That's not one of the wholesome queer manga, be warned about that.
But then again... what would you expect looking at the genres and the synopsis.

I even don't really know how to write a review on this without spoilering, but I try to.
The Ghost Tower / Yuureitou is a manga that I have never or very rarely seen in that form and truly one of a kind. It's a perfect mix of a noir-mystery and queer horror that is written in such a compelling manner. The atmosphere itself is mesmerzing and fascinating. The whole setting is made for me, because I'm a sucker for all things steampunk, dark academia and co. and the setting including the clothes people wear: I love it. This thing is made for me haha. chefskiss
Also the mystery was a lot of fun to read and I enjoyed how queer this manga has been and it felt it's a very natural part of it, but it's also hard describing the story in detail since I don't want to set a spoiler-tag either.
Let me conclude the whole manga by describing it as beautifully fucked up; in a very good way I want to add. The mangaka also surely knows how to pull off an intense horror atmosphere.
In general, I really need more queer horror manga, if that's actually a thing and not only a rare phenomenon of the very few manga I stumbled into ...?

The second main character Tetsuo is absolutely compelling too and really fascinating to read. He is complex, very charming and interesting and has a lot of grey morality to him, but he is also to me as a reader very approachable and I can understand where his motivations are coming from. He is capable of some gruesome actions, but we also see he's anything but a monster either... And damn, he's also looking fine af.
And while the protagonist is Taichi and he's okay as a protagonist, Tetsuo really steals the spotlight from him. Not saying that Taichi is a bad protagonist tho, I've been okay with him and he developed an interesting relationship with Tetsuo.

What I don't like is how Tetsuo's body pre-transitioning is portrayed in a sexualized way and I have mixed feelings about this. I mean, sure quite lot of trans and non-binary people, including me, don't really have strong body dysphoria and liked their body before they transitioning (and I don't even know, if I plan to), but I don't know if I got the impression that Tetsuo is comfortable with this. He gives me mixed feelings about this.
I still might add that this sexualization doesn't look like in any random, cheap ecchi. It rather has a rough and mature tone to it and reminds me more of actual noir-media too. It's not that typical panty shot or anything you would typically see in most ecchis, and also emphasizes a lot on portraying Tetsuo's charme and personality.

Aside that, I overall like how the manga handles the trans topic and includes it into its story. Tetsuo being a trans man is an important part of the story and his character motivations aka why he does things he does (without going into spoiler territory), but there is much more to Tetsuo's whole character too, and he's beautiful and fascinating in lot of ways to me, while not being the most morally white protagonist either.
There are also some other interesting characters as well, which are not all likeable either, but they are compelling and interesting too, so you will see for yourself.

The art itself adds a lot to the noir-atmosphere that I enjoyed a lot, and looks absolutely gorgeous. It's fitting the manga's themes and genres a lot, but it's not too dark and edgy per se, it's just... yes, a bit more realistic, not photo-realistic tho, with a bit of dark grey tones that are fitting the noir setting and the mystery and of course the murders.

Aside from some minor issues, I fell in love with this manga.

Frau Faust is this type of manga that makes you both wish it could have been longer, and it could have been more popular.
Its author and mangaka is best known for the manga / anime The Ancient Magus Bride and while I really like MahoYome a lot for its setting, world building, and also for Chise's personal development, Frau Faust has been a very interesting experience on its own. Maybe even moreso.

The main reason for this is the main character Johanna Faust, who is against people's expectations and myths that have been woven around the legend of Faust, a woman. And this woman is looking to get her lost demon Mephistopheles back, who's in pieces now. At the start of the manga she saves a young boy, who accompanies her from now on.
The premise takes place in a quite interesting fantasy setting and is quite simple, but it has to be for 20 chapters that are divided into five volumes.
Its main theme surrounds gossips and myths and how people mix their imagination with the truth to create those.
The second main theme is the church that tries to hold back knowledge and scholars.

You can excpect the same stunning art you already know from The Ancient Magus Bride, if you are reading this manga as well that it is, and a more interesting main character. Don't get me wrong, I like Chise, her slow development and I can relate to her depression in some way, but Johanna Faust is a really interesting and charming character to me.
She's witty, has very quotable and memorable lines and she is so much fun to follow. She has this very human side and that underlying kind of vulnerabilty to her as well, especially when it comes to her demon, sometimes towards the boy she saved and some other events. Her interactions with Mephistopheles are interesting and a very fun read that stand out and are memorable.
Personally, I really like her appearance and character design too and I'm weak to see adult protagonists in anime and manga, especially if they are female or non-binary.

I would loved if it has been a much longer series and I pity that it didn't happen, but Frau Faust still has been a really good experience and got nice pacing and development for its 20 chapters.
It also got an interesting setting, an interesting - and interestingly portrayed - themes about gossips, myths, and the importance of science being free from the influence of religion. Also it has a charismatic and fun protagonist, who too has great interactions with other characters in there.

PLOT, SETTING & CHARACTERS

Soloist in A Cage is unfortunately a very unknown manga that deserves much more love and praise.
I discovered it by chance from a small youtube channel, who often recommends unknown manga; mostly horror manga, but also some others.
I just wished it was longer since I felt it has been finished too fast, although the pacing is alright and the ending is really touching.

The setting of this manga is Prison City, a very bleak underground world, where criminals get deported into. Most people, who are eventually forced to live there, didn't commit serious crimes, and they lived in the underground city for so long, they got children on their own.
The manga shows that most of these people aren't bad by nature, but the environment they live in makes them apathic and hardened. There is all kind of cruelty down there, but we also see support and love for one another.

One night the protagonist Chloe, a young girl back then, tries to escape with her little brother, but loses him on the way out.
Chloe herself is the most important element in this manga to me. She's very caring towards others and overall a kind and even quite mild-mannered girl.
But she also goes great lengths to get her little brother back, including murdering on the battlefield of enemies standing in her way and is ruthless in battles. How the manga portrays Chloe slowly losing her humanity and struggles in a visual, symbolic way, is very heart-wrenching, but also visually beautiful to look at.

I let you see for yourself how this ends and if she loses herself in the blodshed on the battlefield and can tell I loved her a lot as a main character, because there is this humanity to her and she reacts so human and believable to the events around her.
It's quite amazing how much development she got in just 20 chapters.

ART STYLE

The art itself is absolutely gorgous. It's easily in my top 10 art styles I've seen there in any manga and sometimes you would just stop and take some time to take in its beauty and impression it has on you. It's emotionally touching and I just love to look at these pages for the art itself as well.

I want to include pictures of panels, so you can understand where I'm coming from.
There are a lot of manga with stunning art out there, but this one is even more memorable to me than some others (that undoubtly had great art too, don't get me wrong here).

I highly recommend you this short, beautiful dystopian manga for all of it; the plot, the setting, Chloe as protagonist, and the art.