Gorgeous Carat Volume 4: (Yaoi) (v. 4) [Paperback]

You Higuri (Author)

Book Description

Series: Gorgeous Carat | Publication Date: January 30, 2007

As Florian struggles to recover his sanity, Noir and the gang head to Tunisia to locate the lost treasure of the Knights Templar. Meanwhile, an angry Azura is hot on their heels with vengeance on his mind. Secrets and mysteries are finally revealed in the fourth and final volume of Gorgeous Carat.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Blu (January 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1598161059
• ISBN-13: 978-1598161052
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 4.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,518,847 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous Carat 4, March 21, 2007

By 

W. Flick "Mid-Missouri gal" (Boonville, MO USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gorgeous Carat Volume 4: (Yaoi) (v. 4) (Paperback)

I have enjoyed this series more than any other series (Cantarella?) by this specific author as there is sarcasm, romance and danger. Of course if you are freaked out that the romance is between 2 guys and have a hard time seeing a male character being a sort of "damsel in distress" every chapter then this isn't the series for you.

For those who haven't read this series, my first book was Gorgeous Carat Galaxy which is a stand-alone book. All of the main character's are established and there is no discussion of how they got together. If you want to know if you would be interested in the Gorgeous Carat series, then you might want to start there. If you then liked the series you could go back and read the Gorgeous Carat series, Vol 1-4 and find how they all got together. Note that the characters are "beautiful boys," and the author is prone to drawing them long, (making their limbs look like Gumby at times). However by book 4 and the additional book, Gorgeous Carat Galaxy, proportions seem more even.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Four is an unlucky number..., March 10, 2007

By 

tami "pinkboxcutter" (chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gorgeous Carat Volume 4: (Yaoi) (v. 4) (Paperback)

It's a crying shame that the mangaka chose to end this series abruptly at four books. What went wrong? You start with gorgeous characters, an interesting and slightly dark set-up, a dabbling of affection between two noblemen. The plot about a secret organization and sadistic friend-turned-enemy promises so much. Too bad it all amounts to...nothing.

In Gorgeous Carat's conclusion, Florian, Ray, Laila, and Azura and almost everyone else has piles of questions about them that are either never answered or are answered unsatisfactorily. The climax is a joke. With all that dramatic build-up, random proclamations of how fateful and prophetic and important finding the treasure of the Knights Templar is, you almost will yourself to believe that lameness of the events is something deeper. Making it even worse is that the author for some unfathomable reason decided to introduce a bunch of confusing new elements last minute when she couldn't even handle tying up existing loose ends. That boy love that made the other books so tempting? Amounts to nothing exciting here. Ray's phantom alter identity? Pft, disappears completely.

It's a crying shame, alright. If the mangaka had had the patience to slowly craft her tale 3 or so more volumes, it'd be so much better. Because the other books in the series were suspenseful, sexy, and generally well done, it's even more of a dissapointment. They were paced perfectly and the allusions to the main plotline made it seem like it would bud into a perfect blossom in its own time. Same went for the romance between Florian and Ray. Nope, guess not. Gorgeous Carat Galaxy, "the sequel", goes on a tangent, so expect no fulfillment for a nice wrap up to the this story there, either.

Still, the rest of series was really good, even if that sets up for a let down, and hey, the art remains freakishly beautiful. If you want to see a Higuri series that takes its time and is even prettier, check out "Cantarella".

5.0 out of 5 stars Wish it could have gone on!, May 10, 2007

By 

Manga Librarian "missrelena" (Hurricane, Utah, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gorgeous Carat Volume 4: (Yaoi) (v. 4) (Paperback)

Its too bad that the magazine that originally carried this title stopped publication before this story could come to a total conclusion, but I adore this series none-the-less. You Higuri's art is as splendid and awe inspiring as ever. The artwork was the first thing that drew me to this title, and it hasn't disappointed me yet! The managa-ka is the best in this genre, in my humble opinion.

The Azura story arc came to a satisfying end in this volume, even if the final whereabouts of the hottie-baddie is left unknown. Florian is saved (again - he's like a damsel in distress sometimes.) Noir finally admits his feelings to Florian - in a rather squee-worthy way. (Don't panic, this is one of the mildest shonen-ai I've seen in a while.) And Noir's cousin, Michel, comes through to give the hope that ever-loyal Liala might have a love interest afterall.

All in all, I really enjoyed this series, as well as Gorgeous Carat: Galaxy - a stand alone volume that takes place after the Azura Arc. If you're not offended by Shonen-ai boy-love relationships, I highly recomend this series for anyone into manga. (It is rated 16+ Older Teen, so take that into consideration, too.)