This just got a full volume release a few days ago and I hope it gets picked back up soon. ;o;
TIL Inui's given name is Kazuma and Tatsumi's is Ryuuko, shortened to Ryuu. After getting married Tatsumi takes on his husband's name, so they're both Inui in the future! (⌒▽⌒)
For the past 5 years my ass thought Inui and Tatsumi were their first names cause I thought everyone was just chill with each other like that lmao.
I really hope someone picks this back up some day!
I've been a Kashima x Toono truther since 2016. Don't really support 3P since Yacchan and Toono are cousins.
Manga updates so slowly that Togashi might actually finish the Succession War arc before this manga ever sees a conclusion (I may be coping)
Yacchan and Kashima* are cousins my bad (￣∇￣")
It seems that a lot of ppl think that the onus is on Leo to change for the better as though he was the only one who messed up... but like, no, they both hurt each other, the story literally says this. Yeah Leo's problem is that he's self centered, immature, and inconsiderate, and it's not cool that he basically turned his boyfriend into his handler. But the main issue is that JJ cannot communicate his needs in their relationship. Leo literally confronts JJ not once but TWICE and asks wtf JJ had been bottling up all this time and JJ never gives him a direct answer. Like come on man, you can't even be open and honest with your partner of 5 years?
Chapter 1 is basically:
> "Stop saying vague shit or I'm breaking up with you" - Leo
> "Actually, YOU'RE the one getting broken up with" - JJ
> Refuses to elaborate
> Leaves
And then afterwards their interactions mainly consist of JJ refusing to elaborate and then leaving (usually after clapping Leo's cheeks).
Leo is as transparent as glass while JJ isn't just a brick fucking wall, he might as well be the Great Wall of China. JJ built up some years of resentment towards Leo for always having to bail him out yet never communicated this to him, leaving Leo completely unaware that anything was wrong. It's mentioned that they've had fights before, but how many of those fights involved either of them communicating exactly what the other did to hurt them? In their fight in chapter 1, JJ mentions that he's going back to their apartment to pack his things, and that he "already told [Leo] this." The fact that Leo responds with confusion means that JJ probably did just that: he told Leo some time before the story that he was going to pack up his things and leave, but didn't give him a reason why. He was just going to pack up his things and that was that. They never actually TALKED about it.
I suppose JJ's line of reasoning is probably, "I've bailed him out so many times that he should know that I'm fed up with it by now. He should've also noticed that we don't really act much like boyfriends anymore." But Leo doesn't know or notice these things, because he's not a mind reader!! That's why communication is key in a relationship: you should never assume your partner knows how you feel, because chances are that they don't. If you leave a problem unsaid, your partner might not even know it bothered you in the first place!
It's kind of sad, though, because that's how it is in real life. JJ resigned himself to a relationship where he both loves and resents his partner, and once it finally boiled over he had already been mentally checked out for months. They aren't good for each other..... yet I can't help but keep reading
Damn your comment seems from your own experience. Im proud to say that I read all of it. I agree that both of them has their own shortcoming.
I'm so glad to see someone wrote this out because I saw way too many comments just putting the blame on Leo. Like yes, he's not the best behavior wise, but like you said a relationship is a two way street and you cantbe successful with it without communicating your needs with each other. Which is why I'm glad in ch 19 J.J admits that he's at fault too and the blame doesn't fall solely on Leo. Anyway, glad you wrote this here cause I feel justified lol.
I'm so glad to see someone mention this in the comments! everyone is acting like it was solely leo's fault for being immature and self-centered but what about J. J.?
he never communicated, never elaborated. they're both at fault yet people are celebrating leo putting all the fault on himself?
Yea exactly!!
Exactly!!! say it louder
Surprisingly wholesome ending. Brainless PWPs are great but the best are the ones that also manage to be cute at the same time.
Kurosaki saying that the landscape painting is his favorite because it's beautiful like the color of Kuze's eyes... this is cinema
Something that's missing in the official translations is that the "original" Sen and Amatatsu refer to each other by their last names while the parallel Sen and Amatatsu call each other by their first names (bc they're already in a relationship and have been for a while). It helps differentiate between the continuities and helps denote the level of closeness between them. But in the official translations, they refer to each other by first name only.
My issue isn’t even that Akamine and Utsumi are toxic. The story makes that obvious. Rather, I take issue with how the story continuously flagellates Akamine for a rape that he doesn’t even remember committing, all while Utsumi rapes and backstabs him… and the narrative continues to sympathize with Utsumi. Yes, rape is Really Fucking Bad. But from what is shown, Utsumi is even more violent than Akamine is, yet he is framed as both Akamine’s victim and Akamine’s savior - for all of his violence and machinations, Utsumi is supposedly this tragic guy who spent years resenting and pining for Akamine, and is saving Akamine from his own unrequited feelings for Saeki. Like, the story shows how getting raped ruined Utsumi’s life, but he does the same thing and more to Akamine, who not only refuses to fault Utsumi for literally anything, but proceeds to blame himself for hurting Utsumi’s feelings… by being in love with Saeki. Seriously? The guy ruins your life and admits to conspiring with the man you love to manipulate you into committing white collar crime, and all you can think about is the guilt and pain of unrequited love?
Beyond the premise this story is hardly all that shocking. The story moves past the rape by chapter 6 anyway in favor of a psychological love triangle, gay yearning, and corporate politics. Rape becomes secondary to the primary grievance of unrequited love; Utsumi even fantasizes about fucking Akamine in the alley he was raped in, which is played for laughs. The first few chapters almost feel like an entirely different story; Akamine is shown as openly belligerent in chapter 1, and afterwards he becomes this passive, self-pitying guy. He’s a violent drunk, but this is never explored past the first chapter. It’s like the mangaka initially planned on writing a darker story but decided on a tragic love story after the fact.
Like yeah everyone in this story is fucked up and selfish, but it would have been far more compelling if Akamine asserted himself and tried to push back - you know, reciprocal retribution, like an actual revenge story. But he doesn’t. He shows hints of pushing back in chapter 1, but this goes nowhere. Instead he’s entirely passive, goes woe is me, Saeki doesn’t love me, I hurt Utsumi, I’m a terrible employee. Despite everything, I do like Utsumi and Akamine together, but this story is pretty maudlin in retrospect.