otakulys's manga / #abusive relationship(6)

Aishuu no Kanon

Complete | HIHARA Mariko | 2000 released

Guy rapes kid to get back at the chick who didn't run away with him years ago. Kid, of course, is madly in love with him for no reason. (I mean, Yaoi-land reasons, but that's pretty much the same thing.) This is a scary-unhealthy "romance" which, of course, is never addressed as such. If this were real life, that guy would have murdered his lover or gone to jail for something, I'm sure.

Yajirushi

Complete | Harada | 2015 released

Heartbreaking, twisted, incredibly fucked up. But I loved it. This is just a field trip into the mind of a psychopath/sexual predator, and it's a terrifying but strangely alluring journey. I wanted to cry a few times because I felt for the victims so much. I guess the fact that I enjoy reading stuff like this when I have an overabundance of empathy makes me a bit of a masochist. Oh well, heh.

Hogu Hagyeongsu

Complete | im-aeju | 2016 released

Kind of jumps around awkwardly, but the art is lovely, and I like it so far. Fingers crossed for it staying awesome. EDIT: After more chapters came out, it quickly became fantastic. I'm really excited to see where this goes. This has so many things that I love and rarely find in yaoi. EDIT AGAIN: So, here I thought this manwha was everything I wanted. We had the dark past with the screwed up, obsessed, gangster lover. We had the new love and the main character moving on. When things went south, I loved it, and I thought this would be a thriller involving them trying to escape and the main character and his sweet boyfriend eventually being together. But the moment it suddenly stopped being about him just trying to protect his current boyfriend, I realized this was just like all the rest. It's rape porn with no real growth on the part of any of the characters. The least it could do was give us the ending these characters deserved. Instead, the main character decides he has to stand by the fact that, after hurting a sweet person, he is never allowed to be happy again, nor is his ex. So, the only way to do that is to get back together? Whatever, they should both just get hit by a bus. I'm so over this crap. It was beautiful art, and it had SO much potential, so I'm endlessly bitter. Why do these things never go a better way?

Ore no Oniku-chan

Complete | Mochino Kome | 2000 released

Holy crap. I was not expecting to love this as much as I did! I want to keep reading about these two! I don't know if the cliffhanger with the ex is due to another volume coming or tied into the spin off with the ex, but I don't want this to be the end of their story. So freaking sweet and perfect! I thought it was going to be typical shoujo-esque silliness with no substance. It was so much more. I also really, really liked the stuff with his ex. I wish there were more stories with ex-boyfriend issues where the guy doesn't end up back with the abusive piece of crap or whatever. Seriously, though, I hope someone translates the spin off soon. And I hope we get more work from this author! So far, love her stuff!

Mitto mo Nai Koi

Complete | Moriyo | 2015 released

It might be the translation in part, but this manga was just a total mess. It was all over the place and abrupt, full of a toxic relationship that couldn't be fixed by any means, let alone the minor ones the uke puts into play. But whatever. The masochist story was also messy but it was ultimately quite cute. If it hadn't been so all over the place, I think I would have really liked it. The guy being so concerned and loving over his guy while also being a sexual sadist was great. He was so sweet and loving, but totally kinky. It's nice that they work for each other like that. It's clear this mangaka has some pretty overt fetishes, especially with pain during sex. But I just couldn't get past the crazy plot and kind of confusing story. Again, I think that was mostly the translation, but I can tell things wouldn't have changed all that much if it were polished up.