We're not ignoring it. He's repented for years. He's become a good man who's also become a cupid for other couples' love. As a result of his regret, he's showing repentance by not forcing his partner, being faithful to him and waiting for years, and giving him freedom. He isn't perfect, but a human.
Obviously, this does not make the rape ok, but even his partner has fallen in love with him and forgave him for the act that happened when they were young and more susceptible to mistakes.
Personally, I liked how it was handled. It wasn't the rape->love kind of story (the way I see it) and both of them got mended by time and developed into adults. Now they're happily in a relationship. :)
Perfect answer! Humans make bad decisions every day. This is, perhaps, one of only a handful of manga where I've seen true, sincere remorse for a decision to rape. Not only was he sincere, but it was pure remorse for an act committed 15 years prior to this story. He never forgot what he had done or conveniently decided to think that the "past was in the past". It even mentions that he keeps a tight leash on his control every time he would have sex with his lover after that happened. He obviously never wanted to hurt his partner like that ever again and deeply regretted his prior actions.
I don't disagree that his remorse is well portrayed. I do, however, think that in a real relationship, such a fundamental destruction of trust could never be fully repaired, at least not to the extent that they could have that kind of relationship. Humans make mistakes, and sometimes people are kind enough to forgive some truly egregious ones; I just can't buy that this choice to forgive him could transform into a loving relationship.
u r more mad than the person himself. didnt u read his thoughts?
Exactly! Great response!
Everybody thinks Watari is fantastic while ignoring that he apparently raped his lover in the past?