Content Warning: Afterglow contains depictions of explicit sexual intimacy between adults, as well as one instance of dubious consent and sex under the influence of alcohol. There are also depictions of blood, medical imagery, death, gun violence, stalking, and trauma.
Synopsis
Higuchi Kiyotaka believes that he is on the fast-track to becoming an elite cardiovascular surgeon after graduating from a prestigious medical school. However, after a traumatic incident at work that puts the trajectory of his career in question, he is transferred to a town in rural Kyushu to practice general internal medicine. One night, while wandering the town drunk, he encounters Tenju, a member of the local yakuza that his patients have warned him about. Tenju offers Higuchi a way to escape his sorrow—by drowning in pleasure together.
The Good
The visually arresting cover of Afterglow is definitely what caught my eye initially about this title. The inside delivers on that expectation in spades. From the first page when Tenju appears to Higuchi under the moonlight by the harbor, the art is luscious and gorgeous. The characterization of Tenju, the multilingual local yakuza, balances pushiness and gentleness, and the art is really cute when showing his sweet side. Tenju dressed in a blood-drenched suit is a sight to behold whenever the manga depicts him at work.
As a single-volume book, Afterglow is a self-contained story that manages to cover a lot of ground. The story is effective in explaining the motivations for Higuchi, a doctor who has been feeling lost ever since his failure to save a patient, and Tenju, a member of the local yakuza who is determined to win him over and show him a good time. I appreciate the brisk pace of how fast Higuchi and Tenju get together, leaving lots of room for the more juicy parts of showing their sexual chemistry.
People who want to add more uncensored BL comics to their shelves, you’re in luck. Afterglow is uncensored, with all body parts rendered in perfect, glorious detail. Tenju’s signature yakuza tattoo is visually stunning, and there are a lot of opportunities to admire it.
Somewhere In Between
I find it amusing that various side characters are somehow knowledgeable about Tenju’s activities and love life. They know to warn, comment, or interfere with Tenju’s relationship right from the first few pages until the emotional finale. It’s not believable to me that the background characters could know so much, but it does serve as a bridge between fixing the communication failures between the two leads.
I enjoyed aspects of Higuchi and Tenju’s relationship, and I find the two of them sweet together, despite the dubious consent aspect of their initial encounter. Tenju also appears unannounced at Higuchi’s house, which would be extremely disturbing in real life, but fits with the Hot Confident Gangster/Idealistic Doctor relationship for this work of spicy BL romance fiction.
The Bad
You sometimes have to suspend your disbelief when reading Higuchi and Tenju’s love story. There are certain emotional beats that I find incredibly unbelievable. For example, given Higuchi’s lifetime of high career aspirations, I can’t believe that Tenju’s romantic date location idea is actually effective in showing Higuchi the good parts of living in this incredibly small town with mostly elderly patients. Afterglow’s entertainment factor lies in its interesting romantic leads, and not so much its setting. One of the things I struggled a lot with while reading Afterglow was the depiction of Tenju’s accent. The accent in written form is a good way to differentiate between the voices of Higuchi and Tenju, but it could also be an immersion breaker since it is difficult to understand. It’s not all bad; I see it as experiencing the same struggle as Higuchi when he arrives and tries to parse the thick accents of his patients. At times, I genuinely struggled to read and comprehend what Tenju was saying, even as a native English reader. It definitely made me read more carefully and spend more time appreciating the art.
The Verdict
I followed the ChillChill BL Awards, and saw that Afterglow appeared on the list for the “Deep” category for being able to highlight the appeal of BL. The English edition of Afterglow meets that expectation. The creator was able to tell a cohesive story about adults meeting in a less than ideal situation, with lots of beautifully rendered uncensored sex, even if at some points, I couldn’t help but snort as Tenju spouted the most absurdly dramatic and sexy pickup lines at the blushing Higuchi.
Afterglow is a case of the doctor getting a big dose of “magical healing cock,” but also getting his happy ending despite Tenju’s dangerous line of work. The art has little details that I keep flipping back to look at, and the artist is a master at showing off the character’s beautiful anatomy with great attention to detail.
Despite the heavy themes of trauma and working in careers that leave emotional scars outsiders cannot easily understand, the story is balanced in a way that you can’t help but laugh and cheer at Higuchi’s naïve blundering ways. We learn a lot about the backstories of both characters through the many instances of foreplay and pillow talk. You should definitely pick this up if you’re interested in beautifully rendered erotic art, gorgeous sound-effect lettering, and two very different characters getting to know each other better on and off any sort of vaguely horizontal surface.
Afterglow is available in print and digitally from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, Bookshop, and Indigo.
If you like Afterglow, you might also like…
- Praise Me When I’m a Good Boy by Yodaka Kuroi
- Wet Sand by DOYAK
- Mobsters In Love by Chiyoko Origami
Credits
Story and Art: Wagimoko Wagase
Translation: Minna Lin
Adaptation: Casper Kazor
Lettering: Kaitlyn Wiley
Cover Design: Mariel Dágá
Copy Editor: Leighanna DeRouen
Proofreader: Joshua Hardy
Production Designer: Brennan Thome
Editor: McKenzie Carnahan
Published in English by Seven Seas Entertainment
Thank you to Seven Seas Entertainment for providing a review copy. Receiving this copy did not affect the reviewer’s opinions as expressed here.
Article edited by: Stephanie Liu
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