queerdinosuar's manga / #Animal characteristics(112)

I really liked this one. The plot is super intriguing and made me want to keep reading, really hooked me with how they would end up together and overcome the beast and hunter problem. I thought it was done pretty well and liked how the romance was handled. My only note is that we never really address the fact that one of them has a a job that is just murdering people. Yes they are people who look like beasts but like they are fully sentient people who he cuts in half with a sword. And the narrative clearly establishes that they are people and then just sort of doesn’t deal with that fact on a larger scale. I mean he like still has the same murder job at the end. The violence is a bit over the top and contributes to a bit of a tone problem between the bloody action scenes and the cute and sweet romance scenes.

This story is a solid 3.5 in my book. The premise is fun but I find the main character very frustrating since he can’t recognize his own feelings at all and keeps getting carried away by dumb things. There are several moments when something obvious happens and he’s like “huh now why would he do that?” With no thought to how the other person would be feeling. (I know it’s obvious to me but I guess maybe not everyone). But I do really like them once they are together although the story often drags a bit. I like that the top is also the more feminine one who wears a veil, a dress on occasion, and runs a bakery while his husband goes to a corporate job and he waits at home sometimes. Love even slight gender role complications.

Moderately interesting story, not sure it’s worth rereading tho. I like the main character learning to be self confident after an abusive family but there wasn’t much outside of his partner telling him to be confident. Would have liked to see more self fulfillment and confidence on his own.