Sleeps In Sunbeams's manga / #demon(15)

A cute little story about an incubus (Al) and an overworked elite businessman (Kotaro) with ED. In order to graduate from demon university, Al has a final soul to collect, one of intelligent, elite Kotaro. But despite all his best demon seductive perks, the worn out human is unresponsive. Enter the cure. One house husband demon to restore the health of his human in hopes of restoring sexual vigor. The little demon is adorably bossy and sweet, fussing over and nurturing Kotaro. All for the teeny cost of one human soul.

This story really lived up to its title in the beginning. There was rape and dub con and endless sex and I could sort of overlook a lot of the forced sex because we were dealing with demons. It’s just that there was little to no plot and character development when it’s just sex scene after sex scene. Ryoichi was such a weak seeming uke who sexually responded to anything (I still don’t see the need for that). It was all that irritating “no, no” while having some sort of body that was out of his control (and it wasn’t Yonosuke because he wanted positive outcomes) and endless remarks about falling pregnant (which never eventuates) and it all stagnated for me. I came so close to either dropping it or bookmarking and returning later (pretty much the same thing tbh). But then! Then it was like a different writer came on board. The actual story progressed and the author did a great job stirring pangs of empathy and sorrow for Yonosuke, and liking for Aroku as he softened towards Ryoichi and FINALLY some signs of Ryo being strong and loving enough to face the tough challenge of being a demons mate. The story was so good in the second half. I even got all teary over their time on Earth, that was so beautiful. Really, a lovely ending too. It would have been nice to see Ryo have a baby and watch Aroku be a dad (especially after the huge focus initially on him falling pregnant) but at least there were some panels at the end that let us see it would happen.

Kanzaki Misuzu is whisked into a different world of magic and knights where she becomes the Black Healer, Daughter of Gaia (the God of the world) and sets about to find her way home. I enjoyed her journey, she was a brave adventuress who sought to use the talents she had to make her own way. The romance was sweet, though probably something I wanted more of and I liked the choices Reene made. My only issue was the ending seemed just a touch fast (the flow was a little off, perhaps from the new translator) and I wanted to see her life more in the demon world (the whole story was really spent in the human realm after all). A recommended read.

Trigger Warning: Rape Someone needs to tell the mangaka to make a full series on this. The short oneshot format didn’t do it justice.

Completed story Opinion: Disappointing. Decided to drop after 12 chapters, but still a spark of interest so I skipped to ch75 and read to end. Main couple: 6/10 FL: 3/10 - Idris. Bland. No backbone, spent her time cowering or blushing. Illegitimate daughter of a noble and maid she had no skills to be wife of a powerful leader. ML: 7/10 - Khalid, Archduke of Caltes. Red eyes, half demon, demon skills. Protective. Pushover for his wife. Not always believable as a strong man. Story/Concept: Concept of being assassinated and sent back in time after her husband finished her off was interesting. But then it was let down by inconsistencies, eg the “strong” FL who wanted to live returns and is as much a doormat, cowering, blushing misfit as before. The only reason she had a better life was because Khalid set out to make it so. I didn’t feel chemistry between MCs and failed to find the FL a sympathetic character to cheer on. Tropes: Damsel in distress. Time regression. Demons. Magic. Protective lover. Blushing. Past trauma. Ending: Ok. Art: Disappointing especially her fashion. Smut: Implied only. TW's: Blood, murder.