Perhaps it is because my sons were a lot like the uke. Very intelligent, very mature and wise far beyond their years. Your age is just the number of years you've been alive. What determines your maturity is what you've experienced in those years. You could be 40 and lived a sheltered life or 14 and lived through many trials and hardships. There is only one easy way to determine what age a person becomes an "adult" and that is by assuming that by the time they have had 18 or 20 birthdays, they will have accumulated enough experience to be responsible for their own actions and choices. Unfortunately, assuming anything is never a wise strategy. It eliminates possibilities. Like the possibility that a 14 year old can handle a sexual relationship or that a 40 year old can't. In this story, I don't feel that the adult did anything untoward. He encouraged his younger partner to improve his grades and even took great pains to take their intimate relationship slow. There was no manipulation, deceit or abuses on the part of the adult. If anything, the younger partner set the pace of the relationship and the adult had more to lose than to gain from allowing the relationship. Though I do believe that laws are necessary to protect children from predators, I don't believe that every adult/minor relationship falls into the category of predator/prey. When it comes to interpersonal and intimate relationships, there are too many grey areas for laws governing them to be effective. This is why each case should be considered individually on its own merits and flaws, rather than blanket statements being made.
I've never had a shota fetish when reading yaoi, but at the same time, shota doesn't bother me either. To me, it is fiction and erotic fiction to boot. It is meant to arouse and entertain. If it doesn't arouse me, it should at least entertain me. For the most part, that has been exactly the case. This manga, however, not only entertained me, it spurred me to think and consider the thought processes of an intelligent and wise 14 year old by and his adult lover. All in all, I got more out of the story than I expected. Thus, I can't complain about it.
Perhaps it is because my sons were a lot like the uke. Very intelligent, very mature and wise far beyond their years. Your age is just the number of years you've been alive. What determines your maturity is what you've experienced in those years. You could be 40 and lived a sheltered life or 14 and lived through many trials and hardships. There is only one easy way to determine what age a person becomes an "adult" and that is by assuming that by the time they have had 18 or 20 birthdays, they will have accumulated enough experience to be responsible for their own actions and choices. Unfortunately, assuming anything is never a wise strategy. It eliminates possibilities. Like the possibility that a 14 year old can handle a sexual relationship or that a 40 year old can't. In this story, I don't feel that the adult did anything untoward. He encouraged his younger partner to improve his grades and even took great pains to take their intimate relationship slow. There was no manipulation, deceit or abuses on the part of the adult. If anything, the younger partner set the pace of the relationship and the adult had more to lose than to gain from allowing the relationship. Though I do believe that laws are necessary to protect children from predators, I don't believe that every adult/minor relationship falls into the category of predator/prey. When it comes to interpersonal and intimate relationships, there are too many grey areas for laws governing them to be effective. This is why each case should be considered individually on its own merits and flaws, rather than blanket statements being made.
I've never had a shota fetish when reading yaoi, but at the same time, shota doesn't bother me either. To me, it is fiction and erotic fiction to boot. It is meant to arouse and entertain. If it doesn't arouse me, it should at least entertain me. For the most part, that has been exactly the case. This manga, however, not only entertained me, it spurred me to think and consider the thought processes of an intelligent and wise 14 year old by and his adult lover. All in all, I got more out of the story than I expected. Thus, I can't complain about it.