 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | DIGITAL MANGA PUBLISHING | | | ▪ | AUTHOR / ART: | | YUUYA | | | ▪ | FORMAT: | | JAPANESE / B&W | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 200 | | | ▪ | RATING: | | M | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 05/13/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 05/05/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | HOLLY ELLINGWOOD |
Akira lived happily with his beautiful mother and his younger brother despite the hardships of his father’s family rejecting them. Yet when their mother succumbs after a long bout of illness, the grief Akira feels will soon turn to despair when his father, the powerful head of the Kasuga family, comes to claim him and his younger brother for his own personal gain. Forced to live in the cold and cruel corporate world his father rules, Akira finds himself working under Kyouya, his father’s right hand. After they meet, a path of vengeance and darkest desires unfold… Endless Rain is a captivating romantic drama. Revenge, rage, passion, money and power, it all is swept in to this stand alone manga to create a suspenseful story. Akira is soon used and used harshly by both Kyouya and his father. One does so for mere business, the other for revenge. But between hate and despair, could a spark of tenderness be found in even the hardest hearted of men? Akira is tossed into a sea of malevolent characters. What burns in his heart is the question about the man that sets his body on fire: Does Kyouya truly want him or is he just using Akira for his own wrathful scheme? The exchanges between Kyoya and Akira are electrifying. The tension between them is further fueled by Akira’s tragic circumstances and resolve to protect his younger and blind brother. Within all this steep drama, there are a few light moments of comedy involving the brother and his guardian, the scary looking Iwao. But other than those infrequent moments, the story stays deep into the angst and incendiary passion that would make a soap opera blush. The manga also contains a bittersweet tale about two childhood friends, one ailing and the other determined and energetic. As they grow older, the other’s condition changes and the young man who fell in love at first sight won’t let go of his friend, no matter what. A fateful decision has to be made, one with hard choices for these two young men. The illustrations are great. The attention to details in the eyes in particular is stunning. The gazes strike an emotional chord every time simply on the power of the imagery given. It is an explicit manga, one that has some incendiary scenes for yaoi fans to enjoy with the heady emotional content involved in the chemistry between Akira and Kyouya, two exceedingly different men. Akira is light and his eyes betray his emotions while Kyouya is as dark and as dangerous as he looks. The character designs immediately capture one’s attention while the involving tale immerses one into the drama and the danger.
IN SUMMARY:
After the loss of their mother, a beautiful young man and his younger brother find themselves thrust into the Machiavellian world of corrupt business and hidden desires. |
