OK, I took a couple of days before commenting and I read it more than twice.
My first impression was, it was somehow hollow. So I put a lot of attention into details - someone wrote it's all in Keiichi's eyes, and I agree with that.
Sensei is amazing. She draws in a way I never saw before. She puts everything into shades. Look at this one:
http://www.mangago.me/read-manga/kuroneko_kareshi_no_afurekata/mf/v01/c012/21/
…what does it really mean?… I'm under the impression there is something more beyond appearances. Like Angelo holds something against Keiichi (Ei himself says openly he's protecting himself, keeping Jin away from that man), and he decides to take it to the limits. Keiichi is a leopard, after all, and sometimes, it's like he might have killed before. He was not the cleanest man in the world. Yes, he drugged Shingo and practically abused him (even though, reality is, Shingo liked it a lot, it was not raping, c'mon). But maybe he had bad intentions that only turned out into a love story. It's like Keiichi is a complete mystery. I wrote this before, we know nothing about him besides he loves Shingo crazily. But who the hell is he.
So, I really don't know. I disagree with those who take every word literally. Of course a ring can't be shaped into a form that won't allow to get rid of it. Of course when Keiichi says he wants to bully Shingo he doesn't mean it literally (actually, that seems like a romantic little game).
"it doesn't matter even if it hurts" that is not about sex, I think it's clear, Shingo means he is ready to stay even if it scares him.
"there's no problem with this suit, right? No problems" no problems, in my opinion is not about the suit or work in general, he's talking to Shingo, and to himself.
But there's something more. Like a sad undertone, like there's really something dramatic above their heads. Otherwise, a couple of pages more, and the story could have happily ended.
So, in the end…there are two possibilities. Sensei is creating a pattern for another story (and I hope so, personally)….or she lost her narrative rhythm, but it's hard to believe, all of a sudden. I want to trust her.
One last consideration: I don't know if somebody else noticed that before, but Ei's really amazing. That man has style. I admire his composure. She should write again about them.
"Keiichi is a leopard" and " It's like Keiichi is a complete mystery"...this!!! I really like your comment overall because I agree with you. I would like the development of Keii's character a little bit more, I have the feeling that sensei probably will surprise us! (I hope).
My one and only reason to go on with this story is Fei Long. I adore him, he reminds me of someone. Of course the manga itself is a masterpiece, but it's kinda laborious after all this time, for me, and the story is like loosing attraction to my eyes… but I'll hold on, because I can't miss Fei Long, whenever he might come back. If I ever felt in love with someone else's character, that's him. Thanks for the update to Ch. 3!
I understand you, he's so interesting...and so dark. *O* :)
he's so familiar, to me, it was a shock to see him portrayed in a manga. I could easily say, my favorite character ever. Asami must be stupid, not to be head over heels for him. Maybe, the idea of someone who would be his peer is too much, for him.
the reason(s) it would never work two dark dragons together would wind up eating each other. They could never learn to trust one another or share their power. Asami is not an idiot. would FeiLong give up Being the head of Baishe to be with him? Asami would not give up his role in Jpn. also Talaba does not pose the same threat to Asami (Take over) that Fei could. they are both proud men and like the leadership role. Neither would give that up. Takaba compliments Asami in a way that is private, not public. He has no part in is bus. side. In my opn. that is why FEI/Asami would not work. and Asami never loved Fei that way.
I never saw the problem there. First of all, the argument that they are too much alike, that often comes up: I don't see that. In my country we have a proverb that says equeals love seeking each other's company. Why shouldn't two strong individuals form a great partnership? Why should one have to be the leader and the other, consequently, have to be the follower or weaker person? My husband and I are both very strong, very headstrong, likeminded and similar people. Do we fight? Sure. But we have learned to commit, cooperate, to compromise and most of all: to respect. Why should it just be one person taking the lead constantly? It's a partnership of equals. The lead changes constantly. In this case, both men are cut frorm the same cloth and could complete each other perfectly. I also don't see a problem keeping business and private affairs apart (my husband and I run our company together). These guys are not mental toddlers. Had the circumstances been better they could have and would have worked out how to make a business and private partnership work.
I love seeing Asami and Akihito together. But I don't believe for a second that Asami and Fei wouldn't have worked.
He remembers me so much the dark ladies of Edgar A. Poe: Berenice, Morella, Lady Ligeia. That's the reason I love his character so much. :). I'm agree with you about Asami, in his place I would fall in love with Fei completely, *o*
Don't forget that this story, as it is outlined, is more stereotyped than real life. Also my husband and I are very similar in our everyday life and it doesn't matter. :)
i don' know but perhaps you will love read castel heaven. read it and tell me if it's to your taste!
Whose power will he side with? We are not talking abt. any bus.here . We are talking abt. the kind that can get you killed if you piss off the wrong people. If a deal goes bad Asami is on one side and Fei is on the other how do you chose? who makes the choice? Suppose there is a war and they are have to chose sides bec. of who they are?( you forget FeILong is head of Baishe). Fei can't just walk away from that and he would'nt,
Fei Long is also my favorite character, I adore him so, and so I understand your pain of not having him in the manga. While I do think Asami and Fei Long are a good match in theory, remember that Asami was TASKED with leading Fei Long away from his roots. He does begin to care somewhat, but not enough to be love-- and he abandons Fei Long and goes back to Japan anyway. Fei Long despised Asami for leaving him alive, because he left him alone.
But what I do think is interesting is how Asami placed his man, Yoh, in prison with Fei Long for all those years. Was this his way of watching over him? Or was it simply a matter of having a double agent to keep over a newly made enemy? But I digress...
In the novel Fei Long seems to make up his mind to move on from Asami anyway. So I don't think there's hope for an Asami/Fei relationship. But I would like to see them together more. Perhaps they'll team up to take down Mikhail?
I can tell you instantly that it's probably in my top three…but when I read it, I think it's my absolute favorite. It's the kinda thing that… let it go. Let's say I love it ; thanks anyway, the tip was good!!!
I'll answer to the rest of you replies all together. First, thank you for replying! Well…. I can understand @Reality bites' point of view as well @Anonymous'. In a way, you're both right. These are mafia bosses, they can't simply go with the flow. They have to be in control, I perfectly know, but still, this is a manga, and it's full of non-senses anyway (thank God. We have enough of reality in real life). The real question is whether or not they might have built a common business; in that case, it would have been a matter of personalities. My first impression, the first time I read it, was that Asami had for Fei Long a respect he simply never shows for Akihito. It really seemed he was a little bit too much involved. Here I appeal on my own personal taste; Akihito is pretty, Fei Long is astonishing. What do you want for more, for yourself? And Fei Long is even much erotic, as a lover, lascivious. Besides, Asami is a M. And I highly doubt Fei would allow him all those nasty little games he loves to play with his boytoy. But that's the point. Asami, in my opinion, is not portrayed as a realistic masochist, that would mean someone really weak in the end, insecure of himself, Asami is portrayed as a very strong man and, as someone pointed out, he helped building Fei Long's position. Yes, he loves S&M but he's not an addicted, that man does not get addicted to anything. He's free, he can choose his path. So…it's all really twisted. Not to mention the scene where they met at the hot-spring and they used Akihito just to play together. That's a plain excuse to have sex together without admitting, and I go with Fei, "this is really something". What I do not want to see in the future, is Tao becoming Fei's lover. I have a higher opinion of Fei Long. He should not pair with a young and innocent boy, but with a man that can stand in front of him and be his equal. That's true love, girls, not a man that spends most of his time humiliating a silly boy to make him feel who is the master. Asami is better than that, I know, but as far as the story as gone, he still has to prove it. My impression is that time…not only Fei Long, but the both of them lost the occasion that comes only once in a life time.
Fei Long will never be with Tao. Tao is Fei Long's nephew. The dream he has he even says: I dreamed something monstrous.
The hot spring bonus chapter is an AU for fanservice. It's not canon and didn't actually happen. And yeah Tao is Fei Long's nephew so dont worry about them being together lol
At the end of the novel Fei Long and Yoh seem to be on track to end up together.
From my point of view Asami didn't abadon Feilong voluntarily, in my opinion something happened between the moment Fei fell unconscious after his biological father shot him and the moment he woke up in the hospital. What if Asami needed to pull all of his strings to get himself out of the s**t that time (because he killed a politician)?
And was left with no other option than go away from Fei and Hong Kong?
I agreed with Reality Bites.
What @Anonymous said is also true for couple who have common goals and work together to achieve them even when they are headstrong. However, the story line is not about regular people who have strong personalities get together and build a company. This is a story of 2 powerful underground leaders from 2 different countries who want to expand their territories to outside their home countries yet do not have the intentions to give in to one-another. Each of these men has responsibilities and obligations toward their subordinates. The fact is people from one country do not trust others from another country when their loyalties are in question. Feilong's people are devoted to him and stay faithful to him, that means they would have problem listening to Asami and same goes the other way around also. By saying Asami and Feilong can make their relationship works is like saying it's okay for the US president to marry the Queen of England just because they are good together and it can work and they can run their own countries impartially.
Fanservice does not equal AU necessarily.
Fei fans can't accept that Fei has not been a major part of this manga since many years ago and he will never be again. I don't see him getting an arc to himself which is what would be required to realistically pair him up with either Yoh or Mikhail without giving it a very rushed feeling. So I don't see that happy ending happening for him. Fei is beautiful but his character is so dull and angsty that if I were Asami I'd pick Akihito all the way too. Who wants to be in a relationship with a man who's basically still hung up on events that happened 7 years ago and is showing obsessive tendencies towards you. Definitely not me. Even if he was gorgeous, sorry I'm out. Apparently Asami aka sensei shares the same sentiments since they chose Akihito as well. It's done, it's over. Fei will always be that unrequited love angst character. It's kind of ironic how Fei was unable to move on and it's mirrored back in Fei's fans as well.
You are reminding me of Casablanca again. "Listen, Fei, it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three horny people don't amount to amount to a hill of beans in this world. "
Why can all three of them just partner up for threesome and live happily ever after cause I love all three of them can't choose.
That last sentence was gold.
Well said.
Isn't it a natural reaction to be sad when your favorite character is taken out of the story? It's not like that's something Fei-fan-exclusive. ^^ You said he will never be part of the story again, but in reality no one knows whether or not he will be - there's neither proof for nor against it. :)
His hairs are the most beautiful hairs I've ever seen ^///^. He's so mysterious too.
There's a breed of Fei fan that is like a proxy stalker who can't let go of their ex. If they could key Akihito's car, they would. I can't imagine "laboriously" reading along with no investment in the main story, which is the relationship between Asami and Akihito, desperately hoping that this is somehow going to be turned around and a secondary character who was written off thirty five chapters and multiple years ago will show up and take over. I liked Fei but girl, move on. This manga just isn't that into him.
The reality is that I cannot really empathize with a character like Akihito. He is nice and very loyal and funny, but it's not realistic to fall in love with someone that started the relation the way it did, unless you are a complete imbecile with no dignity. Always remembering that this is a fairytale we read for the pleasure of reading, I feel completely comfortable in finding the main plot… boring, lately. I saw ch.3 new release and loved to find Fei for 5 seconds. Girls, you're right about the the hot-springs episode - I bow to your attention and log memory! But still. I guess even the Mikhail's appearance made me think we might see Fei comeback (not necessarily against Asami - more realistic by his side). This for personal reason too, I'd love to see Mikhail paired with Fei. I donì't really like him but he's russian, it would be interesting, for me, to see what it happensa. (I DON'T think this will happen, just saying). If nothing happensa again, I will survive and treasure those really nice chapters for the rest of my life. Amen (๑•ㅂ•)و✧
You are the best! ლ(´ڡ`ლ)
It would be the best solution for a lot of people! :)
I see Feilong coming back soon too!
I'd surely love it. But if it ends in a threesome as Mika suggested…poor Akihito. Just this. Poor little thing, he will NEVER get a night of sleep again. Not that any of us would really team form him, in that case. We'd ask for more. Damn, we're bad.
See? Figurative car-keying. This is where it always goes with the Fei fans, and this time it's victim-blaming. Akihito is an imbecile for falling for the man who raped him. (Even though this manga does a good job of showing the evolution of his feelings over a long period. It's not the "insta-love" of other yaoi relationships that begin with rape.) Meanwhile, murdering, kidnapping rapist Fei is everything that is good and wholesome in the world.
FeiLong is her most extensive develop. charac. He has a backstory. We know his father and bro.(not his mother) We have some idea abt, how he got to were he is unlike others. He strikes a cord bec. his strength hides his need to be loved underneath his bluster. he is accessible,he stumbles , falls . He tries to make amends to Takaba for what he has done,even offering him a place with him. He is easy to adore, esp. with that hair. You want to cure his ills and wash that hair at the same time. Takaba will cry his pain out, Fei can't. Also Asami cont. to help Fei after he was sent to prison, He sent Yoh in to make sure some one had his back. Yoh helped to keep him alive so that he could rebuild when he got out.
(づ￣ ³￣)づ(づ￣ ³￣)づ !
Wait a minute, I never gave him any justification. To me it's perfectly clear he's a criminal and, to be honest, I don't give a damn for Akihito because he almost seems to like it (or not dislike it too much; see it as you like, he's being "trained" and, in the end, perfectly works for him), but I do not forget what kind of traffic Fei Long lives on; drugs and weapons, the worst crimes among men. Maybe you have some personal issues with his fanbase, but this is not the case, sorry. To me, he remains the most interesting character . A good character must not "good" but well-written, and these are two completely different things. Take a breath.
what then is Takaba. ? Balance. Every thing Feilong can not be. Takaba is. His Independent nature is what drew Asami to him. when they first meet? He does not care one fig for the dude in the expensive suit. He wants to take him down. THIS hits Asami like a ton of bricks. For a man who is used to people fawning all over him he is stunned. Takaba is not chasing to get into Asami's pants, it' was the other way around. Asami wanted Takaba's body and heart. What is it abt. Takaba ? Maybe To Asami Takaba is home.
We have all read the manga, we all know Fei's backstory and character, and yet many of us do not empathize or even like Fei's character. Just as how you find Akihito's story ridiculous, I find Fei's story boring. Pining over one man for so many years and even kidnapping his lover for his attention, to me that's pathetic, desperate and weak. If you like Fei Long fine, it's all down to personal preferences. But when you have to put down the main characters and make up all sorts of reasons to justify why Fei just wasn't loved by Asami, you come off as a little bit desperate and pathetic. Coincidently, much like one character in this manga.
Fan service, yes (according to sensei). That doesn't mean it is AU. Those are two completely different things.
Balance would suggest a form of equality in their relationship - which, I am afraid to say, I don't see.
Very well-said about him being the most interesting character (including his extensive background, unlike any of the other characters) as well as being a well-written character. That is, what draws me in (and not the hair). Fei made the storyline interesting and for many chapters, even volumes, after his departure, I found the plot lacking substantially. It has picked up somewhat on the drama Richter scale recently, but we will have to see where that leads to.
Very well observed and going along the lines of what blackdia says, namely, that he is interesting because he is so well-written and complex. And like you said, he is the only one with a proper backstory. It's his complexity that I find interesting. There are shades to him. He is 3-dimensional. And I can easily say, I have zero problems with Asami and Akihito being together, but I would like Fei to be back in the story, because he adds spice. And to be frank, the plot needs a lot of spice right now. Yes, we have had an apartment attack, blabla, but plot and development wise, that is all still pretty meh.
Whoa. Are you seriously pulling the "he liked it too much" card? You are aware that he was drugged, right? And that orgasm during rape is a physiological response and not uncommon. Next you'll suggest it wasn't rape because Akihito didn't get pregnant. Dislike Akihito for being heedless and too trusting, but let's don't stoop to slut-shaming him for having an orgasm during a drugged assault.
Again, you sound like a jealous woman. Move on. Asami has.
girls, I mean al of you, chill out, I expressed a personal preference. A story with only one good character wouldn't be able to live so long. I might be wrong - it is a chat, after all, it's easy to et the wrong impression - but it seems to ma you take it all to a personal level, and it's not the case. It's only a proof of how good the mangaka is, when different people find different reasons to love the plot.
I have no idea what's on the mangaka's mind, but I had the impression that she achieved such a great success she had to go on incessantly without the previous inspiration. I fell like I've been misunderstood - I wasn't trying to slay any characters, it's only good when different people find different reasons to love the plot. For me, Fei Long character was a more intense one back then, than the others actually are, because of his troubled past AND present. He's considered to be a man of honor, but "honor" is really something else. It's not easy to reply the impact of a character like that, and requires a good writer to abandon such a strong figure. Then, we could discuss what makes a manga "popular" I sometimes thinks that as far as it goes from reality, the better it is. The characters who tickle the "romantic" view of the readers surely are those with the highest success - even though n reality there's nothing romantic about them. To read others people's reactions is very interesting, to me. Very interesting.
Posts like yours are the reason I still come here to read the comments section every now and then, because they give me a new insight into the characters or, for lack of better word "food for thought", making me look at things from a different angle. I really like the way you think here and I think you "get" all those different layers to the characters.
Quite right, none of knows what the mangaka is thinking. As far as we are concerned, it's really only guess work. And it really is one thing I have been often wondering about: Why, out of all these characters, did she give Fei this rather detailed background story? Sure, it was necessary to lay the foundation for the relationship between this triangle relationship between Fei - Asam - Akihito three years later, no doubt about that. And it was certainly necessary that way and it works. It's still interesting though, that we never got a bit more of a background for Asami or Akihito. I get it with Asami: Sensei keeps him in the "mist" or the "shadow" on purpose, it adds to the whole enigmatic, mysterious aura. But there was no need for that with Akihito, yet we still know fairly little about his background (other than his friends - and we haven't seen them in ages). So those are questions that alwas leave me intrigued.
Oh, and for what it's worth, I didn't feel like at all you were trying to slay any of the characters. I like what you said: It can only be a good thing, when different people have different reasons to like a story. As long as we can all agree that we like something about it, that our reasons for liking it are all valuable and that there really is no problem and we all have a common denominator. :)
Ok, I just signed up just in order to comment on this, although I read a lot on this site (thanks and love to the wonderful staff!).
First, hallo everybody. I share everyone's concern about Shingo's happiness and their future as a couple, but I think we all know that they'll be together in the end. It is not necessarily true in any kind of plot, but with this one, I feel pretty sure.
Second, something I never read, is that we don't really know who Keiichi is. What we know is that is brother almost destroyed himself "for the family" (his duty etc.). But in the end, he's a very fragile man, and extremely tender at some points; I don't know about you, but I melted when he screamed that Shingo is "HIS" little brother. It was so touching; that is who he "really" is, a man that loves his brother completely. But in the beginning he acted so dumb. It is easy to love little Shingo, but money and social position are not everything in life. We have no idea where Keiichi's own frailties might lay on, and I think he proved several time how much he loves Shingo, not only sexually. The story is full of tenderness from him to Shingo, c'mon. Sometimes he's so romantic he's pathetic. It is not realistic to believe he chose his career above love of his life. I think there's something laying underground we sill cannot see. Remember... as they happily end up together the story will end, and, if for me, I want it to go on, like, forever. Sensei makes a living out of this! Let's forgive her for these strong emotions… she's just creative!
Ugh, couldn't agree more! I just hope they make up soon! :D
...me too…but then, sensei has to invent something else! I'm too much in love with this story.
Hey girls, as an old-time fan of Saint Seiya, should I give it a try?… I must admit I'm scared it would ruin the mood, for me. What do you think of it?