Aka ya Akashi ya Ayakashi no

What a hidden gem. Seriously. And it's kind of disappointing that AkaAka is not getting much attention. (I'm also upset with myself because I only recently got to know about this)

I stumbled upon this manga when I was looking for some BL Games (since this was actually based on the visual novel game and was in the BL category) but NO. It's NOT BL or Yaoi.

I love Ayakashi stories myself so when I found out about AkaAka, I started playing it right away! And then I discovered that it has a manga adaptation too! And one word.. WOW.

Story: 9/10

The story is about Yue, a boy who descends from the mountain and sneaked out in order to go to the festival for the first time, together with his animal-like-protector friend, Kurogitsune. To Yue, every human looks exactly the same but he met these two mysterious high school boys who really piques his interest.

What are those two boys role's in Yue's life? Especially when the Mistress of the mountain ordered Yue to go to the human's town everyday and befriend those boys in order for Yue to prepare for his "meal".

Something like that. I actually love the story. I do think it's original and interesting. Some people said the game is BL but well... not really. But maybe if you squint hard enough, you'll find something.

Art: 9/10

The art is really great. Cute and detailed. But I think I still like the art of the game more. Though the Yue in manga is much cuter because I think he's much more expressive here.

Character: 10/10

I just love all the characters! I love how all characters actually have a "role" in the story. I think they are all well-organized and each character left an impression to me. They're really lovable, interesting and mysterious.. especially Yue. He's such a cutie patootie.

Enjoyment/Overall: 10/10 / 9/10

It was something different so I really enjoyed it! The plot is really interesting and it got me hooked! The manga is still on-going so I suggest to play the game after reading the manga (though of course it's in Japanese and unfortunately the game is not fully voiced but nevertheless, definitely worth playing! I'm not done yet though).

It kinda reminds me of Natsume Yuujinchou since at first glance, Yue looks like Natsume. But they're really different to each other. I mean the plot. The only same thing they have is the "Ayakashi" theme. I find Natsume Yuujinchou really soft and sweet and nothing too complicated while AkaAka is, well it's sweet and funny too but the plot is much more deep and intriguing.

(Don't get me wrong though! I love Natsume Yuujinchou myself too!)