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Midnight Stranger #1
Midnight Stranger, Vol. 1
Roi, a black goat spirit, is getting bullied when out of nowhere he's rescued by the beautiful fire god Xiu. Xiu gives Roi the ability to take human form, and a grateful Roi decides to serve Xiu as his new master. Now by Xiu's side every day, Roi wishes to become more than just his servant. Painfully aware of just how ugly he is, Roi believes Xiu could never care about him, and one day something happens to bring Xiu's wrath down on Roi. What must he do to gain the fire god's favor?
178 pages, Paperback
Published April 12, 2016
4 people are currently reading
137 people want to read
About the author
Bohra Naono
72 books101 followers直野儚羅 (NAONO Bohra)
Doujinshi circle: NAIFU
Shares a website with Naomi Watari
Doujinshi circle: NAIFU
Shares a website with Naomi Watari
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
January 21, 2016
I can't wait to buy this when it comes out. I'm all about it. I love me some steamy yaoi.
THERE'S A FLUFFY GOAT.
a fire god.
A LITTLE HUMAN KID.
It's my favorite.
THERE'S A FLUFFY GOAT.
a fire god.
A LITTLE HUMAN KID.
It's my favorite.
May 9, 2022
This is like classic yaoi manga vibes and story but without the non con nonsense and beautiful art! The characters are cute and always getting jealous. This is a cute read and doesn’t have the annoying misunderstandings that is sadly so common in this genre. The story is interesting enough and simple to follow and super fluffy but spicy at the same time.
February 24, 2020
3.5 stars
This is a newer title from Bohra Naono. I really enjoyed her previous English release Three Wolves Mountain. This one is still supernatural. We follow a goat spirit and a God in this one. The goat spirit almost is killed by these angry villagers. But our Fire God, Xiu, saves him and makes him into an attractive boy toy. This is their story of love. I enjoyed their relationship, Xiu is a power bottom and I love him!
This volume unfortunately has a second story halfway through called "Hollow Romance". This story was good at first, but I felt it was very rushed in the second chapter. It also info dumped a lot of information at the very end. I just wish the story either got it's own one shot, or wasn't included at all.
Still, Naono's artwork is STUNNING! This is worth it for that alone.
This is a newer title from Bohra Naono. I really enjoyed her previous English release Three Wolves Mountain. This one is still supernatural. We follow a goat spirit and a God in this one. The goat spirit almost is killed by these angry villagers. But our Fire God, Xiu, saves him and makes him into an attractive boy toy. This is their story of love. I enjoyed their relationship, Xiu is a power bottom and I love him!
This volume unfortunately has a second story halfway through called "Hollow Romance". This story was good at first, but I felt it was very rushed in the second chapter. It also info dumped a lot of information at the very end. I just wish the story either got it's own one shot, or wasn't included at all.
Still, Naono's artwork is STUNNING! This is worth it for that alone.
February 10, 2022
Fun light read with humor. I love that Naono Bohra does sexy older men with younger lovers. This 2 volume fantasy is series is about a minor spirit, Roi, and a fire god, Xiu, who become lovers when in human form.
January 27, 2020
This is for both volumes of the series since I read them back-to-back.
The titular story of the series, and also the one that made up the bulk of the 2 books, focused on Roi, a black goat spirit, and Xiu, the fire god he served. The two met when Roi was attacked by humans and about to be burned alive. Xiu saved him and gave him a human form, and the two had been together ever since as master and servant.
This was definitely not a cute and fluffy romance. Aside from their first meeting involving Xiu saving Roi from being burned alive after being beaten, shot with arrows, and stabbed, Xiu burned Roi alive when he got angry with him and Xiu's confession of his feelings to Roi is accompanied by him hitting him to the point of blood coming out so that when they have sex for the first time, Roi's face is covered in bruises and blood. That's all in the first chapter. I was honestly surprised at how brutal it was. The book instantly stopped that after the first chapter and didn't have anything like that between the two of them again until the end of the second book with a two page "funny" story about how any time Roi would try to grow a beard, Xiu would burn it off his face. I could have down without that.
Outside of those two sections, I enjoyed them as a couple, even if I just kept wishing they would simply talk to one another. They both had severe self esteem issues and thought the other would leave them once they realized there was "better" our there, not thinking about the fact that they've both been pining for the other for centuries.
Their story did throw in a sexual assault scene, unfortunately. It's thankfully not between the two of them. All their scenes were consensual. Instead, a side character started stripping Roi to have sex with him despite Roi's repeated protests. It's another one of those things I could have done without.
There were also 3 other stories in series, 1 in the first book and 2 in the second. The first was another supernatural story, although the supernatural elements were only hinted at in the beginning. The main character, Takara, was just fired again and his neighbor, Katabami, was hoping he'd finally let him take care of him. But Takara was determined to get a job and an old acquaintance had an opening to interview for. But nobody was quite who they seem in this story. This was an interesting one, but definitely a twisted romance once the reveal of what was going on came.
The next story featured side characters from the main story. It was a short story about the couple sorting out an issue with their relationship after having just gotten back together by communicating (it took a little bit of time to get to the communication). It was pretty sweet.
The last story was my least favorite and also felt out of place as the only contemporary story in a book of supernatural stories. It opened with a nephew and uncle having sex on page one of the story and things didn't get better. Additional revelations that the uncle had been the primary caretaker of the kid since he had been an infant because the parents kept leaving him with the uncle to go on extended vacations, that the nephew was still a kid, that the nephew didn't eat so that he'd stay skinny like he thought the uncle would like, and that the nephew didn't want to grow up because he though the uncle only liked young boys just made everything unpleasant. I was very happy it was a one-shot and the book went right back to Roi and Xiu after this.
Overall, it was an enjoyable series (except for the incest story, Someday's Dream, which I would just skip). It's certainly not for everyone, but if fantasy BL that gets a bit dark without going grimdark is your thing, this might be one to check out.
The titular story of the series, and also the one that made up the bulk of the 2 books, focused on Roi, a black goat spirit, and Xiu, the fire god he served. The two met when Roi was attacked by humans and about to be burned alive. Xiu saved him and gave him a human form, and the two had been together ever since as master and servant.
This was definitely not a cute and fluffy romance. Aside from their first meeting involving Xiu saving Roi from being burned alive after being beaten, shot with arrows, and stabbed, Xiu burned Roi alive when he got angry with him and Xiu's confession of his feelings to Roi is accompanied by him hitting him to the point of blood coming out so that when they have sex for the first time, Roi's face is covered in bruises and blood. That's all in the first chapter. I was honestly surprised at how brutal it was. The book instantly stopped that after the first chapter and didn't have anything like that between the two of them again until the end of the second book with a two page "funny" story about how any time Roi would try to grow a beard, Xiu would burn it off his face. I could have down without that.
Outside of those two sections, I enjoyed them as a couple, even if I just kept wishing they would simply talk to one another. They both had severe self esteem issues and thought the other would leave them once they realized there was "better" our there, not thinking about the fact that they've both been pining for the other for centuries.
Their story did throw in a sexual assault scene, unfortunately. It's thankfully not between the two of them. All their scenes were consensual. Instead, a side character started stripping Roi to have sex with him despite Roi's repeated protests. It's another one of those things I could have done without.
There were also 3 other stories in series, 1 in the first book and 2 in the second. The first was another supernatural story, although the supernatural elements were only hinted at in the beginning. The main character, Takara, was just fired again and his neighbor, Katabami, was hoping he'd finally let him take care of him. But Takara was determined to get a job and an old acquaintance had an opening to interview for. But nobody was quite who they seem in this story. This was an interesting one, but definitely a twisted romance once the reveal of what was going on came.
The next story featured side characters from the main story. It was a short story about the couple sorting out an issue with their relationship after having just gotten back together by communicating (it took a little bit of time to get to the communication). It was pretty sweet.
The last story was my least favorite and also felt out of place as the only contemporary story in a book of supernatural stories. It opened with a nephew and uncle having sex on page one of the story and things didn't get better. Additional revelations that the uncle had been the primary caretaker of the kid since he had been an infant because the parents kept leaving him with the uncle to go on extended vacations, that the nephew was still a kid, that the nephew didn't eat so that he'd stay skinny like he thought the uncle would like, and that the nephew didn't want to grow up because he though the uncle only liked young boys just made everything unpleasant. I was very happy it was a one-shot and the book went right back to Roi and Xiu after this.
Overall, it was an enjoyable series (except for the incest story, Someday's Dream, which I would just skip). It's certainly not for everyone, but if fantasy BL that gets a bit dark without going grimdark is your thing, this might be one to check out.
August 25, 2018
3.5 stars
This book was cute, light on the story side, fluffy and definitely not safe for work. The little “explicit” warning on the book cover is not there for nothing.
Roi-Tschaggata is a black goat spirit, who is consider ugly and horrifying. When being torture by the human, he is saves by the fire god Xiuhtecuhtli, who gave him a human form.
Roi stay with him as a servant and start to develop feeling for the other man. He also continues to exorcise evil and heal the sick in chibi goat mode (so cute!) The goat befriends with a young boy, even if he is forbidden to do so by his master. He thinks he is unworthy, but Xiu-sama prove him wrong.
The other story, that have absolutely no link with the main couple is about Takara Mori, an orphan who is job hunting. He is quite close with his older neighbor Katabami-san, who always took care of him. The young man randomly meets an old class mate who offer him a job in a genetic clinic for some experiment (yeah this is not creepy at all….). There is also a mysterious long hair man that seems link to people disappearance, and a demonic sword.
Roi & Xiu are quite cute together, I wish there was a little bit more depth to their characters. At least they seem to love each other and have a respectful relationship (unlike so many other yaoi book that I have read in the past.) Nothing memorable, but still fun to read.
This book was cute, light on the story side, fluffy and definitely not safe for work. The little “explicit” warning on the book cover is not there for nothing.
Roi-Tschaggata is a black goat spirit, who is consider ugly and horrifying. When being torture by the human, he is saves by the fire god Xiuhtecuhtli, who gave him a human form.
Roi stay with him as a servant and start to develop feeling for the other man. He also continues to exorcise evil and heal the sick in chibi goat mode (so cute!) The goat befriends with a young boy, even if he is forbidden to do so by his master. He thinks he is unworthy, but Xiu-sama prove him wrong.
The other story, that have absolutely no link with the main couple is about Takara Mori, an orphan who is job hunting. He is quite close with his older neighbor Katabami-san, who always took care of him. The young man randomly meets an old class mate who offer him a job in a genetic clinic for some experiment (yeah this is not creepy at all….). There is also a mysterious long hair man that seems link to people disappearance, and a demonic sword.
Roi & Xiu are quite cute together, I wish there was a little bit more depth to their characters. At least they seem to love each other and have a respectful relationship (unlike so many other yaoi book that I have read in the past.) Nothing memorable, but still fun to read.
March 9, 2023
Representation: queer Japanese protagonists, Japanese secondary character, queer Japanese tertiary character, Japanese tertiary characters.
Content Warning: violence, blood, gore.
Content Warning: violence, blood, gore.
Read
February 21, 2025LOL Absolutely not after the first chapter. This volume also did not have Adrienne Beck's best translation. The formality felt stiff.
July 8, 2025
Now this? THIS was entertainment. I didn’t fully grasp the story, characters, anything really. But it was SO fun! I read it in a day. I love exploring different manga and this one certainly didn’t disappoint.
December 15, 2019
I was pleasantly surprised by this manga. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. I thought that it was going to be a bit of a weird read, which it was, but I still enjoyed it. I liked both of the romance that was introduced in this volume, and I liked the plot that each couple went through. Overall, I enjoyed this book and I will read the next book in the series, which I think is the last one. Depending on how I feel about that book, I think I will keep this series in my collection, but I don't know if I would recommend it.
January 17, 2016
More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/
Sadly, this title fell very flat for me. Indeed, about half way through, I became really bored and just started skimming to see if the story would go anywhere. The supernatural elements were kind of infantile and silly and most of the story was an excuse for sex (there really wasn't much in the way of story). I found both protagonists to be caricatures rather than characters and wasn't interested in them or their romance in any way.Story: A humanitarian spirit Roi Tschaggara [a Swiss legend] is saved by a powerful and not so humble fire god Xiuhtecuhtli [Aztec fire god]. Xiu transforms the ugly little goat spirit into a human and Rio serves his master faithfully. But the humble Roi doesn't feel he is worthy of the great Xiu's attentions - and pines away in secret for his master. Also includes a second story which also has a supernatural element.
I never liked either mopey dull Roi or over-the-top self-absorbed Xoi. To create 'conflict' we have an assortment of cliche plot elements, none of which are going to elevate the story. The sex is extremely graphic, even for this genre. And there's lots of it, so I guess the story gets in the way. The choice of random European and South American supernatural figures did nothing to help bring a bit of gravitas to the silliness. It felt like the mangaka was on autopilot when she wrote this, churning together bits and pieces of too many other familiar stories with help from wikipedia entries on various world deities.
The artwork is serviceable but surprisingly dated feeling - really, nothing special. Oddly, this seems much more like a doujinshi than an original story - and it is not surprising that mangaka Bohra has strong roots in the dj genre. In the end, there's not much to recommend here. Reviewed from an arc provided by the publisher.
May 6, 2016
For the most part I did not care very much for the story of Roi and Xiu. I don't really get their interest in each other. I sort of get Roi's blind faith being Xiu is the god that saved him, but the other way around. Why is a fire god into a goat? The best part of the story is Roi in goat form (quite adorable!) and his friendship with the human boy. Lots of sexual content! And graphically portrayed. DO not read where unwanted people can look over your shoulder!
What I did really like, however was the second set of characters, Katakbami and Takara. Although their story isn't even in the synopsis! It was my favorite. Is some ways the relationship was awkward with the age difference, but once you learn the truth it works out.
The art is decent but I did not find the males attractive (in that manga sense) so no bonus points there. So far, with how this is written and wrapped up,it could be a series or standalone.
*I was given a copy of this book in exchange for a fair, honest review.
What I did really like, however was the second set of characters, Katakbami and Takara. Although their story isn't even in the synopsis! It was my favorite. Is some ways the relationship was awkward with the age difference, but once you learn the truth it works out.
The art is decent but I did not find the males attractive (in that manga sense) so no bonus points there. So far, with how this is written and wrapped up,it could be a series or standalone.
*I was given a copy of this book in exchange for a fair, honest review.
April 24, 2016
I really liked the first Volume of Midnight Stranger. The art was beautiful (as it always is with Bohra Naono), the supernatural elements interesting (that ghost spirit was SO CUTE) and the chemistry between the characters was great.
Looking forward to Volume 2.
Looking forward to Volume 2.
August 25, 2018
Roi-Tschaggata - an ugly goat spirit who helps humans is sacrificed by a flaming torch wielding mob who believe because of his ugliness he is evil. He is thrown onto a bonfire. Xiuhtecuhtli the beautiful fire god thinks Roi is a sacrifice, he turns him into a human and makes him his servant. They live together as master/servant for centuries until we get to present day where Xui is a pop idol. Roi serves him by day but moonlights in his goat form at night to help humans, knowing that indifferent Xiu will never approve. Xiu finds out and is furious and jealous of the little boy Roi cures. Eventually he comes around and reveals that he's in love with Roi and the pair get together for some steamy manlovin' - With some really nice art- We get an added complication as Peri another god turns up and asks Xiu to pretend to be his lover to avoid a stalker.
There's an interesting 2 chapter bonus story in which a demon is after the body of a Beserker who it seems is falling in love with an anthropomorphic version of his own sword. The concept of this - man falling for the sword avarice that ultimately destroyed him his highly original and merits further exploration. The other point in this story's favour is the freaky as artwork - the demon is super creepy and what he does to his other victims is straight out of a horror manga - as is the multiple hands incarnation. The story itself however is mighty confusing and not the best vehicle for such a wonderful concept.
Overall I quite enjoyed this - there's a lot of originality and I loved the fact that this uses the Aztec god Xiuhtecuhtli - not a common pantheon in manga- the art is however patchy - adored the horror sequences of the bonus story, the sex scenes and Roi's chibi goat cuteness but wasn't overly fond of the rest of it, particularly Roi's human face. The romance wasn't well developed - but that's largely due to how short this is - bear in mind half the volume is the bonus story - I'd have loved more angst and emotional build. Still for those of you who like their yaoi fantastical and their smut scenes hot - this series is definitely worth checking out.
There's an interesting 2 chapter bonus story in which a demon is after the body of a Beserker who it seems is falling in love with an anthropomorphic version of his own sword. The concept of this - man falling for the sword avarice that ultimately destroyed him his highly original and merits further exploration. The other point in this story's favour is the freaky as artwork - the demon is super creepy and what he does to his other victims is straight out of a horror manga - as is the multiple hands incarnation. The story itself however is mighty confusing and not the best vehicle for such a wonderful concept.
Overall I quite enjoyed this - there's a lot of originality and I loved the fact that this uses the Aztec god Xiuhtecuhtli - not a common pantheon in manga- the art is however patchy - adored the horror sequences of the bonus story, the sex scenes and Roi's chibi goat cuteness but wasn't overly fond of the rest of it, particularly Roi's human face. The romance wasn't well developed - but that's largely due to how short this is - bear in mind half the volume is the bonus story - I'd have loved more angst and emotional build. Still for those of you who like their yaoi fantastical and their smut scenes hot - this series is definitely worth checking out.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 2, 2017
I decided to buy this pretty much based on the cover and the mangaka (please don't drum me out of the librarian corps for judging a book by its cover!). LOL, and boy did I luck out. Between the goat-y bits and sword-y parts, I was fantastically amused. Consider me ready to dive into volume 2 with the same level of ignorance and enthusiasm!
March 4, 2020
Normally I don't enjoy the second story, but in this case, both of these were awesome! I loved everything about these stories and I can't wait to read more. I also love how they outright said that no, goats don't have a long tail but they stuck with it because they loved the design and that's gutsy. Amazing art, great story, 10/10.
March 12, 2021
4.5/5
This was so much more fun and adorable than I anticipated. Roi as a goat is so precious and the romance is both sweet and sexy. There was a second unrelated story in this volume which was a bit rushed but still quite good. I think I especially liked it because I'm a sucker for the reincarnated lovers trope.
This was so much more fun and adorable than I anticipated. Roi as a goat is so precious and the romance is both sweet and sexy. There was a second unrelated story in this volume which was a bit rushed but still quite good. I think I especially liked it because I'm a sucker for the reincarnated lovers trope.
May 2, 2021
I really enjoyed the art and the overall plot idea, however I do think that this has the typical first volume jitters. Half the manga is the main story but the other half is a completely different Side Story which was disappointing not that it was a bad Side Story, I just wish it would have focused on the main characters.
April 4, 2020
Por un momento pensé que Xiu iba a ser el seme, pero afortunadamente no fue así y Roi tomo ese papel.
La historia me encantó. El dibujo de Naono sensei es simplemente maravilloso. Los detalles de la cabra y sus expresiones fueron simplemente hilarantes.
No puedo esperar a leer el segundo volumen.
La historia me encantó. El dibujo de Naono sensei es simplemente maravilloso. Los detalles de la cabra y sus expresiones fueron simplemente hilarantes.
No puedo esperar a leer el segundo volumen.
May 19, 2017
2.5/5 Stars
March 18, 2019
Sweet, funny, sexy and well drawn.
August 5, 2019
Really digging the inhuman characters and the relationships in this one~
December 22, 2019
3.5 stars
June 12, 2020
Okay, but nothing amazing. Two separate stories of spirit BL, with a bit of messy art and not very engaging characters.
July 11, 2020
Artwork dari Naono-sensei memang bagus dan ditambah sm ceritanya yang menarik dan sweet, favorit ku banget.
August 18, 2021
Love it
Loved every page in this book. The main story and side story. Can’t wait for more.
I hope Peri gets a side story.
Loved every page in this book. The main story and side story. Can’t wait for more.
I hope Peri gets a side story.
May 17, 2022
Cute.
I had to hide under my pillow when people came in.
I had to hide under my pillow when people came in.
Read
November 28, 2024DNF @ pg 100… what is this??
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