Lauvil's manga / #Drama(681)

God. Is there a scene in this manga where Suzu doesn't cry? The smut in this story was decent, but the plot just didn't grab me. I think the story should've ended after chapter 8. I tried reading a bit further, but I got too bored. Too much drama. The ML was a douchebag. The FL was a crybaby and a pushover. The only character I liked, was Tsutsumi and he barely had any screen time... Also, the early chapters were uncomfortable. The smut was too much non-/dubcon, the ML was acting cold and cruel, and the FL had no backbone. The premise itself, was kind of ridiculous too. I mean, who tells a person they hired as an assistant, that their job is to have sex? Like, boy. You hired a normal woman, not a prostitute. What the hell. And who in their right mind accepts a job, where the employer asks them to have sex for work, like a common prostitute? Well, that's smut-manga plot for you, ig.

Not the most original plot ever, but it's not bad either. I like the art style. I don't really like Shiina sometimes. He's kinda bratty. When he doesn't get what he wants, he pouts and ignores the FL which is super manipulative. In a healthy relationship you talk about things and try to compromise, not force the other to give in by taking the relationship hostage...

Love between a working woman and her stalker. Lol. But he was handsome and rich, so who cares apparently... It was meh.

So, I dropped this when the ML raped the FL in chapter 3. That was simply too uncomfortable. She might've been all "it feels good", but I just can't. A man who would rape his girlfriend in order to force her to tell him something is absolutely and utter TRASH. Like, how about TALKING instead? And making the FL like it when she's being raped did not make the rape scene less uncomfortable. In fact it was the opposite. It normalises rape and I ain't down with that shit. The story until that scene hadn't even been that good either. It was quite bland, clichéd and predictable. So nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. Ain't reading this trash story till the end.

FL got summoned from Earth to Elysium. Elysium is a magical place where men are born from stars and women are not born naturally and are thus summoned from other worlds. Here sex is called "mana negotiation" as it's purpose is not reproduction, but exchanging magical energy. It is also normal for women to have sex with multiple partners, as well as multiple husbands. The premise is very contradictory. One one hand, women are revered for their rarity, magical powers and unique role in society, thus giving them more higher status than men. On the other hand, women actually have less freedom than on Earth and society seems very misogynistic. Women have to attend special courses where they are tasked with sleeping with men - whether they want to or not. At the same time, society condemns rape, which becomes a very contradictory situation. Women are also not offered jobs, but stay with "sponsors" who protect them and tend to their needs. However, the situation reminds me more of "stay at home wives" or worse: Like a master x pet situation. So, while the story seems to want to liberate women sexually and present the reader with the reverse harem fantasy, where a woman has multiple handsome men, the premise is misogynistic. Women are very much objectified and they don't seem to have much free will or choice in this setting. The main character is also very wishy-washy imo. She just accepts the situation of being basically kidnapped from her home, to live in a strange world as a pet and sex-object for the men there. She also has no spine to refuse sex with guys she essentially don't like, while also knowing that her actions hurt the guy she DOES like.

I really liked this story. I'm usually not a big fan of adultery and triangle drama, but this worked really well. The characters had realistic motivations and reactions, that you could empathise with. I even found myself liking Masato a lot (almost preferring him over ML). His and FL's chemistry was undeniable. I didn't like how the FL wavered in her feelings, but at the same time it was realistic and understandable.

Kyuyeon pretends to be a girl in an online game, to catfish guys into giving him items. He's been "dating" one guy for 5 months, until he discovers that the guy is one of his classmates. From then on he tries hard to get out of the relationship, only to fall deeper down the rabbit hole. Even when Kimin discovers that Kyuyeon is a guy, he will not let go. Thus starts his tumoultous relationship with a crazy, obsessive guy who doesn't mind using violence and threats to control his lover and those around him... I read up till ch. 19, but had to drop it. I'm just not a big fan of the "handsome stalker" trope. I mean, even the characters pointed out that Kimin only got away with his behaviour because he's handsome... But seriously... He beats up a guy who hasn't really done anything, out of jealousy, threatens his own lover, stalks him and is generally reaaaaally pushy. Doesn't respect boundaries AT ALL. Kyuyeon is also at fault for lying in the first place, but I'm not sure the punishment fits the crime. And it's even worse that he begins to fall for a crazy obsessive stalker like that. Talk about Stockholm Syndrome...

Ch. 63