Guilt|Pleasure

I wanted to give this a much higher review, but with fade-to-black sex in a previously erotic series, and taking *checks watch* at least 8 years to wrap up this storyline, I just...can't, even if the art is still pretty. For those curious, this officially ends one storyline, but doesn't begin the next, and leaves things in limbo once more for Asano and Shinohara.

As someone with PTSD, I'm really not a fan of the Mnemosyne project being the go to. It's implausible, and that's fine, but what show more about hypnosis therapy? Regression therapy? Maybe those things came up 7 years ago and I've forgotten.

Overall: I'm dinging this for not even ante-ing up to do an explicit scene between Asano and Shinohara given it was their last moment to be intimate together before we roll into the events of the first half of the series. Additionally, the 'science' behind the PTSD is implausible and some of the statistics are just flat out wrong. I don't mind ridiculous stuff being made up for a storyline, it is fiction after all, but it was hard to suspend my disbelief for.

In addition, there's no kind of glimpse of what to expect from here on out, and at the end the 'we hope this revelation was worth the wait' but...it really wasn't. We got the most interesting part of the story in the first half, and the last half has been largely dry exposition, far less explicit sex scenes, and what feels like writers so invested in exposition that they lost track of pacing.

It should not have taken so many chapters (or years) to simply reveal that Asano wanted to use the Mnemosyne program on himself once we knew - from Shinohara all the way back in chapter 8, that Asano was the mastermind of the plan. That's stacking your story with the most interesting content first, and the least interesting content last - no wonder they published faster in the beginning; that was their best content and they were probably/possibly more passionate about it at the time rather than side projects.

I think the last half of this arc existed to give a better idea of Shinohara's character, how much he loves Asano, and how much they work as a relationship. But with the skimping on the sex scenes on a regular basis, constant fade to black, and far less emotional connection, it really misses the mark. By the end, I didn't care about Shinohara's feelings, which is going to make whatever the future volumes hold (I suspect or hope recovery from the new exciting potential PTSD that Asano is going to have from Shinohara's actions) much less interesting for me personally.

I don't know if I'll continue with this series. For me, the most interesting chapters were 1-9, and if the publication schedule is anything to go by, that was true for the authors as well, and you know what, it shows.

I know some of you probably have far more patience than I do, and much respect to you. But damn, I've gone through cancer treatment while reading this series, I'm not going to live forever, and 8 years of my life for something that ends this arc with a whimper and not a bang gets a solid one star from me. show less

Oh my god. FANTASTIC! My first manga, and it had my heart pounding, my imagination completely captured, my eyes wide as never before. I love this type of story especially: fatalistic, abusive, physically harmful passion, with love underlying it all and making this particular pairing special; the potential for (and history of) tragedy.

At first I was confused as to what was going on in the prologue and the transition to the artwork scenes, but it soon becomes clear that it was the dreams, show more something supernatural I am supposing (what with the mention of "this is where your wings used to be" and the drawing of the black, wispy, billowing, sheer material that has burst out from his back that I liken to wings--the cover of chapter four), but it is still unclear--both to the reader and to Katsuya--exactly what type of power is at work.

I really liked Katsuya as the protagonist, he was brilliant, resistant to Shinohara's games, and a hero I am excited to learn more of. Shinohara was amazing as well, he is certainly psychopathic, but from a psychological standpoint (psych was my previous major in school) psychopathic individuals are fascinating. And that's what you find out through every meeting, both in dreams and in reality...how fascinating and complex Shinohara is. How he can talk about his past doings in such a normal light and try to rattle Katsuya, but he is also completely earnest in his twisted desires. I am a sucker for the tragic, evil hero as well. I half wish that the Phantom had won Christine at the end...but (sigh) that is neither here nor there. So honestly, as long as Shinohara holds Katsuya distinct and special from the others, and treats him as such, I am pulling for him as well as Katsuya.

I love that twisted kind of love that should not work, but somehow grows. But, I don't know if Katsuya will ever love him back, Shinohara himself thinks not, and if he does eventually, will he then be like every other to Shinohara? Shinohara said that every victim loved him at the end, so is Katsuya's power in simply having been different up to this point, using Shinohara's ego against him to catch him, and resisting him? Will Katsuya's value disappear if he submits willingly?

I am so, so, so excited to read the next volume. To tide myself over, I also will probably soon read the prequels. This book is just so intense, probably because of the graphic drawings, the deliciously dark subject matter, and the intriguing characters. I adored this book, read it straight through, have already looked back at certain scenes and phrases that I loved, and will continue to hold this as an amazing experience I very much enjoyed. I definitely recommend it if you can handle the subject matter and drawings of the scenes. It is a beautiful story, and has magnificent and intricate artwork that takes the story to a whole new level.

P.S. A question for anyone who knows, are the chapters coming out one at a time, then being gathered later into volumes? I noticed that this volume had the cover artwork from chapters 1-5, so I assume that is correct. show less

From the synopsis, I expected this to be a dark story: a serial killer is willing to talk, but only to the police psychiatrist who helped orchestrate his capture. What I didn’t expect was the violent sexual imagery (since it’s listed as yaoi, I had anticipated Asano having a lover & romance outside the case). The book opens with a prose prologue, which is unusual in manga/yaoi. However, it was an excellent tool to give the reader background to set the stage. Soon after he agrees to show more interview the killer, Asano begins having horrific nightmares of being violently raped by him. And the first such nightmare immediately follows the prologue, in explicit detail. Thereafter, the story shifts between the actual interviews and Asano’s nightmares – all violent, vivid and extremely graphic.

I would not classify this as yaoi because it is not a love story; not even a so-called rape fantasy. I think this manga would be better classified as horror. Though they are nightmares (and not “really” happening), the sexual situations are disturbing, and involve bloodshed. This manga is not for the faint of heart. However, the graphic rapes do fit the serial killer storyline. I gave this five stars, not as a yaoi romance, but as a horror novel. Though the ending was predictable, I am still interested in reading volume 2. Especially considering this closes on a cliffhanger. Overall, recommended to those looking for a dark, edgy manga, but those expecting romantic yaoi should consider themselves warned. show less

Originally published as In These Words, Vol. 1

US-trained psychiatrist Asano Katsuya, is asked to extract a confession from a suspected serial killer. Due to the sensitive nature of the crimes the police wish to keep everything secret, so the psychiatrist has to interview the suspect in a locked house from a dilapidated part of town.

Shinohara for his part, is quite a piece of work, acting all friendly and unbothered by his fate. And much to Asano's consternation, he also reminds the show more psychiatrist of a faceless man from his nightmares. One who keeps declaring his love as he rapes the protagonist...

I've been wanting to get into dark romances for a while, but none of the romanticized violence or overall YA feel of them particularly appealed to me. This title has been popping up in my Google search results whenever I was looking for yaoi manga with pretty art. Given my recent(ish) liking for Japanese horror, I finally decided to give it a chance. And booooy does it deliver.

It feels rather misleading to call any part of this series a "romance", even though later volumes do contain a strong romantic subplot. But at least no one can accuse the author(s) of putting rose tinted glasses on the horror aspects. Then again, if you're squeamish about graphic violence I would strongly advise you to give this book a wide berth.

I know this is explained in the following volumes, but I had quite a few issues with the premise of the story. So the police chief sends Asano to extract a confession from the suspect. Which he does, like right away, because the guy at no point tries to deny any of the accusations. But for some reason this is not sufficient and Asano just keeps on having interviews with the creepy dude. The psychiatrist doesn't question any of this, presumably because he's too busy coping with his chronic headaches? Granted, I was also very very distracted by the beautiful artwork so maybe I just missed something.

Score: 4/5 stars

Having gone through all 4 released volumes, I should warn you that the series is actually not a Japanese manga, but rather an American doujinshi which is set in Japan. It's also incomplete, with the most recent chapter (not yet bound in a volume) released some 4 years ago.

By the way, if you're interested in the English edition be prepared to dig. On the Internet but also deep in your wallet. It's nigh' impossible to find, and when you do, it goes for insane prices. I've decided to go for the German translations, because I could get them fairly cheap from a second hand bookstore. Technically, I got the first three volumes in German, and the 4th one in Japanese (by mistake). Still, at least the latter came with an extra short story (Little by Little). show less