pluckaduck's manga / #Seinen(28)

ngl their co-dependency was teetering on the edge of romance in so many scenes; the homoerotic vibes are palpable here. i love it. i kinda feel bad for aki; i cant tell if taraka actually loves her, or if he's just trying to find another "rock" to depend on, for emotional and physical needs in an attempt to distance himself from yuujin. anyway, the camera work and panelling is exceptional; so many subtle, in-between-the-lines meanings and emotions. when emphasis is necessary, the expression on their faces is detailed and intense and the scenes are framed dramatically. and taraka and yuujin's dynamic is so compelling?? this is exactly what i crave in psychological subtlety BL stories. i need them to end up together.

i think this has one of the best and most grounded take on the found family trope with a lot of nuanced charas. at first, they all were using each other and are uninterested in each other's past and stories, but bc of masa'a entry, that gradually changed to the point they will all leave together to accompany yaichi. the art is ngl messy, but it kinda adds to the charm? also the fact that matsu is in love with yaichi? i think that should be touched upon? ...or maybe that's just a mistranslation.

the pseud-rape of the highschool girl and eating his own semen was uncomfortable to read.

surreal and absurd, reminiscent of how dreams progress in bizarre directions, meander, without any proper conclusion. the simple and almost "cute" art style also adds to the uncanny feeling you get from reading the stories. the stories are quite dark, but there's no recurring theme, or offers any philosophical introspection. it's just creepy and sometimes gratuitously violent, like bits of a dream you've barely grasped. it's akin to something spawned from the deepest parts of our subconscious from childhood days, reflecting the sadistic curiosity and innocently cruel side of children. and cats.

beautiful, and an insightful take based on the executioner's family in medieval France. i loved the themes in the manga, about liberty, women's rights(wrongs lol), the social inequalities and injustice, the excessive opulence of nobility, and the inescapable dirty swamp that is being born in the bloodline of an executioner's family. the charas felt fleshed out, and altho henri-whatever's chara development was very disappointing, it was realistic and ties to one of the themes: that men are pigs who think with their crotches. marie-joseph tho... my feelings for her oscillated between like and dislike, and she certainly made my straight ass sweat, but she's ultimately the most admirable chara of the entire cast who stuck with her beliefs. my complaints is that i felt Marie Antoinette's change of feelings for her is very jarring; how and why did she suddenly dislike and disdain her all of a sudden? there is no explanation for this sudden change from admiring/loving her? there is a huge gap in her chara arc. second) if alain was gonna be a huge influence in marie, he really shouldn't have been introduced in less than 5 chapters just to get killed off. his addition felt so random.

holy shit that plot twist on ch 37 rendered me breathless. did not need to feel sadder than i already did for those two. it also finally gives a rough timeline of both settings.

the artstyle made it hard to get thru at first, but it's delivers raw and intense scenes so well. both of the main characters are so so flawed but it's also hard to hate them. at first, i enjoyed their dynamic, which was bitter toxic woman x woman who seems forgiving and would do anything for her beloved. but it turned out it wasnt like that at all. i mean the black-haired woman is incredibly cold, rude, bitter, stubborn, and selfish, but the woman with unrequited love left her gf of 10 years and threw away her future just to have sex with her. she's so thoughtless, tactless, and stupid, and when shes unable to burden the weight of being a runaway murderer, she lashes out hard. she lived a generally happy life, so she was unable to cope, and admitted herself she didnt have black-haired's strong will.