kyouran's Topics (340)

The first seme was too manipulative for my taste; I was never able to shed the uncomfortable sense throughout their story. The uke was truly innocent and easily fell for Kaiya's manipulation. I usually enjoy the "manipulative seme", but when the uke is somewhat psychologically more/or somewhat equitable to the seme, but in this case, the seme was ten lifetimes ahead in maliciousness and deviousness from the naivete and innocence of the uke. I just couldn't enjoy their story; however, I really liked the last couple, but most especially, the close and comical relationship of the three Doctor brothers.

tch!.... I think I know where this is going. Haruki may not be "in love" with Hikaru, but he's definitely fixated, whether it's because of Stockholm Syndrome or just plain despondency or despair, his current emotional state is allowing Hikaru to present himself as "caring", which may influence Haruki's feelings :/

I swear, this sado/masochistic relationship I have with Viewfinder, where I’m clearly the masochist, is taking a toll on my poor heart; however, I am a happy masochist so I shall continue on, hahaha. In a more serious tone, I love that sensei has decided to give Akihito the opportunity to learn to defend himself, because I have to admit that it frustrated me to no end to see Akihito become so easily victimized by others because of his lack of physical strength. A physically stronger Akihito will definitely translate into a more confident Akihito, which will ultimately lend more equity to his and Asami’s relationship, which up until now its dynamics had relegated him to the role of the helpless “damsel in distress” continuously in need of rescue by the “knight in shining armor” (not that I didn’t gush over that!...drools!), but it’s time for Akihito to become more self-sufficient and confident. Words don’t exist to accurately express how torturous it is to wait for the next chapter (╥﹏╥)

This manga is composed of multiple stories whose central theme is unrequited love within complex love triangles, exploring some of the dark aspects of love and how it can twist (and/or be twisted by) human nature. The main triangle story is about two middle aged college professors (Yashiro and Okuzono) whom have been in love with each other since high school, but unable to confront and admit their feelings honestly to one another, have been playing a twisted “cat and mouse” game, where Okuzono pursues and steals all the people Yashiro gets involved with, and Yashiro in turn, only gets involved with people for the sole purpose of providing Okuzono the opportunity to steal them from him, all with the purpose of maintaining a psychological/emotional connection between the two. The dynamics of their relationship changes when a young detective, Utsugi, comes into the picture. Utsugi met Okuzono when he was younger and fell in love with him but was rejected, and has been carrying with the painful feelings of his unrequited love for 10 years. Through pure chance Utsugi is hired by Yashiro to investigate the affair between his current wife (whom he ends up divorcing) and Okuzono. It doesn’t take long for Utsugi to recognize the twisted nature of Yashiro’s and Okuzono’s relationship, and driven by his own feelings for Okuzono, becomes a new player in their old game, changing the dynamics of their relationship, establishing a complex triangle where all three end up having feelings for each other, where the old game played by Yashiro and Okuzono is replaced by a new one which now includes Utsugi.

At first I was a little thrown off by the age gap between Utsugi and Yashiro/Oksuzono, and was skeptical I would enjoy it or find anything “sexy” about the story; however, I’m glad I pushed on despite my doubts because the emotional complexity of both Yashiro’s and Okuzono’s characters were realistic, interesting and elicited empathy; I couldn’t tear my eyes away and it kept my curiosity engaged as I wanted to desperately know what would happen next and if there would be any type of satisfactory resolution for all three characters. Despite my doubts regarding the age gap, the sexual depictions between young Utsugi and middle aged Yashiro and Okzuzono turned out to be extremely hot as they were gorgeously drawn, especially Okuzono; so for those that might have the same apprehension as I did, I would urge you to put your fears to the side and give the manga a chance as I feel confident you will find it as compelling as I did. The rest of the separate stories vary in their pathos; however, the last story, also about a love triangle, was especially poignant and had me gushing in tears. In conclusion, this unassuming manga turned out to be for me a real surprise and I consider it to be one of those yaoi mangas that transcends its genre. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

I really liked all the stories, but I especially enjoyed the last one with the host and Yakuza!

OMFG!!!!!! AAHFJGUJEKFJGAGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AGGG!!!!!!!!!!!! I've been buying the raws from lezhin since forever trying to make sense of it with Google translate....OMG...thank you yaoi Gods!!!! thank you thank you thank you thank you!!!! I'm gushing in gratitude （/TДT)/ ...No, I'm serious....THANK YOU!!!!

Interesting that one of Tobinaga's fathers is an Omega, which could hint at the reason why he resisted pairing with Karasuma even though he was very likely in love with him. I would love to have his character and background expounded as I found him to be very interesting, even though he was depicted as a true asswhole.
http://www.mangago.zone/read-manga/kurui_naku_no_wa_boku_no_ban/mf/bd5c4f37c2bab06c25356dee217e3102_chapter-8/pg-13/

Arisaka miscalculated, tch... I saw that coming a mile away. Nanao is as skittish as a nervous filly right now, where anything will make him run because as an Omega, he's naturally skeptical and nervous about everything that's happening and very likely dealing with feelings of inadequacy as he navigates Arisaka's Alpha privileged world. Even though Arisaka is acting from sincere concern, he should have intuited that Nanao's work is an extension of his sense of self-sufficiency, a vital aspect of Nanao's identity, and so that conversation needed to wait or at least, it needed to be more strategic. To infer in any way that Nanao's work is inferior or objectionable would directly strike at Nano's sense of self; it's tantamount to stating that Nanao himself is objectionable and that's why the subject required great tactfulness. Can't wait for the next chapter!

I have to say I find this one of the most interesting yaoi mangas currently in Mangago, not so much for its narrative, which I think it definitely is, but for the reactions it’s provoking in readers, especially those readers that are very judgmental and harshly critical of Karasuma’s promiscuity, viciously slut shaming him and so forth; and then, we have those that enjoyed the story trying to articulate the reasons why this is a solid narrative, and the contentious back-and-forth that ensues. My advice to fellow fujoshis that enjoyed the manga is to not bother trying to articulate the reasons why Karasuma is not a “dirty whore” or the reasons you enjoyed the manga to those that are vitriolic about it. You really have to wonder if those people bashing Karasuma even read the same thing at all, and that’s ok.

There are readers that will never be perceptive of underlying emotional or thematic nuances, that will never understand, even if you elaborate in a 200 page dissertation how the omegaverse’s hyper discrimination towards Omegas leaves them with limited to zero resources, how prone they are to rape victimization how little to zero control over their own lives because of their socio-economic handicap, nor how Karasuma’s promiscuity was not gratuitous but underlined by specific emotional l traumas – it is indeed a very grim universe- and the reason for that is that it all comes down to how empathetic , nonjudgmental and analytical an individual is, as simple as that. You’ll see a lot of people self-complacently declaring “sorry if my morals are superior for finding Karasuma a slut” (smdh…) which in itself makes for great social and psychological fodder, but ultimately, they have all the right to feel that way. Then you have others coming to the forum asking questions such as “Am I really wrong for thinking Karasuma is a dirty slut?” “or for thinking that whoring yourself is wrong?”, acting as if they are really interested in engaging in an honest exchange of ideas, when they have already made up their mind and just want to present themselves as morally superior because this is their opportunity to do so; especially because it’s self-evident that in real life context, promiscuity is a social transgression with negative implications for the woman engaging in it. Nobody with a working brain is going to ever consider promiscuity a “good thing” or as being strictly “ok” for the sake of promiscuity alone.

Again, if they didn’t get it when they first read the same piece of fiction, it is very unlikely they will get it from anyone’s exposition no matter how articulate and sound it may be. I mean, people (and even more sadly, women!) that preach so confidently about morality and indiscriminately use derogatory terms like “slut” and “disgusting whore” are the ones that don’t even know where that moralistic judgmental thought process derives from, and much the less understand how morality is nothing but a socio-cultural construct, or how the negative connotation of promiscuity is rooted in misogyny from the patriarchy for the primary purpose to protect the “male pride” and ensure the male’s progeny. It has nothing to do with the real intrinsic value of a human being. You will encounter comments such as “if I had been in his shoes, I would have rather starve than whore myself, or I would have rather collect garbage than whore myself” – this is especially interesting, because not only the social sciences negate this, but common sense as well, due that nobody can absolutely ascertain, ever, how they would or would not act in a specific manner if they have never experienced that specific situation, if their socialization was completely different, because you cannot know until you actually “know” what it feels like to be in somebody else’s shoes and what your actual reaction to specific adverse circumstances will be; so making such statements is truly baseless and worthless because it's founded on nothing but an uncertain presumption.

However, this type of understanding requires above all open-mindedness and human empathy complimented by academic knowledge or at the very least self-edification; also, some people have the ability of literary analysis, while others don’t. This is why you have two different individuals that read the same exact piece of fiction or literature, and one of them writes an elaborate 10 page analysis on it while the other one looks dumbfounded at his/her English professor and says “what’s the big deal? I don’t get it” This duality of “open-mindedness” vs. “prejudice” or “ethical myopia” is what animates most (if not all) of the human condition, and all I can say in defense of open-mindedness is that it indisputably makes life much more colorful.

Raws up to chapter 22
http://www.kuaikanmanhua.com/web/topic/897/