Mameiha's Topics (609)

http://www.mangago.zone/read-manga/shinnyuu_kinshi_no_koi/mrs/manga/shinnyuu-kinshi-no-koi/v-1/4/35/

Did this actually say "Spartacus Training" or "Spartan Training" in the original raws? This makes a difference! Especially if you know anything about the gay community of the 60s and through to the early 80s. The original Spartacus movie, released in 1960, was immensely popular among the gay community. Lots of buff, sweaty, tanned and half naked men doing battle, added to the homoerotic undertones of ancient Greece - homosexuality was not particularly uncommon, especially in ancient Sparta. It was viewed as a pure form of love and considered less distracting than heterosexual relationships, particularly during times of war and battle. Thus, Spartan men would find relief with their fellow warriors when on extended excursions away from their families - made the original movie very appealing to the gay community of the time. So, "Spartacus Training" can imply that the training our two protagonists will undergo will have much more to do with sex than "Spartan Training" which implies a very intense and rigorous regimen of specific exercises focused the action scenes they will be doing. This is absolutely hilarious whether it is a translation error or an intended joke by the mangaka, but I think credit shoud be given where it is due. So, if anyone has, and/or can read the raws, let me know. I actually stopped reading at that frame and said to myself, "Spartan Training" is what should be there, but considering this is yaoi, "Spartacus Training" works too... especially as a joke or a pun.

Objectively, I thought the story was cute and really funny, but it just didn't appeal to me subjectively. Believe it or not, it had nothing to do with the trap... well, not because she was a trap, anyway. More because she wasn't really a sadist as much as she was just a bitch. A sadist derives pleasure from the insults, humiliation and pain they inflict. This character was little more than a spoiled brat who took out her issues on those around her. The outcome may be the same, but the intent and purpose are different. Needless to say, I'm not a fan of the selfish, spoiled brat type of characters and when they look female, my interest plummets further. Though, if this kind of character appeals to you, this is a really cute manga to read. Although it is discontinued, there are plenty of chapters to enjoy and each seems to bring a conclusion to conflicts that arise within it. There is even a sweet "honesty" scene and the masochist is the loyal puppy type. Other than my personal preferences not being met, I found nothing wrong with the manga.

Personally, I wasn't all that thrilled about the story. There was too much emphasis but on Tomo's sense of duty and Sadao's sense of a lack of love. That is a conflict that needs to be resolved early on in the story if you want to have a happy ending that feels believable. As the story is written, Sadao will forever do what Tomo asks out of love, but Tomo is doing what he does out of a sense of duty to create rain for the village. The fact that he claims that Sadao is the "only one for him" seems shallow and not like it has anything to do with loving him.

That said, the plot to the story had immense potential and, except for the poor development of Tomo, was written rather well. The fantasy elements were believable and the characters, aside from Tomo, were interesting. To be fair, Tomo was interesting too, he just didn't have enough emphasis put on the "loving Sadao" aspect of his character.

And I loved every frame of it! Yes, it is silly and has no logic behind it, but damn if it isn't one of the sweetest stories I've read. You just want to sit back and enjoy the sweet ride. The fast pace keeps the reader from lingering on the lack of logic and the writing is done well enough that even the silly elements seem believable. Definitely a soul cleanser.

I guess no one can read beyond what is written on the page! Actually, in this case, the information is clearly spelled out on the page and yet a large number are blinded by the mere mention of the word "rape". Don't you guys get it?! The uke isn't actually being raped at all. He enjoys his sex with the seme, but is desperately trying to run from the fact that he enjoys homosexual sex! He only calls it rape to appease his fear and justify running away. Did you not notice the look on his face when the seme said he loved him? It was like he had been waiting forever for those words. He even apologizes to the girl in his mind for being too consumed by his enjoyment of sex with the seme. The uke is gay and he doesn't want to admit it. Is it right or fair for the seme to out him by force? No, but is it any more right or fair for a gay man to marry a woman when he has to think of a man to get aroused to have sex with her? Or marry a woman only to troll gay bars for one night stands and cheat on her left, right and center? Cripes! It is like listening to toddlers discuss quantum physics! The whole story is about a closeted gay man desperately clinging to the idea that he is not gay, all while he has hot, passionate sex with another man. If this theme had been a snake it would have bitten every commentator that blasted this story for rape because you all stepped all over it with stiletto heels!

This is why yaoi is restricted to those over 18. It isn't about showing the sex scenes as much as it is about themes that won't be understood by someone who can't even read and comprehend the story fully. So why set the age limit at 18? Because you can't graduate high school or get into college if you can't read and comprehend the content of whatever you are asked to read. Whether that is a fiction novel, a Shakespearean play, an autobiography or a manga. If you can't comprehend what is, basically, handed to you on a silver platter, how in the hell are you going to read a textbook that offers many opinions and theories on a given subject and come to your own conclusion? It is painfully obvious that many readers and commentators here are too young to even have the necessary reading skills to understand the content of this story, let alone, the life experiences needed to grasp why these characters are acting the way they are acting.

Yaoi is a genre that has stories that range from simple "boy meets boy" themes to basic smut to very deep, emotion driven themes that are expressing the lack of acceptance of homosexuality in a conservative culture or the dark emotions that love and obsession can cause to surface. Add to that, the fact that yaoi is, at its core, erotic fiction and you have a reading situation where more than a basic understanding of language is necessary to fully appreciate what the writer is trying to convey. A reader must understand that love comes in many forms and it is not limited to the sparkly, fairy tale variety. Since yaoi is also a portrayal of homosexual love, it is also important for a reader to understand that the dynamics of a relationship between two men is not always the same as those in a relationship between a man and a woman. In many yaoi, the idea of fearing your sexuality and/or closeting behaviour are core to the theme. Promiscuity is also often portrayed because, sadly, in conservative cultures like Japan, a long-term, monogamous relationship would threaten the livelihood and safety of a gay man. A reader really has to understand so much more than words on a page to truly understand and enjoy this genre.

Chapter 6 was some Jeffery Dahmer shit! The yakuza/cop chapter was kinda dull and the last story was just heartbreaking. I felt bad for the student and the counselor, but more for the student. He never had the option to run away from the abuse his Mom inflicted upon him, where the counselor kinda chose his own path. Neither were healthy, but one was an informed choice. The counselor knew what he was in for and chose to stay. When a child is abused from infancy, they lack the understanding of what it means to be in a healthy relationship. That said, the counselor would have done the student more good by teaching him how to function in a healthy relationship rather than allowing the student to do as he pleased and abuse him the way the student had been abused. That, however, wouldn't have made a good story for this anthology.

The other stories were interesting and I have read the first story as a one-shot by its mangaka. Admittedly, the first story was probably the most "romantic" of the lot, IMO. It had a Romeo and Juliet feel to it for me.

This is a tough one. Technically, the guy had sex with a corpse, but I don't think he was a necrophile. He had no desire to have sex with a corpse in a general sense and there were extenuating circumstances regarding the sex he had with one. Do I think it was romantic? Yes, I do. This wasn't some fucked up hentai about a guy who goes to cemeteries and digs up bodies to screw - I have actually read hentai like that - this was a story about two living boys who were very much in love but we're unable to touch each other due to one having OCD. Which, by the way, the poor kid had because his step father raped and molested him. They make a pact that allows the seme to have sex with the boy with OCD, but only after the boy with OCD dies. I don't know if I could fulfill that kind of wish for my lover, but I think I would want to try. Not for the sake of sex, but for the sake of keeping a promise to someone I love deeply. I can imagine the pain and heartache the boy was feeling when he had to watch his lover die, say his goodbye and fulfill their promise. He even thought of living on and chose to end his life as well in the end. To me, it was a dark and beautiful story that reminded me a lot of Romeo and Juliet.

Made what could have been a fascinating story just confusing and dull. Add to that, the art was generic enough to be unable to distinguish characters and you have this hot mess of what could have been a great story. I grasped that two androids, enemies to start, were falling in love through constant contact and then become confused by the emotions created. It is a great plot idea, but there was too much extraneous information going on and it got in the way of the story being clear. This is one of those manga I hesitated to read and I'm ambivalent about it now that I have.

And it isn't the ending that bothers me. It is the way the BDSM theme has been horribly twisted. I've been involved in BDSM for over 30 years and this story is obviously written by someone who, not only doesn't understand BDSM, but they failed to do any more than the most basic research into what bondage looks like. When a person is stimulated by pain, denying them is akin to telling them you don't love them enough to give them the things they desire. This is a BDSM story told from the POV of a vanilla. Which really screws up the dynamic between the two characters who could actually love each other. That could be the singer and his brother or the singer and his manager, but the way the story is told, there is no trust and only the desire to control between all of them. If you're going to write about something you have no clue about, at least research it well.

Shit. This story bothered me so much, I don't even have the desire to write this review.

To be poetic and artsy. The stories are beautiful, but they are written far to flowery and it obfuscates the details of the plot. Sure, you get the gist of what is happening, but instead of an answer to a question, you get a half-assed poem. Don't get me wrong, poetic and flowery language and stories are wonderful, but they have their place and you have to be a capable writer to succeed in not only sounding romantic, but also propelling the plot. These stories just didn't have what it took to be both flowery and practical.