Miyamoto Kano's Rules chronology

[geoviki]

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
___________________________________________________


Stories in Chronological Order (numbering system is mine, so that the files in a directory will list in order)

01 Ocean's Cage, Sky's Door - Please ch. 5
(Ryuu, Stefan)
Ryuu is a sad but tough kid from Osaka who is trying to overcome his past. When an American takes an interest in him, will it lead to more than just friendship?
This was published by Deux as part of the 2008 release, Say Please. It's not necessary to read in order to understand the rest of this universe.

02a Kiss

02b Kiss After
(Ryuu, Sakai)
Ryuu is leaving yet another high school, but a classmate is especially sorry to see him go.

03 Skies
(Hikaru, Ryuu, Hitomi)
Our first glimpse of Hikaru and Hitomi in high school, after Ryuu's arrived in Tokyo.

04 Hydra ch. 1
05 Hydra ch. 2
06a-c Hydra ch. 3
07 Hydra ch. 4
(Hitomi, Ryuu, Hikaru, Satou)
1-4: When Ryuu transfers to Hitomi's school, he leaves an immediate impression on him. Curious about rumours of a full-scale tattoo on Ryuu's back, Hitomi starts getting closer to him. Before long, the friendship and fascination Hitomi feels for Ryuu start developing into more, but before he has a chance to come to terms with his feelings, Hikaru appears on the scene.... and he has his eyes set on Hitomi.

08a-c Hydra ch. 5
09a-b Hydra ch. 6
Now that Hikaru has become close friends with Hitomi and Ryuu, the group dynamics have changed. When Hikaru expresses his growing interest in Hitomi, will Ryuu admit his feelings or let Hitomi slip away...?

10 Heavenly
(Hitomi, Hikaru)
Hikaru reflects on his current situation with Hitomi while remembering their first meeting.

11 Hydra ch. 7
12 Hydra ch. 8
Ryuu seems to have found comfort in other places as Hitomi and Hikaru Taira get further involved. Sexual frustrations finally find an outlet, though misdirected.

13 Blue Film First
(Hitomi, Ryuu, Hikaru)
Second year of college. The relationship between Hitomi and Taira reaches fever pitch. Hitomi satisfies his body with Taira, but can his heart be satisfied?

14 Hydra ch. 9
15 Hydra ch.10
16 Hydra ch. 11
In a startling series of events that lead up to Hydra's transfixing climax, hearts break, enemies resurface, and ties of friendship bind the trio in a complex web of struggle, sacrifice, and redemption.

17 Real Things
(Hikaru)
After the storm of Hydra, Hikaru is now free and single, though not yet over his former lover. He's made a casual sex-friend of Kagami, a senior at his university. But all too soon, Hikaru has to pay for his lack of commitment towards Kagami.

18 Hello Again
(Hitomi, Ryuu, Hikaru)


19a-d Lovers and Souls ch. 1 – Lovers, Souls; Sleeping Beauty
(Tooru, Matsuoka, Hikaru)
Tooru is a young model who becomes a gay prostitute because he doesn't care enough about himself. However, he's starting to fall for his sempai. Can Matsouko save him? This tragic story also involves Taira Hikaru.

'Lovers and Souls' has been licensed by Aurora for English publication (anticipated in Nov. 2008) and has been removed from downloads. You can pre-order from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Lovers-Souls-Yaoi-Kano-Miyamoto/dp/1934496405.

20a Fragile
Tooru is still coming to grips with the events of Lovers and Souls, and Shige is there to help him through it. Also a guest appearance of Ryouichi from Say Please
20b Fragile Bonus story (a text story rather than a manga)

21 Vanity
After the events of Lovers and Souls, Tooru is still deeply heartbroken. Trying to find solace in Hikaru, Tooru challenges the terms of their friendship. But can he handle the consequences?

22 Rules – Signs (the first chapter of Rules from Hikaru's POV)
23a-g Rules vol. 1
(Hikaru, Yuki, Tooru, Atori)
Konoe Yuki, a high school student, is confused about his sexuality. He meets Hikaru in the sleazy gay district, and sleeps with him. They begin to play at being lovers, but Yuki's heart belongs to Atori, his friend and classmate. Can Yuki come to terms with his sexuality and reveal his feelings to Atori, and where do Hikaru's true feelings lie?

24a-f Rules vol. 2
(Hikaru, Yuki, Tooru, Atori)
Atori begins to question his own sexuality after having a couple of homosexual encounters. Tooru hasn't completely recovered from the events in Lovers & Souls, but he is strangely drawn to a new man in his life. Hikaru and Yuki both have guest appearances as well.

25 If Winter Comes, Can Spring Be Far Behind? (falls btwn Rules vol. 2, ch. 1 and ch. 2)
(Hikaru, Yuki, Hitomi)
A glimpse into Hikaru's life, past, and feelings.

26a-e Rules vol. 3
(Hikaru, Yuki, Tooru, Atori, Shige)
Atori's relationship with Tooru deepens, but can he mature enough to come to terms with his lover's past? And will Tooru be able to find the love he seeks in Atori? Hikaru and Yuki, guiding their friends through the complexities of gay love, also make an appearance.

27 Song Birds
(Hikaru, Yuki, Tooru, Atori)
Tooru and Atori slowly learn to communicate instead of quarrel.

28 Another Day on the Planet
(Yuki, Hikaru, Akino)
Yuki feels neglected when Hikaru's work keeps him too busy, and he allows himself to be tempted by his strange classmate, Akino.

29 Rules – Another Story
(Tooru, Atori)
Tooru finally tops. Prose story, given solely to Liquid Passion to translate.

Comments

[ashimaruyfg.livejournal.com]

ah thank you! this is too helpful! ah, ive need something like this for a long time, thanks again!

[painless-j.livejournal.com]

Great! I'll link to this post!

[keitorin.livejournal.com]

Thanks! This will come in handy.

[luredbyvenus.livejournal.com]

This makes me want to read them all over again. Thanks for putting it together. :)

[frantic-mice.livejournal.com]

I've just dled a whole bunch of them. If I like, I'll come back for more-- in other words-- Thank you and I'll come back for more. *g*

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

I really hope you love them as much as I do. I saw your post of MK images and yeah, they really are similar in appearance to HD, aren't they?

[parlophone.livejournal.com]

I'd love to read this sometime (in the original Japanese, if you could point me in the right direction.)

Viki, did you ever get my email with my re-translations of the LWH bits you asked about?

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Yes, sweetie, I did and I'm busy 'shopping them into the current version. I'll send you the new pages soon, and thanks! It really made a lot more sense.