Itsuki Shu's manga / #smut(13)

2/10. *TRIGGER WARNING- SEXUAL ASSAULT/RAPE* Beautiful art, uke and seme were both interesting, promising premise. Poorly handled themes of sexual assault and rape, both seme's end up doing morally reprehensible things to the uke that were addressed very poorly, rushed bad ending. -SPOILER WARNING- When I initially started reading this story I enjoyed the dark themes. The uke, despite just leaving an abusive relationship, oozes confidence. He initiates a consensual sexual relationship with the seme, who is considerate and gentle. It was so lovely to see two flawed and damaged characters healing each other, I really wish that things could have continued that way. We get treated to a lovely, tasteful, on-screen rape of the uke by his ex (extreme sarcasm). When I first read it I was shocked and upset for him but had faith in the author's ability to make this plot point work. Initially, it seemed that the rape was meant to simultaneously show how bad the ex is while highlighting how good the new seme is for the main character. HOWEVER, later the seme ends up being rough and cruel to the uke AND the rapist ends up getting a strange redemption arc? This is abhorrent. Loving someone does not excuse rape or sexual assault. He is NOT sympathetic, he is a violent rapist and abuser. This author should not have even attempted to characterise him in this way and I am very disappointed that this is the way they took the story. The ending was rushed and bad. Why did the seme come back? How did all of the obstacles that kept the two apart suddenly disappear? Why is the rapist willing to give the uke up all of a sudden? Are the yakuza gonna just be chill about all of this? There are too many questions that are waived without any answers. We should have an explanation as to why the seme decided to come and find the uke. He was adamant they should stay apart. There should have been more time devoted to them coming together and less time spent on the uke and his rapist ex fucking and living together. There should have been far more caring moments of healing for the seme and uke. Their sudden love and dependency makes no real sense. I could overlook this if the story was better. I rated it a sad 2/10 only because of the beautiful art and the first few good chapters. What a damn shame.

1/10 *TRIGGER WARNING- PHYSICAL, MENTAL, AND SEXUAL ABUSE* Good art, nice secondary couple, engaging core concept. Every other character is bad or uninteresting besides the secondary couple. Awful, abusive seme. Wimpy, dull uke. Poorly handled themes of sexual, physical, and mental abuse. Constant downer and not in a good way. -SPOILER WARNING- I dropped this story pretty late into reading it. I sincerely did not enjoy my experience, the seme is an abusive arsehole for most of the story. It is not believable when he softens and tries to be good to the uke when he finally decides to leave (and he doesn't even leave until he's forced to despite the constant abuse!!!!). The seme and uke are both 'damaged' but that doesn't excuse their terrible personalities. I do not understand why authors use rape and sexual assault as plot points only to ignore the reprehensible actions of the perpetrators because they're not mean anymore. There is a *possibility* that a bad character can be redeemed, but not in this case. This is abuse that is lightly veiled by a BDSM theme. Practising BDSM requires safewords, aftercare, and CONSENT. If this was a story from the perspective of our seme rather than the uke all we'd see is a scared young man being forced upon by his boss. A man who is intimidating, strong, controlling, and has control over the uke's livelihood. What a huge misstep. I literally could not finish this story. The seme being nice now does not erase his wrongdoings in the past. I do not see how I could ever feel sympathetic towards him. Oh nooo, the serial abuser is gonna dieeee... I left this story incredibly unsatisfied and I am not surprised that some people liked it, however, I certainly did not. (Secondary couple was nice though, why couldn't we get more of them).

6/10 This author excels at the smut while also making characters sweet and likeable. Not as good as some of their other offerings, but not bad.

8/10 Super cute, both Seme and uke are great and the story doesn't outstay its welcome. Also, the smut is *chef's kiss*. Love this story, please read it!

7/10 *TRIGGER WARNING- Rape, Paedophilia* This is a difficult one to rate. The smut is pretty great and the main couple is cute, albeit extremely dysfunctional. There's just a bit too much yikes in their dynamic sometimes with the uke often begging the seme to stop before or during sex. It's nowhere near as bad as some stories, but it can leave a bad taste in your mouth. This story also has some DARK content which could be difficult for some readers to stomach. Overall, I'd give it a 7/10. I had a good time reading it but there's a lot of stuff that comes across as weird once you hit the post nut clarity. If you liked this I recommend "Saezuru Tori wa Habatakanai" for a slutty uke with a similarly dark backstory or (if you can handle the YIKES opening chapter) "Dakaretai Otoko Ichii ni Odosarete Imasu".

Edit- 3/10 side story ruined it, sorry gamers. 8/10 *TRIGGER WARNING* Rape + sexual assault Okokok, I LOVED and kinda hated this? The start I wasn't super sold on but once this couple gets together? Holy shit. These two are so fucking cute and HOT HOT HOT. I'm not usually the type to gush but I really enjoyed their dynamic. Despite giving this an 8/10 and enjoying it, I do have some complaints- The rape I REALLY didn't need to see. I'm sick to death of seeing this trope in yaoi. Also, while I'm glad they didn't linger on the love triangle shit with the workmate it seemed like it was dropped super quickly with like no resolution? It just seemed very pointless. Plus there's one or two times where the top does some iffy stuff but he's mostly incredible sweet and ALL about the service (plus he is really hot).

8/10 This story harmed me. My heart and soul have been HARMED. The ending is satisfying even though my favourite didn't win (why do I always have secondary ML syndrome). I love that the author makes these characters flawed in (mostly) realistic ways and I'm overall glad I read this. I'm jealous of the people who will get to read this all the way through with no cliffhangers, fuckers!

4/10 The story of this one was kinda dumb. I get the ending but I didn't really enjoy it by the end. The characters are pretty trash too, I didn't really like any of them.