Kei X Yaku Bound by Law Volumes 4 and 5 Review
Spoiler alert!
Twenty years ago, an explosion at the Tetra building (in Tokyo) resulted in many fatalities, including the parents of Ichiro Kunishita, now an agent of the Tokyo Metropolitan Public Security Bureau. Ichiro’s superior, Rion Takaba, disappeared three years ago when she was investigating the shadowy figures behind the terrorist incident. So their boss Superintendent Taguchi paired Ichiro up with Shiro Hanabusa, Rion’s brother, to pretend that they’re in a gay relationship but secretly to carry on searching for Rion. To complicate matters, Shiro is a yakuza lieutenant – and has also been having affairs with prominent politicians, notably the current prime minister.
Shiro and Ichiro have played along with the deception, moving in together but, drawn closer by their love and respect for Rion, they’ve uncovered a conspiracy involving the grown-up children of four prominent politicians behind the Tetra building explosion. They’ve also been targeted by a skilful female assassin who took Shiro (recovering from flu) as hostage.
Shiro wakes up back in the apartment he shares with Ichiro to find Rion sitting on the edge of his bed, with Ichiro and Taguchi hovering behind. She’s been in hiding for the last three years while the investigation into the bombing and those responsible has proceeded. It seems that it wasn’t just the four politicians’ children that were involved; a spy working for ‘country B’ has been identified who’s been working with the female assassin who kidnapped Shiro. But now it seems that others are targeting the four and one after another, they either disappear or are involved in fatal ‘accidents’, leaving only one still alive: the prime minister’s son who’s been currently ‘ill’ and in hospital (hoping he’ll be safe there). Armed with the name of the fifth bomber, Lon Aterof, Shiro and Ichiro set out on his trail – but he proves to be elusive. Another near-fatal encounter with the vicious female assassin, Nina, leads to her defiantly telling them about Lon, “He’ll come to you… but only if you kill me first.”
With the few possible leads fast diminishing, the hunt is on to find the elusive Lon Aterof before anyone else is eliminated. This leads Shiro to make a very risky move in going to a secret assignation with the prime minister (on the strength of their onetime more intimate relationship) in the hope of learning something significant. At the same time, Rion is on the trail of Nina, the assassin, an equally risky move. And Ichiro is fretting. He’s discovered an overt threat to his childhood friend Chika, the pâtissière. Having lost his parents when he was young in the bombing, he’s been hiding how vulnerable he feels and when Shiro sets out on the dangerous assignment to meet with the prime minister, he’s left behind to wait, silently thinking, No! Don’t go! Not again… I can’t lose someone else!
Kei X Yaku Bound By Law continues to bowl along at an agreeably slick pace, perfectly suited to a fast-moving thriller while not forgetting to include some cute (and believable) moments for the BL fans. Mangaka Yoshie Kaoruhara is very skilful in getting the balance right and this slow-burn relationship never gets in the way of the action. Having said that, fans keen to see Ichiro x Shiro become an actual relationship instead of just for show won’t be disappointed as even though it’s little by little, each volume brings them a little closer together. And they argue! A lot! (Always a good indicator in BL/romcoms of growing mutual attraction and understanding.)
Much of the fun/enjoyment from reading this series comes from the little chibi moments and the BL tease incidents. In Volume 4, our two heroes, soaking wet, end up seeking shelter in a Love Hotel where – of course – they have to share a bed. And what a bed it is! With overhead mirror and a motor that makes the bed rotate – which, rather than adding to the sexual frisson of the moment, just makes them both burst out laughing. There’s plenty of fun one-page shorts and endearing little bonus comics as well which are entertaining as well as revealing more of Ichiro and Shiro’s daily life together. One bonus (which would be nice to have in other ongoing series) is a two-page character guide and ‘The story so far…’ at the front of every volume.
Translation is (as before) by Kevin Steinbach and reads very well; the one-page translation notes included in each volume are really interesting and helpful. Lettering is again by Dietrich Premier and also helps to make this a slick and entertaining read. There are no colour illustrations but praise for the mangaka’s stylish cover art (if you begin to line up the covers, you’ll see the body language of the main couple gradually changing from volume to volume reflecting how they feel about one another) and for Phil Balsman’s cover design for the Kodansha US edition. The series is ongoing in Japan, with twelve volumes released so far. Praise also to Kodansha for bringing us a volume every two months; Volume 6 is due out in May and Volume 7 in July. Still recommended for a slick and enjoyable thriller, laced with humour and a dash of BL for good measure!
Our review copy from Kodansha was provided by Diamond Book Distributors.
