The Promise
The story telling, plot and art is terrible, but I like the trope, so I could still enjoy a few parts of the story
Hakuran no Kemono
This is a terrible story The stockholm syndrome isn’t just portrayed as something minor, the mc’s also fine with getting abducted by the ml from nearly the sayrt??? Every evil deed done by the ml is so washed down and reduced to being insignificant for the mentally of the mc “ art was beautiful but this one left an awful taste in my mouth - none of the actual deep issues were properly delt with AT ALL. The dehumanisation and slavery; the way the mc and everyone like him are called 'beasts' - it was all brushed off bc mc was saved (kinda bc it feels implied that he's fine with having to give up his horns and hair after regrowth for his shiny new boyfriend). The capturement and slavery of these beings is still very much present and the culprit of mc's kidnapping got off scotch free. The fact that even the bracelet mc got given has 'jewels' from one of the beings made me feel viscerally ill. Crazy how the ml can call someone a 'beast' yet find em sexy. This premise feels like it should've been properly fleshed out - so that it can be seen properly that these 'beasts' are also just people. It feels almost like the ml has one moment where he went from 'oh he's kinda....' to 'oh he is a living breathing person' (the bit where mc finally can talk again). The fact that the treatment of other beings is assumed to remain the same is awful, as though if they aren't a bed partner, they don't matter? Let's not get into how much psychological damage this whole ordeal must've been, to the extent where mc even losses his voice, yet we all know who he ends up with. With the ml barely even acknowledging it. ALSO, it is implied that most 'beasts' don't speak, only 'high lvl' ones, but I have a theory that the 'beast' considered 'high lvl' are most similar to homo sapiens and thus the herd/group whatever speaks whatever human language and teach it to their young in the off chance they need to blend in (hide their ears under a hood and distract anyone before fleeing, yall gettit). Those considered 'low lvl' would have a MUCH harder time evn pretending they are a homo sapiens, thus the benefits of teaching the human language would be low. We should also consider those whose vocal chords simply cannot comfortably accommodate a human spoken language. HOWEVER that doesn't mean they can't learn to understand it and those who simply can't speak it, could always learn sign of just learn to write. Communication to remind weirdo humans that these are sentient beings yanno? Please allow me transmigrate into this novel to prove my theory Thank you for coming to my ted talk and goodbye.”
The Genius Puppeteer Loves the Holy Knight Fiercely
Im pretty sure a rape victim would not feel much more than hate for their assaulter, so this is a case of Stockholm syndrome that’s romanticised. Even if he offered himself as his sex slave, it’s still considered assault since he doesn’t actually want it. I like the character development of the ml as well as his backstory which captivates his reasons for acting the way he does in a good manner. This story could’ve been cute if they didn’t meet like they did
Hoshoku-sha Kisumi-kun