Zip Up Boy
Yeah, this is pretty bad. There was nothing redeeming about it. I mean, it's a rare case of the victim not ending up with the rapist, but I'm not sure if it even really counts when the rapist is never held accountable, and everyone is just down with how things went. This mangaka seems to feel that sex just isn't sex if someone isn't forcing it onto someone. That aside, the art is awful, the storytelling is poor, the dialogue is confusing, and there's just no reason to read this. I don't know why I still did. I guess just because it's hard to find stories where rape isn't happening between the seme and uke. But man, it may as well have been with how shitty and shallow this was.
My Eternal Master
Monster (bara yaoi)
It was okay for what it was. I'm not super into bara, so the art didn't do it for me, but the story was... so-so. Some typical yaoi silliness, but it tried to at least address the emotional issues of the main character in the few short pages it had.
Saigo no Sangatsu
Wait, what? I'm so confused. I've read this manga twice before, and the ending is suddenly different. I swear that before, he raped his friend and then the friend leaves without them ever seeing one another again. It was heartbreaking and dark, and I liked that it didn't brush away the awful thing he did, just left its heavy presence in the absence of the boy he loved. There's no forgiveness for that sort of thing. So why does the end have a new part with him saying that they made up and dated? That makes no sense. Am I crazy? This is going to drive me nuts. Three stars for the original ending, one star for the ending they have right now. I swear I'm not making this up, but wtf.
Namida mo Tooku - Aonibi no Nemuri
The first story is sad and futile. The second story is interesting, but there's no forgiving rape, especially not so casually. No excuse for that shit. The last story is dorky and cute, kind of unfitting with the other two. It wasn't a bad read, even with its flaws. The translation is slightly off, but not so bad that you can't understand what's happening.
Aldnoah.Zero dj - Tadashii Chikyuujin no Shitsukekata
Transient Flower
Very sad, but powerful and meaningful. The story wouldn't have had the same impact with a happy ending, but I wish I could see more of this character. She's interesting, and her story begs to be examined further. Oh well. I wish I could see her ripping out the hearts of those dick guys from before. It kind of reminds me of this horror manga that I found hilarious, about a girl who starves herself to get a guy to like her, and after she gets super skinny, he's into her, but as they kiss, she gets incredibly hungry from starving herself so long and eats him. That's how all guys like that should be handled.
Mizu no Ue no Tsuki
So sad and screwed up! I can't tell if the implication is that Shirase drowned out of shock after the rape, or Shirase killed himself afterward. Either way, I feel so bad for Shirase. I wanted to cry when he was crying. Everything was going horribly in his life, then his best friend raped him, then he drowned. That's a pretty crappy way to go out. Ugh, too depressing. Now I need to read something fluffy.
Are You Enemy?
I'm finally getting around to re-reading/fully reading all of Miyamoto Kano's work, but I'm pretty confused by some of the order here. This particular manga was oddly ordered on the site. I'm hoping I didn't miss anything. Maybe I should just find the DL to be sure. Anyway, this is her early work, so it didn't have some of the same emotional impact that I can usually find in her work. Still, it's a nice start, and I love how she has stories that span over multiple characters, etc. Not Love up next...
B.s.s.m. - Blood Sugar Sex Magic