joelwolf's Topics (2)

appart from the fact that the black haired guy stayed with his abusive boyfriend after he hit him once and bullied him during his teen years (remember that if you’re partner hit you once they’re most likely doing it again, save yourself and leave them), I found the girl very interesting, I was really worried that it was going to be weird and she was going to be poorly written but I was pleasantly surprised ; she’s, in my opinion, the best character of all the manga, from making the black haired guy realize that no, hitting someone isn’t okay and that it’s not his fault to calling out people’s habit to downplay men’s bad actions to a simple « men will be men » which excuse their bad behavior, it was refreshing seeing a female character who’s not only a stepping stone for the two guys relationship to evolve. I would say, however, that I did not like the ending : all this talk about domestic violence/abuse being not normal and the author still end up romanticizing the violent relationship depicted… No, violent men aren’t some misunderstood mysterious creatures, they’re grown enough to seek therapy and understand that violence is bad and I wish the author would have depicted an ending where the guy and the girl stay friend and move on from their relationship with the blond guy.

Sakuraba is the cliche of the closeted man with internalized (might not be so internalized) misogyny and homophobia, he goes from being scared to be seen as “abnormal” to showing his feelings and being vulnerable little by little. i’m not saying he wasn’t trash at first because that would be lying, he was a playboy with little to no regards for the women he dated (then again he’s a misogynistic), we can see that this come from how he was educated which isn’t a justification but an explanation. He sees Asami as unmanly (such a weird word) and is repulsed by his own attraction to him due to his internalized homophobia. at the end of the manga, not only does he tell asami he loves him but he also shows improvement in his behavior (crying in front of asami, learning how to cook which is often seen as a “woman hobby” etc…). the end is an amorce to a more honest future for them both.
now there’s some think I didn’t quite like and I think we’re unnecessary: the cheating plot wasn’t needed at all… I think it goes against Asami’s straight forward way of acting and doesn’t really match his character when you know he was aware of his chef having a wife. The ex is really disappointing as well and doesn’t deserve his wife… lastly I didn’t like the moment when Asami was telling Sakuraba about how he didn’t wanted to be treated like a woman (he said smth along the lines of “I won’t laugh or be happy if you pay the bill and hold the door for me like a woman would), honestly pretty weird if you ask me, women aren’t just simple being who needs things to be paid for and door to be help open for them to be happy, and reducing them to that is meh… wish the author would have developed deeper into the misogynistic aspect of the story.