Gorgeous Carat (Japanese: ゴージャス・カラット, Hepburn: Gōjasu Karatto) is a yaoi manga series written and illustrated by You Higuri. The series is about the relationship between a man from a poor noble family and a master thief during the Victorian Era in France.

Gorgeous Carat
Cover of the first volume of Gorgeous Carat as published by Shueisha
ゴージャス・カラット
(Gōjasu Karatto)
GenreYaoi
Manga
Gorgeous Carat: Kurayami no Bitoku
Written byYou Higuri
Published byShueisha
English publisher
ImprintEyes Comics
DemographicShōjo
Original run19992002
Volumes4
Manga
Gorgeous Carat: Galaxy
Written byYou Higuri
Published byGentosha
English publisher
ImprintBirz Comics Girl's Collection
DemographicShōjo
Published2004
Volumes1
Manga
Gorgeous Carat: La Esperanza
Written byYou Higuri
Published byGentosha
ImprintBirz Comics Girl's Collection
DemographicShōjo
Published2011
Volumes2
Manga
Gorgeous Carat: Ao no Karanku
Written byYou Higuri
Published byGentosha
MagazineWeb Spica
Comic Spica
DemographicShōjo
Original run2013 – present
Volumes3

Characters edit

Main characters edit

Florian edit

Florian is the last heir of an impoverished noble family. He is 20 years old. He has blond hair and stunning violet eyes, which resemble amethysts. He agrees to be sold to Noir in return for the money to pay his family's debts.

Count Ray Balzac Courland/Noir edit

Ray Balzac Courland is a master thief who calls himself "Noir". He lives as an usurer under the name "Count Ray Balzac Courland". He is 18 years old. He prefers to use a whip as a weapon.

Laila edit

Laila is Noir's right-hand woman. She is in love with him, and a little jealous of his relationship with Florian.

Solomon Sugar edit

Solomon Sugar is a private investigator who is determined to expose Noir's true identity. He gave a nickname to Noir and calls him his "black cat".

Noel 'Petit Noel' Tassel edit

Noel is the five-year-old son of Monsieur Tassel. His parents and Florian call him "Petit Noel". He becomes instantly attached to Florian due to Florian's resemblance to his mother. Noel always carries a teddy bear named "Betty Deux", which he calls his treasure. The teddy bear actually contains jewels his father hid there for safekeeping.

Louise Mastroianni/Louise Tassel edit

Louise is the female head of the Black Hand's Paris branch. She is originally Italian. She is married to Monsieur Tassel and is mistress to Romwell Sr, Azura's father.

Azura/Romwell Jr edit

Azura is the blood brother of Noir. He is secretly the head of several criminal organizations, including the Black Hand.

Minor characters edit

Monsieur Tassel edit

Monsieur Tassel is Noel's father and the president of the Bank Tassel du Paris. Louise is his second wife, his first having died several years before.

Maurice edit

Maurice is Florian's uncle. He attempts to murder Florian's mother and steal the Flame of Mughal. He is killed in the process of stealing the jewel.

Manon edit

Manon is Maurice's lover. She joins him in his nefarious plans and is killed along with him in the process.

Florian's Mother edit

Florian's Mother is a noblewoman who is forced to sell her treasured family heirlooms to pay off the family's debts. She is presumed to have died in the fire that consumed the family's mansion.

Release edit

Gorgeous Carat: Kurayami no Bitoku (ゴージャス・カラット 暗闇の美徳), written and illustrated by You Higuri, was published into four volumes under Shueisha's Eyes Comics imprint line from October 25, 1999 to September 25, 2002.[1][2] Tokyopop licensed it for an English translation in North America, releasing the volumes between February 2006 and February 2007 through its Blu Manga line.[3] On April 24, 2004, Gentosha released a one-shot titled Gorgeous Carat Galaxy: Seinaru Kaibutsu no Mori (ゴージャス・カラット Galaxy 聖なる怪物の森) on its Birz Comics Girl's Collection line.[4] Digital Manga Publishing translated Galaxy into English and published it on July 19, 2006.[5] Under the same line of Galaxy, Gentosha released Gorgeous Carat La Esperanza: Kibō no Seibo (ゴージャス・カラット La Esperanza 希望の聖母) into two volumes on June 24, 2011.[6][7] Gorgeous Carat: Ao no Karanku (ゴージャス・カラット 青のカランク) has been serialized in Web Spica and Comic Spica magazines since August 2010.[8][9] Gentosha released the first tankōbon volume on January 24, 2013.[10]

Kurayami no Bitoku edit

No. Original release date Original ISBN English release date English ISBN
1 October 25, 1999[1]978-4-8342-6122-6February 2006[3]1-59816-102-4
2 October 25, 2000[11]978-4-8342-6139-4June 2006[3]1-59816-103-2
3 November 22, 2001[11]978-4-8342-6156-1October 2006[3]1-59816-104-0
4 September 25, 2002[2]978-4-8342-6161-5February 2007[3]978-1-59816-105-2

Galaxy edit

No. Original release date Original ISBN English release date English ISBN
1 April 24, 2004[4]978-4-344-80401-2July 19, 2006[5]978-1-56970-903-0

La Esperanza edit

No. Release date ISBN
1 June 24, 2011[6]978-4-344-82247-4
2 June 24, 2011[7]978-4-344-82248-1

Ao no Karanku edit

No. Release date ISBN
1 January 24, 2013[10]978-4-344-82712-7
2 June 24, 2013[12]978-4-344-82771-4
3 March 24, 2014[13]978-4-344-83078-3

References edit

  1. ^ a b ゴージャス・カラット 暗闇の美徳 1. book.asahi.com (in Japanese). The Asahi Shimbun Company. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  2. ^ a b ゴージャス・カラット 暗闇の美徳 4. book.asahi.com (in Japanese). The Asahi Shimbun Company. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Gorgeous Carat: Volume Summary". BLUmanga.com. Archived from the original on June 26, 2007. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  4. ^ a b "ゴージャス・カラット GALAXY 聖なる怪物の森" (in Japanese). Gentosha. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  5. ^ a b "Gorgeous Carat Galaxy". Digital Manga Publishing. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
  6. ^ a b "ゴージャス・カラット La Esperanza 希望の聖母 上" (in Japanese). Gentosha. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  7. ^ a b "ゴージャス・カラット La Esperanza 希望の聖母 下" (in Japanese). Gentosha. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  8. ^ "「いとしのニーナ」など連載のWebスピカがiPadで読める" (in Japanese). Comic Natalie. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  9. ^ 糸井のぞがスピカで大人の恋描く、「トーチソング」は完結 (in Japanese). Comic Natalie. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  10. ^ a b ゴージャス・カラット 青のカランク (1) (in Japanese). Gentosha. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  11. ^ a b "ゴージャス・カラット 暗闇の美徳(1 - 4巻)". comiclist.jp. Walk, Inc.
  12. ^ ゴージャス・カラット 青のカランク (2) (in Japanese). Gentosha. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  13. ^ ゴージャス・カラット 青のカランク (3) (in Japanese). Gentosha. Retrieved July 31, 2014.

External links edit