Miyamoto Kano's Rules chronology

W00t! My dear painless_j has read and enjoyed Rules, Miyamoto Kano's long series of yaoi manga stories. You can read her review here.

Here's a list of story order and the file links for the rest of you to follow suit (she says hopefully). Behind the cut is an expanded description of the stories, which may spoil you for some of the major details as the plot is described (plot summaries are by photoash).

Remember, if you've never read manga before, the reading is done from right to left and top to bottom. Takes a little getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes natural.

Rules Universe – current as of Jun. 2008
files available at: http://hackthemainstream.com/index.cfm
(under 'Downloads' 'Miyamoto Kano')

The Hydra/Rules Universe consists of several primary, interconnected story arcs about young gay men in Tokyo and spans about 15 years. The main stories are 'Hydra', 'Lovers and Souls', and 'Rules'. There are numerous shorter stories that bridge or augment these main story arcs.

Characters (age at first appearance) – main characters are bolded
Utsumi Ryuu (from Okinawa, 16)
Taira Hikaru (17)
Hitomi Naoyuki (17)
Satou (Ryuu's gal-pal classmate, 17)
Itou (17, Hikaru's thuggish childhood friend)
Shinomiya Tooru (19)
Shige (20, Tooru's tattoo artist friend)
Satoshi Matsuoka (24-ish, photographer)
Suzuki Atori (18)
Konoe Yuki (17)

Chronology of Stories, with links (you can infer the jist of the missing stories from the stories that follow them)

Ocean's Cage, Sky's Door - Say Please Ch. 5- published in English, so not available online
Kiss
Kiss After
Skies
Hydra ch. 1-4
Hydra ch. 5-6
Heavenly
Hydra ch. 7-8
Blue Film First
Hydra ch. 9-11 – not scanlated yet (but soon)
Real Things
Hello Again – not scanlated yet
Lovers and Souls ch. 1 – Lovers, Souls and Sleeping Beauty – licensed for English release, so not available online.
Fragile
Vanity
Rules vol. 1, ch. 1-6, extra, Signs
Rules vol. 2
If Winter Comes, Can Spring Be Far Behind? (falls btwn Rules vol. 2, ch. 1 and ch. 2)
Rules vol. 3
Song Birds
Another Day on the Planet
Rules – Another Story
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( expanded description with a few spoilers )