Volumes: 6/6 (Complete)
Shounen (reads like)
Genre: Fantasy, Fighting, Dragons, Ancient China, Reincarnation, Magic
Summary: There’s a new ruthless warlord gaining power, Lord Torao, who slaughters anyone who stands in his way. He doesn’t even need to use his own soldiers, he possesses the ability to hypnotize anyone with an alternate animal form into doing his bidding. Hiryu and Ryukei are brothers in a gang of Robin hood like bandits, and their father, the gang leader, is killed for refusing to submit to Torao. His dying wish is that he tells them to help the Princess Ryurei, who was coming to get a special magical gem in his safekeeping, a gem that Torao is after as well.
They soon meet the Princess, reunite her with her gem and they find out she is the Dragon Miko Princess as well as the daughter of the current emperor. While discussing how she can take out and put away her gem, which is basically her soul, Hiryu and Ryukei both discover they have Dragon Gems as well. And not just ordinary gems, but the King of the Heaven Dragons and the King of the Water Dragons’ gems, and also can turn into Dragons too. Can they protect the Princess from Torao’s henchmen and stop his evil plan?
Review: This series is really an odd beast. It’s Shoujo, but reads like Shounen, from a mangaka who is most famous for her yaoi manga FAKE. But this manga itself has zero Yaoi content and is as straight as an arrow. It reads like an old legend set in Ancient China and the focus is on the two brothers protecting the Princess as they discover their own destiny is intertwined with hers.
The plot is alright, mostly they fight off Torao’s henchmen and those hypnotised by Torao, later they discover (mild spoiler warning) all three of them are reincarnations of their past selves, and they failed to stop the true bad guy behind Torao in their past lives, and must succeed this time to save the world.
But the major problem with this series is that it lacks dramatic impact. A lot of things happen, starting with Hiryu and Ryukei’s father’s death. But it just doesn’t feel like a big deal, and it’s mentioned like twice afterwards. At one point an entire village is slaughtered in a gory way, but it feels like nothing particularly terrible happened. In a weird way the series has more focus on the random light comedic moments and light romance content. It almost ignores the central fighting plot like it’s heart isn’t in it.
The main thing that makes this manga unusual is definitely the two brothers, who can shape-shift into a Dragon form as well as use Dragon Gem magic. But honestly this plot-line was disappointing. In the end, Hiryuu trains for 2 years to master his Dragon form and magic and then in the final battle he ends up fighting it in Human form, with his sword. The only part that was neat was the little cute Dragon familiar/mascot.
Recommended: All in all there are only a few who might want to read this. One is fans of the well known Yaoi manga FAKE. The others, maybe some fans of Dragons, although this plot-line could have been much better than it was. Lastly maybe some who are interested in stories based on ancient Chinese legends. But overall this manga isn’t really of general interest to most readers.
Other works by this mangaka (from most to least popular): FAKE (yaoi), Until the Full Moon (yaoi), @Full Moon (BL sequel to Until the Full Moon), Trash (BL). Tenryu is the author’s least popular work.
Age Rating: PG13: for some mostly humorous mild male nudity. Some slight gore and very mild violence.
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