''9th Sleep'' is a

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

written and illustrated by

Makoto Tateno , who also uses the pen name Shinjuku Tango, is a Japanese manga artist who made her debut in 1986. Tateno regards her influences as being Go Nagai and Osamu Tezuka. Two of her best-known works are ''Yellow'' and ''Happy Boys''. For the latter, ...

. The manga was first published by

Biblos Byblos ( ; gr, Βύβλος), also known as Jbeil or Jubayl ( ar, جُبَيْل, Jubayl, locally ; phn, 𐤂𐤁𐤋, , probably ), is a city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is believed to have been first occupied between 88 ...

on April 5, 2004, before being re-released by

Futabasha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Higashigokenchō, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.会社概要
" Futabasha. R ...

on May 12, 2008. It is licensed in North America by

Digital Manga Publishing Digital Manga is a California-based publishing company that licenses and releases Japanese manga, anime, and related merchandise in the English language. Digital Manga also owns and operates eManga, a digital publishing site for manga and l ...

, which released the manga through its imprint, Juné, on 16 December 2009.

Reception

Christopher Nadolski of Mania.com commented that although it seems like a

boys love ''Yaoi'' (; ja, やおい ), also known by the ''wasei-eigo'' construction and its abbreviation , is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that features homoerotic relationships between male characters. It is typically created b ...

manga, in the end there is "no actual homoerotic payoff for fans of that fare", but feels that the tale "all comes together in a satisfying story of compassion and love." Leroy Douresseaux of Comic Book Bin called the tale "

bromance A bromance is a very close and non-sexual relationship between two or more men. It is an exceptionally tight, affectional, homosocial male bonding relationship exceeding that of usual friendship, and is distinguished from normal friendship by ...

" rather than boys love, and described the plot as the usual Tateno "usual kooky, weird, sci-fi/fantasy scenario", but found it "intriguing" how "she always puts love at the heart of her pulpy nonsense."

References

External links

*{{anime News Network, manga, 8023 2004 manga Digital Manga Publishing titles Fantasy anime and manga Futabasha manga Yaoi anime and manga