Undertaker Riddle is not a BL manga... Really!

A couple of months ago, I read the announcement of an upcoming Drama CD release, based on a manga called "Sougiya Riddle". I had never heard about it, but the cast included Sakurai Takahiro, Yusa Kouji, Konishi Katsuyuki and Hirakawa Daisuke, which was enough to make curious. So I went to search for information, and ended up on the official page, where I saw this image:

Yeah, that's two guys. The little one is the one who will be played by Sakurai, and the blond one will be played by Yusa. At first I thought it looked like a Kuroshitsuji rip-off. Then I paid more attention and I was confused. I knew that Sakurai Takahiro had stopped taking new BL jobs years ago, but this Sougiya Riddle thing looked definitely BL. What was going on? 

After finding out that the series was being scanlated (by Mango Subs, which focuses on shoujo stuff) I decided to give a try. Before I started reading, I saw some sites which listed this as a "shounen manga". Others said it was "josei". This didn't help at all, I was even more confused than before.

So I started reading. I can only tell that this is NO SHOUNEN MANGA. And if it's not BL, then it's the gayest non BL thing I have ever read...

In the first chapter of this non-BL manga, we meet Sakura Hayato, a teenage boy who looks like he's 10 can see ghosts. He hates this ability because ghosts are always following him around, but there's nothing he can do about it. 

On the day of his 17th birthday he meets "the undertaker Riddle", a strange person who has supernatural powers, works for a mysterious organization and sends wandering spirits to the next world. He wants Hayato to collaborate with him, and asks him to do so in a very manly way, as you can see in the images. Because that's how real men make contracts.

This is just the beginning. What follows is a massive amount of BL fanservice and fetish fuel in every single chapter, but I guess that since there aren't any kisses then it doesn't count as BL. But seriously. The fanservice is so blatant that I ended up wondering if this was intended to be a parody of the BL genre. I can tell that this mangaka likes bondage and apparently incest too, and for some reason she likes the idea of the younger brother looking like he's the older one. I read another manga by her (Cucumber Sandwich) and there was the very same thing.

The very definition of manliness

The story itself is not very original, but if not taken very seriously, it's a lot of fun. Just relax and enjoy. The art is pretty, and if you like BL, you'll like this and you'll also have a good laugh. The one thing I don't like is that Hayato looks too much like a child =P

Now, one thing that Sougiya Riddle is NOT: a shounen manga. No way in hell. You have some battles and some pretty female characters in fancy clothes, but that doesn't make it a shounen... especially when said girls end up being evil supporting characters whose appearance always triggers some incredibly slashy scenes involving Riddle and Hayato.

So, Riddle x Hayato would be the main "pairing", but that's not the only one. After having just read the 16th chapter, I'm intrigued about Roen and his relationship with Riddle. In terms of genre, this manga reminds me of Legal Drug by CLAMP. It's just as BL as something can get without kisses. And I'm looking forward to the Drama CD! Even though I don't like it when Sakurai plays childlike characters...