Omg yea, I didn't mention this in my comment and honestly I should hav, but Nao I feel like is one of the most respectful depictions of sex workers in media I think I've seen that's also viewed in a serious AND positive light by the characters themselves?? Like, Nao, someone who was left alone after his mom and dad abandoned him and got imprisoned respectively, attempted to find work. When he wasn't able to do regular jobs, likely do to his age, physical condition(cus he was being neglected as a child and presumably not fed well, since Eric comments on Nao having slender/fragile ankles and wrists when they were kids), and education/experience, he then went to sex work as a last resort. He's been doing it for years to keep himself afloat becuz he has no other job experience, and as soon as someone he cares about shows concern for him regarding his phsyical/mental health and safety, he IMMEDIATELY STOPS. Doesn't argue, doesn't try to lecture Eric about how he has no business sticking his nose in his work(which he would've had every right to do in this instance), doesn't say no, just stops. Then, after being celibate for the first time since high-school(he's 21 so that's anywhere from 3 to 5 years depending on when it started, I don't remember if he mentioned what age he was when he started), discovers he has developed a dependency in turns of the physical intimacy. The only issue I hav is Nao touching Eric when Eric clearly didn't want to do something like that with someone he wasn't in a relationship with/had mutual feelings with. Nao crossed a line there and you see him wrestling with that guilt, which is also kind of nuanced considering how many SA scenes will happen in BLs and then never be mentioned ever again or worse, the victim takes the blame for it more often than not. But Eric never looks down on Nao for being a sex worker, and Kaoru is also a good friend while ALSO being a sex worker AND a client, which is also something u don't always see in BL. Usually when there's a friend like that they end up being some kind of antagonistic force in the plot trying to pull the character back into self destructive habits, but Kaoru is so sweet and emotionally aware and a good sounding board for both characters and a lot of this story is really refreshing????
TL;DR These comments are kinda off, the double standard is crazy, and Nao is actually really well written and understandable as a character/individual.
Exactly. Finally someone who understands!!
The comments on this manga are weird. The story was pretty good. So what if the uke used to sell his body? He started it because he couldn’t find decent work for himself and was abandoned by his parents and left to fend for himself since high school. He stopped selling himself as soon as the seme came and never cheated on him. He literally quit his job for the seme despite the uke literally being penniless just because the seme said so. So how are the comments making uke out to be the bad guy and a whore? In addition, there have been multiple mangas where the tops are either porn stars, prostitutes, hosts, rental boyfriends etc who don’t quit their jobs even when start dating the bottoms and I’ve never seen such negative comments on those mangas. People are so full of hypocrisy.