otakulys's manga / #blackmail(22)

I really liked this at first, because I hoped, despite having read enough yaoi to know better, that it was going to be about the main character getting with his love interest after overcoming the psychotic bully who was abusing him. The moment his attacker was given some development, I knew this was going to have a typical Yaoi-land ending. To be fair, as far as rape forgiveness in yaoi goes, this is absolutely not the worst I have seen. At least the uke was upset for a while, and even later, the seme wonders if the uke is still scared after what happened. But it's still annoying as hell. I don't mind rape in stories when the rapist gets what's coming to him, or at the very least doesn't end up in a relationship with his victim. But that's often not how these things go in yaoi. Still, I liked the manga enough to give it four stars despite the rape to love. It's pretty and emotional, and it's *almost* realistic, outside of the sexual assault and coercion.

This is super screwed up, but I kind of love it. The characters are aware of how sick the guy is, and I like that it isn't a story about a pedophile banging kids, but rather, the story of one of his victims grown up after all that time. It isn't as simple as one time revenge. The story seems to actually have substance, and I'm excited to see where it goes.

Pure smut, if memory serves. No plot, really, just lots of rape, but I'd have to read it again to be sure.

I really appreciate how Harada handles evil characters. She sets her work apart from yaoi where these things happen, but the author treats them as cute or part of romance. This is how shota, rape, abuse, etc. SHOULD be written--as the evil, fucked up things that they are. Her stories can be so subtly twisted, and if you took out the pedo aspect, that would have been the case here. It was too short, though. I'd like to see more about the characters. Either way, I love Harada for her beautiful art, dark and complex stories, and intense character emotion. But I especially love her for making messed up things happen and not pretending that they could ever be forgiven. ETA: Oh yay, it is continued! Glad that it was mistakenly labeled as finished. Just as screwed up as ever. I like the new girl. I hope something interesting happens with her. Maybe she's as fucked up as the rest of them. This is definitely the first time I've ever read a story about a young man who's in love with a pedophile. Count on Harada to make that work.

2.5 stars based on just the first story, but I'm waiting to see if more comes out. I think I've read this one before. It's familiar, but then, a lot of these stories are similar. I'm not a fan of rape being excused in any way, but it's a pretty common theme. If the author goes on to show that she meant for the first story to be as fucked up as it is and hadn't intended redemption in the seme's explanation, that'd be great. I'm not holding my breath, though.

Graphic extension of the very brutal rape scene in the main story. Hard to look at. Even though that character is a giant asshole for most of the manga, it's still heartbreaking. Definitely not for the faint of heart.

Typical rape to "love" sort of story, where the uke feels guilty somehow toward his rapist. Gross and unoriginal. Art was so-so, not great, but I've seen worse, so I'll leave it at 1.5 stars.

Whaaaaaaaaaat, I somehow didn't see that coming. XD I should have, all things considered, and Harada's work is always so deliciously fucked up, but I've never seen her play with perspectives like this before. Of course, it wouldn't really be Harada if it weren't terribly twisted, right? Haha, I love her. I can't believe it took me this long to read this one. Twisted as can be, with an ominous, ambiguous ending. So calculating, right to the very end. Harada doesn't pull any punches. She knows her characters are sick and wrong, and the narrative doesn't make any apologies for it. If only more yaoi stuff didn't act like psychotic, abusive behavior could be fixed or forgiven. This was a great read with an ending that satisfied me. I don't know how else it could have possibly concluded without it being a bit irritating. (Though a more violent end to a certain someone would have been nice, but that'd sort of ruin what the story was going for, haha.)

I don't really know what I was reading there. Maybe if I read it again, carefully, I'd pick up more of the intent beyond the basic concept of a sadist feeling weak over a victim's response. Like the first time anyone has ever "accepted" him. The story was too all-over-the-place and rushed to have that impact, though. Also... how his nose was running, and then he put his mouth... ugh... I'm gonna dry heave if I keep thinking about it. EDIT: Oooooh, okay, now that I've read the first part, it all makes sense. I enjoyed the first one a million times more. It was great. This one... I'm really not sure what the mangaka was going for here. It didn't add to the first, just made things more confusing. Meh, whatevz.