pluckaduck's manga / #drama(179)

why is toua kinda hot tho edit: amami and kawanaka kinda hot too

couldn't really immerse myself in this story... it might bc of the art, it feels cluttered. the author should blur out the background or put less, or but put more emphasis on shading and atmosphere work so it's easier to focus on the characters and their emotions. also, not sure why this is worthy to be cried over. sure, the situation is one of the worst to be in for partners, but it's not like the ml becomes resentful and cold towards mc, so whats to cry about? also, i think the author should've made it clear if the girl was the ml's gf or not, cuz i thought it was implied, since mc didn't even bring it up for ml deny it, so i was annoyed that the translator was like "she daydreaming, she a bitch" like what, is she supposed to give them her blessings? isnt it natural to take revenge? other readers just naturally assumed the girl was not his gf so they can curse her out without hesitation, but what if she was? then the author's just villainizing her. i might have given this work another star if this included the girl's comeuppance and perhaps, guilt over the accident she indirectly caused, and then have them meet up again for her to properly express her remorse - like make her more than just a plot contrivance, make her a realistic character like the main leads too.

it's super addicting and entertaining, but it's hard to read ngl. i applaud the author for writing such an immersive work that even readers who haven't experienced SA (speaking for myself) can feel the anguish of the protagonist thru the screen. the imagery is quite good, and the characters, especially the villain, has a lot of depth, instead of being just a simple pedophile ch 58. i don't see how ian and jeremy could ever be together without ian feeling resentment towards him. i mean, i knew ian was supposed to be endgame, but as of now, and possibly in the future it won't be anything like pure love. ian truly loves nadia and what he feels for jeremy is guilt, responsibility, and at best, a bit of lust. now i just feel extremely bad for nadia, bc ian cant extricate jeremy from his life and that would ruin their relationship well, this had been very emotionally devastating. after completing this, i spent a day contemplating and tearing up when i think of all that occurred in this story. while it wasn't perfect, the emotional impact far exceeds the story's faults. the last 10-20 chapters felt directionless and filler-y. there was a lot of imagery and metaphors, flowery words, so to speak, that frankly felt abstract, confusing, and pretentious. (ie. some sequences of events were confusing bc they were mixed with hallucinations.) yes, it was still about the jeremy's trauma and his complex relationship with ian, and i liked how difficult the process of coming to terms with the trauma, but, still. everything before was really good, no short of a masterpiece. there are also a lot of characters and their plotlines that I found not super relevant to the plot. like the part when pascal was high and beating jeremy... i had to suspend my disbelief for that. that event was important for his chara development, but, still.

the author is smart... but he severely overestimated his reader's intelligence. the concept is actually unique and has a lot of potential for tragedy if executed right, but he left out a lottt of details and made things a bit too vague... now it's just confusing and it takes away some of the emotions the author prob intended readers to feel upon finishing this series. i have a lot of questions. but still, quite bittersweet and sad.

im not sympathizing with the serial killer, but if he had met mel when he was younger (and if they were similar in age), before he became all twisted, they would've fallen in love and run off. mel needs someone who loves him devotedly and in turn, will reciprocate in kind, and joey would fall for mel's kindness and love him with all his heart, which he deserves. ofc, granted that joey's psychopath tendencies were not innate but developed due to upbringing.

ch5. damnn... unrequited love rocks when its actually angsty this is everything I ever want in bl. i want it not strictly bl, but with bl elements that are delved into, and grounded themes many can relate to. such as reconciling and dealing with unrequited feelings for someone of the same gender. i love how everything mc learns with each character culminates into an intense montage of mc being so utterly torned over the revelation that his childhood friend was in love with him. it turned everything upside down, but mc wouldn't have responded so maturely without having those discussions with mani about girls and boys being friends, and masuo and his friends' consultation about homophobia. i have to admit, i was with the girl duo's opinion but shingo's logical counterargument and masuo's disclosure about his being molested really put masuo's homophobic feelings into perspective. that was probably my favorite part of the story.

the premise that they're such young looking dolls for humans in the first place, is kinda concerning. the concept is certainly unique, and the story does explore different types of love, the chara designs are really cute, but... it kinda falls short of its potential. it might be bc of the limited premise; there's only so much u can do with dolls + love in the first place, but i think it could've been more succint, and certain areas could be explored more

honestly it was so interesting but the ending was like... huh? i understand it but it falls flat. like ryo's motivation to pretend to be his twin and be with the mc is necessary to add more depth to the story. like it was obvious from the abuse and cheating that he didn't love her enough, and running away when she killed his twin would've been a realistic move, so why stay? ig he realized his fuck up and love too late, but that would be too contrived of a reason.