Third yaoi title! Alright, I may review a shoujo title after this, depending on how good it turns out to be (haven't finished reading it yet). I have, however, finished Ryou Takagi's "Ousama" yaoi/adventure series, which is...OK. Kaitou Game isn't part of it, even though they all share the "Game" part, but it's not that different from it either. Let's get this show on the road!
English title: Thief Game, Thief's Game
Author: TAKAGI Ryou
Genres: action, comedy, drama, yaoi
Length // Status: 1 volume // complete
Scanlated by: unknown
Warnings: explicit sex scenes, censored (but visible) genitalia
Synopsis
Just as he is about to close the last window of his house, Shiki finds himself at the mercy of the infamous Phantom Thief, a mysterious figure who'd been stealing lots of valuable items and could never be caught. Shiki is about to scream and alert the police when the Thief confesses to stealing everything in order to help his sick mother. Touched, Shiki even hides him beneath some sheets and the two witness a conversation between Shiki's two step brothers: with his biological mother gone, Shiki is forced to stay in his father's house, where he's shunned as the mistress's son. After hearing this, the Thief makes an unexpected offer: he invites Shiki to come with him, then runs off, leaving him stunned.
The next day, Shiki's stepmother discovers her ring had been stolen and, naturally, blames the innocent Shiki for it. They're interrupted by Seomi, the captain of the guards, who announces he will be conducting the investigation. There's one problem, though: Seomi is none other than the Phantom Thief himself!
Plot and character development
Yaoi fans will know the story all too well: mature, tall-dark-and-handsome seme inexplicably falls in love at first sight with obviously weaker-and-cuter uke, after which they have sex, hold hands and run into the sunset.
While this isn't too far from this scenario (save for maybe the sunset part), it's not that cliché either: there's a certain romantic angle to the whole mysterious Phantom Thief story, which definitely fits with the mood of the manga. Realism is lacking to begin with, but there's a distinct sense of the main couple being in their own little world and not interacting too much with everyone else unless they're part of the chapter's main plot. I'd say the first chapter is the best of the bunch and it would've been interesting to see the tension between Shiki and his brothers continue instead of them being brushed off like some Scooby Doo villains.
Also, while the Thief + Detective/Love Interest plot generally tends to be drawn out in manga, here it's resolved very soon. This allows for "after the storm" scenarios, where the author explores the interactions between the new couple. After the family plot is resolved, the manga does precisely that: it mostly goes into "lovey dovey couple" territory, which unfortunately isn't as interesting as the first chapter.
What ultimately bothered me most is the fact that the first chapter and the rest seem to be separate in terms of characters: while Shiki was more feisty and defensive and Seomi - more nuanced in his displays of affection in the first chapter, they seemed to make an 180 degree heel turn after that, with Shiki turning fairly...girly and Seomi turning into a lovestruck "I'm obsessed with my lover" cliché.
Art style
It's not too different from Ryou Takagi's other mangas: art-wise, we have the overly cutesy and feminine uke (Shiki) and the tall, dark and handsome seme (Seomi). The artwork is decent and clean, in spite of the characters looking too stereotypical (cool, mature seme; overly emotional, doe-eyed uke) at times. My only true complaints about it are that Shiki blushes way too much (about 80% of the time) and almost all the art consists of extreme closeups, focusing on the eyes instead of torso-up or full body.
Final verdict
All in all, I'd recommend it if you're new to Ryou Takagi: you'll get a taste of her style and artwork and you'll probably end up liking it more than I did after reading more of her works. If you're looking for a quick fix and don't want to analyze things too much, this is probably OK for you; if you're looking for interesting plot and characters, you will find them in the first chapter, but not really beyond that.
Originality + creativity: 0.5 / 1 points - not original, but OK for what it does
Characters: 1 / 2 points - that point's for the first chapter and for a certain character that appears later
Realism/believability: 0.3 / 1 points - phantom thieves I can buy, what comes after - hell no
Art: 1.9 / 2 points - clean overall, with some minor inconveniences
Flow: 0.5 / 1 points - kind of fragmented, first chapter differs from the following in terms of pacing
How much I enjoyed it: 1.7 / 3 points - just mediocre, with some cheesy lines, but not terrible
My final rating: 
(5.9, rounded out to 6 out of 10)
Where to download it: Nihonomaru
