otakulys's manga / #kidnapping(12)

And then he realized his true feelings, and all of the rape and torture and choking and kidnapping were okay! Hurray! Seriously, though, at least I knew what I was getting into reading this. For what it was, it wasn't too bad. I had already prepared myself for the irritating "it's okay because love" trope, so it didn't bug me as much as it could have.

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.

I liked it up to the rushed ending. I felt like it could have done well with a bittersweet ending, but it was ultimately like "oh hey, I guess everything is fine now!"

I wish there were more legit kidnapping stories, where there's an actual motive and danger, and the victim isn't a trembling uke who gets yaoi-raped until he falls in love. Of course, this one was kind of weird, and it didn't have much of an impact on me. There was no indication as to why feelings developed, and it seemed too short of a time for anything like that. I do have to say, though, I so enjoyed that gun against his back. I know that makes me kind of sick and wrong, but damn. For that, I raised it from three stars to four.

ANIMAL TORTURE WARNING! Not as graphic as the human stuff, but graphic enough. That being said: SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPER messed up. I don't believe another yaoi title can top this one. I've read some messed up crap--horse rape, cannibalism, a guy getting cut in half while another dude fucks his loose intestines--but this really takes the cake. It's sad and disturbing, definitely a miserable story. It's fucked up from beginning to end, with no relief, and it's hardcore to boot. I was disappointed in a few elements, mostly along the lines of nothing truly coming to a head with the case, and the ending felt too much like a final jump scare for me, especially when it's just a flash of him still as miserable as ever. Definitely not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. No happy endings here.

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 wish there'd been more development in that first story, since it had potential, but the way it ended worked really well. Sick and wrong, haha. The other one was typical of darker yaoi, I'd say. Still, pretty messed up, even if the guy kinda had it coming.

This is a strange set of stories in that one of them is super cutesy and one of them is about child rape. But okay, whatever works for you, author. The first story is really sweet, so I rated this a four based on that story alone. The others were probably more like a three, partly because they didn't always have a natural flow from one major moment to the next. I hate stories about clones because the concept of replacing someone with a duplicate is depressing to me. Like, does the person you loved originally not even matter anymore? There's an episode of Black Mirror that touches on this very well. It's soul-crushing but it's very reflective of the issues behind the concept of creating a copy of someone. Overall, not the worst thing I've ever read. There are some weird things in the stories that don't fit, for me, but I did like elements of all of the stories included, so hey.

It's stressing me out that this is just a random doujin. I want an entire series with this art and this set up. I feel like everything with action and intrigue is full of m/f pairings and romance, even when romance doesn't fit. You hardly ever find good work with a strong plot AND gay content, but when you do, it's always really short. Such a bummer. This artist did such a great job! I wish there were other works by her on this site. Also, haven't seen the anime this is based on, but knowing it won't actually be gay and fun like this, I struggle to push myself to check it out. If it isn't a het-brigade, I might just have to watch it, though.

Realistic in the sense that women's worth is definitely measured by her appearance. I wish bad things happened to all of those pieces of crap. The demon king was hot. He should have married the princess. Maybe it's not too late!