Kyoushitsu no Yugami
I don't like this one as much as the sequel. It isn't as careful and psychological. This one is more self-indulgent, I think, and I find it odd that the teacher would be so careless as to risk this sort of thing getting out when he'd carefully groomed the first boy over a period of time. It's an interesting concept, the process of breaking in a plaything, and the prequel was disturbing and sad, but very well done. This was... okay. It had a slight edge to it, but it ultimately felt more like typical yaoi BDSM than Harada's work usually does. Though that thing with the toy and the classroom is definitely screwed up. I've never seen that used in such a dark way.
Ore, higaisha
"I'm too scared to ask, but I think maybe Shinobu is gay." ... .... .......... What makes you say that, guy who currently has the dude's dick up his ass??? This is the definition of what I hate in yaoi. For whatever reason, the uke is always magically worried about the seme or starts to find him attractive in the middle of rape, and it's like this weird romance. It's so gross. I'm intrigued by the strangulation fetish, so I checked this out, hoping it would be more interesting than your typical rape to love bullshit. It isn't. It just adds choking. Take the choking out and it's the same as a million other stories. I understand that Japanese culture encourages meekness, but I feel like the lengths ukes go to help others in these things is kinda pushing it. This story would have been cute if they'd started as consensual fuck buddies with no feelings between them, but because the guy just jumps the other guy, it's gross. Anyway, they were all supposed to be kinky, kinda twisted stories, but they came across as average stories with weird shit shoved in there. I know a lot of people are confused by the second story, but I kinda liked it. I wish it were a lot longer. You don't see a lot of stuff focusing on MPD, and when it is, it portrays the person as dangerous or something. This wasn't super accurate, but it was better than a lot of stuff out there. I also liked the fourth story. It was very sad, but I like that moment of realization, how he coped with the trauma and the implications of all the times he's seen monsters. The third story, uh... I'm not sure how to feel going into a manga that starts off talking about bloody diarrhea. Not my thing, but there are people out there who hate how yaoi guys don't poop, or at least bitch about it. So here ya go! Also, why is there a tragedy tag? Am I missing something? So far, no one has died.
KYUUSO NEKO O KURAU
I wish there'd been more development in that first story, since it had potential, but the way it ended worked really well. Sick and wrong, haha. The other one was typical of darker yaoi, I'd say. Still, pretty messed up, even if the guy kinda had it coming.
Yasaotoko to Sadistic
This was very sweet. Not perfect, but I liked the concept of a bully going after the guy he bullied. I'd like to see more stuff like that. The uptight uke kind of took away some of the fun for me, since I'm not really into the rigid, has-to-be-provoked-over-and-over type. I think he was right to not forgive his bully and start dating him immediately, but he was pretty uptight in his life in general. At any rate, I would have liked to have seen more of them when they were younger, but it was an interesting story. The stalking stuff was a bit more intriguing, too. That's okay, though. I'm glad they got their happy ending.
Chou to Kumo no Su
I love this mangaka, though this wasn't my favorite by her. Still, it was dark, sad, interesting, and complicated, like a lot of her stuff. I haven't read the manga it's the prequel to yet, though, so I wonder if I should have read that first. Poor baby, either way. I even feel sorry for the uncle, because he lost his mind. He wasn't like that from the start. I do have to ask, though, why did people tag this as incest? Am I missing something, or were there just that many people confused by the fact that he calls him uncle? He was dating his mother. They aren't related in any way, biological or otherwise.
Kishidou Club Bangaihen