pluckaduck's manga / #dark(43)

what is it about yaoi incest that's so interesting? the fucked up dynamic? it was definitely entertaining, tho i wish the art was better. we also see a somewhat reasonable portrayal of trauma bonding and even tho the story seems kinda overdone with the hackneyed tropes of dark incest stories with utterly miserable mc, the journey to the end in which mc picks the stepbro is believable.

ending was rushed. the concept intrigued me, but the storytelling was bland. could've been more intense and sorrowful. also, they deserved it.

as i write this right now, im sobbing my eyes out. i came here expecting the two mcs to be canonically in love with each other, but it turns out ash is more like the protagonist, and eiji is more like his driving force that advances the story, and at best it's stated they perhaps loved each other like lovers, but that's just speculation. still, the story's fucking amazing, and the action is fast-paced, and ash is one of the most resilient mcs I've ever had the pleasure of reading about. i knew it was a tragic ending, and i was prepared to get teary-eyed, but i did not expect that ending. it just made it a lot more sad, bittersweet, and painful, the fact that he could've lived, but chose not to. the author really ripped my heart out in this one.

the cover art is so intentionally misleading and the first chapter sets up like a typical rom-com shounen about humans fighting against evil, but it completely shocked me when it wasn't.... i love it. i couldn't vibe with the protagonist at first, but her karma and chara development is just amazing. but if there was a criticism i had, it would be that the classmates who were completely unaware of her murder... i wished their reactions (instead of just attacking her bc of naka's instigation) were more touched upon, so mc would feel more ashamed and guilty and it would flesh out her classmates more

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.

great great magnificant art, but lets be honest: the pacing and progression is messy asf. i wish the mangaka put more care into the storyline, characterization (except for Marie-joseph) as he did for the art. the art carried. also, probably the only manga where naked guys hugging each other, guys kissing each other is completely platonic... *cue regretful sigh*. also, marie-joseph is really hot. she ended up being the chara readers rooted for the most, and henri-whatever's chara arc is sooo disappointing. I'm glad he recalled his dream again, and stopped being a total ass, but it's not a very high bar. his sudden change to supporting the revolutionaries was also confusing, and i thought it should've been delved into. but i suppose if the manga was trying to be historically accurate, there's only so much the author can do in his characterizations... even tho it felt so random.

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.

so, we got an abused and innocent kid who hates the world, an arrogant adult with main-chara complex, a gay drug addict prisoner, a high schooler with a severe sex addiction, a adult relatively normal but in love with a reflection, and an adult with crippling dependency issues. overall good story. they were all more or less fucked in the head, but good story. the art was pretty mid, but the story was excellent, especially in the beginning. it did begin to drag and the ending might not classify as a happy ending but the themes were consistent. it was never a story about the positive effects of human growth and connections. azuma is a very interesting character. she fundamentally never changed, as someone who is still childlike and ignorant and generally apathetic to people and morals. i feel bad for seki, who wanted her to become happy, and thus more "humane" after experiencing a lot and forming bonds with others, but well she's already a bit too fucked in the head after all that abuse to spare any emotions for strangers.