I love my fair share of toxic yaoi. I'm not particularly proud of it, but some toxicity could hit the spot for me, especially considering that all of this is purely fictional. For some reason, this story does not fit that category for me. We're 60 chapters in, and at no point at all did I ever think that a single interaction between these two characters is remotely hot or sexy. It all feels like a mind game and not the good kind. The TV series Hannibal is a fun toxic yet somehow romantic mind game from beginning to end....this isn't that at all. I think that I keep coming back to read more chapters because I hope that the story becomes interesting at some point, and also because I'm trying to figure out what doesn't work for me here.
My best guess is that I can tolerate toxicity when it does not go to sexual violence and torturous rape. I can handle an ML that stabs MC, but not one that rapes him and leaves him for dead.
This is a good case study to understand what I can enjoy and where my limit lies.
listen, I fully realize how circular this plot is and how you can always predict the next arc but I still love it and look forward to reading more
Hey, circular plot doesn't mean boring story, this is a genuinely really good story, and even though its circular and you know "ijin is gonna beat up the bad guy and everyone lives happily ever after" the best parts are when you get to see how well fleshed out all the characters are. Like the numbers helping save his family even though they have no reason to and still hold a bit of a grudge against him, they still care about him, and want him to be happy because him being happy is living proof that they could be happy too.
Srry for nerding out there, I just like the story ( ̄∇ ̄")











can we get rid of this leeching bitch already? some antagonists make you feel for them or even love them despite everything, this bitch is just annoying
If we all hate her then it means the author really did a great job to portrayed her as a villain. A good villain (who is really a villain,crazy, bad) is a villain where everyone hate
I agree. I'm just more of reader who enjoys a good antagonist like Aizen in Bleach or Katakuri or Doffy or Crocodile in one piece....give me an interesting antagonist that I can feel ambivalent about rather than just outright hate their guts. I admit that it is easier to come across such characters in a shonen than a shojo or josei but a girl can dream
Understandable
Both kinds are good. Just depends on the story and what the mood calls for. The pure evil villain is interesting when done right. Otherwise it's cringe. Fortunately this one was written excellently.
Exactly! And the author didn't need to dumb down the villainess for Penelope to defeat her!