Kei X Yaku: Bound By Law - A Review

I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

Title: Kei X Yaku: Bound By Law Vol. 1

Author: Yoshie Kaoruhara

Publisher: Kodansha

Rating: 3/5

I promise this isn't becoming a manga blog, though I will be posting a few more manga reviews in my capacity as a Netgalley reviewer. Today's review is of Kei X Yaku: Bound by Law Vol. 1, by Yoshie Kaoruhara, published by Kodansha and available May 14th.

Kei X Yaku has a clever title. Kei is the first part of keisatsu, police, and yaku is from yakuza, the Japanese system of organized crime. Put together, keiyaku can mean "contract" (Kei X Yaku pg. 160, Translation Notes). The main characters, Ichiro, a policeman, and Shiro, a member of the yakuza, find themselves in a strange contract-- faking being boyfriends to solve the apparent murder of a woman who matters to both of them. 

This is just the beginning of the series, which has been in publication in Japan since 2019. I think the first volume sets up an intriguing premise, one that will especially appeal to fans of "odd couple" pairings and tense mysteries. The first chapter moves rather quickly and it isn't exactly obvious what the opening event has to do with the story at large until later, which was confusing at first. Since this is a BL (Boy's Love, manga centering on romantic relationships between men, also often called yaoi), the two main characters are bound to get together at some point-- volume 1 just has tension. However, it's a good start and will leave BL fans, and fans of crime drama, excited for more. 

The art is decently skilled, though not exactly groundbreaking-- which is not necessarily a bad thing, it's not a niche genre work where more unique drawing might be expected. Some panels give us chibi versions of Ichiro and Shiro, as do the bonus comics between chapters that have a more slice of life tone.

Overall, I'm intrigued to see where the story goes and how the relationship between the leads will progress.