Boys Next Door         "Adrian Clay seems to be just an ordinary 27 year old teacher in L.A. No one knows that he is actually a mass murderer known as the "Blind Man" who seeks out and murders young male prostitutes at night. One night, one of the young prostitutes, 14 year old Lawerance, a victim of a gang-ruled prostitution ring, is a witness to one of Adrian's murders. Adrian is sure that he will have to kill the boy since he saw him committing the crime but before Adrian can set any plans, Lawerance tracks him down first and faces the disturbed teacher. Adrian and Lawerance form a taboo love relationship, and the chances that they will be left in peace is very slim."

Title: Boys Next Door
Volume: 1 (of 1)
Creator: Kaori Yuki
Format: Unflipped
U.S. Publisher: None
Released in: Not Released In United States, Available at sakura-crisis.net
Pages: 99
Retail Price: N/A
Genre: Shoujo, Drama, Romance, yaoi
Rated: Probably M for Mature
Reviewed On: 2004


Contains:
This review is basically just over the story Boys Next Door because I haven't read the other two stories involved in the novel. I downloaded the translated version off of www.sakura-crisis.net and the review is based over this story alone.

Story:
For such a short novel, Boys Next Door manages to captivate the reader with its horrific storyline. This is one of those stories that make you want to cry and then cry some more. Not only is it extremely sad but it is very realistic. Things that happen in this story can happen! Because of that I could imagine the pain that the characters indured as I read along. Anyway, the atmosphere of the novel is perfectly portrayed through the story, artwork, and characters.

Artwork:
The artwork of Boys Next Door is pretty simplistic. The character designs look a bit childish for the dramatic series that it is, but they do tend to fit the overall feel of the novel (somehow, can't explain it). The characters are all done very well and i never had any trouble trying to tell the difference between the characters. The background isn't stunning either but once again it just fits the novel.

Characters/Character Developement:
The characters of Boys Next Door all tend to have a very dark substance surrounding them. Lawrence is a young male prostitute who sort of "cleanses" Adrian's troubled past. Adrian is obviously mentally unstable because at night he would go around and murder young, male prostitutes. Anyway, the characters are all developed really well and you can almost feel exactly what the characters feel as the short story goes along. Boys Next Door has some brilliant characters that are going to make you cry and curse things.

Summary (Warning: May Contain Spoilers)
Boys Next Door starts off at the end of the novel with Adrian, age 27, having killed his lover Lawrence. At that moment two men (who think that Adrian had been killed) walk into a room where Adrian is holding Lawrence's dead body. Then Adrian has a flashback which really starts off the story.

Adrian had just killed another male prostitute in an ally when two boys walk by and spot him. Adrian immediately runs off and drops a dog tag which reveals who really is. Adrian is thinking that he needs to go back and kill the two guys but before he can do that he is hunted down by one of the male prostitutes, 14 year old Lawrence. Lawrence hands Adrian a piece of paper telling him to meet him at a club tonight.

When Adrian goes, he finds out that Lawrence is indeed a prostitute and asks Lawrence what he wants. Lawrence reveals that he knows Adrian is the blind man, the person who has been killing the male prostitutes, and tells him that he wants Adrian to help him escape from his dirty life. Lawrence takes off his shirt and reveals a tatto which he claims is the gang's symbol. He says that he can't run away because he this tatoo on his chest because anyone who sees it associates it with the lead gangsters. Adrian runs off and starts to grow an obsession with killing Lawrence because of Lawrence knows that he is the Blind Man.

The next day, Lawrence meets up with Adrian telling him that his life as a prostitute isn't by choice and that he hates it (he kind of likes it too). Lawrence and Adrian have a very censored sex scene and while that is going on Adrian remembers his past.

Adrian was raised by a teenage mother who was raped by a carnival clown when she was sixteen. She never looked at Adrian and she always was bringing guys home for some sex. One day she took Adrian to the carnival she was raped in and just left him there. He made his way home and when he finally found his house he saw his mother get killed by one of her many boyfriends. She spotted Adrian and asked him for help, he just stood there by her side for days and watched her die.

When the flashback ends Adrian is crying and Lawrence tells him everything will be all right, he forgives Adrian. After that night the two of them grow a very strong relationship and Adrian truly falls in love with him. Well, this doesn't sit very well with the gangsters that Lawrence is involved with. One day they take Lawrence away from his new happy life.

After being gone for two weeks Lawrence shows up to Adrian holding a gun and a piece of paper. He said that he's going to kill him so Adrian kills Lawrence at this time. Lawrence falls to the floor and the gun wasn't loaded.

This is where Adrians flashback ends and this time he is on trial and sent to an asylum for insanity. Two years later Adrian jumps off the bacalony at the asylum to be with Lawrence once again.

Extras:
In the download I got from sakura-crisis i recieved some extra images and a read only file. Not much to talk about here (of course this was a download, so this is understandable).

Content Warnings

-Language: Yes
-Violence: Yes
-Nudity: Yes
-Sexual Situations: Yes


Purchased at: N/A, read at www.sakura-crisis.net

Overall
Overall this is an excellent manga. I wish the series could have been a bit longer though, 99 pages is very short. The characters are great, the drama is tear-jerking, and everything about the story is simply amazing. But i wish it was longer!!! Argh!!! Oh, if you are against guy on guy action then don't even bother downloading/buying this manga and take off like 2 points from the total score you homophobic bastard.

+ Strong characters, (though sad) the story is very realistic, excellent storyline.
- Not released in America (yet...). I heard the other two stories included in the book it was published in were crap. Also, the story is really, really sad.

8.5/10