, there is not a single thing about it that could be called good by any interpretation of the word good. But it's bad in that very particular early 2000's wildly-homophobic-despite-being-gay way that is weirdly nostalgic and self-indulgent to return to today. It's like being a tourist to your own past. Look at what we used to be content with. Look at how many infinitely better stories we have access to today. I still have a soft spot in my heart for you and your awfulness.

Do not read this series, unless you're looking to scratch that very, very particular itch.

[Marie Graßhoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eine meiner liebsten Clamp-Reihen. So traurig, dass sie abgebrochen wurde; die Geschichten sind so wirr und so magisch - Ich liebe es einfach.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread. I like how this is a sort of remix of both Wish and xxxHolic. Or those two are remixes of this, idk.

[Lu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Believe it or not every clamp character is gay,,,elavorate on that??? no💜

[Tinita125 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bueno bueno bueno, hello there!
Al fin llegó el momento de Legal drug! Bueno, para empezar, i'm a bit disappointed. La verdad es que estaba esperando como loca leer este manga, recordaba todos los momentos re gays y demás, pero a la hora de leerlo fue medio meh. Me gustó el manga y esta por encima de otros mangas de clamp, pero esperaba un poco más.
Cuando era pendeja, me encantaban los momentos entre los dos personajes, pero ahora resulta que son muy randoms jajajajaj Es como que me gusta, pero a la vez me da la sensación de que nunca va a pasar nada, entonces me pudre. Onda Watanuki y Doumeki me pueden más y ni siquiera leí el manga aún. Pero me parecen lindos los personajes, los dos me caen bien.
Me dio un aire a Tokyo Babylon, pero ese manga es mil veces superior, es literalmente perfecto. Acá, parece que los personajes hacen casos super randoms sin ningún motivo. Las tramas son medio cualquiera y encima no se entiende nada, porque no se sabe quien es Tsukiko o por qué Kazahaya dejo a la hermana abandonada. No se sabe nada, tampoco mencionan nada sobre la familia de Kudo, porque HOLA, son los personajes de Wish...
El mejor momento del manga fue cuando aparecieron los personajes de Suki, literalmente no puedo creer que me gustó un poco más Suki que Legal Drug, dios.
Literalmente le pongo 4 estrellas porque yo flasheaba colores con esto en el pasado y le tengo un lindo recuerdo. Pero clamp podría haber hecho esto muchísimo mejor.
En fin, la verdad, lo leería otra vez, pero no sé... me dan mas ganas de saber que hicieron en Drug drop, sé que es un poco más serio pero bueno.... está en hiatus jajajajajajajajajajjajajajajjajaja
Casi me olvido, algo positivo del manga es que no tenían carpa para tirar chistes sexuales, obvio tranquilos, pero mejor que nada jajajaja así que kudos para clamp!!
Ahora me toca leer Chobits (me compre los primeros 5 tomos yey) y luego se viene holic/tsubasa... I'm excited as fuck!!!!!!!

[Katharine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not going to lie, I'm sort of confused about this one. It's got plenty of potentials, but it's confusing in the exact same way xxxHolic was confusing. It feels like a story that was created in a dream state. The plot is fairly straightforward, in only the way a CLAMP manga can be. A guy who has a special power joins a mysterious shop and does odd jobs for money and has a mysterious tragic past. All of the main characters are pretty mysterious people, and you don't really learn all that much about them. I've read xxxHolic and Tsubasa Chronicle, so I know this is pretty par for the course for CLAMP's character writing. The art style is fine, it's their usual style. Though I will say the homoerotic tension is so blatant in this one. It's CLAMP, and I'm pretty sure there's at least one couple with high levels of homoerotic tension (so much so it's practically text) in pretty much ALL of their works, this series is no exception. The cliffhanger of the last chapter has me just interested enough to keep reading this series.

[Ben Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kazahaya Kudo and Rikuo are roomates who live above a drug store called Green Drug Pharmacy and also work in the store. Both of them have powers, Kazahaya is able to get memories from touching objects or people and Rikuo's power allows him to break objects. The store owner, Kakei, sends the two on "side jobs" for extra cash, which are supernatural in nature.

While the special assignments are a prominent part of the manga, the relationships between the character's are the main focus. There's a lot of animosity between the two main characters and this leads to a lot of funny moments. In this first volume we begin to get a backstory for them, giving us insight into why they act the way they do. Kazahaya and Rikuo are reluctant co-workers, but by the end of the volume we can being to see a slight change in their relationship that will, hopefully, develope further in the next two volumes and the continuation series.

[Tabby · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I went in not knowing much about this manga. I really wanted to read it because the characters looked cute. I will say the art style is a little dated but that's usually the case with a lot of older manga so I was able to push through. Now let's talk about the plot, if there even is one.
The main character (whose name I forgot since he is kinda forgettable) nearly dies at the beginning of this manga and is saved by this boy (whose name I also forgot) and they end up living together above this drugstore. The two of them also work at the drugstore as well as pick up these odd jobs from the owner.
This manga gives off the same vibes as Pet Shop of Horrors but it does not execute them quite as nicely. I do not know if I will be picking up the rest of the volumes in this series but since there's only three I'll probably give them a try and see what I think.
ALSO this is tagged as yaoi/ bl but you wouldn't really be able to tell that from the first volume.

[Rose Minako · Rating 3 out of 5]

Questo manga è decisamente misterioso. Tutti i personaggi sembrano avere un sacco di segreti riguardanti il loro passato e fino alla fine non ne viene svelato nessuno. Ci sono anche scene abbastanza divertenti, soprattutto quando Himura si prende gioco di Kudo e lo provoca. In alcuni punti può sembrare anche un po' yaoi, perché il rapporto tra Kakei e Saiga è abbastanza ambiguo, ma anche quello tra Kudo e Himura a volte lo è. Nel complesso è un manga con un buon potenziale, interessante e intrigante, anche come storia, ricco di misteri da svelare e di personaggi da scoprire. Il problema è che tutte queste potenzialità non vengono sfruttate perché si interrompe sul più bello per continuare su Drug & Drop anch'esso però incompiuto. Direi che le Clamp dovrebbero decidersi a terminare un po' di loro opere.

[Amanda Oei Wells · Rating 2 out of 5]

Inherited this series from a friend to read and add to my existing Clamp library. I didn’t love it nor think it was as strong as one of Tsubaki Nekoi’s other connected series; Wish. The supernatural one-shot “jobs” that the protagonists are sent on were sometimes interesting and reminded me of Watanuki’s errands in Xxxholic, but the BL element felt contrived, fan-servicey and distracted from the plot. I don’t mind the BL genre but the chemistry felt forced.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been a minute since I've read this series but I remember it being one of my faves from CLAMP. The covers and title page art are all great. I guess this is about a stoner who gets blazed and acts like a PI but invariably fails because he's too high and has to be saved by his straightedge partner who has a sick back tattoo. Or something. All I know is that Kudo-kun sees fish flying through the air and falls into a river while trying to catch invisible fireflies. Been there, buddy.

[Aaron Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an interesting and strange story we have here. Everything is rather, well, surreal I guess you can say. We have paranormal events and people with individual gifts, a pharmacy shop owner who has gathered a small group of people together with those gifts, who has his young workers going out on strange jobs that as of yet remain somewhat non sensible. Yet the last job might have given a clue concerning Rikuo's past. Super curious to see where this is going.

[Serena · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fact that all the characters have unique abilities is cool to me and I'm interested in continuing the series overall. Though the relationship between Rikuo and Kazahaya is a bit strange to me personally.

[Harumichi Mizuki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Membingungkan vibes-nya kayak XXX Holics. Cuma siapa kliennya dan kenapa benda-benda supernatural itu yang harus dicari Kazahaya dan. Rikuou nggak dijelaskan. Ini jauh lebih ngeblur daripada XXXHolics.

[Arthur · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh 2.5

[Katri Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clamp is love......eeeeeeeek tis connected with watanuki!! love the connections!!! ( sweet angels, even sweeter devils......sigggggh , now just add some kobato....)