totally agree with you. This manga is actually one that many I would cite along with Junjo Romantica when discussing the Rape trope in Yaoi where rape> further interaction>love is the expected outcome of a BL story. Homophobic, Souichi without a doubt is raped by Morinaga after being drugged, and while he punches Morinaga for doing so and then tells him to leave his presence forever, he gladly takes Morinaga back when Morinaga follows suit (though Morinaga then emotionally manipulates Souichi by blackmailing/threatens him for further future sex in exchange for staying at the university as Souichi's assistant). This manga is also one of the first I ever started reading when I discovered yaoi for the first time. For this reason I've continued to read out of a sort of loyalty, but to be honest there's nothing special about it anymore. Since then i've discovered more and more BL mangas and anime's are 90% romanticized acts of rape/sexual violence/coercion and use it for the basis of fanservice for its readers to get to the sex scenes and speed up plot. It's a cop out but it works. Rape can of course be used as a plot device, but when it actually is held the severity it deserves, and not the blooming flowers bullshit its portrayed as. Not that all yaoi or BL genre stories are like this.Yet the sad part is, it's harder to name ones that do not rely on this method than it is to name ones that do. I'll continue to read with this mind and the nostalgia that you've pointed out, yeah once the rose colored glasses come off, it's harder to be disillusioned.
People forget Souichi is like that because a man molested him. Morinaga who saves him (Challengers) later betrays him by raping him. Of course he is prickly like this now. He's pretty lenient considering what happened. Morinaga isn't an angel at all and I don't feel even a bit sorry for him.
Yes, you fpundthe word for why i still read this even though I've stopped liking it and the sense of discomfort grows stronger with each new update: loyalty.
I read this during my best years, and it was a first. Truthfully, reading this manga just makes me sad. It's sad that...most bl are like this, and many fans of bl wi cut your throat if you mention how disgusting this rape plot device is. It's never addressed properly and almost always romanticized. That's not right. My 14 year old ass thought this was cute, that this was love, and this was how a relationship begins. It's not okay.
Morinaga acts like what he did was okay bc he loves Sempai and his love made his violation not....rape. It do not make sense. But that's the logic the artist used. It's disgusting, honestly. The fact that I liked this manga and the sex scenes, even the rape, makes me nauseated.
100% agree, i too really enjoyed this story when i was younger but the older i got, made me realise that it's not right. morinaga's action's are not justifiable at all :/
Yeah I see what you mean. I see him as a very hungry pushy guy, not much quality in being a gentleman who, ya know, has patience. Senpai enables his behavior in a way by not being more tough. I know he's tsundere and you'd think he's tough but he's actually one of the weaker minded ukes I've seen. But regardless, this is one of the longer yaoi and their relationship is developing in a way that is tolerable, for now at least for me.
I feel like we're somehow the old guard coming back and feeling like wtf I remembered this way more...healthy...
(Funny enough I never liked this particular manga because this same reason, but I was laughably uneducated otherwise)
I think that as we get older, we get less tolerant of views that do not align with ours, judging fictional characters by real life standards. Some people enjoy rape fantasy even if they do not want to be raped or condone it in real life. Morinaga didn't drug Soichi, he drank something that was in hidden in Morinaga's room without permission. Yes, Morinaga did take advantage of him and in real life, he would have been arrested. If you prefer realistic stories, that's great, but this does not mean that people who enjoy reading these types of stories are unenlighted.
well, maybe it sounded really like raping thats what i thought when i saw the first step... but somehow Senpai holds some blame on his shoulders too, he underestimated Mori's feelings acting very carefree around him, you'd say trust i think it's not when you know that someone is craving you so badly.. add to that the author already stated that by Senpai's reaction.. after words all what happened was fair; he accepted what Mori's was doing to him!
P.S: Senpai was totally satisfied by Mori's giving him some chill back then.
So you're saying if someone has feelings for you, you are to blame if they rape you? Are we animals that we act solely on instinct? I don't think the court of law sees it that way. Sempia trusted Morinaga, a poor calculation on his part, but we cannot deny that he was taken advantaged of. I would hope that anyone I trust would not rape me when I am drunk. No consent was given and Morinaga knows how Sempia felt about homosexual relations. Morinaga raped Souichi, but is anyone shock? That's the nature of yaoi and we've come to accept it. You certainly have, you are shifting blame onto the victim here. I just hope you wouldn't do that in real life and is only saying that bc this is a fictional piece.
I see your point right there; you have all the right to be mad at it.
And actually no, i didn't come to accept it at all. all i thought about when i saw the scene at the very first "wait is the author trying to romanticize raping"??!!!
But then, i gave myself a bit to think about the situation.. Senpai agreed with Morinaga to let him help out ignoring the fact that Mori's gay, not only that; he was totally in love with him, but then when he noticed Mori's intentions -after the iron been hit already!!!!- he asked him "aren't you thinking to go all the way?", add to that Senpai was having a hangover which is the aftermath, so he was conscious about it, he holds some blame too, not to mention the number of times he let Mori's do it calling it "blackmailing"!!! giving himself reasons. don't throw yourself in fire on puropose then blame those who set it up, that's what i'm saying..
On the other hand; i was truly frustrated and furious when i saw Misaki and Tso's brother raping scene, and went like this is wrong on so many levels and shouldn't be included at all under ant reason his bro is a jackass then what? that doesn't justify the act!!... but guess what they still happen in real life as you mentioned and people should be aware of it. then the author came to mention how horrible the act was. even tho she should've put it in a more strict way again.
Eventually why i liked this manga and found it awesome? tbh it earned the slice of life genre.. it put me on curves not to judge the situations all the same even if they seemed alike at the first glance, hoping that my words won't be heavy on seeing.
? Never in my post did I say that liking this wasn't ok. I said that I remembered this being healthier —like, nothing overly wrong with their relationship.
Now I can say that's not the way it is (it's completely built in extremely dubious
consent, if not rape, and manipulation) at all, but I've got nothing against people reading, enjoying, or writing it. I do have some dark tastes as well —I just know they're just that, things I like reading about.
There was a time that I loved this manga. That time was when I was 13. Now at 20 years old, this growing discomfort with Morinaga's character has cemented into a feeling I understand. Morinaga is extremely manipulative and dislikeable. Sempia is no better. I regret I ever came to this conclusion, bc this manga was my fave for years. I don't regret reading or loving it. But healthy relationships are the way to go. Realistic relationship is nice and desirable in slice-of-life.