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serenityvalkyrie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I have not read a manga since high school and wow this is the hottest manga I ever read! Can’t wait to read more!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
gwenswoons's review against another edition
Got halfway through and couldn’t manage to keep going (it’s quick, but I still couldn’t hang in). The tropes and gender dynamics are so sexist to me - I get that there are traditional storylines and that I’m not a manga fanatic, but for me the extent of the misogyny and gender roles is just too much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
kloughlin's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence
marie_thereadingotter's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I was not expecting this level of spice. I re-read several parts. I read this as an E-book through my library, and I can neither confirm nor deny that I made any screenshots of... certain pages.
There is a hefty dose of Insta-love. But, it didn't bother me. I took it as with Oya being a Yakuza boss, his life could end at any time, so when he met Yuri and was enamored with her, he was all in straight away. With how Yuri met him, he was classy and suave, and with all the other men around her being immature college boys she was easily swept off her feet.
It is realistic to fall hard and fast for somebody, but I would've liked them to have more interactions before they started dropping "I love you"s. I think it would've worked better had the first "I love you" been at the end of the volume rather than the middle.
I still plan on reading more. The spice is pretty on point. It's not often that spice in any book (Manga or not) actually works for me.
Oya is pretty hot too.
There is a hefty dose of Insta-love. But, it didn't bother me. I took it as with Oya being a Yakuza boss, his life could end at any time, so when he met Yuri and was enamored with her, he was all in straight away. With how Yuri met him, he was classy and suave, and with all the other men around her being immature college boys she was easily swept off her feet.
It is realistic to fall hard and fast for somebody, but I would've liked them to have more interactions before they started dropping "I love you"s. I think it would've worked better had the first "I love you" been at the end of the volume rather than the middle.
I still plan on reading more. The spice is pretty on point. It's not often that spice in any book (Manga or not) actually works for me.
Oya is pretty hot too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Violence
itsnotalakeitsanocean's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
- If I were rating this book based on how much fun I had reading it alone it would be 4 stars for the sheer cheesiness and trashiness of it all. Unfortunately I try to be critical with my reviews and vibes alone don't cut it.
With a title like "Yakuza Lover" (I know the JP title is "恋と弾丸; Love And Bullets") I was definitely expecting more on the yakuza side of things (I'm a fan of the Ryu Ga Gotoku series) but to my disappointment it was really just an excuse for the two leads to get into smutty situations as quickly as possible. You could have changed a few things to make Ohya some insanely rich guy without any ties to crime and fundamentally nothing would have changed.
Other Things I didn't like
- Instalove my detested, my arch nemesis, is back with a vengeance. I can't believe Ohya fell head over heels for Yuri just because she... [checks notes] tried to save her bestie and put herself in futher danger involving drugs? And somehow that makes him want to bang her despite them barely knowing each other? To each their own I guess.
- You'd think that considering how harsh Japan is on people who even so much as smell like illegal drugs there would be way more repercussions for Yuri or her friend but no. The stakes throughout this book are non existent because, as I said previously, it's all just a means to get the characters together so they can fuck as quickly as possible.
- Speaking of that last point, I swear having sex and very public PDAs are all there really is to their relationship. Not that there's anything wrong with having a healthy sex life, but seeing how this was advertised as a romance, I wish there was more of the two leads getting to know each other even just as friends.
- The way the artist draws teeth and tongues wigs me out; it's way too realistic compared to the rest of her artstyle.
A few silver linings
- I liked that Yuri wasn't a pushover without falling into the Not Like Other Girls or Pick Me territory. The bar is in Hell for this kind of thing and luckily this manga manages to cross it.
- This manga is funny but probably not for the reasons the author intended. Who says romance is dead when the guy you're dating just got you a pair of diamond encrusted earrings made from the bullet he got shot with?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Cursing and Drug use
Minor: Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
bev3203's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Gun violence
thenerdybookwitch's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
I’m okay with this so far! I do not ever judge on the first volume of a series so I can’t say much about this right now but it is decent. The love at first sight is not something I like but I like these characters so my interest is peaked. Cannot wait to see how the series turns out!
Content Warnings not available -
Nudity
Content Warnings not available -
Nudity
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing and Drug use
Minor: Alcohol and Sexual harassment
birdy's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Drug use and Injury/Injury detail
divineblkpearl's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Yakuza Lover is a fresh breath of air in the crop of shojo romances when you have a taste for more Josei manga content. And it does NOT disappoint-- it is STEAMY, STEAMY, STEAMY smutty goodness! Outspoken and fiesty college student Yuri has a fateful meeting with striking Toshiomi Oya, the underboss of a yakuza syndicate once night when he saves her at a party. Their meeting that night by chance leads them to meet once more and a love affair starts!
I think what grabs me the most is the handling of the tropes: bad boy meets girl” the mafia/yakuza man falls in love with an ordinary girl--certainly a hit or miss read for those who don’t care for those tropes or stories that employ them. What was refreshing was the push for consent in the narrative--Oya never pushes Yuri to do nothing she doesn't want to. It is refreshing to see her be assertive and take the reigns on what happens regarding their bedroom activities. There's a really superb scene near the end of the book between the two that is really illustrative of the mangaka's purposeful placing of Yuri on the page. Yuri's desires, her agency, the dynamic of being the only one who can see certain vulnerable faces and pieces of Oya and the power she gets from it. WHEW. That scene alone connects some much of the narrative tissue and holds together a pretty winning first volume.
Yuri isn’t a plain jane type of girl who is a timid wall flower. Oya isn’t a muscled brute of a man who deals in illegal backroom activities who doesn’t have much emotional intelligence. It is too early to truly say that they step out of their roles that we see them in now as they are still developing as characters but I can say first volume in: it is headed in a good direction.
The art is gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! I really became captivated by some of the scenes like the two lovers in a hotel in each other arms near a window with fireworks (not so subtly) signifying the climax of their passion. I loved all the chibi Yuri illustrations of her raging out throughout the book.
You want a delicious romance yakuza flavored for the manga reading grownups in the room? You may want to pick this one up. This first volume isn’t perfect, there’s a handful of pages with pieces of dialogue that tickled me as corny and made me laugh unintentionally. Some readers may think that the relationship has progressed two far too soon (towards the middle, Yuri mentions that she’s seen him once in two months due to his busy schedule)--yet I have to say that this first volume is a fast paced, heart pounding smutty volume of Josei genred manga that I loved reading. How often do we get Josei manga licensed and printed? This was a good move on Viz’s end (through the shojo beat imprint) who seem to be better known for their shonen titles.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Gun violence and Blood
a_libra_library's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence and Blood