It was very well-written until the final pitch. That gets u my downvote. Also, the story was a total shit but it getting recc's to me in so many different lists, I am sick of it.
LOL you're mad that I mentioned a list I compiled that can be used as eyebleach after reading this ... unpleasant... story? Ok, then.
Well, you are not the first to downvote me, and not the first to downvote me for silly reasons. I often post unpopular opinions about various comics on this site, so it doesn't really matter to me. If it bugs you that I mentioned a list I compiled, you are absolutely free to not look at it at all. It's not like I make money off of the number of people who look at my lists.
Generally speaking, when writing screeds, I try to be helpful to people on the site who may've not read a lot of things yet (besides some bad ones like this) by presenting alternatives in the same subgenre, and I also try not to run a series that others may like into the ground (like this one) without putting forth what I would consider a better story for compare/contrast purposes (if they care). Some people get really defensive about things they like, after all.
Anyway, this is the purpose for mentioning it. I didn't even link it. And I'm not sorry at all because I can't in good conscience pound the pulpit about how bad this story is without putting myself out there to be judged on my taste as well.
You woke up and chose to speak facts!!! Thank you for putting my exact thoughts into words, I really struggled to get behind the seme the whole time, it felt off since the beginning! From your comment alone I know that you have taste and I will peep your list:)
I may as well write something brief about this one since 8.9 is still a fairly respectable rating for a story with a totally problematic seme and a lame/tired rape-to-love plot.
(LOL @ what turns out to be my definition of "brief". Oh well, spoilers ahoy~)
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The seme is problematic throughout almost the entire story. Just because someone is being paid for sex doesn't mean they consent to the sex. Shouta may have agreed to it for the money, but he was very clearly saying "no" and begging architect-dude to stop when they did it for the first time in the bathroom. He didn't want it, but he felt he had to accept it because he's freaking poor, with no skills, and is trying to take care of a very young kid by himself (which is difficult and expensive and muchly glossed over by the author here).
Meanwhile Architect-dude is in a position of power over Shouta several times over: 1) his age (~19 vs 33), 2) being in an established career with tons of disposable income, and 3) being experienced at relationships, sex, and life in general. This is an abuse of power, and not the sort of thing to build a lasting relationship on. Also, he's a total pedophile, given his comments the first time they do it in the bath together; wowwwww.
It's worth mentioning here that at one point in the story architect dude "kinda" realized he was doing something bad and started treating Shouta with more care and consideration.... sorta. But this also feels kind of half-arsed because he is still a huge control freak and frequently ignores things Shouta tells him to do or does things Shouta tells him not to do. At one point in chapter 4, architect-dude picks Fuuta up from daycare (even though Shouta told him not to), and then Fuuta complains and fights him, but he picks Fuuta up and carries him off kicking and screaming, and he tells Fuuta (a 3 year old mind you) that Fuuta is "just mad because he's powerless" (wow, the victim-blaming rape metaphors never cease with this guy). In the end, I couldn't feel good about this relationship because Shouta is an innocent bonehead being forced into intimacy before he is ready by a power-abusive insane pedophilic control-freak that doesn't see an issue with any of it. Shouta never had a choice, and now he will never have another.
If you want a fairly well-written rape story, I just read this one:
http://www.mangago.zone/read-manga/ore_no_kirai_na_tsugaisama/
Anthology chapters 1-2 of "Ore no Kirai na Tsugai-sama", aka "My Hated (Bonded) Partner" (omegaverse).
It's rated 7.7 (LOL), but it does it the right way. Both characters know it's rape, the rapist understands what he's doing and is completely unapologetic about it, the victim hates his guts, the author casts the whole situation in a disturbing light, and it's just a huge, glorious sh!t-show. There is no ambiguity about the fact that what is happening is an awful and terrible thing. (but the sex is still hot)
The fact that this story (Sado no Otoko) is rated 8.9 and that omegaverse story above is rated 7.7 shows how hard a time people have telling when a story has rape in it or in dealing with a rape story when it's cast in a more realistic light. Both of these two stories are in fact rape stories. Why are their scores so different? The writing in this one (Sado no Otoko) is significantly poorer (in many more ways than I've explained here, but I want to keep this screed at a manageable length) and should have a lower rating just based on that.
Needless to say, Rape-to-love is a very insidious way to tell a romance story, and it teaches bad lessons about how relationships are supposed to start and progress. It's getting to the point where it's irresponsible to tell a story like this any more, especially given the age of some of the people reading the stuff on this site.
And I mean, I'm not here to police what smut people like; like this story if you want. But it's worth understanding and admitting to yourself what problems do exist even in the properties a person does like in order to not be trapped into jumping on board the victim-blaming train or becoming a rapist apologist. There is no story in existence that does not have some aspect of it that could have been written better, even my own personal favorites.
(If you're looking for some well-written BL fluff, check out my "Great Fluff" list; it's a work in progress)