vignette00's manga / #Yakuza(21)

5 stars for the NightS, probably only 4 for Reply on its own. NightS is my favorite of Yoneda Kou's works (barring wherever Saezuru is going to take us), as it perfectly encapsulates her ability to mesh plot with sexual/romantic tension. The relationship is consummated, but only superficially. Reduced to the tropes (sexy older knowing uke manipulates younger naive seme) it sounds silly and predictable, but Masaki is sexy/older/wary/flirtatious-but-dangerous honed to knife-sharp accuracy, and the dialogue between him and Karashi is endlessly entertaining. As always, Yoneda Kou is best with shadows/lightplay. The kind of oneshot that makes you wish it was a series. (Reply is good too, but more clunky because it's necessarily about two people who are bad at expressing themselves. The payoff is satisfying for someone who likes Yoneda Kou's aesthetic, but would be highly unsatisfying for a typical bl story. In some ways it has the atmosphere of Hidaka Shoko ("Arashi no Ato" in particular).)