Thank you for that detail! I am also proud of Asami for the part you mentioned. Whenever I bring up the fact that I think Asami has a sort of code of honor, people remind me he is a bad, bad man. But this is the kind o fbadass honor I mean. :)
Whoa. Poor Kuroda. But as someone pointed out below, this makes Asami's rape of Akihito even more problematic.
I know most people will disagree with me, but I see the use of these rapes as two very different types of story elements.
Yes, exactly, Anoni. And following this story... These two teenagers, one the son of a judge, the other the son of a man who is influential in the dark world of business and politics, slowly become friends, spend time together when Kurda starts to regularly visit Asami at the club where he works part-time as a bar tender. And then Asami saves his friend and kills to do so and to prevent his friend from becoming a killer himself. I think even at such a young age, Asami understands (whether instinctively or logically) in that moment, that it is vital to save that last piece of Kuroda's innocence. As if Asami knows that Kuroda will need this to hold on to and to cling to, if he wants to survive (physically and mentally) and prevail.
But... here is my problem/concern: How can adult Asami, having watched as a teenager what had been done to his friend Kuroda, then go and rape Akihito (and enjoying himself in the process) 20 years later? I know volume 1 was meant to be a "one shot volume" with a strong BDSM motive, I know sensei isn't happy with it, but still, it does exist. And for the life of it, I just can't bring novel teenage Asami (who witnessed this horrific act and its traumatic after effects on Kuroda) and volume 1 Asami (raping Akihito with relish) together. With volume 1 and the volumes that followed, one could at least argue that Asami has shown some internal growth and change, that he is no longer the man that he once was in volume 1, that he now cares for Akihito and is beyond the act of rape. But I can't make that same argument going from teenage Asami to volume 1 adult Asami. To me, there is now a break in character here.
And please don't get me wrong here: I love and adore sensei, I have bought each and every volume and I will also get the digital SuBLime volumes, but maybe YA shot herself in the foot a little bit with that particular part of the novel? I feel like it makes volume 1 stick out like a sore thumb/the "odd man out" even more now.
Maybe that's really just me having a problem here. Maybe I'm far too nitpicky and if nobody else feels the same way, it's all good and I'll just shut the hell up, I promise. ;) But I have to be honest and say that it does bother me a bit.
I don't disagree that they're different, just that it impacts the overall story in a negative way, for me, anyway. If the challenge of turning the one-off BDSM story into a long-running series with a reasonably believable relationship, then using rape as a critical and devastating bonding element between Asami and Kuroda throws Asami's rape of Akihito into a new and difficult light. The Asami who rescued a friend from brutal rape and then turns around and cavalierly rapes an innocent young man is a different creature than mysterious crime lord without a history with rape who cavalierly rapes an innocent young man. Hoping we are let in on Asami's feelings on this in the final chapter of the novel.
Yes, that is exactly how I feel and what I'm having difficulties with at the moment, Anonymous. And like you, I'm hoping for some insight into Asami's feelings on that matter in the final chapter.
I'm not so sure he'd now be beyond the act of rape, if Akihito was to disappear from his life. It's just that there's no interest for him to rape Akihito now (he's pretty consenting and making him being so was his goal).
I mean, people read his character however they want I guess.
Yes, you put it well. (I think I was writing my response when you posted yours.)
Interesting point. The way Asami reacted when Akihito "ran away" in volume 7 and then came back was pretty brutal, a little taste perhaps of how he'd react if Aki tried to leave for good.
Hey guyss
PLEASE TELL ME WHAT R U GUYS TALKING ABOUT
IS THIS A CHAPTER THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN UPDATE THAT YUR ALL TALKING ABOUT OR NOT YET UPDATE ??
Spoiler
Let me scroll down so not too much shows .
That's why I said they are objectively similar acts (rape) but used differently as story elements. Kuroda's rape was meant to be brutal and show how bad the blackmailers were, and sort of show a purpose to Asami's own brutality. We are meant to dislike the rapists and be happy Asami stops them (and since it is fiction, I am happy he kills them--not because I do not value life, but because in a story I can give in to base desires like vengeance). I don't think this normalized violence and vengeance in real life, because readers are not blank slates, and we recognize the difference between indulging in fantasy involving the slaughter of "bad" guys and real life.
With the role of fansty in mind, I will describe how I see the role of Aki's rape in the story. Asami's rape of Aki is eroticized and somewhat romanticized. The main romance comes later and grows slowly, but the seeds are laid before the rape. It's purpose in the story is a type of ravishment fantasy. We are shown a type of flirting between them before (this is how I interpret the chase and the sticking out of the tongue with a cheeky grin), and some protection and emotional comfort (about the cop situation) at the end of the story. The reader is supposed to find Asami attractive, and the rape is supposed to be a mix of minor pain and extreme pleasure that tips to pleasure alone at the end. It's still a rape, but the role it plays in the story is a rape fantasy, where the rapist is hot and sexy, and the reader actually has all the control. You could see Asami as not being able to resist temptation rather than acting to harm. The gang rapist meant harm. There was a punishment element to what Asami did, but it was not meant to be harmful. it's meant to invite the reader to indulge in fantasy about a hot guy who can't resist the MC, and who somehow knows how to bring the MC pleasure through acts the MC never imagined.
Aki the character does not have any control, but readers who enjoy that type of fantasy do. They can imagine giving up control to a hot guy by playing with this story in their heads. At this point, it's not about Aki's character growth, it's about the reader's fantasies. If the reader doesn't like those types of fantasies, this part of the story doesn't work for her or him. I am in the extreme minority in that I think Aki was attracted to Asami, flirted with Asami, and ultimately decided he enjoyed it. I can say that about a character, because at that point his purpose is to stand in for the reader, and the reader is supposed enjoy it.
I would never say that about a real life survivor. I say this about the main character in a piece of erotica that explores a very common type of fantasy involving a very unrealistic ravishment style rape. I say that believing readers are not blank slates that accepted story elements and normalize them without thought or analysis, and believing that story elements serve many different functions that do not correlate directly to real life.
So to analyze Asami's character--he is not all dark or all light. He is protective but he is not some avenger super hero out to get all rapists. He just erases those who threatened his friend. He is someone who takes what he wants, gets his hands dirty, and eliminates those who stand in his way. He is also loyal and protective when it comes to people he feels responsible for and those he cares about. He does not bully people for fun or keep Aki chained up in his basement and break his legs--Asami bullies and kills people for a purpose, and he does have a code--it just may not look like what other people think of as "moral". For example, he'll kill an entire gang who raped and tried to kill his friend, but he'll also kidnap and rape a cheeky hot guy who challenged him and ran. And after the rape and kidnapping, he'll shoot the cop who was going to shoot the hot guy he had just ravished. then, he'll pat that hot guy on the head in sympathy and think about ravishing him again. Because he's complex. And because it's erotica. :)
Ah, yes, I see your point here. It's certainly an interesting (hypothetical) question, whether he is just beyond raping Akihito or beyond rape in general. For some reason I just remembered someone mentioning here a while ago how sensei had originally been planing for Asami and Fei to have full on sex after/at the end of the Hongkong arc (apparently that idea was dropped as they felt it would have hurt the Asami/Akihito development). I have always wondered if that would have been consensual nor NC.
So how do you feel about what I have been describing earlier (and Anonymous, too), ねぇねぇ? Going from teenage Asami (who watched his friend Kurda's rape and after-effects) to adult Asami (raping Akihito). Can you tie those two together so it's not an issue/a break in character for you? Or can you relate to what both Anonmyous and I are struggling with a little bit here?
We are taking about a light novel about Asami and Kuroda that was published in Japan. The short "extra" you see here was published with it. Some of it has been summarized in English. You can read through posts here to get highlights.
I don't disagree with any of this. It is the way I initially read the manga. And the novelization of the first chapter makes it clear that yes, Aki was attracted to Asami and was more into the sex than it seems in the manga version of chapter one.
But what happens to Kuroda, what Asami witnesses, is what casts a different light on all of that. Everything that you said that just made sense is now a little off kilter because this Asami is now an Asami who has a very close friend who he witnessed being brutally raped. That he could then rape someone else without even a moment of remorse is troubling in a way that rape wasn't before Finder No Souen.
It kind of sticks a pin in the ravishment fantasy for me.
Pretty much all this
Are you familiar with Carol Gilligan's Ethics of Care? She posits that some people define right and wrong in terms of personal relationships and group needs instead of absolute rules. I think Asami may follow this type of code. You seem to want Asami to generalize from Kuroda's experience and decide that all rape is bad. I think he simply reinforced his idea that people should not mess with his friends. What Asami cares about here is Kuroda--not the evil of rape in general. He looks at his friend's needs (as he sees them) and what he thinks is best for his friend. He is considering the needs of those in his group and those he cares for--not a broad general rule.
If you look at it as punishment, raping Aki was in the best interest of Asami's group--well, killing Aki would have been even more certain. Asami is thinking about what is best for him and his people, but he does start to think about protecting Aki and doing things for Aki as their relationship develops. If you think of it in terms of loyalty and relationships, I think it makes sense.
Asami always looked troubling to me lol
Rape aside, he also kills people *gasp*
I can understand that part. :)
In the novel they also describe how Asami had mad fun terrorizing the Skinhead, cutting his face before he passes out from fear.
That's a twisted man for you.
Finder no Souen - chapter 2, part 5 - SPOILERS (and a WARNING, not for the faint of heart, this is dark stuff, even though I made it as brief as possible)
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SPOILERS
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So... this is the tough part that one of our Anonymous posters had already mentioned. You have been warned...
Kuroda was heading to the train station to go to cram school when the gang, that had been threatening him, extorting him and beating him up before, got hold of him. The kidnapped him and he was taken away, bound, blindfolded and drugged. He is taken to an empty room in an underground club and then gang raped repeatedly by the gang (10 men in total) who take turns and keep giving him more drugs. Kuroda loses track of time (and also consciousness at some point), but it seems this has been going on for days. When he no longer reacts to what is being done to him, the boss of the gang wants to dispose of him by shooting him dead. That's when Asami shows up and kills every single one of them with his knife, until only the leader of the gang is left standing. The gang leader puts a gun to Kuroda's head, threatening to kill him, if Asami doesn't put down the knife. Asami does so, but as the gang leader goes for the knife, Asami kicks the gun away from him. The gang leader then pulls out his own knife. He and Asami circle each other. Kuroda takes hold of the gun and aims at the gang leader, but Asami tells him not to shoot the man. Asami manages to break the gang leader's hand and then, getting him in a chokehold, breaks his neck. Asami then tells Kuroda to give him the gun as he had no need for it. Asami finds the keys and frees Kuroda from his handcuffs. Noticing he has been drugged, Asami looks around and finds the syringe with the drug they gave Kuroda and pockets it (personal note: I guess to give it to the doctors at the hospital, so they know what they're dealing with). Asami then puts his jacket around Kuroda and tells him he is glad to have found him in time (personal note: okay, that's relative...). Kuroda then loses consciousness.
*****
I find it so profoundly sad that Asami made sure it would be him who killed the gang leader, and not Kuroda. I mean, Asami is still a teenager, too. He prevented Kuroda from becoming a killer, thus saving that last bit of innocence that Kuroda had left. :(