Like the Beast by Kotetsuko Yamamoto

 

Tomoharu Ueda is content being a police officer in his neighborhood. He likes helping people, and in return, people like him. One night, he gets visited by a yakuza who turned to be the victim of the underwear thief he caught the previous night. The yakuza is Aki Gotouda, the heir of the Gotouda group, who thanked him for catching the thief. To Tomoharu's surprise, Aki confesses that he has feelings for him. Thus starts a forbidden relationship between a police officer and a yakuza.

My Rate: 9 (mangaplanet.com/comic/5facb14faa491)

If I have to pick a work by Kotetsuko Yamamoto, my choice is between Like the Beast and What About Tomorrow. Usually I don't like when the characters are too childlike, but I will give it a pass, since in Like the Beast the two are actually adult men, looking like teenagers, but nevertheless of age. The series is not particularly sexy, even if there are those moments as well, and it's a Romeo and Julius like romance, between a cop and a Yakuza. But if you consider the Yakuza looks like a middle age school boys, and that his wrongdoings seems more like juvenile acts, then the drama is out of the picture, and only the romance remains. To me it's a bit too long as a series, but indeed, you can get attached to the characters and it's nice to see their development.

Touch within the Abyss by Moyori Mori

 

A love story between two lonely people, spun with overwhelming artistic skill. A promising debut work from a new star!

"If you knew the real me... you'd be disappointed."

Hitman Chinatsu once failed to pull the trigger on his target and it cost him his brother's life. That day, the sole witness who took Chinatsu's trembling hand had clear eyes that stared right through him... straight into the abyss within.

Five years later, a purse-snatching reunites Chinatsu with his savior: Kasumi, a young blind man searching for a way out of his own lonely world. Chinatsu knows better than to get involved with a potential witness, but he can't help but be drawn to Kasumi's radiant smile. If Kasumi knew the truth of their provenance, could he ever forgive the sins of Chinatsu's past?

My Rate: 9 (amzn.to/3XCod3d)

Touch within the Abyss is quite a lyrical story, and even if the atmosphere is really heavy and the theme a little dark, it's an happily ever after story so read it without worry. The art style is almost ethereal, and Kasumi seems a little childlike, but that is just cause he has led a sheltered life; all the opposite of Chinatsu, who should be a villain, but indeed it's a good man who is able to conquer Kasumi, and to treasure him. The love story is really sweet, but it's indeed a romance, it's clear the two of them will form a couple and build a family of their own. They are two lost souls, lost for different reasons, who meet and fill each other void.