Monokuro Limit (モノクロリミット) is a new 2018 summer BL release written and illustrated by the author who goes by the name of Maine. Though the manga is quite literally in only it’s early stages, it does not fail at leaving the reader wanting more. Even with only one chapter released so far, it’s enough to keep you refreshing your pages and apps in order to see if chapter two has been released yet. How did Maine achieve that capability within their manga with just a single chapter? Well that’s what we will get into, along with an overall review of first impressions of the new release.
▍Overview
The handsome lead of the popular band Joker Trick, Rui, feels an undying and everlasting love and passion for music that is only matched by the lack of love that he feels or experiences for any woman he has been involved with. Much to the tiresome concern of his band mates, he seems unable to know romantic love at all. Out of concern but also humor, one of his band mates introduces him to a discontinued piece of technology – a simulator in which you get to date your ideal type of person and learn to fall in love. But don’t be fooled, this is not your average everyday otome game or dating sim. When Rui returns home with the device and begins to play around with it, he is soon met face to face with a love droid who is now calling him master.
▍Main Characters
■ Rui
Rui is your stereotypical boy band pretty face. He is the leader of Joker Trick. We know in the chapter that he has never experienced love no matter how many women he becomes involved with. His heart has never clicked. It seems to be the only thing he truly loves is his music. But even then he knows that is not enough to fill his heart but he is unable to figure out what exactly is wrong with him
■ Kuro
We don’t learn much about Kuro in the first chapter due to the fact he only appears in the beginning and end of this chapter. He is appropriately given the name Kuro by Rui due to his appearance of black hair and all black clothing upon their first meeting. He seems to be a bit of a tsundere when he speaks to Rui. He comes on harsh but reveals he is actually quite sweet. He also happens to be a love android.
▍A Perfect Cliffhanger
Despite being the first chapter, there is already a flashback that encourages readers make it to the last page. The lead vocalist, Rui, of the popular boy band Joker Trick, is seen performing a heartfelt emotional love song dedicated to the one who helped him first experience love on stage. As his performance nears its end he notices an important face in the crowd and doesn’t hesitate to chase after him after the song. As he finally reaches the person he is met with disappointment as he realized it was not him, and with that the reader is switched over to the past. To a time in which Rui had not yet had the pleasure of knowing what true love was.
Readers are encouraged to keep reading so they can know everything that lead to the point they were first introduced to. The entire chapter itself being the embodiment of an actual cliffhanger in every way imaginable it’s almost impossible to not feel like wanting more chapter!
Monokuro Limit succeeds in getting readers hooked with this very first chapter. The story is already teeming with a vast amount of potential to develop not just through the plot but through the characters as well. The art may not be the factor that sets it apart from other BL manga, but the entire love droid setting certainly has the potential to easily take care of that. So if this got you excited, then go ahead and give it a read. Warning: you may be left refreshing your page and apps wanting more!