Yellow, Volume 1 [Comic]

Makoto Tateno (Author, Artist)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 9, 2005

Straight and macho Taki partners with feminine and gay Goh to form an expert team of bandits hired by the police to steal from the mafia. Lately, Goh has been more interested in acquiring Taki's feelings than the usual caches of arms and drugs. Will Taki and Goh form a new kind of partnership? Volume one of Yellow begins with a brewing personal interest between Taki and Goh, though Taki is still unwilling to answer to Goh's desires. A gangster's jealousy leads to Taki's kidnapping, and it's up to Goh's cunning and charms to save him. Working solo, it's also up to Goh to find the drugs he was hired to steal while sidestepping a police conspiracy powder keg.

Product Details

• Comic: 184 pages
• Publisher: Digital Manga Publishing (August 9, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569709521
• ISBN-13: 978-1569709528
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,048,972 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't give up on this series based on volume 1!, July 1, 2006

By 

T. LaPonte "mo" (Connecticut) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Yellow, Volume 1 (Comic)

OK, so I waited until I had read (and reviewed) the rest of the Yellow series before I sat down to think about volume 1. When I first read volume 1 I was a bit disappointed. It didn't really go anywhere, feeling very episodic, and the character development was pretty slow. It felt like the series was going to be a bad take-off of Sanami Matoh's FAKE, only with more sex and fewer likable characters. I would like to at this point state that while volume 1 is a very slow start to this yaoi series, it does indeed get much better.

That being said I would like to talk a bit about the merits of volume 1. Going back and rereading this volume after reading its stunning volume 4 conclusion, the beginnings of the Goh/Taki romance becomes much clearer. Instead of seeing it as a very slow, almost stagnant one-way love interest, Yellow becomes a much more intricate and complex story about two work parters who live together and how they interact with each other and their environment. Even in volume 1 we see Taki questioning the nature of his relationship with Goh. He admits that he has love-like feelings for the other man, but has a long road ahead of him in order to separate and define that love beyond that of a partner and friend. Act 2's character, Michiru, does a very good job of presenting the beginnings of Taki's understanding of this difference as he explains his non-sexual relationship to his Yakuza "lover." In fact, in each and every "Act" or chapter, in the Yellow series, underneath the episodic tone, which is part of the frustration many readers have had with the early Yellow storyline, you can see small indications of the changing relationship between the two men. In Act 1 Taki engages in an argument with Goh's then jealous lover that he loves Goh more, not that that love is sexual in nature. Then, in Act 3 we see Goh's side of this where we learn how truly he really does love Taki, and again in rereading the volume after finishing the series, you can really see the play of emotional conflict in Taki over these feelings and the struggle for understanding between the two men. In volume 1's side story (there is a side story in each volume which takes place around the timeline of the end of those volumes) we see an example of the living relationship with the two men as they fight over food choices. It's a short and rather cute story, but it illustrates the dynamic and chemistry that the two men have with each other outside of their working relationship.

In addition to harboring the beginnings of the Goh/Taki developing love story, Yellow volume 1 presents the firsts of many Yellow standards. These include such wonders as the obligatory and unnecessary Taki shirt ripping scene. Volume 1 presents the first Taki shirt ripping scene with flair on page 45 as a group of thugs who had him drugged and tied up are about to molest him. This is where your jaw just drops as you stare at the full page shirtless Taki and wonder, "Wow... fanservice this early in the series." Indeed. But Taki's shirt does not only get removed as a result of people trying to molest him. Makoto Tateno invents new and interesting ways for Taki's shirt to get removed each episode. On page 118, Taki, in an attempt to compete with Goh and without thinking about Goh's sexual preferences, removes his own shirt and is then accosted for his efforts. Related to this is the Yellow standard of Goh making advances on Taki and Taki producing weapons, seemingly out of thin air, to use against the other man in defense.

Then we come to my favorite Yellow standard: cheesy one-liners. Volume 1 boasts numerous one-liners. There are the classic Goh lines, "Once you know a 'man,' you won't be able to get enough," and, "I'm the f** of all f**s!!" And let's not forget Michiru's, "Homos are in my room!" If you can't appreciate the humor in these one-liners, I suggest passing on this series; there are many more where these came from.

The only complaint I would remark about volume 1 is the sort of lame green/red/yellow warning lights explanation of the title in each and every Act. In later volumes we get this Yellow standard fewer and fewer times and in one instance (at the beginning of volume 3) it actually isn't quite as lame.

It's my philosophy to give things the benefit of the doubt and hope for a series' improvement over time. I know manga, particularly yaoi, can be very expensive, so I understand why some would shy away from a series with a slow start like Yellow. Being that I am an individual with a disposable income and will to stick it out, reading the whole series made me appreciate volume 1 all the more, so for those who have avoided this series based on negative reviews of volume 1, please give it a try. If volume 1 doesn't make you want to bang your head against a wall, I can safely ask you to please give volume 2 a try. I promise it gets better (and better still).

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awsome!, September 3, 2005

By 

Hiei449 (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yellow, Volume 1 (Comic)

A great manga that had me laughing so hard. If you like FAKE, then you'll love this one. It reminds me a lot of Dee and Ryo, with Dee always hitting on Ryo while Ryo continues to keep Dee's paws off him. The tag team in Yellow works the same way. I almost passed out from laughing so bad. It's full of surprising twists and hilarious scenes. I so loved this manga and can't wait for volume two, which I have preordered from Amazon! Trust me, its that good.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From suspicious to BEST, February 24, 2006

By 

Syaoran-Lover "KaiLi" (Brazil) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yellow, Volume 1 (Comic)

I have to admit I didn't think it was this good! ^^

I had another title in Japanese by this author which I bought because the cover was cute... and the inside drawings were also to die for. When I realized it was the same mangaka of this other title I had - which is one of my fav BL titles - I was really surprised.

Yellow's story - and I really like it's plot - quickly picked up a good pace, not too fast and not too slow, just a fluid speed. The main characters - Goh and Taki - are just too CUTE! A homo and a het (yeah, right! ;p) working (and living) together is bound to end up in trouble (which is great for us readers), particularly if one of them (the homo) has a crush on his partner! :D

OK, so I might get a little frustrated 'cause it's going to take a while, but I'm sure we'll enjoy the way to the "finale".

It's a great title and I highly recommend buying this collection!