I loved this manga. Loved it. 
 Oh, don't get me wrong. It's not for everyone. Certainly not the faint-hearted. My recommendation field above should do it. But I just...I loved it. 
 I wasn't exactly sure what it would entail when I picked it up. I was chilling with Good Friend a few days ago - and Good Friend happens to be a connoisseur of fine manga. 
 Well, okay. I stopped eating up Good Friend's manga recommendations a while ago, after the Kuroshitsuji and Uraboku incidents (they were hellish, was what the incident was. UGH) but when she repeatedly insisted that Crimson Spell was the shiz, I decided to lift her probation and give it a shot. I cautiously took it from her hands and warned, "This had better be good." 
 "It is. It's BL high fantasy." 
 I stared at it. "I'm not sure..." 
 Thus Good Friend gave me the Just Read It, Bitch glare so I threw the manga in my bag and promised that this time, I'd try to like it. Try hard. 
 I didn't really need to. 
 The art was what really did it for me. It was really, really stunning. Sure, there were a few points where the anatomy was just weird; Val's arms were often inexplicably long, and there were a few instances in which someone's neck was at an awkward angle, or whatever. Another little gripe was the absolutely breakneck introduction of the world at the beginning. Within about four pages Val's castle has been invaded, he's been cursed, he leaves the castle and meets Havi. And that's not just at the beginning. One moment we're tripping along and then FLASH! Three weeks have gone by and I'm lost again. 
 I won't lie. A good chunk of my reading time of this manga was spent in total confusion, along the lines of, "Who's going where? To do what? Why?" That said, this might just be me. I have form for being unable to follow most high fantasy novels. As I've said before, I've only really enjoyed two high fantasies before, and they aren't published. 
 (This being the reason why I haven't touched Game of Thrones.) 
 I feel bad criticizing. As I said, this is a great manga. It's yaoi, sure, but it's not a huge angry sex fest filled with disproportionate penises and super-shiny latex (I'm looking at you, Starfighter*). There's an extremely involved, complicated plotline to follow, with a whole cast of complex and likable characters, and of course, some angsty, sexy, epic, over-the-top romance. It feels unfair to categorize this simply as BL fluff. First and foremost, I'd call it adult high fantasy. 
 So? Crimson Spell, congratulations. You reached my Favorites shelf. Feel special. 
 *Who am I kidding? Starfighter was amazeballs.