Well, there’s no sex, but there’s…ramen. And yakuza. rakuza? yamen?
Kakeru is the son of a local ramen shop owner, who is forced to take over the restaurant after the Osakaki yakuza took both his parents from him. Ukyo, the heir to the Tatsumori yakuza family, falls in love with Kakeru at first sight and desperately wants to make him his. Only one problem – Kakeru hates yakuza for ruining his family. Ukyo then decides to go undercover and help Kakeru with the restaurant to try to steal his heart and show him that not all yakuza are bad guys.
This manga has a heartwarming premise that makes it a really cute read, although it’s not very believable that Kakeru wouldn’t be able to tell Ukyo the yakuza heir apart from Ukyo his restaurant helper just because he puts on glasses and wears his hair differently. But the story doesn’t take itself too seriously and makes this comedy element work for it. I mean, certainly this makes Kakeru seem extremely naive, but that very much fits his innocent personality anyway.
Ukyo and Kakeru are a very wholesome couple that are just so adorable together that you don’t even think about how old Kakeru might really be (and they don’t say either character’s age). CJ Michalski – who, by the way, is fully Japanese, but “picked a Jewish nickname because she thought it would be funny”- definitely favors the shota-esque uke look and Kakeru is very much the “classic Michalski uke.”
Ukyo didn’t have a choice in becoming a yakuza heir and goes out of his way to prove that not all yakuza are bad people. Perhaps because of this he is extra well behaved, his love is pure and wholesome and he never tries to force himself on Kakeru which is…not always a given in yaoi. But annoyingly, this book is rated M despite not having any hanky panky. I mean it didn’t really need it, but fake M ratings are kind of annoying. CJ Michalski has this sort of cute-happy art though that makes you go ‘awww,’ so there’s that at least.
The story is definitely cliche but well done despite this. It has a happy ending but it’s a little unsatisfying and leaves you feeling like there is or should be a part 2. Michalski says at the end that one was tentatively planned, but it seems it didn’t have a true sequel, only two episodic doujins. I can’t find either scanned online but one is apparently a kemomonini sex scene and the other is “Ukyo taking advantage of a drunk Kakeru” so neither really have anything to do with this story, and also don’t sound too wholesome which is the main reason I liked this couple. I mean I guess I was hoping for like, continued story with a side of sex, but like loving sex? Maybe I should be careful what I wish for next time…
TL;DR: Cute little dramedy with charming art about a yakuza heir romancing the yakuza-hating young son of a ramen shop owner by pretending to be a different person and work in the shop to win his heart and prove he’s not a bad guy. Cliche and a bit silly but heartwarming and a very sweet and wholesome pairing – but sadly there’s no sex or anything physical really. It has a sort of faux ending and appears the series was meant to continue but only apparently has two horny doujins and not a true continuation.
TheBL Rating: 5.5/10