otakulys's manga / #past trauma(21)

I really like the concept, but I'm iffy on this one. I want it to focus more on the political climate and the bigotry toward spes. Honestly, I hate that uke devotion thing, like he just wants to help no matter what. I hope it get better, though. The nightmares are intriguing.

Whaaaaaaa, I love this so far!!! I hope it updates soon. Amazing art, great storytelling. I already like the characters. And I have a thing for characters witnessing something bad happening to someone they care about. I can't wait to see how this unfolds.

A little too short for what it deserved, I think, so the pacing was a bit quick, but I enjoyed it. This is a sweet story about trauma and healing, and I appreciated that it was treated that way. So often yaoi glosses over things like assault as if it's nothing more than a bad day. The seme in this story was very gentle and patient. This is everything I want in this type of story. Why aren't there more rape scenarios in yaoi that end in hurt/comfort? Rape is such a horrible thing, yet it's so rarely portrayed as that in yaoi. Anyway, very sweet little story. I'm glad I stumbled upon it. Also, I loved his friends. I wish I could have seen way more of them. They're adorable. The fact that they jumped to protect the poor, mistreated uke without even really knowing him warmed my heart. It was such a nice juxtaposition between the coldness of the other group of peers.

I have mixed feelings about this one. The art is GORGEOUS, and I love Umi, the uke. I grew to tolerate the seme, and I understood that his behavior was reflective of his own demons and inability to separate his father's behavior from what was happening with Umi. But I don't feel like there was ever a satisfying moment of accountability and remorse for how he behaved. He slapped Umi right after he was assaulted. That really needed to be addressed, and it never was. I did like the catharsis at the end, and the truth about Umi's first love. So sad and heartbreaking, so I'm glad he finds happiness in the end. However, it's so brief, you don't get much time to enjoy it. It's great that the seme realizes now that he's found his other half. And up to that point, I feel like he was primarily asexual, with even his pleased response to seeing gay sex videos coming across as scientific, more than anything. But I think they work together, and though it touched on the depressing realities of being gay in a homophobic world, it was sweet over all. I just want to squeeze Umi forever, though. I love him so much. Four stars instead of five because I find the way a lot of things with the seme were handled to be annoying. At least the end is sweet. (And bonus points for Umi's awesome mom and her perfect response to his confession!)

Feels a liiiiittle convenient that he's seemingly run into the guy he raped and had consensual sex with him. But hey, it's yaoiland, so whatever. I was mostly intrigued because it's really rare in omegaverse to have the alpha feel guilty for raping an omega. I would love to see that played out more, like genuine trauma from his own actions. I'm guessing this will mostly be smut, which bums me out since I like more story, and the smut so far didn't do much for me. But it's not a bad manga as of chapter one. I guess we'll see how it unfolds. CHAP 2: Still interesting, and the sex as therapy for his past trauma is nice. I really like seeing someone truly damaged by the awful thing they did, specifically rape. You just never see that explored, and it's even rare to see a rapist in a BL even acknowledge that he is one. So I do like that, if nothing else. I wanna see what's going on with that other omega at the brothel, though. I hope he gets a spin off.

Ugh, poor Momo. So fucked up. He went through SO much. This is just another chapter of that. I'm so glad that in Yatamomo we finally got to see the moment where he stops the facade and lets himself cry, truly mourn the awful things he's experienced. Also, his mom is horrible, but I like the concept of her. I would have liked to have seen more of her, like her own spinoff of her life and what not. Harada is pretty amazing in a lot of ways, and one of those ways is that her female characters are always just as interesting and often just as fucked up. Not super common for yaoi.

Very lovely so far, and even the misunderstandings, which I freaking hate as a trope, are at least sorted out fairly quickly. I love that this story has so much to do with being out and living life in a world filled with uncertainty and homophobia. So much fear and heartbreak, it makes me cry. But there's hope, and I really appreciate the flashes of them together in the future. It hurts right now, but we know that in the end, they're happy. And LiHuan really is perfect for YuYang. He's patient and kind and understanding, and he's willing to deal with Yang's messy baggage without being pushy or frustrated. He's perceptive, and he isn't just forcing himself on Yang. You can tell that they'll have a healthy relationship, because LiHuan really listens and pays attention, and YuYang, once he gets past all of his fear and his walls of protection, loves with all his heart. I get why people are annoyed with the random couple introduced. Why did she shove another straight guy/gay guy relationship in here, especially one that has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the story. I mean, I know that several of them are friends with Pan, but why is the uke just some weird, random straight guy with an annoying personality? At any rate, I like the story enough to tolerate it, but it would be nice to focus more on the careful, complex process of teaching YuYang to trust, and to undo all of those years of hurt.

Hmm. Honestly it isn't nearly as bad as I expected given the description. It's sort of similar to my favorite omegaverse story, regarding fate and past mistakes, etc. though this one doesn't handle it anywhere near as well. Still, I'm used to much worse with this stuff. At least the rape isn't brushed off, or worse, played for laughs.

Holy fuck, that's messed up and really, really sad. I still feel bad for the main character. It's the father's fault he's nuts. So weird, though. I love this mangaka, so I read whatever she writes, but this was... a new experience.

Hmmm... Interesting so far. I need more chapters to get a better feel, so it's a four for now, but could go either way. Only one chapter at the moment. It's got a concept I'd like to see more often in yaoi, overcoming homophobia and what not. But how it unfolds is tricky. We'll see. EDIT: Five stars for going much better than I thought it might! I need to read it again from the start, after these few chapters, but it's such a sweet, touching story. Sad, too, but in the right ways. I also like that it wasn't some random dude who wouldn't take a hint. I was worried that was the case, so I'm glad it ended up being more complicated between them. I really wish there were more stories like this. I love the whole overcoming homophobia thing, the fear and the bravery and the growth. This was a great read, and I love the twist with Matsuri. I hope he gets some love soon! Maybe in an extra chapter or something. He deserves his own manga.