Okane ga Nai

Yukiya Ayase is a gentle, kind hearted, and innocent university student. The only relative he has left, his cousin Tetsuo, betrays Ayase by selling him to the highest bidder in an auction with hopes of making an enormous profit to be able to pay off his debts. Somuku Kanou, a bad-tempered (though very rich) loan shark, comes to Ayase's rescue and buys Ayase for an impressive 1.2 billion. Kanou apparently knows Ayase from something that happened between them in the past, but Ayase cannot remember who Kanou is nor does he understand why he "saved" him. In a desperate effort to keep Ayase close to him, Kanou demands the debt be repaid in full and suggests the perfect way to do it: by selling his body to Kanou for 500,000 each time. Ayase is horrified in the beginning, but something soon begins to grow between them that can't be bought for any price.

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Ayase, Yukiya

Main

Kanou, Somuku

Main

Kuba, Homare

Main

Ishii, Tetsuo

Main

Someya, Kaoruko

Supporting

Honda, Soichiro

Supporting

Kuba, Misao

Supporting

Gion, Toranosuke

Supporting

Hayashida, Naotoshi

Supporting

Yamato, Takanohashi

Supporting

Reviews

Mar 26, 2010

blushjoy

Recommended

Preliminary (29/? eps)

Stuck between drama and comedy, but never quite becoming one or the other, Okane ga Nai is a rather clumsy but enjoyable yaoi. Reading it, I feel that the creator is never entirely sure what category it really fits into.

The series starts abruptly, exploding onto the pages with a rape by the end of the first chapter. Our seme, Kanou buys a boy named Ayase (at the perfectly legal age of 18) at an underground auction, ostensibly to save the kid. Being a big shot guy in the money business, handsome, powerful and rich, he's used to getting what he wants when he wants it. ... When Ayase refuses his advances and frustrates him, Kanou rapes him. In his mind, the rape is a way of forcing his 'love' on the boy. However, he is also rather kind to Ayase, worrying about him getting sick and taking care of him. So Ayase, who has long been alone and poorly treated by his cousin, despite being horrified by the rape is somewhat drawn to the kindness and protection offered to him by Kanou.

Put that way, it seems to me like the brilliant beginning of a very dramatic, psychological manga that goes where readers may not be comfortable, exploring human feelings and emotions as we watch the destructive and painful, not quite love, not quite hate relationship between Kanou and Ayase.

But this never happens. Ayase is weepy, girly and clingy. He grates on my nerves; after being raped by Kanou he apologizes for scratching him under the eye? Really?

The creator can't seem to decide if Kanou is a jerk or not. He claims to love Ayase and want to protect him. And he does, more or less. Then he humiliates him by forcing Ayase to beg when he needs to 'come', then throwing it in his face how much sex between them turns him on. I found that somewhat more of a turn-off than the rape, as the rape was more spur-of-the-moment, something he immediately regrets while this was a more calculated and a premeditated attempt to manipulate the kid.

Then there's the element of humor. Though honestly funny, the funny bits don't quite fit into the darker bits. So I'm never sure quite how to feel towards everything. It's confusing.

And yet I gave it a pretty decent rating. Why? Well, accepting it for what it is, the way you accept a trashy swashbuckling romance novel, it's quite good.

The art is top notch. Kanou is handsome and toweringly tall. Ayase is pretty with beautiful eyes and gorgeous hair. The bed they share is like triple king sized. XD The scale of the whole thing is so over-the-top you just can't take it seriously, but I mean that in the nicest way possible.

The adventures and scrapes Ayase gets into, always being saved at the last moment by Kanou are full of fun and swooning moments. So if you're a bit squeamish to read a truly violent manga, Okane ga Nai offers all the naughtiness and perverted fun, without being depressing or too dark or too gory. It's darker than your average fare, with the rape, but handled in such a light-hearted, humorous way that everything turns out ok somehow.

So if a manga where rape is tolerated and even considered romantic turns you off or disgusts you, which is perfectly understandable, then this is not for you. If you like squealing with girlish (or boysih) delight over cute boys being ravished by older, powerful men, then you'll be sure to have some fun. I certainly enjoyed it overall, though it's not on my best ever list by a long shot.

For a manga with a similar idea, but without the rape (think a not entirely unwelcome hand job), check out Junjou Romantica, which features a similar pushy, dominant seme and high school kid, only in this case the kid is boyish and hot-tempered himself and their relationship actually makes sense and the humor is hysterical and totally fitting.

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Jan 13, 2009

vaberella

Recommended

Preliminary (39/? eps)

This is a good read. All of it hasn't been translated yet, I'm up to volume 7 currently but I like it. However I haven't yet seen this as a romance.

I see this as control, obsession, and power. Kanou exudes power and is extremely controlling of his environment and his life, so what he wants he gets. He wants Ayase and then finds the perfect opporunity presented when Ayase's cousin sells him off to pay a debt. Kanou buys Ayase and then violently rapes him.

This is not love people. For those to assume that Kanou loves ...

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Jan 25, 2025

Jeesqor

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (1/? eps)

If you're into abuse stories then this is the one for you.

Romanticizing SA and Stockholm syndrome core worse than 50 Shades of Grey. Both manga and anime are equally as guilty of this. The manga doesn't even feel complete at this point The style is all over the place and it makes the list of Yaoi Hands and have you ever seen Ayase and Kanou face swapped before?! I mean, if you've consumed messed up media by now, this is just so cringe and I wish I never devoted my time to reading the manga or watching the anime.

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How Many Chapters? Mizilla - Jun 19, 2010	8 replies	by Arcana_The_Witch »» May 29, 2023 12:37 AM
Poll: Okane Ga Nai Chapter 40 Discussion ImNotLulexiaa - May 12, 2013	4 replies	by desbons »» Aug 21, 2013 5:19 PM
Poll: Okane Ga Nai Chapter 1 Discussion ukonkivi - Oct 15, 2009	1 replies	by Hakuneii »» Jun 5, 2013 1:24 AM
Okane Ga Nai Lo_Lo - Jan 30, 2013	0 replies	by Lo_Lo »» Jan 30, 2013 10:16 PM
Poll: Okane Ga Nai Chapter 39 Discussion Mizilla - Aug 8, 2010	1 replies	by pennyiscute »» Aug 14, 2011 7:14 PM

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