[REVIEW]

This is a fun light BL series. It's so well known that I kind if feel silly reviewing it. The main characters are Florian and Noir. Noir is a jewel thief who buys Florian from a noble family in decline. Noir is, of course, a scoundrel. He usually puts up a carefree exterior, but how much he comes to care for Florian does come through. Florian may be the damsel in distress more often than not, but he is not a simpering or meek character. He has a strong moral sense and is rather reckless. Though, he has a conveniently weak constitution at times. That means we get to see Noir taking care of his poor Florian.



We sometimes see our boys 'in pain' from being whipped or tortured. Sadly, we never see them all sweaty and panting out of pleasure. Noir's fondness for whips and his ownership of Florian hints oat all sorts of lovely, kinky things that will never happen. Still, their adventures are well plotted and lots of fun.

There is a third major character named Laila. She seems plucky enough to start with, but turns out to mostly be a one note character. She is in love with Noir and is jealous of Florian. After a while the endless variations on 'why can't he love me?' really get annoying.

You Higuri is one of my favorite manga artists. Her work is fluid and detailed. Her style works well with the formal clothes and ornate decorations of Paris at the start of the 20th century. While Gorgeous Carat has some dark themes, this series is less serious then her other well known period piece, Cantarella.

Overall, it's a fun read with some m/m sexual tension and gratuitous hurt/comfort. The storylines are somewhat episodic. There is a one volume sequel the this series, called Gorgeous Carat Galaxy, put out by June. There is no overarching plot, either on the action side of things or on the romance side of things. So, don't expect this story to come to any sort of conclusion at the end of volume four, or even at the end of Gorgeous Carat Galaxy.

Mangaka: You Higuri
Publisher: Blu (Upcoming Releases | YaoiWiki Entry)
MSRP: $9.99
Censorship: None needed
Warnings: None
Disclosure: Volume 4 was a free review copy