Legal Drug Review: Clamp’s Most Profound Manga Ever

The manga creator group Clamp is known for two things: romance and homosexuality. Although some of their manga may not have these elements- most of them do and they do it well.

“Legal Drug,” a prequel to the now halted “Drug and Drop,” takes these two ideas and combines them masterfully, with a hint of the supernatural. The omnibus featuring all three volumes is finally available in the U.S. and is a treasure to behold.

Kazahaya Kudo almost died during a harsh winter. He was saved by the tall, dark and mysterious Rikuo Himura. He now works at Rikuo’s job, “Green Drugstore,” where the owner gives both assignments that deal with the occult.

This manga may have paranormal occurrences, but that’s not the main focus of the story. The story deals more with relationships and how people deal with tragedies that they would like to forget. This is an area where Clamp excels at ten-fold. Here the biggest theme is what Japan calls “boy love.” That for those not attuned to Japanese culture means a homosexual relationship between two males.

Now, this isn’t anything new for Clamp. They explored this in great detail in ‘Tokyo Babylon.” Unlike most instances where homosexuality is treated as a joke, Clamp understands that it is just like any other heterosexual relationship and they treat it with respect. “Legal Drug” is no exception. Though Hazahaya and Rikuo’s relation is iffy, there are other instances where Clamp shows that, yes, this is no joke.

Most people may be turned off by this, especially in the final few chapters where an all boys school has a tradition of voting for a student to be that year’s bride. Yes, this does involve the participants to dress in drag and the winner in a wedding gown. This part may be where most people draw the lines seeing that this part feels like it was more for laughs than anything else.

The other elements of the story also add to the overall experience. Hazahaya using his gift to help other people is a brilliant idea and is executed nicely, even if Hazahaya is a bit of an idiot. The cases themselves also lend themselves to the theme of tragic loss that both leads have. These cases seem like a way for the leads to try to move on with their lives and accept their tragedy.

The art is Clamp’s pre “XxxHolic” years where it looks more like traditional shojo manga. This style is where Clamp excels at in that it seems like they have a much better understanding of what they want out of the art. The “XxxHolic” arts feels like they’re trying to go into artsy territory but come up flat.

If you’re a Clamp fan, “Legal Drug” will be another addition to your collection. If not, the homosexual tone may be a turnoff, but if you approach it with an open mind you’ll find a rather interesting read.