beta
The age of consent is 20 in S. Korea which is what the confusion may be? But it's 16 in Japan. This is a recent development after over a century set at 13, which was icky as fuck. Decent chance this was written before the change too. While lots of prefectures had consent set much higher - 15-18 - the nation age is now 16.
There was literal news articles about it it being changed last year. Have one!
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65887198
But yeah, 20 is for South Korea. And despite everything? Japan and South Korea are not the same country and dont have the same laws.
A 19 year old in Japan is out of high school, above the age of consent, and can make his own decisions about who he fucks. And sex work is legal.
Utusgi can be a scumbag for being a manipulator who preyed on a vulnerable person who was younger than him and didn't know better and then who controlled said partner socially, sexually and financially without it being pedophilia, actually. Perhaps that is what the author is trying to warn the reader of.
And perhaps we can consider that our experience is not universal and that other cultures are different from ours?