This one was really weird. So weird in fact that I stopped after a chapter to first read the original version this book was based on. (You can find my review for Machiavelli's The Prince here)

After reading the original I came back to this story and although I understood it better now, it still wasn't working for me. Let me explain. The book is basically two parts mixed together. The first part is an English translation of the original book, not unlike the Gutenborg version I read. This story is then intertwined with comics that explain what's being told in the previous chapter as well as some information to understand the historical/political setting of 15th century Europe better.

If I recall correctly this book was first published in Korea, and I think it would work better there as an introduction into European history/politics. What I know of 'modern takes' from Asia on the Western History (aka Hetalia) was indeed not unlike this book. But it's not something I'm accustomed to, so it wasn't really working for me. There were some strange anachronisms and a recurring cat dressed in renaissance clothing. The drawings looked a bit simple to me.

I'd expected something more like the Manga Classics I've been reading last year, but it was nothing like that. They stay very close to the original story, and although this book actually has the original text in it, it feels much like it diverges a lot more. This certainly was a weird and unusual read.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

In case you didn’t figure it out from the synopsis, the main characters in this manga are gay men. I’ll go ahead a give a couple of little warnings for those interested in manga. This one has a whole lot of sexual references, but it’s not terribly graphic or anything. There’s also a good bit of language, which makes sense since it’s about the mafia and all.

I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed this series. The first three volumes didn’t impress me too much. They were funny, but kind of weird. It seemed like they were more about sex than anything else, but there were a couple of little things that kept me reading. One was Mookyul’s relationship with the chairman, who he claims is a father figure, but has really been molesting him since he was a child. Well, I guess it’s really never confirmed that he was molesting him as a child. I suppose that could have started when he got older, but still. He was supposed to be his guardian, not his lover. It was just sickening and I wanted to see how it got resolved. The other thing that hooked me was the past encounter between Mookyul and Ewon. Ewon’s words when they were in middle school really changed Mookyul’s life. I thought after all that the series might get a little deeper, so I kept reading. And I was right!

The last three volumes were exciting and fast-paced. With the mafia involved in the plot, things got really intense and out of hand at times, but it only brought more excitement into the story. I really loved the last volume, in particular. There was a lot more depth to it than the others. There was a emotional look into Ewon’s past and how it shaped him into the hardworking person he is. By the end, I felt like it was worth enduring some of the less appealing parts of the manga to finish the story. Though there was more sex than I normally come across in the manga I read, it wasn’t graphic. It was mostly some drawings of them in bed under the covers or just discussion about sex. The humor was good. There wasn’t too much of it, but it made me giggle whenever it did pop up. The art was really great. It’s very crisp and sharp, but I liked it. I liked watching Mookyul’s character soften and Ewon’s character tear down the walls around his heart.