A good, quick read. Was funnier them expected with some laugh out loud moments. Has a fast start. Was a good read with some mystery. Will continue the series. But did notice a couple spelling mistakes.

Ichiro is an agent with the Tokyo Metropolitan Public Security Bureau and he is ordered to make contact and surveil Shiro, a yakuza hotshot. The mission takes an unexpected turn when they realize they are both trying to make sense of the disappearance of Rion Nakaba, Ichiro's senior and Shiro's sister.

I loved the Kei x Yaku tv series that is based on this manga and I was so excited to get the English ARC for it! Thank you NetGalley and Kodansha Comics!

It's been a while since I saw the series, it aired in 2022 if I am not mistaken and I did watch it back then. So, in a way I re-fell in love with this series. I love the mystery and police x yakuza member setting but it is also really funny!

I also really love the title, in these years I have learned enough Japanese to understand the geniusness of it! Kei comes from 警察 (I am pretty sure that's the kanji but I also wouldn't bet my life on it) / けいさつ / keisatsu meaning police. And Yaku comes from yakuza. When they are put together you get 契約 / けいやく / keiyaku which means contract.

This is definitely not the kind of vocabulary I learned in class but I low-key want t try reading this in Japanese... But nonetheless, I am very excited to continue this series and how much it differs from the show!

If you don't know what BL is, you probably shouldn't be reading this. That said, it has a great plot and it's fun to watch Ichiro and Shiro interact. There's a spark there that could develop nicely.

This was the first time I received an ARC for a manga and I’m absolutely in love! The story between Ichiro and Shiro has so much tension I can’t wait to see what happens next between them! I loved that they’re both looking for the same person despite being on opposite sides of the law. Such a fast and great read!

I'm a simple woman; I love pretend relationships and slow burn. And Kei and Yaku have both of these things and more.

The plot seems simple: we have a policeman and yakuza boss who have to work together to solve a case, but not everything is as simple as it looks. 
I really enjoyed the dynamic between characters and how they slowly learned to trust each other. 
But the thing that got me really invested in this story was the disappearance of the boss/sister. I will try to read the next volume to see how it ends.

I only have one complaint, and it's about how the main characters move in together after one meeting to keep up their cover. I'm not sure why Ichiro's boss believed in it. Otherwise, it's a really good story.

Ichiro is an undercover police investigator. He is really good at his job but one case he can't seem to crack is the disappearance/murder of his superior officer. His boss is about fed up with him trying to pick at the case still after all this time. He sends him on his next mission, to get close to a young yakuza that is getting familiar with some of the politicians in the area. An unexpected connection causes Ichiro to join forces with Shiro the yakuza to unearth some information.

I really like this story. It is a lot of fun with humor throughout. I can see myself continuing this series.

*3.5

this was more fun than I thought it would be ! (surprised me a bit…I don’t have much hope for bls these days) so silly, and campy a bit at times (yum), and even though im not loving the art style that much, but it’s not bad (i think i might even end up liking it if I continue reading this series… im easy to please 😩)

Thank you to Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for an advanced copy of this manga.

Absolutely adored this manga. I’ve read a lot of yakuza manga and the dynamics here between Ichiro and Shiro is my favourite.It’s the perfect combination of mystery, action, fake dating trope and comedy.
Two individuals in completely opposite fields of work but being bound by a common goal leads them to forge a bond of life and death while they purse the truth of what went down three years ago. They don’t trust each other right off the start but it’s gradual. And we see how much they’ve put in line and how much they’re willing to sacrifice to reach that goal. The storyline and characters were drawn out so well too,I’m way too invested in this story to find out what will happen next.

I read the first volume so fast that I’m actually regretting it now, I need the next volume and more of KeiXYaku please. Loved the chibis of Shiro, he was so freaking adorable. My boy deserves all the happiness in the world, Ichiro needs to protect him at all cost. And the last part, special chapter ‘Dirt on the boss’ was so funny; Shiro posing a domineering boss act with Ichiro as his secretly kept lover, absolute gem.

Ahhh I loved this novel! It was sweet and funny and engaging. I’m definitely curious to read more in the series.

The art is fun and I love the mix of more cute, cartoon style in the bonus stories.

Love both mains and the plot line!

I picked this up because the cover looks cool. The story strikes a good balance between drama and humor: I'm actually invested in the mystery and the interactions between the leads are hilarious. They have a fun dynamic and I can't wait to see how the romance will progress. I need the next volume now.

𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 4.5 ⭐️
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁:
💛 Yaoi Suspense Manga
💛 Agent/Yakuza
💛 Fake Relationship

Ichiro is an agent looking for his senior, Rion’s, murderer when he’s tasked with surveilling a yakuza (crime) hotshot who beds a lot of politicians, Shiro. What the two don’t realize is Rion is Shiro’s sister and he’s also looking for her murderer. The two pair up as a fake couple to hunt down the truth.

This was a SHORT volume and I’m so friggin sad! It had humor, unintended flirting, and so many emotions! The plot was actually really good and I loved the sharp lines of the artistry!

For a first volume, it had all the facets of an addictive yaoi manga and that makes me incredibly happy! This is probably going to be one series that ends up on my shelves.

𝘙𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘵𝘦: NOW AVAILABLE
𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠. 𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙬𝙣.

Really enjoyable! I think their relationship will end up being a lot of fun to watch develop (even in the midst of the not-fun parts of the story). The author really captures the sense of friendly chemistry between them and will be interesting to see if it turns into something more. Definitely looking forward to the next volumes.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this story.
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

This kind of reminded me of two other manga's/anime's that I know of that are kind of similar to this plot, good guy and bad guy working together because of ____ reason. I had to look up if this was actually a BL though or just like a bromance story and it wasn't definitive online. Some people said it was a BL but others said it wasn't because the boys don't kiss in later issues (I think there's more issues in Japanese but this is the first english translation). Either way I was really interested in the plot. The boys are really funny together and I enjoyed the plot of them coming together to find someone they both loved. I'll be on the lookout for more of this series.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for an advanced copy of this manga.

This is a fantastic manga! I'm hooked already!

The premise is really interesting and we dive right into the story straight away. There's so much potential for a million twists and turns in the future of the story.

I'm hoping we get to find out more about our main characters in the following volumes as the focus on this volume was more world building and getting the story started. Both of our main characters are still mysteries. I'm excited to see how their partnership (and relationship) evolves.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, for allowing me to read the ARC for this book!

This was a good start to a new series, an interesting plot premise. The art throughout is really well drawn, and i enjoyed the bits of humour throughout. I would like to continue with the rest of the series, and would recommend to anyone who enjoys mystery, and a touch of fake dating.

The plot starts off dark, with an illicit affair, an apparent live-streamed killing, and a secret mission given to one of the two male leads. However, we quickly get a taste of comedy with a censored bag full of BL erotica given to the main protagonist. This manga expertly balances dark and hilarious tones, pulling you into the mystery and hitting you with jokes along the way. I enjoyed the art and the character design. I'm definitely keeping an eye on this series!

A cop and a gangster team up to unravel the mystery surrounding the disappearance and supposed death of a woman with ties to both of them.

I was pleasantly surprised by this one. The two leads are interesting and their clashing and evolving dynamic makes me want to read the next volume.

Received via NetGalley.

Kei x Yaku is one of those classic buddy cop stories except one of them is a cop and the other is a high ranking member of the yakuza. The added twist is that they have to pretend to be lovers while working together to find someone that they have in common. I rather enjoyed this 1st volume. I thought it was a nice introduction to the story and to the world. It got right to the point, and gave you a tease for the dynamic between the two in the future. I am wondering though, if this story will end up being BL or just bait. Either way, I look forward to reading more of this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I'm not usually big on Yakuza manga. but apparently when it's BL I'm here for it. For a first book, this was delightful! I'm eager to see where the boys' 'relationship' goes, I want to know what happened to the missing boss/sister, and some of the dialogue was just genuinely amusing to me. Great start to a story, and I will absolutely be checking out more of the series!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this manga.

I really enjoyed it. To be honest, I will read anything with a hint of BL. I would’ve loved an actual moment between the two main characters, but I’m interested to see how their relationship develops. The characters themselves were cool, and I loved the differences. I’m looking forward to the next.