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Devil’s Game by Ryo Takagi – BL Feature

March 22, 2016

Devil’s Game Volume 1

Summary from MangaUpdates: Having a body that sends out pheromones, that make people abnormally fascinated with him, one day he accidentally summoned a man who calls himself ‘Jin’ and is supposedly a devil. “I will help you make your every dream come true.” Listening to Jin’s seductive whispers he can’t help but ask him to cure his problematic body. But unexpectedly, this is the start of an obscene contract…? The price to pay for this contract is to have 24 french kisses or have sex with the devil every day?! This is the love story of a seductive devil and a pretty uke!

Review: Devil’s Game is a decently paced yaoi manga featuring two bishonen characters. One is a demon named Jin, who is in love with the main character. The other, Setsuna, is the main character with crazy pheromones that get him harassed wherever he goes. Since Setsuna is a megane, I was hoping he’d have a different personality than the cute, easily embarrassed, I’m-not-gay type that he has. It doesn’t detract from the story, however. That’s just my personal quirk. His personality could be explained away because he’s been alone out of fear of being harassed. Setsuna doesn’t want to admit his feelings for Jin, which leads him to some situations (more harassment from others) in which Jin ends up saving him anyway. Jin’s personality is more dominant and he waits patiently for Setsuna to utter those three magical words (hint: it includes the word “love”). There’s another twist at the end that’s easily solved. If the manga had more chapters, I think it could have been a great hook, even if it’s been done a million times. Every plot point and conflict tidies itself up perfectly. Not a bad thing for the size of the manga, but my major complaint is I would have liked to know more about the side characters, especially Setsuna’s best friend. A bit more depth and I’d have given it a higher rating.

This is a quick and fun read with no depth. Some of the side characters are conveniently forgotten. Jin has enough backstory to avoid any plot confusion. Setsuna’s situation is explained thoroughly, and often comedically. I’m not going to knock it for being so short. It actually did a great job despite its length. That’s hard to do.

Devil’s Game volume 2

Art: The art is pretty good. The leads and side characters are drawn attractively. There are times when I have to really look at a panel to understand what’s going on– especially during an explicit scene when they suddenly have long, curvy backs or the environment looks warped. It’s still not enough to really take away from the story, but perhaps I’ve got a high tolerance level.

If you are bothered by a shallow plot, you might not like it. But I do recommend checking it out. Not much to say about it. It’s a cute plot with humorous moments and hot men. It’s available as a digital purchase on Bookwalker.

Audience: This is a manga suitable for readers who are 18 and older. There are explicit scenes that show sex and nudity. Yaoi fans might want to check it out.