Adekan - a manga series by Tsukiji Nao
Written by a male manga-ka and set in the Edo period, it has elements of boys love and shonen action. The art-style is decoratively pretty, highly detailed at certain parts, somewhat Alice-in-Edo-landish at others, and even distorted at times, as if viewed through a fisheye camera lense. It has the same pace and action as Samurai Champloo. Most chapters are self-contained stories, at most spanning a second chapter.
The main protagonists are both young men, one a beautiful but slender teen, an umbrella craftsman with an assassin's skill and a mysterious background; the other, a handsome, upright, highly-qualified police officer who is straightforward and dependable. There is the underlying concept of being sworn brothers running through the series, and how that bond between various pairs of men plays out in their relationships and diverse fates.
Women, too, figure strongly in the stories, not just as weak girly shojyou heroines, but as femme fatales and psychopathic matriachs.
A sprinkling of horror and grotesqueness feature from time to time, while the use of a particular drug to enhance physical abilities, in addition to occasional risque scenes - mostly among pretty young men, make this a manga for older teens and mature audiences.
If the author publishes an illusto book, I'd like to get it.
The main protagonists are both young men, one a beautiful but slender teen, an umbrella craftsman with an assassin's skill and a mysterious background; the other, a handsome, upright, highly-qualified police officer who is straightforward and dependable. There is the underlying concept of being sworn brothers running through the series, and how that bond between various pairs of men plays out in their relationships and diverse fates.
Women, too, figure strongly in the stories, not just as weak girly shojyou heroines, but as femme fatales and psychopathic matriachs.
A sprinkling of horror and grotesqueness feature from time to time, while the use of a particular drug to enhance physical abilities, in addition to occasional risque scenes - mostly among pretty young men, make this a manga for older teens and mature audiences.
If the author publishes an illusto book, I'd like to get it.