Really too early to tell, could go in so many interesting or annoying directions, but a promising start, so I'll keep an eye on it for now.
Can someone explain to me a little bit about this automatically uploading thing? I had thought that chapters were just uploaded by individuals who had mangago accounts...so what happens when mangago automatically uploads a chapter and how is that different from the person who left the place holder uploading?
Thanks if you can explain that!
I keep coming back to see if there are more chapters...will we ever get to meet Hiroto-kun...
The first story is not amazing but fairly nice. Somehow the storytelling feels shallow, and the kissing thing feels a bit only-in-a-manga, but it was a simple and not annoying read. I didn't read the second story.
I always come back to read Aki-chan. He's by far my favourite Obinata. While the fun of the other stories is in the drama and tantrums, I love so much more that Aki and Ryuu's relationship is really gentle.
I just wish they didn't spend the whole story in bulky boxy jackets. ╮(￣▽￣)╭
... When the first page says "Wow, what a big truck!" and my brain reads it as "Wow, what a big dick!"
⁄(⁄ ⁄·⁄ω⁄·⁄ ⁄)⁄
I'm never sure how much is the original text being confusing and how much is just the difficulties of translating, but it's always frustrating when the text seems to be confusing and contradictory.
For instance, there's one part where Yuu throws himself on Junpei saying he doesn't want things to stay as they are...but then a page or two later we have Junpei struggling with himself and reflecting that Yuu said he was fine with things as they are...
（￣へ￣）
And there would be times when Junpei would act and say things that seemed to be openly acknowledging and accepting that he and Yuu have something going on, and yet at other times he'd talk or act as if he was pretending that he didn't know Yuu had feelings for him, or as if he himself was doubtful of what Yuu's actions meant.
Although I could infer that Junpei was a serious person who was struggling to accept his own sexuality and what that would mean for his life, a lot of the time the text was just contradictory and confusing and I could only make guesses about where his headspace actually was.
It's a nice story, but honestly too many of the scenes feel like filler that don't say anything, explore anything or I progress the story because the text is contradictory or too vague to have any meaning at all. Which is disappointing because I do like this story and wanted to be absorbed into it a lot more.
Also, the whole thing with his Dad...was just a bit too vague to be satisfying. I think what happened was that his Dad was saying he wasn't suited to being the next boss of the company and also that he was forcing himself too much to be what he wasn't - both by trying to be his idea of the next boss and by trying to live as a straight person. He wasn't being true to himself and wasn't living and working in a way he truly liked etc.
But what Junpei heard was that he wasn't suited to being the boss and he wasn't doing a good job because he was gay. He was trying to be what he thought he should be and yet kept getting pushed back for it, especially from his father. And by spending time with Yuu and his family and working with the kids, he managed to relax his thinking and be open to what his father was really saying rather than assuming it was criticism and rejection.
But goodness, to make me have to work all of that out by giving me only a few vague lines of text here and there, even though it's the fundamental journey the MC has to go on felt really unsatisfying.
Anyway, like I said, I liked this story, I just wish the text had been a little less frustrating. I don't mind a lot of things being inferred rather than said outright, it's just a bit too much hard work when things are barely even inferred and instead things are just vague, empty, or contradictory.
It's one of those manga that really make me wish I was able to read the original Japanese.
...but I really felt like this had the potential to be so much better. In the end, everything felt really rushed, really glossed over. I wanted more proper character and relationship moments that went deeper. I didn't hate the main characters...but I felt unsatisfied in the end. Pity.
So, I re-read this occasionally because the mangaka makes the characters feel really warm but...
...gah they really do the MC dirty in this. I have two really big irks for this one:
1. By the end, it's made out that Micchan is being a scared and stupid over-thinker who isn't fair to Sei.
But right at the start, Sei told him that he will have sex but won't fall in love with a man - more than once, he said his. He then proceeded to pressure Micchan into sex even after he's said no - doesn't matter if Micchan gives in and then enjoys it, he kept telling him quite clearly that he didn't want it, and yet Sei kept trying for it. Worse is that Sei is his boss at this point.
And apart from the sex, Sei is totally neutral and unemotional when dealing with Micchan - unless you're seeing him from the point of view of someone like Kiyo or Waka who know him will.
So it's pretty damn frustrating that Micchan is made to look like an unaware, cowardly drama queen because he wants to avoid getting more involved with Sei. The only clear message Sei ever gave was that he wanted sex and wouldn't fall in love, for f's sake. If we didn't KNOW that Sei was the ML, he'd look like the scummy sex friend who strings the MC along at the start of a manga, before the real ML comes along. And this is never acknowledged, Micchan's just made to look like an idiot who played with the ML's feelings then ran away instead of interrogating his boss- who said he wanted sex but wouldn't fall in love and had already shown he didn't like Micchan prying into his past and personal relationships- about his ex-wife. Meh.
2. Presenting a friendly attitude to customers and going with his boss on what he a told was a work-related outing does not make it Micchan's fault when said boss then pulls a knife on him. The victim-blaming in this was insidiously strong, and if you fell for it as well you need to fix your own thinking, too. Not once does Micchan display any inappropriate or misleading attitudes to the people at Sei's work - he's friendly and attentive, but it's obvious to everyone that he's doing his job with enthusiasm and professionalism. If he keeps having problems for this, then it's like saying to a woman that she's not allowed to smile at a customer because guys will think she likes them. No. Educate your guys better.
I'm not denying that he might have less trouble if his attitude was harsher, but that's the same as saying a woman will have less chance of attracting unwanted male attention if she just never leaves the house. Being nice does not ever make you to blame. Nor does it make you stupid. Was he really supposed to not go on a work-related outing with his boss because he might get a knife pulled on him?? Why should that be something anyone would go around expecting?
I know that the friend was partly overreacting because she was worried about him, but having her blame him right at the start was horrible and set up this idea in the reader's mind that he's got this huge character flaw that he needs to fix or else he's going to keep bringing trouble on himself. And yet, he tells his boss quite clearly that they weren't dating, he behaves quite harshly to his old school friend, he tells Sei multiple times that he doesn't want to have sex (and the reason he gives in to Sei's inconsiderate pressure is obviously because he likes Sei, and not as if he would've let his boss or school friend do whatever they liked). And I know that Sei alluding to him being too nice to people is mainly supposed to be Sei's jealously. But, once again, the mangaka is leaving us with the impression that Micchan is the one at fault, the one with big flaws that make things difficult for others. No. He's not responsible for the delusions and decisions of others. Meh.
I find it interesting that there are a number of comments about Akira being annoying, when for me it's always been Kento who's the less-likeable, frustrating one and Akira's pretty relatable. Interesting that people can have such different reactions.
The main thing I like about these two, though, is that they're balanced and not not without nuance.
Wow. What an awful male lead. What an awful brother. What awful parents. How unpleasant. Luckily the main character was fine with the male lead's crap attitude because the MC was in love with him and felt undeserving of him...so romantic...
I can't enjoy MLs who act like that just because I know they either already love or will eventually love the MC. Sigh.
OK, I've got that off my chest. Everyone else can go back to gushing about the characters and throwing high ratings at this as usual.
I've only ever heard of that being an undesirable technique, likely to cause hand/wrist problems...
Was that a translation error or are we dealing with a webtoon creator who doesn't have a clue what they're talking about? (Which wouldn't be unusual, but it's so much nicer when they know at least a bit about the playing the piano properly.)
This isn't the most excitement-filled webtoon, but in later chapters I've discovered myself actually smiling in real life while watching some of their heartwarming playfulness together while doing things.
Does anybody know if this is one of those stories with the main characters all having messy love relationships (love triangles/squares and so forth)? The other manga by this creator is lovely, so I'm hoping not, but I'd like to know in advance because I don't enjoy those messy love dramas. (I don't need to know actual spoilers of who ends up with who or anything, just generally is it straightforward 1 x 1 or not. ) Thanks if you know!
At ch 101.
Yep. The main female characters have practically no personality other than pushy or angry. High school friend constantly hit the MC and got angry at him for not behaving as she wished. Actress pushes everyone around even when it's for a "good" purpose. Sister orders him around whenever she can get away with it (at least she gets to be a concerned family member sometimes, although that's still not an actual personality trait).
Despite being the stereotypical kind and motherly nun/orphanage head, the orphanage Sister is the only one so far who's had a clear personality, a meaningful impact on the MC and the story, and genuinely complex feelings about something (the MC trying so hard to save her when she'd already accepted things made her clearly conflicted because you could see she wanted to struggle to survive for his sake but also wanted him not to struggle against what she felt was inevitable and be more hurt because of it). But she was barely in the story.
It's not that all the male characters are complex, there are of course the usual amount of generic enemies and bullies etc. However, there are also key male characters that provide interesting and enjoyable interactions and through their distinct personalities propel the plot forward and bring out different things in the MC.
It's also nothing new for stories aimed at a male audience to have trouble writing female characters with genuinely interesting personalities and purposes within the plot, it's just a pity that they are wasted when they could be adding as much (or more) to the story as his friends or the secretary. The reason so many people complain about romance in these action stories isn't that romance itself is bad, it's that it's not done interestingly and instead feels like it holds up the real plot. It would be different with compelling female characters who are interesting to read and have complex dynamics with their MCs that add to the overall plot make you want to keep reading.
Anyway, just having a little sigh as I struggle through a tedious part of a webtoon I'm otherwise enjoying and invested in. It's OK if you're still enjoying this part, this is not any judgement on that, I'm just letting out my personal disappointment at one aspect of the story that could be so so much less mediocre and more incredible!
Only two chapters but I'm definitely hopeful for this one based on these. The MC has flaws but is fundamentally very decent, which I like. The quirks of all the characters do far are a feature of the story that make it interesting so far, but there's the promise with this creator that we'll get to see more than only that as the story progresses without losing what makes them interesting. There's an underlying heart in this.
Just want to list out some negatives to get them off my chest because I was quite hopeful about this and have ended up disappointed. I know a lot of people are enjoying this and I don't want to dampen your enjoyment (nor be disrespected for validly expressing my opinions).
- Why does the solution to a problem with a man (the stalker) have to be solved by relying on a man? Urgh. Not just within the story, but as a plot decision at all. I do get that manga creators are always coming up with ridiculous reasons to throw the main couple together, but this story is making a big deal about men looking down on women and having a strong female lead, and then makes this fake marriage the premise for the rest of it. It's also a really bad trait that many men have to not respect women saying no unless they already have a boyfriend - as if we're obliged to be with them unless another guy already has dibs. So, I doubly would've liked to see her solve that problem on her own, even if it was because she gained some support when she returned to her family home. I'm honestly not really enjoying them having to pretend to be married at all, I think they could've had a good cohabitation and faux-to-real family story without it, but at the least they could simply have had Futaba somehow misunderstand and then they went along with it so she felt secure, rather than have it start as a solution to get a stalker off her back.
- There hasn't been a character so far in this story who doesn't just jump around doing and saying whatever they want or deciding what others are like without considering anybody's feelings. It's really frustrating. Don't drag people into a lie, throw don't throw people about if you don't like what they're doing, don't force people to be together, don't force people to hug/kiss etc. MC, ML, child, brother, friend, neighbours, media people etc etc. It's making the story feel really rushed and inconsidered.
- Uh. She's fallen in love with him why? Because he's a rude, discriminatory, uncommunicative, judgemental prick but he cares about tea and threw her one or two unsexist comments. Guess that's one way to get her to lower her standards. And yes, I know he's of course a good guy because he's the male lead, but I'd like to actually properly see it if she's going to become devoted so easily, not just him mostly being awful but - oh, he meant well. This manga is like some self-conscious feminism from the 80s written by men. It has well-intentioned ideas, but it thinks by showing how men can discriminate against women, by having a plucky "strong-willed" female lead, and then having a guy say one time that he doesn't care about her being male or female he just looks at her as a person, suddenly we've achieved some wonderful equality. In the meantime the female lead has fallen in love and is only motivated 40% by fixing her family legacy and 60% by impressing the guy she loves and supporting him in his work. Which is always a FINE option for a woman to choose, but hardly a new or particularly empowering path to show. I'm just a bit disappointed. (As a side note, I kept hoping she'd come along and have insight and skill from growing up in a tea-making family that she could use to teach him what he's still lacking in tea-making. But oh well.)
- Can we just SLOW the hell down a little? One of the reasons I have all these issues above is that there isn't a lot of time spent on anyone's thoughts or reasons, apart from the MC's recent reflections on her unconvincing new feelings of love and devotion. It feels like they only met four days ago and he's barely treated her like a person more than a few fleeting times. Merely being treated like a person is just basic, it's not romantic. I don't know, everything just feels really rushed and chaotic. I wouldn't mind some if the actions and decisions characters are making if I could see a little more intelligence, common sense and consideration.
I think there are probably more things and things I could have explained better, but I'm just sort of thought dumping in an effort to process why I'm a little disappointed in this. I can see its potential but sadly this is not it for me.
If you actually read this, um...good job? I'm sorry? If you disagree, that's fine, I don't really mind, it's perfectly valid for people to take different things away from the same piece of media. I'm happy people have something they enjoy reading and that the the scanlators' efforts haven't gone unappreciated.