That was a wall but, and I say this with love, you may need to increase your media literacy.
I'll only address 2 things.
1. "If the MC were a girl" the story would be the same and the reader reaction would be the same because these stories exist. It's a genre called ecchi and there's thousands of stories about teen boys being perverts and joking about peeking under skirts, yada yada.
You don't have to like it, but framing it as a double standard is just untrue. People joking about SA happens no matter the gender. Gross but true.
2. Author framing matters. The other reason people aren't kicking a fuss is because it's not written in a way to kick up a fuss.
For example, people who watch Tom & Jerry usually don't come out of it writing a dissertation about the horrors of animal cruelty against cats. The way something is presented informs the audience how they should respond to it.
This comic has silly dialogue, soft gentle colours, and so so so so many squishy Chibis. The author is telling readers, "Don't take this seriously," and readers with good media literacy pick that up and don't take it seriously.
You’re actually proving my point. If you go through the comment section, there are barely two or three comments even acknowledging what the ML is doing, and even those aren’t really talking specifically about the behavior he showed in those first four or five chapters. Meanwhile, there are hundreds of people calling it cute, funny, or adorable. So I’m not saying people are incapable of understanding that it’s fiction—I’m pointing out that most readers aren’t even acknowledging that these actions were crossing boundaries in the first place. Those things happened early on, everyone moved on, and now that the story has progressed and their relationship has become genuinely cute, people have basically forgotten what happened. Obviously, if you’re already dozens of chapters in and the characters have developed a relationship, people are going to find them cute. But that doesn’t erase what happened in the beginning.
And I never said sexual harassment only happens to women, or that there’s some universal double standard. I specifically used the girl example because I was trying to explain how differently people might perceive the exact same actions if the framing were changed. Also, this isn't even an ecchi story. It's tagged as yaoi/BL, so obviously I'm discussing it as a BL romance and the way readers are responding to the ML’s behavior within that context. Yes, I understand that the cutesy colours, chibis, and silly dialogue are deliberately making everything feel harmless. But literally just change that framing—give the scene a darker, more serious presentation, remove the cute expressions and comedy—and suddenly everyone can see how invasive the behavior is. The actions themselves haven't changed.
That’s my entire point. Authorial framing can tell the audience how to perceive something, but it doesn't change what the character is actually doing. Whether the person being harassed is a man or a woman, unwanted touching, taking sexual pictures of someone, invading their personal space, manipulating them, and repeatedly ignoring their boundaries are still boundary violations. You can understand that the author is playing it for comedy and still say, “Yeah, this character is behaving like a creep.” If this were another story with a heavier or darker tone, people would probably keep bringing up those early incidents and pointing out what the ML did. But because this is presented as a cute story, people just move on, and the later development of the relationship makes everyone forget those early chapters ever happened. So I really don’t think you understood what I was trying to say in my original comment. I’m not saying people have to treat a fictional comedic scene like a real-life crime report—I’m saying that almost nobody even acknowledges what happened, while hundreds of people are perfectly comfortable calling the exact behavior cute. That’s what I was criticizing.
And honestly, the whole “you need more media literacy” argument is getting ridiculous. Why is “media literacy” always the first response whenever someone criticizes something you like? Do you genuinely think understanding the author’s intent means you’re not allowed to criticize it? I understand that it’s supposed to be funny. I understand the cutesy tone, the chibis, and the way the scenes are framed. That is literally what I’m talking about.
Understanding why an author framed something a certain way and agreeing with that framing are two completely different things. I can understand exactly what the author is trying to do and still think, “I don’t find this behavior cute.” That doesn’t mean I lack media literacy. You can understand the joke and still criticize the joke. You can understand the intended dynamic and still dislike how it handles certain behavior. Calling every criticism a “lack of media literacy” doesn’t make the criticism wrong; it just avoids actually engaging with the point being made.
Huh?
I thought I was very clear that you don't have to like it? Where is this coming from?
I'm just pointing out the real reasons why it's not getting criticized?
You said "People would be damn agitated." I'm saying no. You said "Maybe some readers are teenagers, or maybe they're just choosing to overlook it" and I'm saying, "It being read like that because the author wants it to be read like that."
Not because readers are young or turning a blind eye.
Stop.
Slow down.
Breathe.
Read what I've actually written and not what you've convinced yourself is true.
Also are you cleaning up or translating your words with AI? It's weirdly verbose, repetitive and doesn't make sense in places.
Bringing up AI and my phrasing was definitely a fascinating way to avoid the actual argument English isn't my first or native language, so I talk out what I want to say and use AI to clean up the grammar. That’s it. Sorry my punctuation needed more media literacy than the actual discussion.
And no, I didn't misread you I understood you perfectly. I just disagree. “The author framed it as cute” explains why people perceive it as cute; it doesn't magically make the behavior immune to criticism. Apparently once a chibi appears, we're supposed to uninstall our critical thinking and go “aww”
You can understand authorial intent and still say, “Yeah, this character is being creepy.” If “the author wanted it to be funny” is the entire defense, then congratulations, you've explained the framing while completely dodging my criticism of it.
I think some people find it cute because the MC is kind of oblivious to what the ML is actually doing. Like, yeah, he sometimes says no or calls him a pervert, but if you actually look at Chapter 3, the ML literally pushes him into a bathroom and starts sniffing him. And from the very first chapter, he's already manipulating the MC. I know he's supposed to be this fox-like, cunning, manipulative character, and that's clearly part of his personality, but they literally just met. They aren't friends, childhood friends, or people who already have some romantic relationship, yet the ML is already being extremely pushy and physical with him. The MC is also basically being blackmailed into keeping a secret or whatever it was. Then in Chapter 5, the ML is literally taking photos of the MC's underwear and sexually harassing him by touching him directly. Bro, I don't know if you people find that cute, but I really don't. These aren't romantic interactions between two people who already have feelings for each other; the ML is manipulating him, invading his personal space, and repeatedly crossing his boundaries.
I know it's fiction, and I understand the hierarchy, pheromones, carnivore dynamics, and all that, but that doesn't automatically make the behavior cute. If the MC were a girl and the ML was physically pushing her into a bathroom, talking about her pheromones, sniffing her, taking photos of her underwear, and touching her without consent, I really don't think people would be nearly this nonchalant about it. People would be damn agitated. Maybe some readers are teenagers, or maybe they're just choosing to overlook it because the story frames the ML as this cunning fox and eventually makes their relationship romantic, but personally, I don't find it cute at all. You can enjoy the fictional dynamic, but I think people should at least acknowledge that what the ML is doing from the beginning is manipulation and sexual harassment.