HocusPocus's Manga

This is a dark psychological manga about sexual assault and rape. This is not meant to be a pleasant read, however, what it does well is show us the suffering the victim goes through, and how it taints their life and the family leading to depression and constant fear. We get a story that shows what happens when someone is feels that they are helpless and can't say anything partially because of social obligation, culture, and lack of access to help from society (hard to go to the police when a family member is the abuser on top of the fact both victim/abuser are male). I was surprised to get a realistic depiction of a rape victim in manga, and for that I do recommend this manga to anyone who is looking for something that is more for thinking about rather than enjoying. Keep in mind that Japan is not good with talking about mental health so this manga was very much a surprise.

Regarding the story line, the relationship of the victim and his love interest did seem to go fast. I expected their to be more tension in approaching sex after experiencing trauma. We will hopefully see if they are able to get back together and heal.

On that note, what will ultimately make this story good is if we get to see healing. This doesn't often seem to appear in manga, however, it would be great to see the victim cut all ties with his abuser, get his mother/father on his side (if not then cut ties with them as well), and go to therapy. It would also of course be nice if we see a healthy relationship develop that is handling the past trauma together in the end with the abuser out of the picture. There is a therapist character in this story so fingers crossed that he becomes more involved.

I chose to leave this review because one of the top reviews is victim blaming, and someone in the comments asked for a different perspective. This manga is not complete yet so I will not rate it. I believe that with this kind of story we must see how it resolves the story line first and if we see more character growth.