"Sensual" best describes this volume. Yuri - feisty college student - and Oya - Yakuza underboss of the Oya Syndicate - engage in a passionate romance filled to the brim with sweet-nothings, sex, and serendipity. A lot of the work escalates immediately for my own reading pleasure, yet I cannot deny the fantasy this work wants to portray. I can honestly say the immersion of this escapist tale is bold as it is effective - capturing the in-the-moment tug-of-war of intimacy and heartache. Sex, while prominent yet not revealing, serves as an extension of their love for another, stimulating to the heart if you will.

I do not think this is a work that appeals to me - the plot and characters are threadbare (though the former may just simply have to do with it being an emotional narrative) for me to latch on to anyone. If anything I would say, Yuri serves as the reader's vessel to sensually experience Oya in all his sexy and perfect glory. Though not one I typically search out for, Yakuza Lover is certainly a unique experience of unapologetic escapist pleasure.

If you want to read something steamy, then this is definitely the title for you. Unfortunately anything else and you have to look elsewhere. This volume was ok, but is far from being something I would actively seek out. There isn't really a fleshed out plot line, and some of the dialogue was silly. If you want shoujo romance, then this isn't it.

Reading <i>Yakuza Lover</i> is a combination of the thrills of reading a slightly cringey romance novel and watching your friend make a terrible relationship decision. If that sounds like your idea of fun, welcome! Because this really is the best of both of those scenarios. The story follows Yuri, a twenty-year-old university student in search of a boyfriend. She makes the mistake of going to a party at a random stranger's house, where she gets lost trying to leave and ends up in a room hosting a shady drug deal. She's busy defending herself and her friend when Mr. Oya walks in and saves the day. The problem? Oya's the underboss of a Yakuza family, which doesn't stop he and Yuri from falling in...something. The book tries very hard to sell it as love, but honestly, it's looking more like lust from where I'm standing.

From that point, <i>Yakuza Lover</i> embarks on a torrid narrative of a potentially doomed love between a yakuza man and a young woman who is purportedly smarter than this. It's filled with sex (this is Viz's most explicit josei release to date, even counting those two Tomu Ohmi series), truly embarrassing dialogue, and a dude getting his eyeball shot out. It's absolutely the sort of book meant to be read under the covers with a flashlight while giggling like a ninny, and while I can't call it an objectively <i>good</i> book, I can say that I had a lot of fun reading it, and at the end of the day, that's probably all that matters.

I AM ENTIRELY OBSESSED WITH THIS SERIES!! I adore the direction of the series, and this series is SMUTTY TO THE HILLS AND I AM THRIVING BECAUSE OF IT! I was excited when I heard about the release, but I am truly a long time fangirl for this series after this first volume.

If you would like my more in depth feelings about this title, please check out this review vlog! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6vAlr5I5CE

Yakuza Lover Vol 1 introduces Yuri, a feisty college student and her budding relationship with the crime boss Oya. After a chance encounter at a party, Yuri and Oya begin a straight-up sexual relationship without really getting to know one another. There chapters seem to spread across several months, each depicting an event in their relationship. Please note this is a sexually explicit manga not suited for young teens.

Although the premise was interesting, this is not a romance. The storytelling style is abrupt and most of the encounters lead straight to the bedroom. It's hard to tell if this is intentional - perhaps the character development comes later. If you are looking for Shojo - this is not for you.

The artwork was absolutely stunning but there was MAJOR insta love between the two love interests that honestly made the love seem.... ingenuine?

I am glad to say that I have enjoyed reading the first volume. This manga does contain erotic themes so I would recommend it for those who are older. The manga is about a college student that falls for a yazuka boss and how their lives are slowly mending into one another's.

This manga is a nice read and I enjoyed the art style but I do have one thing criticism about the manga and that is the pace of how the male lead and female lead fall for one another is really fast, it's nothing too bad but I love when the romance is more of a slower pace but the mangaka does get to the point really fast which I find nice.

I

Well, this is a lot was a lot of sexy time-which was not unexpected. But I did at times get the feeling that any attempts at constructing a narrative suffered as a result. Everything about this was fine. You do at least feel some interest towards the romance between Yuri and Oya, but it is also super abrupt. I find Yuri far more interesting when he is on her own-fending off would-be suitors with a suitcase and such. This book seems best described as a graphic novel version of 50 Shades of Grey for the new adult audience. All-in=all, this is is not my cup of cocoa and I hope that future volumes do a deeper dive into the story and some character development.

For Libraries: This is not a YA title.

So I thought I was getting something along the lines of Mayu Shinjo type manga but Yakuza Lover just does not work for me. The plot is confusion, I thought the review copy was missing pages at one point but no it’s just a really jumpy plot and the characters just have no purpose beyond being there for dreamy eye / sexy scenes.

Smut can work but generally with the Manga’s in that genre there is some plot and character development.
Toshiomi Oya (the Yakuza leader) likes Yura because she lifted a chair and yelled at drunk guys who were hitting on her and her friend. She likes him because he offered her his coat and didn’t kill her during a drug deal. She then falls in love with him for…. reasons (because he’s pretty I think) and he loved her because – pass.

There are 8 books in this series so far so it must be doing something right. Maybe the second book is where it’s at but as a first volume I don’t think Yakuza Lover really works at selling this series.

This was a highly enjoyable Josei title! I'll be providing a more in depth review on my blog, so please wait for it.

The premise was interesting but the story and plot was not well developed and was to fast passed. The story solely focuses on smut, but it would have been much better if it was a slow burn with better developed characters and better focus in the ramifications of the relationship.

Great for anyone interested in Josei Manga. Story is romantic with a side of Yakuza scares that may not be for everyone. However the chemistry between the two main characters is electric, and even though Oya is a crime boss, it is difficult to dislike him. I would recommend this title to Older Teens and Adults that have graduated out of Shojo and want to move to more adult themed titles.

Yakuza Lover originally ran bimonthly in a publication named "Premium Cheese!" and I could not think of a more appropriate origin for this title. The cover, I think, is obvious enough to indicate that this title is for older audiences. While this book is not quite fantasy or isekai, it does inhibit that liminal space where noble yakuza exist---they are the attractive, and somehow they are absolutely irresistible to our heroine. This is as cute as it can get, for a romance manga that features the yakuza, and for "gratuitous" it chooses sex scenes over violence. It was a very fun read and sets up promising new developments for volume 2.

Okay, so my first thought reading this was that this must be an old title that’s finally getting an English release, but after looking into it, it seems that nope this is a brand new title. And honestly, it looks way too old for it to be new. The art style is something I’m used to seeing in titles from the nineties, not brand new series that have to compete with more up to date looking art styles.

I’m not having a go at the style. It’s very nostalgic, and I don’t know if it’s in the style of romance series, but it has some pretty panels. The problem is that nothing about this manga feels new. The art looks old, the story feels so recycled that I swear I feel like I’ve seen it before, and you get the sense of where the story might go because it’s been seen in every other romance story out there. Everything about it feels old. The story doesn’t do anything new or add spins to new tropes to freshen up the narrative, so the whole story feels stale.

And it’s sad because I’ve seen manga art styles be revamped for the modern day. Rumiko Takahashi is known for her distinctive art style, but it was updated and revitalised by Syundei’s shonen ai “Go For It, Nakamura”. And I loved it. It was a great homage and it made me feel nostalgic for the art style. So it can be done.

Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe this is an older title and maybe I’m being too harsh, but even so the story is weak and overdone. I hoped for something new, but was given the same old tired tropes.