uuuuuhhh it's a reread from me

achingly sweet with a really interesting ch 5.5 (i, a universe of atoms, an atom in the universe).

"i guess you'd prefer a space we can go to rather than one that we can't"

i cry every time i read this... but like in a good way

a story so absurd that i can't help but like it. the stakes are artificially raised incredibly high in a way that is obviously satirical, but the manga is still sweetly earnest when it counts.

i will literally never be over Yamamoto x Will, i cried reading this is 2010 and i cried again rereading this in 2020. this manga is a wonderful mix of character and plot driven story telling. it explores themes of grief, longing, repression, found family, and healing extraordinarily well and has (obviously) aged like a fine wine.

the art is superb and the stories, while incredibly formulaic and predictable, are nevertheless sweet in a way that makes my cynical old heart smile.

the art, the caring relationships, the plot, the imagery, the symbolism, the magical occult. what more could i ever want?

the beginning 2/3s of the story, which involves so much denial of feelings and hopeful-to-a-fault actions that i thought i would vomit, is worth cringing through to get to that sweet sweet healing and enthusiastic mutual love at the end. explores themes of trauma, adequacy, maladaptive vs healthy coping, and changing for the better (for other people, but also for yourself).

it's fun, it's historical fiction, it's political intrigue, it's romance, it's conquering the world for each other. what else do you want?? (more chapters. that's what.)

i always know what's going to happen, yet i always cheer when they get back together.

Yashiro being unapologetically his weirdo self definitely influenced my personality when I was younger in a way that made growing pains acutely sharper yet still worth it in the end. I love the kookiness of the characters, the blind devotion of Doumeki, the story telling that takes this beyond just another yakuza-themed BL.