beta
the amount of people that dont realise that while this story is a satirical comedy reos character is a subtle criticism of how abusers are treated compared to victims. harada always is able to have some type of commentary intertwined in their mangas regardless of whether it is a hard hitting psychological story or a silly comedic one. personally i feel like the s/a being used as a ‘gag’ is not only just for the purpose of being silly or objectively shocking but an acknowledgment of how the severity of the act is often underplayed in real life. the scenes when it happens are upsetting as they should be nothing is downplayed. how kuzuya deals with his trauma in a detached ‘if i dont laugh i will cry about’ way is pretty realistic to a victim who has never been acknowledged for being one. even the people around kuzuya see it as his problem and and are unsupportive which is not unrealistic to how victims are often treated. i do not feel harada is romanticising anything so can we stop throwing that word around without thought. its still true that jokes are made at the expense of kuzuya but i feel the absurdity of it is intentional and supposed to make you uncomfortable as perpetrators like reo exist without consequences and victims who behave and act like kuzuya exist in the real word too. not everyones story is a gotcha lock you up and throw away the key type of deal and harada is a smart storyteller so lets not dismiss what they are trying to portray here.
this barely reads well but i felt it needed to be said.