Lauvil's manga / #Internalized Mysogyny(2)

Satou is an office worker who has had a crush on a co-worker, Shioya, ever since he offered her some encouragement 2 year ago, when some female co-workers smack-talked her behind her back. Now that she has transferred to a different department it's harder for her to see her, and the work is hard without the proper support and assistance. One day when she is working overtime she's locked out of the room that holds her keys and wallet, and ends up in the apartment of her crush. Stuck together in close quarters they have trouble keeping their hands off each other (mostly him) and thus their romance begins. Along the way they will receive help from their co-worker, and Shioyacs roommate, and also uncover the petty schemes of jealous bitches from the office, who have been spreading malicious rumours and meddling with Satou's work. There's definitely some internalized mysogyny in this story. The MC is classicly a shy protagonist who can't voice her desires, in fear of being slut-shamed. The ones who create trouble for the MC are all women, and the heroes who help and save her are all men. It also incorporates the weird trope of "men can't control their desires when faced with an attractive woman". But it is not nearly as bad as in other manga - especially smut - and in fact gets better with every chapter. This mang also has no consent violations - Unless you count a few meek protests, that the MC only voices in the beginning for proprietary reasons. As soon as she gets over her shyness, she in fact becomes very enthusiastic in bed, which is refreshing to see. Also, despite his weird line about lack of self-control the ML is clearly conserned about consent and not interested in pushing the FL's boundaries. All in all, their relationship seems very healthy, with good communication, an equal power balance and mutual respect. The romance is also not drawn out, and the misunderstandings kept to a minimum, which is always a plus. The smut is hot, consensual and enthusiastic, which we love to see. It's also great to see a male supporting character who does NOT fall for the MC (sowing conflict and jealousy) but instead helps and cheers the couple on. At least, I hope he'll continue to be this way. A few hints in later chapters have me worried that he might be falling for the MC... But bonus points to the ML for expressing his jealousy towards his friend in a healthy way, instead of trying to limit or control their interactions. 4/5 stars

Akira once had a childhood friend named Megumi, who did everything together. But the two had a falling out and it's been a scar on her heart ever since. One day she goes to a mixer and meets a guy who looks exactly like Megumi, named Keichii, and the two hit it off immediately. Akira knows that the reason why she's so attracted to Keichii is exactly because he looks like Megumi and tells him right off the bat. But he's okay with that and the two of them enter a relationship. However, what Akira doesn't know is that Keichii is cool with her circumstances and his look-alike, because he actually is him. His friend was invited to the mixer but didn't want to go, so Megumi went in his stead. When Akira buys the lie and the fake identity, his selfish desire of winning her back comes in the way of telling her the truth, and so he enters the relationship on false pretences. Of course, Akira is bound to find out eventually, though. But ultimately end up forgiving him anyway... So, as most other manga - especially smut - it has a lot of internalized mysogyny. It includes classics like: - FL being a virgin, and this fact being a total turn-on for her partner - The ML being jealous over the FL telling him she spoke to a guy and promptly telling her: "no else gets to see you like this, but me" - "Tell me to stop if you don't want this" (instead of asking for consent before the act) - the ML borderline assaulting the FL (in the past) as way of "teaching" her a lesson about the dangers of men Other tropes: - Not recognizing someone despite all odds - Interjecting a secondary love-interest to create romantic tension between the main couple (this guy honestly being a better option than the ML. But ig writers just prefer toxic men) - Both characters misunderstanding each other's feelings, despite them being obvious I can't say that this is the worst smut manga I've read - far from it, as the bar is pretty low - but it's not the best either. So, even if I don't hate it, I don't particularly like it either. It has too much internalized mysogyny, the smut is avarage, and the ML is quite frankly a trainwreck. He's forceful, jealous, selfish and deceiving and the FL forgives him way too easily. Especially considering that she was completely transparent with him from the beginning, while he was literally pretending to be someone else. Should the FL have figured that out sooner? Possibly. But in the end it's not her responsibility, and she herself theorizes that she did now deep down but refused to acknowledge it.