1. The Story
So our uke/sub/bottom, Ren, grew up in Canada and was more or less raised by wolves (???) but unfortunately that's probably the least ridiculous thing about this anime. The seme/dom/top, Haru, meets him there where he becomes his caretaker and tries to teach him how to live like a civilized human in modern society (Oh the irony, but more on that later). A seven-year timeskip and unnecessarily dramatic plot device later, Ren ends up at Haru's doorstep as his adopted younger brother.
Not that there's anything particularly wrong with this premise as far as shounen-ai goes, but it's the way the show keeps trying to push the idea of 'family' down our throats while the two act as anything but brothers. On the plus side the pacing was fairly decent; once the main setting was established it didn't feel like anything was being rushed. While some viewers may find it a bit draggy, at least it felt a bit believable.
Get ready for that usual trope of everyone living in a nice, expensive house, Haru getting cars as presents and actually just getting whatever he wants, money isn't an issue here.
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2. The Pairing
Why, oh why would anyone be okay with this?! I've seen my fair share of uncomfortable anime pairings but this one takes the cake. Throughout the show the pure and noble concept of 'brothers' is taken and beaten up and spit upon, then sucker-punched for good measure. I guess what's scariest about the pairing is how closely Haru resembles a pedophile predator. Every move he makes on Ren is manipulative, creepy, inappropriate and criminal.
It's hard to take this show as the light-hearted fluff it presents itself to be, because your main pairing is inherently dark when you think about it. Ren has no idea he's more or less being groomed by his legal guardian, and the morons who serve as side-characters in this show do nothing to stop it, or even see anything wrong with it for that matter.
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3. The Characters
Which brings us to the third strike for this show. Most of the characters are useless, bumbling idiots. The two women on this show are treated as harsh, dominatrix slave-drivers on permanent PMS, while the girls are either dust-brained Haru fangirls or evil, conniving and wicked. The only girls who're treated with some grace are those who don't pose a threat to our main pairing.
Apart from Haru and Ren, Haru's younger adopted twin brothers, Shima and Aki, are also important. No, they aren't actually, it makes no difference whether they exist or not, because they have no real opinions about anything. Shima is your token megane; while after one episode of what looked like interesting family dynamics and a strong characterization for Aki, he was reduced to another Ren fanboy for absolutely no real reason. The two see nothing wrong with their brother sexually imposing himself on a minor, as do most of the others - something is very wrong with everyone in this Lala land of Haru's fantasies.
On that note...don't get me started on Haru. You feel like reaching into the screen and slapping him 9 out of 10 times. Apparently he's incredibly good-looking, which seems to be why everyone forgives him for the stuff he does, I mean I can't find any other reason why this criminal is roaming the streets. He acts like a silly, loving, affectionate older brother but I swear it just comes off as CREEPY. He's so touchy with Ren - any scene involving the two, especially later on, is bile-inducing. I tend to compartmentalize fictional characters separately from real people so that even 'evil' characters can find a place on my favourites list, but with Haru...I can't remember the last time I disliked someone so much. I guess it's because he gets away with everything he does and no one sees any wrong in him.
I will say that Ren is a bit of a saving grace for the show. While I didn't outright like him, he was treated much better than the others as far as his character was written. But throughout he felt like the victim of the sick and perverted Haru.
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In conclusion I'll say that this show does have its strengths, especially for the audience it targets. If you're into yaoi/shounen-ai then this isn't a bad choice, there's plenty of fanservice sprinkled about and it gets heavier as you go ahead. I'm guessing people who enjoy this genre are either used to its cliches or actually enjoy them, so I won't mention that as a flaw. And while I personally found the pairing distasteful, there are those who might end up liking it. And as much as I hate to admit it, I can see Haru being popular with the younger fujoshi crowd. The music, atmosphere and artwork was also really good, to give credit where it is due. Oh and if you like dogs and canines in general, there's plenty of that as well.
On the other hand if you don't particularly care for yaoi/shounen-ai then don't bother with this anime, it'll just get you frustrated and angry. For me the best part about it was that it was only ten episodes long, but the bad news is that a season 2 is in the works. Hopefully it'll begin with Haru getting sent to prison *fingers crossed*
