rainydays's manga / #psychological(37)

after meeting maya at the family vacation home, reina's life starts to fall apart as the past to her family's fortune is revealed. super melodramatic and cinematic, from a storytelling perspective i think the ending was fitting but on a personal level saddening. i think this was a very interesting read but the reveal to them actually being siblings (expected given the setup, but an odd choice nonetheless) really put a damper on it.

anthology pertaining to female sexuality pretty unique and entertaining, the first story was my favorite. loved the red ink color choice.

a girl takes in a runaway criminal to add to her collection big wtf at the end but no substance other than that.

childhood friends yuma and ken are a comic artist and editor duo, with both trying to keep the other to themselves. the top comments on this one are misleading. yes, yuma is obsessive, but its not onesided. think: the twist the idol tried to do, but done better. ngl this is problematic, as the relationship is really toxic from both sides and there isnt a healthy resolution, but personally i was pleasantly surprised with the end of the story, as i thought this was just gonna be another typical stockholm syndrome manga.

an eldest son imprisons and manipulates the father that never cared for him in his own form of obsessive love, after the death of his brother and mother. one of akabekos darker works, yes its really fucked up and weird but pretty compelling from a psychological/horror perspective, on top of great art there was interesting insight into topics like child neglect, fanaticism, manipulation, etc.

a girl who undergoes multiple abortions to outdo her nemesis i really cant tell how the author came up with something like this... it went from extremely disturbing, to oddly entertaining to just numb acceptance at the end.

short story anthologies centering around an unsettled mimi these were an interesting set of stories, my favorites were the seashore and just the two of us. do wish there was more lore in each of the stories but the sense of vagueness and mystery was still effective.

a man takes his wife on vacation to restart their lives after their sons death, though his meaning of 'restart' turns out to be very literal. there is discourse over who is at fault, i'd say both husband and wife were quite awful in their own ways. gotta give props to the artist for making everything so detailed yet grotesque, the story was really creepy and though the ending was weird, it still felt in character.

hard to read, though realistic in execution, applause to the author cause i think they captured the long lasting trauma and instability caused by csa well. sensei can go rot in hell.

idk if its because of the kind of mental state i was in, but despite by abhorrence towards cheaters & cheating participants (especially someone who goes after taken men), i was really emotional while reading this and enjoyed it a lot. soichis actions were truly deplorable, and trauma cant excuse that, but it did a good job explaining his psychology and low self esteem. i did like how he reflected and tried to do better for himself, ik its the bare minimum but thats my bae im so proud of him. while i feel like souichis feeling development was a bit hasty, im happy the two sorted things out.