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Il ragazzo della porta accanto

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Der 27-jährige Lehrer Adrian, der hinter seiner soliden und kinderlieben Fassade ein bitteres Unwesen treibt, trägt eine dunkle Vergangenheit mit sich. Lawrence, ein junger Stricher, beobachtet, wie Adrian einen anderen Strichjungen niedersticht. Am Tatort findet er einen silbernen Anhänger, den er als Indiz nutzen will, und sucht den Täter auf. Die beiden kommen sich näher, doch Adrian ist sich sicher, dass er auch Lawrence töten muss...

200 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1998

17 people are currently reading
660 people want to read

About the author

Kaori Yuki

203 books678 followers
Kaori Yuki (由貴香織里) is a Japanese manga artist.

She debuted in 1987 with Natsufuku no Erii (Jap: 夏服のエリー) on the manga anthology Bessatsu Hana to Yume published by Hakusensha.
She is best known for her gothic manga works, such as the Earl Cain series (Jap: 伯爵カイン, Hakushaku Cain) and Angel Sanctuary (Jap: 天使禁猟区, Tenshi Kinryōku)

Her work is typically serialized in one of Hakusensha's two shōjo manga anthologies, Bessatsu Hana to Yume and Hana to Yume. In 2010, Kaori Yuki was one of many manga artists whose work would appear in the new shōjo manga anthology Aria by the publisher Kodansha on July 28, 2010.
Her doujinshi-ka name is MoonClock.

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5 stars
369 (36%)
4 stars
260 (26%)
3 stars
231 (23%)
2 stars
95 (9%)
1 star
43 (4%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
Profile Image for Treece.
521 reviews151 followers
June 2, 2011
This is an urban contemporary manga that is shonen-ai/yaoi. I occassionally read M/M provided it's well written and a good story, although admittedly, it's not my first choice of genre. The manga is a psychological thriller that's heavy on emotion, while examining the worst and best of human nature in a place of brutal darkness.

The author/artist is best known for her Angel Sanctuary series, a sinsisterly gorgeous tale of incestous love ladden with biblical angelic/demonic combined east-west mythos. The winding thread of death and doomed lovers is always present to cloud/color her narratives. Yuki-sensei knows how to draw out the somberest, richest--sometimes bloodiest--notes of human suffering and sacrifice and all the vices that go with it.

The Boys Next Door's plot involves a beautiful youth who is a male prostitute enslaved and exploited by his own brother, a ruthless drug lord, and sold to the most disgusting people. Meanwhile, there's a vicious serial killer murdering young male hustlers. The dark gothic elements of the story draw you in, as death looms over the main characters to the grisly finish. I was drawn in and captivated by the inevitable. The pyschological agony, tormented love, and unwavering devotion couldn't hold a candle to the worst literary torture.

Although I truly enjoyed reading this story, I could stand to only read it once because I couldn't stop crying and agonzing the entire time. I was just that moved, angry, and resigned.

This is worth reading.
Profile Image for Mati.
1,034 reviews1 follower
November 28, 2008
Kaori Yuki managed to make an extraordinary plot serial killer specialized on prostitutes and young male prostitute plus one iguana.
It is all about messed childhood and very questionable sexual cravings and lot of blood.
Profile Image for Ester.
1,207 reviews68 followers
August 4, 2025
Siendo profesor de día y asesino de prostitutos jóvenes de noche, Adrian Clay es el asesino en serie de Los Ángeles conocido como Blindman a causa de que les venda los ojos a sus víctimas antes de matarlos. Después de segar la vida de seis chicos, un precioso joven ve a Adrian y al cadáver de su última víctima. Temiéndose descubierto, Adrian huye de la escena del crimen, pero el joven aparece al día siguiente al lugar de trabajo de Clay, puesto que se le cayó la placa identificativa de su iguana.

El joven se llama Lawrence y es un prostituto que quiere escapar de esa vida, pero para ello necesita ayuda y no dudará en chantajear a Adrian para conseguirla y ser libre. Pensando en que deberá matarlo para callarle la boca y recuperar la placa, lo que Adrian no espera es caer bajo el hechizo de la mirada de Lawrence y de todo el calor que desprende ese joven, uno que está igual de roto y de herido que él y que por ello es capaz de comprender el corazón de Adrian.

Siendo la primera historia que encontramos en esta antología, al igual que la más larga, Boy's Next Door es un dark romance con una relación entre un asesino en serie y un joven prostituto, dos hombres que serán la cura del otro.

Podéis leer la reseña completa en mi blog:
https://unabibliotecaentremundos.blog...

Profile Image for Georgette .
21 reviews
June 1, 2015
Uhh.
I've come to believe that manga just isn't for me. My hopes for this one where quite high though, since I read part of Kaori Yuki's Angel Sanctuary series a while ago, which I really enjoyed.
Now I found this one in the depths of my bookshelves and... I don’t know.
I did not enjoy this, which is very sad since I like the author and the plot seemed really interesting to me.
But...it was so short. Like, a hundred pages short. The rest was two other stories which I couldn't even finish.
So, we have this dramatic plot that stretches from the tragic past of both the characters to the even more tragic ending and it just felt way too rushed for me. Personally I wasn't able to build any emotional connection whatsoever to the characters, which is obviously kind of bad if you're reading a manga that focuses on those emotions.

Wouldn't recommend this one.
Profile Image for Holly Interlandi.
Author 26 books52 followers
July 17, 2007
She's written a story about a serial killer and fourteen year old male prostitute who fall in love. There's lots of childhood angst involving clowns and gratuitous iguana symbolism. If you think that sounds weird, just read it. You have no idea to what depths this intimate story goes in punching you in the gut. Shakespeare has nothing on this. Seriously.
Profile Image for Mizuki.
3,388 reviews1,405 followers
October 15, 2022
“In my crazy world, above all others...you were the only one who was the ugliest. And you were the only one...who was the most beautiful.... This is the unspoken truth.”
Profile Image for Angelique.
260 reviews3 followers
November 24, 2015
Actually, this deserves more stars. The author is fantastic - the work is brilliantly scary and fascinating but it simply wasn't my taste.
Profile Image for Adan.
34 reviews1 follower
December 31, 2025
Kaori pojebana i dramatyczna jak zwykle ❤️ ale niektóre motywy były problematyczne i jedna opowieść dosyć odstawała poziomem.
Profile Image for Rosenblue.
585 reviews
September 25, 2023
Warning bloody/gorey scenes, suggestive themes,mentions of sexual assault, underage/forced prostitution,child abuse and questionable scenes between a adult and child.

Read:
May 20th,2015 - June 1,2015

I will fully review this manga after I re-read the first story.

Boy's Next Door is complication of various short stories focused on dark,controversial and supernatural themes.

The first story has a interesting concept I admit but some of the mature content story almost ruined the story for me.
The second story was okay and the third one is a bit boring.

I read a fan translation of this manga years ago so I didn't know how old Lawrence was and for whatever reason they left out in the translation that Lawrence is FOURTEEN years old.

That has to be the weirdest part of their relationship and damn is it awkward looking back at what I read after learning this.
I noticed how no one has mentioned this in the other reviews and I find it weird that no one else noticed nor cared.

Review:
Boy's Next door is follows 27 year old Adrian Clay a homicidal elementary school teacher who murders prostitutes and a male prostitute named Lawrence Hall.

The past:Adrian age 8.
Adrian was conceived when his mother was assaulted by a clown at a carnival when she visited one as a teenager.
His mother's neglect and anger towards her assault led a miserable childhood full of emotional abuse for Adrian.
He was constantly reminded that he was unwanted and unloved.
Adrian's mother began to randomly "sleep" with men solely for their money after awhile not caring if her son saw her.
It something Adrian constantly felt was wrong and he would be slapped if he questioned it.
His mother was unhinged she would constantly attempt to abandon Adrian in carnivals and random places.
One day she succeeds at doing so but the boy managed to wander back to his mother's apartment after two days.
When he returned he witnessed one of his mother's "boyfriends" stab her nearly to death in anger.
The man leaves afterwards leaving Adrian alone with his dying mother on the living room couch.
She spots him watching her and she pleads for him to call the police, promising to take him to the carnival again.
That was the final straw for Adrian.
He only recently returned home after being abandoned and his mother was already edging towards bringing him back to the very carnival she was assaulted at.
Adrian delivered the fatal blow to his mother with the knife.
After she was finished off she stared at him blankly in death.
Adrian was unnerved by her expression and decided to blindfolded her and colored out the eyes of all the portraits in her apartment.
This was the start of his murders and his signature style of blindfolding his victims.

Time skip to 27 year old Adrian:
Adrian had a tough childhood so he eventually decided to become a school teacher to help troubled children.
Despite his mild exterior Adrian hid a dark secret — at night,he is uncontrolled and tormented by his past.
He picks up young male prostitutes, brutally murders them and blindfolds them before leaving the scene.
One night during one of his murdering rampages he is caught by a wandering boy.

The boy is transfixed by Adrian's tormented expression and his reasons for his murders.
Adrian sees the boy but can't bring himself to kill him.
The next day Lawrence spots Adrian talking to a student of his and walks to him.
The boy claims to have to knowledge on who Adrian is and asks Adrian to meet him at a specific location and time for the "evidence"
Profile Image for Anilea .
197 reviews16 followers
January 4, 2021
An 00’s nostalgia from the grim 90’s.

Released on 1998, localized in French in 2008. *the USA, with their history of Sexualizing women & Queers, still fear sexualizing men. Cowards.”

Boys Next Door, is a dark psychological One shot by Kaori Yuki. Known for her gothic transgressive melodramas, Cain Saga, GodChild, Angel Sanctuary, ect... *I won’t talk about her post marriage output, am still saddened by it.”

The story is about a typical 27 years old teacher in morning, and sex workers serial killers by night. Who always ends up with their eyes disfigure, hence, getting the rutile: BlindMan.

Until, one of the youngest night walkers caught him red handed, and provided him later with an ultimatum:
Either to take him from streets or to report him to the police.
Suffice to say, things don’t end up well for the two them.
The manga comes with extra one shots written long before Miss Kaori became known, and their subjects and styles shows; all can be forgiven given the main story strength, pace and complexity.

I’m glad I got a legal copy. This was my first taste of the Manga Art form, and I couldn’t be happier.

Dark, bleak, grotesque and very human. I couldn’t recommend a better pick.
2 reviews
June 3, 2015
Aşkın en gerçekçi hâli... 7 yıl kadar önce ergen psikolojisi ile okuduğum bir mangaydı ama hâlâ hatırladıkça içim tuhaf olur. Sahiplenme, tutku, fedakârlık, bastırılmış kimlik ve iki kayıp ruhun "bile bile lades" misali birbirini tamamlaması. Hele ben ölürsem beni ye ki tamamen senin bedenine karışıp bir parçan olabileyim dediği yer... Ve muhteşem son. Aşkla ilgili okuduğum en iyi şeylerden kesinlikle. Bu mangayı seven kisilere Ai No Kusabi'nin 90lardaki ovaları da tavsiyemdir.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for ⋆ ࣪˖ ִֶָ   sel  ་༘࿐.
969 reviews22 followers
Read
August 12, 2024
I liked it. This is my cup of tea. But I'm kind of torned on how to rate it. It has good composition but I just wish it wasn't crammed in only three chapters. It felt rushed. It could've been so much more. But still, it's a good story. I like it.
Profile Image for Lola.
183 reviews17 followers
July 12, 2011
So sad and short
Profile Image for Denise.
7,536 reviews138 followers
August 30, 2011
Loved the main story, unfortunately the other two weren't nearly as good.
Profile Image for Chinelo.
477 reviews
April 20, 2013
too much blood but great story... it's good to look at the dark side of things sometimes
Profile Image for Magan.
Author 6 books1 follower
December 13, 2017
I loved every minute of this story. Heartbreaking and intense throughout, I was bawling by the end.
79 reviews2 followers
July 10, 2022
Una historia que cada vez que léo me rompe el corazón.
Profile Image for Curious Madra.
3,111 reviews120 followers
January 5, 2020
Honestly not an easy read of a classic psychological Yaoi manga. Wtf was actually going on here?! lol....
Profile Image for endeavoursofvic.
872 reviews5 followers
May 2, 2019
3 Stars?

Boy's next door: 4 Stars
Devil inside: 2 Stars
When a heart beats: 1 Star

This hurt my brain. How do you rate a Manga that contains three stories out of which you only liked one - but that one also makes up more than half of the manga. THE STRUGGLE.

Okay so: Boy's next door is a beautiful gritty disturbing dark Story about love and loss and psychology and I adored it. It is everything I want out of a Kaori Yuki Story. It was an easy 4 Star read and I enjoyed myself from page 1.

But then the other stories happened.
Devil inside was just kind of meh. Short and okay-ish I guess. I didn't hate this one but it wasn't great. Very clichee and just. Okay. 2 Stars.

When a heart beats...
oh man. This was B-A-D. oh so fucking bad.
There was one moment towards the end where I thought this could actually turn the entire story around and make it a 3 star read.
(If the guy would have been manipulating everything for his own means and not actually been "in love" with the girl. But - Nope. And not even just that but she was told that his horrible and disgusting behaviour was SWEET and PROVE OF HIS LOVE. I was disgusted by the guy from the moment he came onto her in the bar and I would have liked him as a vile guy who manipulates people to his will. But no we have to romanticize this Bastard. And she agrees in the end and falls head over heels for him. ARGH. SO FUCKING ANGRY.)
Anyway 1 Star is very generous for this one - but I can't give zero so there's that.


You see where the whole confusion about what I am rating it is coming from.
Anyway I am going to keep this and pretend that it only includes Boy's next Door (which is easy since it is the name and both the front and back of the manga only show BND art.)
Starting now I will pretend the other two stories do not even exist. Bye.
10 reviews
September 30, 2025
Leí Boys Next Door en apenas 30 minutos. La historia tiene un inicio con mucho potencial y personajes con trasfondo oscuro, pero es muy corta, apenas tres capítulos, por lo que deja al lector con ganas de más.

El desarrollo podría haberse explorado mucho más en varios tomos, profundizando en la relación entre Adrian y Lawrence y en su trasfondo.

En resumen, interesante, oscuro y con estilo gótico, pero se queda corta y no llega a explotar todo su potencial.
Profile Image for Kenia Kenny.
68 reviews2 followers
September 28, 2017
ecco lo odio. Perché ora so che come ogni volta piangerò malissimo per i prossimi tre mesi. se questa storia fosse un libro un film o qualsiasi cosa mi farebbe morire malissimo in ogni cosa. Questo manga é il motivo per cui nessuna storia d'amore, per quanto travagliata potrà mai toccarmi come questa, mai.
Profile Image for Regalia Lenzi.
715 reviews3 followers
August 1, 2025
Przeczytane w necie, kiedy jeszcze były skany ;)

Cóż, możliwe, że to najgorszy komiks jaki pani Yuki stworzyła. Brawa za chęci wmieszania się w yaoi/pseudoyaoi, jeszcze większy za tknięcie tematu prostytucji mężczyzn, niemniej jednak trochę nie wyszło. Jest takie... miałkie? Patrząc na inne twory, Twój obraz został pozbawiony spójnej fabuły, jedynie zostały piękne obrazki i finito.
Profile Image for 4EVER2Binluv.
68 reviews
November 22, 2018
The serial killer trope was taken at such an interesting angle in this manga, and I got so hung up on the final panel it was so cute. Also kudos to a nice, plot driven Yaoi. Definitely worth the read if you like darker yaoi mangas!
Profile Image for Jo'.
145 reviews4 followers
August 1, 2022
Je n'ai lu que la première nouvelle après avoir lu un article l'évoquant. C'était assez particulier (romance bl horrifique/ thriller ?) et trop court pour que les personnages soient convenablement développés à mon sens. J'ai tout de même apprécié ma lecture.
Profile Image for HoodJoshi666{In Rue's Pocket}.
437 reviews16 followers
October 23, 2024
Dark and disturbing, is how I like my manga to be. I love fictional serial killers and it is even better when they obsess over someone. This manga also tells of the dangers of prostitution and pedophilia...
Profile Image for Hoda.
57 reviews7 followers
Read
October 30, 2025
This is the darkest shit I've read in ages. Huge trigger warning, yet I can't forget about it and how it felt reading it. F.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews

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