Simple- coz I actually read the entire thing and can form my own opinion. If you disagree, then state your rebuttal, I'm open to it, matter of fact, I welcome those with different opinion to mine as it gives me a different perspective, I might even agree; but I guess you'll probably just respond to this too with some crap like its "it's just fiction", "I don't give a shit/don't have a time" coz truth is, you really have no other thing to say but to bash on something you disagree on. LOL typical.
I dont understand how you read the manga and came to a conclusion that they are hollow characters as if Yuuji was not the sweetest boy who was gentle, caring and considerate to another person. Yes he fell for michiru because he was pretty, so what? Is that bad?
We didnt have a lot of backstory for the old man artist but if you have any critical thinking ability, you can tell that the old man has been grooming Michiru every since he was very young, since michiru didnt finish school and he dont know how to walk or go anywhere without the old man. Michiru was groomed to think that his whole entire purpose was to serve and be that old man’s “art”.
After years of being trapped and restricted, seen as someone’s art and muse instead of your own person, michiru can feel the way yuuji looked, talk, and treat him is different from the way sensei treated him. Yuuji treated him with consideration and kindness like a regular person would to another person, and not because he’s only worth as a piece of walking art for somebody else.
I see what you’re saying but i also dont think you took the time to appreciate what the author of this book is trying to put out.
nah, it ain't that deep, the author could've intended it that way, but it didn't translate it for me, but if that's your take, that's on you.
The pacing and development was just not for me, and I found the dialogues cringe at times too, like some bs a naive highschooler would pull in their diaries. Yuuji was the gentlest character? maybe to the uke sure, but that's biased coz he likes the dude, there's no other indicator that he's like that to others, legit all he does in scenes without the uke is wallow in self-pity that's how I came to the conclusion that he's a sadboi.
As for the artist, your take is just an assumption too, and for me, I didn't see it that way, he took away his freedom yes, but I don't think he groomed him. Lots of artists are eccentric, and this one surely fits that, and I know lots of those are pervs too that would take advantage of their muse, but this one ain't it, he's more the OC type of weirdo artist who wants to keep their muse as pure as possible and would go berserk at the slightest scratch or crack on their beautiful "object", quickly losing interest in it since it's no longer what they want. If you're an artist who's always striving for perfection in their works, you'd easily get what I mean by this. Furthermore, if you still don't think so, then just take it from the uke himself, there are multiple scenes where he said he's not used to being touched, and during their first time, he even asked the seme on what to do, you really think someone who's had previous sexual experience (unsolicited or not) behaves that way? at most what I can see, is he's just been severely neglected as a person, and was literally treated as if one of the artworks for display- preserved to be beautiful and proper and pure.
That being said, his exploration to the outside world didn't necessarily have to be the seme, but of course for plot purposes it's him, and why? coz his touch is different? lol such bs reason, he doesn't even have that much vigor in him, doesn't have that zest for living that would make the uke curious to know more about other things, he just wanted to explore coz it's with the seme and he wanted to know the seme more, not necessarily the outside world. and yeah, I do have an issue with them liking each other based on being pretty/handsome coz it's shallow af and for real life situations sure, that happens a lot, but this is fiction and the author couldn't come up with a better one? or at least give more substance to it along the way? in the end, what happened is that the seme developed a savior complex to the uke and the uke in turn transferred his codependency from the artist to the seme, imprinting on him like some pathetic little duck.
Look I do appreciate what the author pulled, but storywise, it is just not that good for me.
@Genboxxy you asked for the other person to state their rebuttal, and when they did you reply with "nah, it's not that deep" and then proceed to type a ten-page essay of pure mental gymnastics lmaooo pretending not to gaf but losing the idgaf war how pathetic also defending the sensei saying he didn't groom michiru... when you make a person from a young age believe their only worth is to gratify you and your pleasures and they grow up thinking their entire world revolves around you and the only thing they can do in life is serve you, that's grooming. tell me you're dumb without telling me you're dumb
I didn't ask for a rebuttal, I said they can make their rebuttal as they wish and I MIGHT agree to it, but as I see it, I don't because the logic doesn't make sense to me and the story, as I said is just not that good, and my point stands still. I didn't say idgaf too, from the very start, I did gaf, why else would I write my original topic with my own reasoning instead of just saying it's trash without saying why I think so? Also, ya might wanna check the definition of grooming yourself, that ain't it at all, now who's dumb without telling they're dumb? And by the way, I'm not defending the artist I'm just saying it how I see it, he's a creep and a piece of crap who's unable to treat another person as a person, but he ain't a groomer as lots of you insists LOL. The core of grooming is manipulation with the intent of sexual gratification in the end, tell me which part of the plot was this shown or implied at all? Just coz it's a child manipulated by an adult into becoming someone they're not doesn't automatically make it grooming, Some parents do it to their child, a teacher to their student, an senior to their junior- they can gaslight someone into being being completely codependent to them and live a life as what they want them to be, that's not grooming, it's plainly abuse and neglect- narcissism at play on the abuser's part.
wow you are DUMB AS FUCK. since you clearly got your definition of grooming from the internet, go google the definition of grooming rn.
"Grooming is a form of abuse that involves manipulating someone until they're isolated, dependent, and more vulnerable to exploitation."
"What is grooming? Grooming is when someone builds a relationship, trust and emotional connection with a child or young person so they can manipulate, exploit and abuse them."
IT DOESN'T ALWAYS END WITH SEXUAL GRATIFICATION DUMBASS
so so pathetic lmaooo all that word puke just to end up sounding like a pretentious loser
Lmao, have you seen the definition that you yourself sent? "when someone builds a relationship, trust and emotional connection with a child or young person so they can manipulate, exploit and abuse them.", --builds a relationship, emotional connection for the intent of abuse- you saw that on this work? where? the artist treated him like a designer purse bag to flaunt and nothing else, how is that a relationship? even a manipulative relationship isn't as one sided as that. And yeah, I acknowledge that it doesn't always have to end in sexual gratification, it could be financial, or political power, and that's the thing, there's always something from the abused that the abuser wants to have-- and what is that in this case exactly? no, really, I'm asking what is it that the artist wanted from the uke aside from his beauty? because if it's beauty alone and he intends to preserve it even against any morals, he's not really taking anything because that's already something the uke can't do anything about, it's not like he can give it like a sexual favor or money , that's just how he looks already. Freedom? nah, coz if it's the uke's freedom that the artist wanted, why did he easily let him go after slapping him? Also, your meaning is from grooming for adults, the uke was abused as a child, with grooming for kids, it is almost always sexual in nature, coz what else do groomers take from kids? it's a relative meaning, but not grounds for your case, try harder.
you're really riding that artist's dick huh lmaooo i'm cackling!!! you wanna ride his dick so baddddd plssss the definition i pasted clearly said "children, young person" in what asshole did you pull that comprehension from, your own??? you've been wrong five replies ago and yet you're still grasping at straws, how pathetic lmao keep fooling yourself and have fun riding that old man's dick loser!!
Lol look who's resorting to foul words coz they can't argue with their thoughts better. You say I'm grasping at straws, yet you don't give proof as to how their relationship is grooming in the first place. I said your meaning is relative, it's applicable but it's not grounds for your case, coz you clearly said grooming is not always sexual implying that the manipulation between those characters is still grooming but there's nothing sexual going on. and I say, yes in cases of adult grooming that's plausible, but in cases like with the uke where he was abused as a kid, that's highly unlikely (if it's grooming), coz if the artist is a groomer, what was he taking from the uke? he wasn't taking any sexual favors, not money, not power, not even the uke's freedom considering how the story concluded. So answer that please, justify why you're the one who's so insistent on that claim yourself. I'm not pandering to the artist, I just call it as I see, I don't generalize as quickly as you.
and I bet that's the main reason why people are moved into giving this a high rating, coz my gosh the plot is so freaking angsty and dramatic, quite boring tbh. I get the translator's notes too, I also found it hard to finish this work and lost interest midway; good thing it's short.
Basically the seme is just a horny sadboi tattoo artist who fell in love with the uke coz he's pretty, and then the uke is this implied boytoy (also a sadboi) for a known artist who's just pathetically codependent from start to finish. I guess they wanted the sensei (artist in the story) to be the villain here but there's not enough backstory or interaction to justify it, so when he slapped the uke and asked him to leave immediately it felt lukewarm, like where's the internal struggle for the uke? why should he be attached to the sensei in the first place? is it because he (sensei) was the first to appreciate him? the first one to shower him with admiration? after all, he was his muse. It would make sense if the uke is not conventionally attractive for that appeal to work tho, coz if everyone already thinks he's pretty what's more to another nice treatment and compliment, you get me? if however it was simply because he was picked up by the old fart and was raised to be the beautiful "creation" that he is now, then his attachment for him should be stronger than his attachment to the seme whom he just met a few times and now has developed feelings simply coz 'his touch is different', ya kidding me? he's just handsome and ya'll both horny, that's all there is to it.
The supposed sweet moments also come off as cringey and the characters were just essentially flaunting their beauty like a pretty vase that's all hollow inside, which to be fair, do have its merit coz the artist really is talented when it comes to drawing pretty characters, author-san just lacked skill in character and plot development.