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The Betrayal Knows My Name #1
The Betrayal Knows My Name, Vol. 1
Abandoned as a baby and raised in an orphanage, the kind-hearted high-schooler Yuki Sakuragi is driven by a need to find the reason for his existence. Plagued by mysterious dreams, Yuki also possesses the strange ability to read the deepest, darkest thoughts of anyone he touches. As both the dreams and his powers intensify, there appears before him a beautiful young man named "Zess," whose face tugs on Yuki's memory. He warns Yuki not to venture outside on Walpurgis Night, the eve of the blood-red moon, which invites death. But when Yuki's compassion leads him to disobey Zess's order, has Yuki carelessly thrown his life away before he's even given himself the chance to find out the very reason for it?
368 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 26, 2006
40 people are currently reading
3110 people want to read
About the author
Hotaru Odagiri
55 books139 followersAssociated Names :
さくら いつき
さくら学舎
小田切蛍
桜いつき
櫻いつき
Sakura Gakusha
SAKURA Itsuki
Name (in native language) : 小田切ほたる
Doujinshi Circle: Sakura Gakusha (さくら学舎)
Writes doujinshi under the penname SAKURA Itsuki.
Ryoko Mitsuki was her assistant.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews
July 27, 2011
I just want to say that I had no idea this was an omnibus edition, I thought it was a yaoi (hey that's Amazon's tags for you) and really didn't know what to expect. I also didn't know this was an anime (but am very pleased to find out it is!) Upon opening the package I was shocked at how large this manga was, I bought it for $12 so I just assumed it was a regular sized manga, didn't know the listing price was 18.99. I eagerly opened it up, and was sucked right in.
Yuki has a power where he can see/feel what others are feeling or traumatic pasts. It is a bit debilitating, but he figures he can live with it and figure out what to do. He was orphaned at birth, and is honestly a genuinely good person. He reminds me of the Tohru from Fruits Basket, expect I find Yuki less annoying. He's so good and knows just what to say, that's where I drew the similarities from. Anyway he starts meeting these new people, and then suddenly he almost gets hit by a speeding car, these are just the beginnings for Yuki as he discovers he does have family, and is a part of something much bigger than he could ever imagine.
The characters are all fantastic, for someone who isn't used to reading mangas, you might want to pay really close attention because some of the blonde characters are similar. However the artist was fantastic, and so detailed, I was really happy and am now looking to see if there's any more works by Hotaru Odagiri. I am very upset that I have to wait until December for the second volume to come out, but will be consoling myself with the anime.
Ok now for the yaoi aspect, there really wasn't one. We get the feeling that Luka and Yuki were intimate in Yuki's past life, but Yuki was a girl, now as a boy there is a bit of affection and flirting, but nothing that would qualify it as a yaoi or even boy love territory. I have hopes, I mean remember Yellow didn't get anything until the fourth volume, but even if nothing comes of it, the plot is so fantastical that it would still make my top manga list.
*review also on amazon*
Yuki has a power where he can see/feel what others are feeling or traumatic pasts. It is a bit debilitating, but he figures he can live with it and figure out what to do. He was orphaned at birth, and is honestly a genuinely good person. He reminds me of the Tohru from Fruits Basket, expect I find Yuki less annoying. He's so good and knows just what to say, that's where I drew the similarities from. Anyway he starts meeting these new people, and then suddenly he almost gets hit by a speeding car, these are just the beginnings for Yuki as he discovers he does have family, and is a part of something much bigger than he could ever imagine.
The characters are all fantastic, for someone who isn't used to reading mangas, you might want to pay really close attention because some of the blonde characters are similar. However the artist was fantastic, and so detailed, I was really happy and am now looking to see if there's any more works by Hotaru Odagiri. I am very upset that I have to wait until December for the second volume to come out, but will be consoling myself with the anime.
Ok now for the yaoi aspect, there really wasn't one. We get the feeling that Luka and Yuki were intimate in Yuki's past life, but Yuki was a girl, now as a boy there is a bit of affection and flirting, but nothing that would qualify it as a yaoi or even boy love territory. I have hopes, I mean remember Yellow didn't get anything until the fourth volume, but even if nothing comes of it, the plot is so fantastical that it would still make my top manga list.
*review also on amazon*
December 26, 2015
Look, don't get me wrong. I know this isn't the most beautifully drawn manga ever. And the story isn't insanely compelling. It's filled with cliches and standard types of characters without much unique deviation.
But honestly? I don't care. I love this manga. I love manga in general that plays with gender identity, gender roles, and struggling with the kind of guilt that can eat characters up inside. I love manga about self sacrifice and friendship and family. I'm a sucker like that with my manga.
So for me, this manga hits all the right sweet spots.
This isn't a manga for everyone, but for me and a casual reader, it's perfect.
But honestly? I don't care. I love this manga. I love manga in general that plays with gender identity, gender roles, and struggling with the kind of guilt that can eat characters up inside. I love manga about self sacrifice and friendship and family. I'm a sucker like that with my manga.
So for me, this manga hits all the right sweet spots.
This isn't a manga for everyone, but for me and a casual reader, it's perfect.
Want to read
December 3, 2014At one point I read the first volume of The Betrayal Knows My Name because I really like manga with beautiful artwork (and it's a Boy's Love one!).
However, after finishing the first volume I soon found myself struggling to even muster up enough interest to read the next volume, and the plot is so bland that now I can barely remember what's going on in the story. LOL
So...I don't think I'm going back for more anytime too soon.
However, after finishing the first volume I soon found myself struggling to even muster up enough interest to read the next volume, and the plot is so bland that now I can barely remember what's going on in the story. LOL
So...I don't think I'm going back for more anytime too soon.
January 3, 2016
No. Look, there is no universe in which this book deserves a 4.16 average rating. I'd give this half a star, maybe, because while scratchy this could serve as toilet paper, or a reasonable fire starter.
Before the fans come at me screaming, let me get this out there: I wanted to like this. My standards for manga aren't very high to begin with, because I use manga as palette cleaners in between novels - I just want something fun and easy to read. This is neither.
The characters are so bland as to be interchangeable, the story completely generic yet somehow, still hard to follow? The art is quite beautiful sometimes but mostly it's not very clean and does not do the story any favours ("which character is that? Crud, I can't tell! Actually wait maybe it doesn't matter.")
Pick whichever cliché you like, you bet it's in here and presented without irony or enthusiasm.
My top tip: don't read this.
My second tip: go to the manga TV Tropes page and make a drinking game out of every cliché you encounter in this book.
NB: I'm not saying clichés are bad I'm saying this story and all the characters in it are poorly created and have no soul or point of difference. Clichés are great to easily convey an idea but this is a whole new level.
Before the fans come at me screaming, let me get this out there: I wanted to like this. My standards for manga aren't very high to begin with, because I use manga as palette cleaners in between novels - I just want something fun and easy to read. This is neither.
The characters are so bland as to be interchangeable, the story completely generic yet somehow, still hard to follow? The art is quite beautiful sometimes but mostly it's not very clean and does not do the story any favours ("which character is that? Crud, I can't tell! Actually wait maybe it doesn't matter.")
Pick whichever cliché you like, you bet it's in here and presented without irony or enthusiasm.
My top tip: don't read this.
My second tip: go to the manga TV Tropes page and make a drinking game out of every cliché you encounter in this book.
NB: I'm not saying clichés are bad I'm saying this story and all the characters in it are poorly created and have no soul or point of difference. Clichés are great to easily convey an idea but this is a whole new level.
June 9, 2017
I would have been happier without the needless perviness, cutesiness, and spats, but found them mostly easier to ignore than is often the case in manga, and liked the story and characters.
July 4, 2011
At first I thought.. Vampire Knight .Kuroshitsuji rip off but as i read it I was very pleasantly suprised.. it is a great story with great characters and I am dying to read volume 2
September 15, 2024
this was actually physically painful to finish (I got a headache)
✘ yaoi my fucking ass > this is an omnibus volume and in 370 pages you get approximately 0.5 scenes between the main love interests. It's barely even a romance to begin with.
✘ the cover is stunning and the author obviously can draw, although you wouldn't know it from actually READING the damn thing because the speech bubbles are littered all over the place, take up way too much space and the dialogue was so stale it made me want to unread this. I am not joking when I say this is borderline UNREADABLE.
✘ and what makes it worse is that the plot is actually interesting, and the main love interest would have so much potential if the author just let the story breathe. istg that woman jumps between characters and scenes every 2 pages, and makes things needlessly convoluted.
If you're thinking of picking this up > don't. The anime however is really good and I recommend wholeheartedly.
✘ yaoi my fucking ass > this is an omnibus volume and in 370 pages you get approximately 0.5 scenes between the main love interests. It's barely even a romance to begin with.
✘ the cover is stunning and the author obviously can draw, although you wouldn't know it from actually READING the damn thing because the speech bubbles are littered all over the place, take up way too much space and the dialogue was so stale it made me want to unread this. I am not joking when I say this is borderline UNREADABLE.
✘ and what makes it worse is that the plot is actually interesting, and the main love interest would have so much potential if the author just let the story breathe. istg that woman jumps between characters and scenes every 2 pages, and makes things needlessly convoluted.
If you're thinking of picking this up > don't. The anime however is really good and I recommend wholeheartedly.
March 6, 2013
Manga reviews are a regular thing over on the dark side.
That said, let's talk about feelings;
I don't like this manga. The art is bad, the characters are vanilla and the plot is convoluted. I've seen greeting cards more romantic than this nonsense and it's about as exciting as a bowl of oatmeal. Actually, that's an unfair comparison - a bowl of apple & cinnamon oatmeal invokes more feelings in me than this entire volume.
The worst thing, hands down, is the dialogue. The speech bubbles are scattered and the frames are so haphazardly placed that even I had trouble following the dialogue. I'd find myself scrolling up and down and re-reading entire pages to get the order of the dialogue right. The author overlaps frames so often that it's hard to tell where one ends and the other one begins, let alone to decipher the order they're meant to be read in.
The entirety of the dialogue in this volume is as unrealistic and overly-narrative as this, so for a manga (a form of writing which pretty much relies solely on dialogue) it just comes across as excruciatingly bad.
Speaking of excruciating, let's go to our main characters, shall we? Yuki is saccharine to the point where I had to go brush my teeth halfway through reading this manga. Every time someone reads a volume of Uraboku, a dentist somewhere buys a new beach house. Yuki is effeminate to the point of incapacity and foolishly believes the best in others even at the detriment of his own safety. He constantly whines about how he needs to work harder because there are people relying on him, even though he never actually does anything for anybody. He also spends a lot of time collapsing and sobbing about how badly he wants people around him to need him. Does that sound familiar? Yeah, that's because Yuki is...
...Ashiya Mizuki, version 2.0. Seriously. They're the same person, only Mizuki is dressed as a girl and Yuki was apparently a girl in his past life.
Following that line of thought, can you spot Zess in the Hana Kimi lineup? If you said "Sano angst-sack Izumi", you're correct! Zess has black hair, is tall and gorgeous, loves Yuki but is confused because Yuki is a boy... Actually, I'm surprised that Nakajo isn't suing Odagiri for copyright violation. Zess's powers are never specified but apparently he's good at everything, can block all attacks and defeat pretty much anything. I think his powers are meant to be lightning based, but it's never clarified and limitations aren't even mentioned. What is this--? Urgh. As one would say in Tumblr-speak - I have lost all ability to can.
The other characters don't matter and pretty much exist to bolster Yuki's Gary-Stu syndrome. There's apparently some bad guy threatening Yuki's safety, but the threat is non-existent since super-special-all-powerful Zess is protecting him. Besides, Yuki would have been fine if he weren't a brain-dead imbecile incapable of following simple directions.
Oh, and what the hell is with that cover? Awkward hand placement, Yuki! I know this is a boy-love manga, but that's a bit ridiculous. Also, what's with the roses and ribbons and whatnot? Really? Cliché doesn't begin to cover it. The cover is a solid indication of all the unnecessary lingering looks and awkward touching and blushing and dopey conversation that contaminates this ridiculous manga. Just because this is about two boys doesn't mean you need to pander to stereotypes, Odagiri!
I think there was a plot or something, someone yapping about Walpurgis and some demon-talk. I don't care. Nobody would because Yuki has about as much personality as Splenda® and Zess is the character equivalent of a Swiss Army Knife.
I should have read Battle Royale instead.
This review had photos attached, but since I already had to READ this drivel, I won't bother embellishing the review for it twice. You can read the original, with screencaps, if you just step through the magic portal.
That said, let's talk about feelings;
I don't like this manga. The art is bad, the characters are vanilla and the plot is convoluted. I've seen greeting cards more romantic than this nonsense and it's about as exciting as a bowl of oatmeal. Actually, that's an unfair comparison - a bowl of apple & cinnamon oatmeal invokes more feelings in me than this entire volume.
The worst thing, hands down, is the dialogue. The speech bubbles are scattered and the frames are so haphazardly placed that even I had trouble following the dialogue. I'd find myself scrolling up and down and re-reading entire pages to get the order of the dialogue right. The author overlaps frames so often that it's hard to tell where one ends and the other one begins, let alone to decipher the order they're meant to be read in.
The entirety of the dialogue in this volume is as unrealistic and overly-narrative as this, so for a manga (a form of writing which pretty much relies solely on dialogue) it just comes across as excruciatingly bad.
Speaking of excruciating, let's go to our main characters, shall we? Yuki is saccharine to the point where I had to go brush my teeth halfway through reading this manga. Every time someone reads a volume of Uraboku, a dentist somewhere buys a new beach house. Yuki is effeminate to the point of incapacity and foolishly believes the best in others even at the detriment of his own safety. He constantly whines about how he needs to work harder because there are people relying on him, even though he never actually does anything for anybody. He also spends a lot of time collapsing and sobbing about how badly he wants people around him to need him. Does that sound familiar? Yeah, that's because Yuki is...
...Ashiya Mizuki, version 2.0. Seriously. They're the same person, only Mizuki is dressed as a girl and Yuki was apparently a girl in his past life.
Following that line of thought, can you spot Zess in the Hana Kimi lineup? If you said "Sano angst-sack Izumi", you're correct! Zess has black hair, is tall and gorgeous, loves Yuki but is confused because Yuki is a boy... Actually, I'm surprised that Nakajo isn't suing Odagiri for copyright violation. Zess's powers are never specified but apparently he's good at everything, can block all attacks and defeat pretty much anything. I think his powers are meant to be lightning based, but it's never clarified and limitations aren't even mentioned. What is this--? Urgh. As one would say in Tumblr-speak - I have lost all ability to can.
The other characters don't matter and pretty much exist to bolster Yuki's Gary-Stu syndrome. There's apparently some bad guy threatening Yuki's safety, but the threat is non-existent since super-special-all-powerful Zess is protecting him. Besides, Yuki would have been fine if he weren't a brain-dead imbecile incapable of following simple directions.
Oh, and what the hell is with that cover? Awkward hand placement, Yuki! I know this is a boy-love manga, but that's a bit ridiculous. Also, what's with the roses and ribbons and whatnot? Really? Cliché doesn't begin to cover it. The cover is a solid indication of all the unnecessary lingering looks and awkward touching and blushing and dopey conversation that contaminates this ridiculous manga. Just because this is about two boys doesn't mean you need to pander to stereotypes, Odagiri!
I think there was a plot or something, someone yapping about Walpurgis and some demon-talk. I don't care. Nobody would because Yuki has about as much personality as Splenda® and Zess is the character equivalent of a Swiss Army Knife.
I should have read Battle Royale instead.
This review had photos attached, but since I already had to READ this drivel, I won't bother embellishing the review for it twice. You can read the original, with screencaps, if you just step through the magic portal.
May 4, 2017
This is the first book in The Betrayal Knows My Name manga series. There are six volumes in this series and all have been released. I picked this up because it was recommended to those who enjoy the Black Butler series and I did end up enjoying this quite a bit. The premise and characters are interesting, if a little confusing at times..
I do have a couple of complaints...there are a ton of characters thrown at the reader and a lot of them look similar so it's hard to tell who is who sometimes. Towards the end of the volume even more characters are added. If Odagiri is going to keep adding characters we’ll need a quick bit at the front of each volume reminding us who is who.
My other complaint is that the story jumps around between locations without letting the reader know, which makes it hard to follow. All the sudden you will realize you're reading about a different set of characters at a different location. I had to flip back a number of times to figure out what had happened, only to realize that we had just abruptly changed storylines/locations/characters.
The illustration is intricate and well done and many of the character are heart-breakingly beautiful. There is a bit of gender-bending that goes on since the main character Yuki was supposedly a woman in his past life.
Overall the premise is interesting enough that I plan on reading the second book. I am hoping the second book will be a bit easier to follow. I would recommend to those who enjoy paranormal manga with a bit of a Victorian feel to it (although it’s set in modern day). I can understand why fans of Black Butler would recommend this manga; it’s got a similar feel to it.
I do have a couple of complaints...there are a ton of characters thrown at the reader and a lot of them look similar so it's hard to tell who is who sometimes. Towards the end of the volume even more characters are added. If Odagiri is going to keep adding characters we’ll need a quick bit at the front of each volume reminding us who is who.
My other complaint is that the story jumps around between locations without letting the reader know, which makes it hard to follow. All the sudden you will realize you're reading about a different set of characters at a different location. I had to flip back a number of times to figure out what had happened, only to realize that we had just abruptly changed storylines/locations/characters.
The illustration is intricate and well done and many of the character are heart-breakingly beautiful. There is a bit of gender-bending that goes on since the main character Yuki was supposedly a woman in his past life.
Overall the premise is interesting enough that I plan on reading the second book. I am hoping the second book will be a bit easier to follow. I would recommend to those who enjoy paranormal manga with a bit of a Victorian feel to it (although it’s set in modern day). I can understand why fans of Black Butler would recommend this manga; it’s got a similar feel to it.
September 5, 2012
1st. read: 6/14/11
Yuki Sakurai is afraid of being alone and unwanted-abandoned at an orphanage at birth-it is his greatest fear. Already a high schooler, he is trying to seek a place of his own to avoid being a burden to those that cared for him, especially now that threatening letters are being left at the orphanage's mail box.
A sweet and kind hearted teen, he feels different from those around him; with dreams that plague him constantly but has no memory of when he wakes and a strange empathic power that he feels is more a hindrance than a help.
Suddenly things in Yuki's life are changing; a friend is in peril, his powers are evolving, he discovers he has an 'elder brother' who has located him after several years and wants him back home, and he meets others with powers of their own.
Yuki is happy to finally belong, even if it is as a part of the Giou clan-a group with mystical powers who destroy demons. But his instant bond with Luka is both comforting and intriguing, and makes him wonder why Luka is always looking out for him and his safety.
Yet not everything is what it seems; events are unfolding that put the world at risk and Yuki's life as well. Because Yuki is the Light of God-a healer and the strength of the clan and the Duras (demons) will do everything in their power to destroy him.
I'll admit I was completely surprised when I saw this...and truly pleased as well, the manga is 360+ pgs. long, which is a little rare in graphic novels (at least from what I've seen)so it gave me something to really sink my teeth into. The cover is very fetching and colorful as well as the beautiful inserts and that was enough to have me starry eyed. You get a few bonuses; including an afterword, a fan corner, a terms & character lexicon, a fan corner autograph session report, as well as 2 extra short stories. There are many characters introduced, but my favorite of course is Luka with Hotsuma running a close second-he's just so fiery! There's some mysteries, secrets, and comedy that made this a joy to read, so I'm definitely hanging on to see what comes next.
Yuki Sakurai is afraid of being alone and unwanted-abandoned at an orphanage at birth-it is his greatest fear. Already a high schooler, he is trying to seek a place of his own to avoid being a burden to those that cared for him, especially now that threatening letters are being left at the orphanage's mail box.
A sweet and kind hearted teen, he feels different from those around him; with dreams that plague him constantly but has no memory of when he wakes and a strange empathic power that he feels is more a hindrance than a help.
Suddenly things in Yuki's life are changing; a friend is in peril, his powers are evolving, he discovers he has an 'elder brother' who has located him after several years and wants him back home, and he meets others with powers of their own.
Yuki is happy to finally belong, even if it is as a part of the Giou clan-a group with mystical powers who destroy demons. But his instant bond with Luka is both comforting and intriguing, and makes him wonder why Luka is always looking out for him and his safety.
Yet not everything is what it seems; events are unfolding that put the world at risk and Yuki's life as well. Because Yuki is the Light of God-a healer and the strength of the clan and the Duras (demons) will do everything in their power to destroy him.
I'll admit I was completely surprised when I saw this...and truly pleased as well, the manga is 360+ pgs. long, which is a little rare in graphic novels (at least from what I've seen)so it gave me something to really sink my teeth into. The cover is very fetching and colorful as well as the beautiful inserts and that was enough to have me starry eyed. You get a few bonuses; including an afterword, a fan corner, a terms & character lexicon, a fan corner autograph session report, as well as 2 extra short stories. There are many characters introduced, but my favorite of course is Luka with Hotsuma running a close second-he's just so fiery! There's some mysteries, secrets, and comedy that made this a joy to read, so I'm definitely hanging on to see what comes next.
September 17, 2011
This was an omnibus and I have mixed feelings about those. They are unwieldy and ultimately aren’t the best on the creators end in getting compensated but that is neither here nor there. This opens with a young orphan boy, Yuki, who keep having odd and violent things happen around him. A dark haired silver eyed young man keeps helping him and Yuki is somehow drawn to him. Soon he meets Takashiro Giou who turns out to be a long lost older brother who has come to take Yuki home with him. Yuki, however, is desperate to please and to help the orphanage and it take another violent attack to get him moving.
He, his brother and others of their clan that live in the Giou estate, such as Tsukumo, Tooko, Hotsuma and Shuusei have special abilities. They can fight demons who want to take over the world. The dark haired young man is actually Luka, a demon who is helping them (and has a name I can’t see without thinking of that song). We slowly get to see their powers through various attacks and learn that Yuki was female in his last reincarnation which sort of explains the hints of a love attachment to Luka.
This really isn’t a storyline I haven’t seen before. It’s not bad, entertaining enough but there are some flaws that make me hesitate to get the next omnibus. Outside of Luka, Yuki and Hotsuma, the rest are so indistinguishable from one another. By the end, that was improving. Also improving by the end was Yuki but he’s a milquetoast. He’s so eager to please and be this kind man, everyone’s friend that he makes your teeth act like you just ate cake. He’s too sweet and passive for me. He needs a little bit of a bite which he was getting by the end. Not the worst thing I’ve read but not tremendously memorable either.
He, his brother and others of their clan that live in the Giou estate, such as Tsukumo, Tooko, Hotsuma and Shuusei have special abilities. They can fight demons who want to take over the world. The dark haired young man is actually Luka, a demon who is helping them (and has a name I can’t see without thinking of that song). We slowly get to see their powers through various attacks and learn that Yuki was female in his last reincarnation which sort of explains the hints of a love attachment to Luka.
This really isn’t a storyline I haven’t seen before. It’s not bad, entertaining enough but there are some flaws that make me hesitate to get the next omnibus. Outside of Luka, Yuki and Hotsuma, the rest are so indistinguishable from one another. By the end, that was improving. Also improving by the end was Yuki but he’s a milquetoast. He’s so eager to please and be this kind man, everyone’s friend that he makes your teeth act like you just ate cake. He’s too sweet and passive for me. He needs a little bit of a bite which he was getting by the end. Not the worst thing I’ve read but not tremendously memorable either.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 26, 2013
The manga's story line starts in such a serious note, even so, some parts of it made me laugh/smile. ^_^ I can't help but think that Yuki looks so much like Wataru while Luka was a cross between Yuichi and Asaka [of OTRFK]. ^_^
May 6, 2023
I used to be obsessed with this anime.
The only issue I have with it its that everyone else is more interesting than Yuki
The only issue I have with it its that everyone else is more interesting than Yuki
May 1, 2025
Women really do write such amazing gay Manga. The fantasy and romance ugh im eating it up.
Want to read
October 20, 2025This was my first BL anime i ever saw and i'm disappointed that i never read that TT.TT
January 30, 2015
In which one curvy blogger reviews her favorite style of graphic novel!
man·ga \ˈmäŋ-gə\
: a japanese comic book or graphic novel
❥ ❥ ❥
[book-info]
Dear Readers,
The Betrayal Knows My Name first caught my eye because of it’s size. Most manga serials are these tiny books that I can read in thirty minutes to an hour, which is really no fun unless you have the series on hand. I’m glad I thought to check this one out, because I had a great time reading it.
As much as I enjoyed reading The Betrayal Knows My Name, the way it was published was a tad confusing – even more so than manga generally is. The chapters are called stories in this comic and so I started to take notes on each individual story instead of the book as a whole, until I realized the “stories” are just chapters. If you decide you want to try this book out, just keep that in mind.
❥ ❥ ❥
The Betrayal Knows My Name is a book about Yuki Sakurai, an orphan who is just finding out that he is of the Giou clan, a family of special powers that are re-incarnated every hundred years or so to battle demons and to keep them from taking over Earth.
Yuki Sakurai
❤ Freshman in high school
❤ Has lived in an orphanage since he was a newborn, left on the steps like an unwanted puppy
❤ Can’t stand to live without being needed by others
❤ Consumed by the worry that he might be a burden on others
❤ He has “the Light of the God” the ability to heal and absorb wounds and sins – very physically draining
❤
“Zess” aka Luka Crosszeria
❤ A high-level duras working with the Giou clan to stop the duras from taking over Earth
❤ Considered a traitor to his kind and very powerful
❤ Super protective of Yuki
❤ Intimidating to everybody besides Yuki, Yuki is the only person unafraid of Luka’s lineage
While I had a blast reading The Betrayal Knows My Name, the action scenes were kind of a letdown, especially when Luka used his demon spells in battle against other duras. It just came off as lame and unoriginal, instead of exciting and fun. Besides the battle scenes, I did get a kick out of reading the abnormally long comic, and I’m excited to see what happens between Yuki and Luka in book two! The book turns out to be surprisingly funny and very cute - and who knows, maybe the action will get better as well!
Fingers crossed for boy on boy kisses!
♥One Curvy Blogger
*Shounen Ai = Similar to Yoai (boyxboy), but less explicit and focuses on romance and less on sexThis review was originally posted on One Curvy Blogger
November 24, 2016
So... yeah, that happened.
It's... certainly something.
So this is setting up to be a shounen ai. Not that that's a bad thing, and it's an interesting take on the boy love thing, but this manga is going nowhere fast. This is an omnibus with two volumes, but not much happened other than info-dumping and backstory and introducing of characters, which really bogged everything down.
The story centers around Yuki, a boy with what shapes up to be healing powers who was a woman in a past life. Said women had some kind of relationship with a demon (Luka), and so now Luka follows present-day Yuki and calls him "Master". Yuki's a major target for Duras (demons) because his power I guess is the glue that holds the rest of the group's powers together, and so everyone has to protect Yuki from the Duras.
There were a few things I liked and some things I didn't. I liked that Yuki wasn't a total pushover (he's a black belt in judo or something), but I didn't like that he's naive to the max. People can tell him, "Don't go outside because there's a monster out there that will kill you" and then he'll run outside to go save someone from being kidnapped or something (with no body guards or Luka) and almost get killed. Everyone then has to jump in and save his sorry but, and everyone for the most part seems fine with this. Yuki does put up a fight, but martial arts only does so much against evil magical beings that throw fire and stuff.
The artwork is generally good, but I have trouble keeping the characters straight. Other than Yuki and Luka, all the other male characters blend together. They all look "just different enough" to know they're different characters, but they're introduced in such rapid-fire succession that names don't match up with faces for me, and despite a few getting a chapter or two devoted to back story, I still can't tell them apart.
The ideas behind the characters powers are cool, but little time is spent actually showing said powers in action. All fight scenes end up being mostly "Luka's a bad ass, supporting character uses power to dispel the Duras, life goes on."
So, there's promise, but after two volumes, it just didn't hold my interest enough to continue.
It's... certainly something.
So this is setting up to be a shounen ai. Not that that's a bad thing, and it's an interesting take on the boy love thing, but this manga is going nowhere fast. This is an omnibus with two volumes, but not much happened other than info-dumping and backstory and introducing of characters, which really bogged everything down.
The story centers around Yuki, a boy with what shapes up to be healing powers who was a woman in a past life. Said women had some kind of relationship with a demon (Luka), and so now Luka follows present-day Yuki and calls him "Master". Yuki's a major target for Duras (demons) because his power I guess is the glue that holds the rest of the group's powers together, and so everyone has to protect Yuki from the Duras.
There were a few things I liked and some things I didn't. I liked that Yuki wasn't a total pushover (he's a black belt in judo or something), but I didn't like that he's naive to the max. People can tell him, "Don't go outside because there's a monster out there that will kill you" and then he'll run outside to go save someone from being kidnapped or something (with no body guards or Luka) and almost get killed. Everyone then has to jump in and save his sorry but, and everyone for the most part seems fine with this. Yuki does put up a fight, but martial arts only does so much against evil magical beings that throw fire and stuff.
The artwork is generally good, but I have trouble keeping the characters straight. Other than Yuki and Luka, all the other male characters blend together. They all look "just different enough" to know they're different characters, but they're introduced in such rapid-fire succession that names don't match up with faces for me, and despite a few getting a chapter or two devoted to back story, I still can't tell them apart.
The ideas behind the characters powers are cool, but little time is spent actually showing said powers in action. All fight scenes end up being mostly "Luka's a bad ass, supporting character uses power to dispel the Duras, life goes on."
So, there's promise, but after two volumes, it just didn't hold my interest enough to continue.
May 28, 2024
"ɪ ᴡᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴅᴏ ᴀɴʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴘʀᴏʟᴏɴɢ ʏᴏᴜʀ sᴜғғᴇʀɪɴɢ, ᴛʜɪs ɪ sᴡᴇᴀʀ. ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴘʀᴏᴛᴇᴄᴛ ʏᴏᴜ. ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴡᴏʀʀʏ. ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ɴᴏᴛ ʙᴇᴛʀᴀʏ ʏᴏᴜ!!"
Though I love it to pieces, this book had some issues.
The art at times can look absolutely gorgeous or it can look like an amateur artists drew it. The speech bubbles are all over the place, can be hard to read, and the plot and characters in the first volume are really bland. The main character, Yuki, kinda reminds me of the mary sue Yuki from Vampire Knight, Vol. 1, but at least this Yuki has half a brain to know that he's being naive. But I still love this first volume cuz it has everything I could ask for in a story: reincarnation, mystery, good vs evil, demons vs humans, magic, and the added bonus of hot guys fighting other hot guys. 😁👍 What more could you ask for as a casual manga reader?
Though I love it to pieces, this book had some issues.
The art at times can look absolutely gorgeous or it can look like an amateur artists drew it. The speech bubbles are all over the place, can be hard to read, and the plot and characters in the first volume are really bland. The main character, Yuki, kinda reminds me of the mary sue Yuki from Vampire Knight, Vol. 1, but at least this Yuki has half a brain to know that he's being naive. But I still love this first volume cuz it has everything I could ask for in a story: reincarnation, mystery, good vs evil, demons vs humans, magic, and the added bonus of hot guys fighting other hot guys. 😁👍 What more could you ask for as a casual manga reader?
February 25, 2013
The betrayal knows my name is one of my favorite series. The art on the cover catches your eye and you can't help but want to read it. The story centers around a high school student named Yuki who has strange powers. Yuki doesn't know this but he used to be a girl and fought demons called duras that are summoned by the antagonist Reiga who tries to capture Yuki. Yuki and the zweilt warriors must come together and stop Reiga from killing the entire human race. The story line is really good and interesting. If you like a mixture of shojo and shounen manga, then I recommend you read this series. I also recommend that you guys watch the anime for Uraboku, too. I think anybody who reads manga like fruits basket, naruto, bleach, case closed, strobe edge, and skip beat would like this series.
August 21, 2011
I love this book because the illustration make the character alive and also the characters in this book so handsome it make me wants to read again and again.not only for that it contain moral value such as loving, friendship and caring with each other. It also contain spell to destroy their enemy. It shown how the person can feel other pain which is Yuuki the main character in this story. He hope the he have he can protec for people he love.I hope everyone who has not read this book must read this book and enjoy it :)
May 12, 2021
Yuki, an orphan with the power to read one's darkest thoughts, ventures out into the night despite the warnings of the mysterious Zess, only to find his life in great peril and the answers to his past dragging him far from home. Odagiri keeps readers intrigued with this beautifully illustrated mystery that hooks you in and doesn't let go. Could the past Yuki has been looking for really lead to such danger?
August 12, 2011
Beautiful art; an engaging story line; hooooot as hell demon boy; undercurrents of boy's love! What more could a slavering fangirl ask for?
Seriously. Luka is so damn pretty. I want to jump his bones. Yuki is also very adorable, but not in an ultra-femme kind of way. Ironic, condsidering his most recent past life.
Seriously. Luka is so damn pretty. I want to jump his bones. Yuki is also very adorable, but not in an ultra-femme kind of way. Ironic, condsidering his most recent past life.
November 7, 2015
I'd have to admit the first book was pretty bad. Stereotypes at every corner and nothing much for a plot. As I read though I'm starting to enjoy it more, I've learned over the years that a lot of times things get better in the end and that plot comes out so I will keep reading.
June 14, 2015
I randomly bought this manga along with volume 2 and I just couldn't believe my eyes!! I loved the story and especially how all the guys look so awesome and cool and..... *blushes
Anyways I fell in love and needed more so I read volume 2 right after ;)
Anyways I fell in love and needed more so I read volume 2 right after ;)
April 17, 2012
One of my students insisted that I read this book. Not my thing...
March 27, 2021
Full Series Review
The Betrayal Knows My Name hits many sweet spots for me: beautiful thin, flowing lines and gorgeous shoujo art, a group of people having to magically fight to save the world, a love that transcends a lifetime, and humor.
This fantasy series follows high-schooler Yuki, preparing to leave the orphanage he was raised in, when he's suddenly drawn into a magical fight. Told he's part of an extended family that's been reincarnating to fight demons for a millennium, it's a big adjustment, not to mention there's one demon on their side: the gorgeous, high-powered Luka, who promises he'll stay by Yuki's side no matter what.
Yuki is a quintessential protagonist, although compared to the stories I usually read that are similar, he differs in his gender: normally, the character in his position would be a girl--even the artist mentions this in her notes.
Most characters are not standouts, an assortment of temperaments and types I expect in this type of series. (Not a bad thing, just expected.) An in-story function has most of the fighters paired up, so we meet characters in twos: siblings Yooko and Tsukumo, hothead Hotsuma and cool/detached-to-everyone-else Shuusei, and so forth.
We end up with a fairly large cast (including a handful of household staff, their boss/leader/etc, and more magical fighters on both sides), and I found myself wishing the artist had mixed up the boys' hairstyles and/or colors more. Some were always easy to discern (Luka the dark-haired demon, Shuusei with darker hair as well), but a whole lot had semi-spiky hair with little or no screentone (Yuki, Hotsuma, Tsukumo, Senshirou, although the last one at least had glasses) that sometimes made it difficult to tell at a glance who had just appeared on the page.
There's a lot of backstory hidden from Yuki, and thus the reader, much of which gets revealed during the course of the story. For instance, we learn early on the Yuki was, up until his curent incarnation, a woman--Luka was her lover in her previous life--and an unidentified something traumatic happened that presumably caused her to reincarnate as a different gender, and without any of her memories, contrary to what usually happens (with the fighters remembering much of their previous lives). Unfortunately, the story ends before we find out exactly what happened to cause this (more on that below).
The source of the fighting goes back a thousand years, and after several volumes we get a decent chunk of backstory, with ore being revealed at the series's climax. It kept me interested and engaged, with not just Yuki and Luka's pasts slowly comoing out, but those of their companions as well.
Now, the ending: the series does not wrap everything. Personally, I would estimate at least 3-4 more volumes' worth of story to conclude it well and to wrap up and answer everything that's been included so far. Unfortunately, the author's note in the final volume (US #8, Japan #13 since the US series started by combining a lot into omnibuses) explains that Hoatu Odagiri is chronically ill, and wasn't able to continue the punishing and intensive work schedule required.
With that understood, I'm glad it doesn't actually wrap up the story. Because so much is still unfinished (including that major question of what happened with Yuki and Luka in his previous life), if she had attempted to actually conclude the story, it would've been badly-done, super quick and emotionally unsatisfying. Instead, we have what feels like a pause, and the story doesn't pretend things are wrapped up, more like the end of a regular volume, but without the immediate cliffhanger. While there's no indication Hotaru Odagiri will ever return to this series, one does hope...and if not, it's ripe for fanfic.
The Betrayal Knows My Name hits many sweet spots for me: beautiful thin, flowing lines and gorgeous shoujo art, a group of people having to magically fight to save the world, a love that transcends a lifetime, and humor.
This fantasy series follows high-schooler Yuki, preparing to leave the orphanage he was raised in, when he's suddenly drawn into a magical fight. Told he's part of an extended family that's been reincarnating to fight demons for a millennium, it's a big adjustment, not to mention there's one demon on their side: the gorgeous, high-powered Luka, who promises he'll stay by Yuki's side no matter what.
Yuki is a quintessential protagonist, although compared to the stories I usually read that are similar, he differs in his gender: normally, the character in his position would be a girl--even the artist mentions this in her notes.
Most characters are not standouts, an assortment of temperaments and types I expect in this type of series. (Not a bad thing, just expected.) An in-story function has most of the fighters paired up, so we meet characters in twos: siblings Yooko and Tsukumo, hothead Hotsuma and cool/detached-to-everyone-else Shuusei, and so forth.
We end up with a fairly large cast (including a handful of household staff, their boss/leader/etc, and more magical fighters on both sides), and I found myself wishing the artist had mixed up the boys' hairstyles and/or colors more. Some were always easy to discern (Luka the dark-haired demon, Shuusei with darker hair as well), but a whole lot had semi-spiky hair with little or no screentone (Yuki, Hotsuma, Tsukumo, Senshirou, although the last one at least had glasses) that sometimes made it difficult to tell at a glance who had just appeared on the page.
There's a lot of backstory hidden from Yuki, and thus the reader, much of which gets revealed during the course of the story. For instance, we learn early on the Yuki was, up until his curent incarnation, a woman--Luka was her lover in her previous life--and an unidentified something traumatic happened that presumably caused her to reincarnate as a different gender, and without any of her memories, contrary to what usually happens (with the fighters remembering much of their previous lives). Unfortunately, the story ends before we find out exactly what happened to cause this (more on that below).
The source of the fighting goes back a thousand years, and after several volumes we get a decent chunk of backstory, with ore being revealed at the series's climax. It kept me interested and engaged, with not just Yuki and Luka's pasts slowly comoing out, but those of their companions as well.
Now, the ending: the series does not wrap everything. Personally, I would estimate at least 3-4 more volumes' worth of story to conclude it well and to wrap up and answer everything that's been included so far. Unfortunately, the author's note in the final volume (US #8, Japan #13 since the US series started by combining a lot into omnibuses) explains that Hoatu Odagiri is chronically ill, and wasn't able to continue the punishing and intensive work schedule required.
With that understood, I'm glad it doesn't actually wrap up the story. Because so much is still unfinished (including that major question of what happened with Yuki and Luka in his previous life), if she had attempted to actually conclude the story, it would've been badly-done, super quick and emotionally unsatisfying. Instead, we have what feels like a pause, and the story doesn't pretend things are wrapped up, more like the end of a regular volume, but without the immediate cliffhanger. While there's no indication Hotaru Odagiri will ever return to this series, one does hope...and if not, it's ripe for fanfic.
December 28, 2018
Manga is a somewhat less familiar medium for me, so it can take a little bit of time to adjust to the reading style (which gets more confusing when you switch to an American comic or graphic novel right after and have to remember to swap your speech bubble reading patterns again). There's also so much manga out there that it can be pretty overwhelming to sift through for something I'm particularly interested in.
I came across this one by way of an anime that I found during a late night googling session. So far, I'm hooked. I'm definitely going to look up the rest of the volumes.
The black and white illustrations do make it a little tough sometimes to tell one character from another if there's a panel that only shows a sliver of face/hair, but the dialogue usually sorts that out well enough within a page or so. Manga authors seem to have a much closer relationship with their editors than I've seen with American graphic novelists, since it's such a big market and they need to churn out volumes at a fast pace. Odagiri even includes a few mini comics about herself and her editor in this volume, as part of the bonus features. I'm sure that relationship helps to keep page flow coherent and the narrative tight. It makes it a pleasure to read and also lends itself nicely to anime adaptations.
Luka is, as should be expected, by far my favorite character. I'm intrigued by his backstory, particularly his connection with Yuki, and hope to discover much more in subsequent volumes. A big strength of Odagiri's storytelling, though, is that the expanding cast of characters is full of personalities that are equally fun to read. Sometimes when an author introduces too many people and strays too far from the main pairing, the narrative starts to lose its way or becomes a bit boring. None of that's true so far; there's a lot packed into these 300 pages, and I enjoyed pretty much every step along the way.
I came across this one by way of an anime that I found during a late night googling session. So far, I'm hooked. I'm definitely going to look up the rest of the volumes.
The black and white illustrations do make it a little tough sometimes to tell one character from another if there's a panel that only shows a sliver of face/hair, but the dialogue usually sorts that out well enough within a page or so. Manga authors seem to have a much closer relationship with their editors than I've seen with American graphic novelists, since it's such a big market and they need to churn out volumes at a fast pace. Odagiri even includes a few mini comics about herself and her editor in this volume, as part of the bonus features. I'm sure that relationship helps to keep page flow coherent and the narrative tight. It makes it a pleasure to read and also lends itself nicely to anime adaptations.
Luka is, as should be expected, by far my favorite character. I'm intrigued by his backstory, particularly his connection with Yuki, and hope to discover much more in subsequent volumes. A big strength of Odagiri's storytelling, though, is that the expanding cast of characters is full of personalities that are equally fun to read. Sometimes when an author introduces too many people and strays too far from the main pairing, the narrative starts to lose its way or becomes a bit boring. None of that's true so far; there's a lot packed into these 300 pages, and I enjoyed pretty much every step along the way.
January 16, 2022
Considering I was reading this for the yaoi aspect (it even looks like one based solely on the cover), I was surprised that nothing really relationship-oriented happened in this volume (2 volumes, technically). The lower number of 'yaoi' tags makes sense now. There are hints of it, and the main character's love interest's feelings are made obvious from the very start of the story. But it seems like it might be a slow burn instead of the usual plotline-is-just-there-give-context-to-graphic-sex. Which is refreshing in a way, actually; this manga has a very deep and complicated plot. On the downside, though, there are so many names and characters (and characters getting referred to by different names by different people) that I couldn't keep up with who was who. The men are very feminine looking and the girls more masculine looking so I couldn't even really keep genders straight at time either, which didn't help. (Though at least for one character, his appearance is explained with something directly related to the plot, which was also refreshing.) I'm rating it down more for the complicated plot and confusion it causes, but the idea itself is really neat and the characters a bit more well developed than I'm used to (the ones I'm used to being in smut manga, that's probably not saying much...).
May 31, 2023
I'm giving this a three star rating because of how much I enjoyed reading it, but objectively it just isn't really a good series. The characters are all very obvious archetypes but their personalities manage to change and contradict themselves often. It suffers from an obvious lack of love in the creation process near the end. The story was ended quickly with no attempt to even wrap anything up. Does Yuki get his memories back? What happens with the other Zweilts? Do they even win their battle? Etc. Open-ended conclusions can work, but it doesn't fit for this. This is a very enjoyable read if you love to research copy-paste 2000s shoujo BL manga, but I don't everyone is reading it for that reason like I was. It's something I still would recommend just because despite their flaws I still think the characters are loveable in their tirelessly predictable way, but don't expect an actual concrete plot from this. (If you're looking for something similar in aesthetic with an actual good story, I do reccomended Pandora Hearts. It's not a BL if that's the reason why you read this, but it's enjoyable nonetheless so give it a try.)
December 30, 2017
Trash. Okay there are a few things wrong with this book. The plot shouldn't count as a plot. The characters are all the same, defined by an unreasonable love for Yuki, who is the worst main character I have ever seen. Yuki is completely inconsistent as a character. He knows how to fight at first but then is totally useless later on. He always wants to help others and not be a burden, but does nothing to achieve those things - in fact, he does the complete opposite, and the other characters would honestly be better off without Yuki's existence. He causes literally all of their problems, and the only reason why he is needed is because everyone jumps at the chance to protect him and gets hurt in the process. Luca is drastically overpowered and has no reason, like the other characters, to love Yuki. This is just ... not good. I do not understand how this book has such a high rating. Just an honest opinion.
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