I Thot You Was a Toad's manga / #editor(3)

Sekaiichi Hatsukoi style of story about a manga-editing department with similar character dynamics. Hopefully, it doesn't drag on forever.

Setting aside that the main story combines yakuza and incest as an aniki uses a tougher love than the usual to rescue his younger sibling from imminent self-destruction, and that the side stories include a writer whose best inspiration for graphic gore and horror comes from romantic rejection, there is a streak of realism running through this manga which makes for a worthwhile read. Not that the stories are realistic and it inclines toward dramedy and, yes, sadistic psychological horror more than tender romance, but there is something refreshing and natural about the drawing style and the way the characters reveal themselves and their motives, which rescues it from being the same old yaoi.

There are a lot of preposterous notions in this manga, almost enough to make a reader yell "Rubbish!" and hurl their tablets across the room. Take the nonsense that any client who presents enough of a security risk to be stationed on an actual secret floor in a legitimate luxury hotel would be referred to as Mr. Secret Floor instead of the Japanese equivalent of Mr. Roberts or Mr. Jones, like everywhere else in the world. Or the idea that a writer, even a bestselling one like, say, Stephen King, would have enough clout or power to demand that their business partners either abase themselves, or go back to the office empty-handed. Setting aside the wealth-porn and power-pandering to concentrate on the story, it turned out to be a much better read than impressions left after the first couple of chapters. It really did. So, if you can grit your teeth for a little while, stick to it until the end, at the very least you won't feel uncontrollable rage. Probably. The romantic trope which drives the story along is whether Yagami, the diva-like best-selling writer, is exploiting first-time editor and wide-eyed man-child Aiba. They're certainly having sex. And a whole lot of it. But because the readers, like Aiba, can't tell if (a) Yagami demands humiliating sex from everyone in a business relationship with him, (b) the collection of pretty boys cluttering up his reception room comprise an actual sex-harem, or (c) one manipulative rival, in particular, out-foxes Aiba for Yagami's heart, let alone his business, most of the sex turns out to be unsettling instead of hot. Aiba, though still not as independent as I like 'em, turns out to be pluckier, more positive and more in possession of a spine than all earlier indications, and Yagami isn't quite as much of the obnoxious, self-centred and toxic boor as he first comes across. This is what makes this story worth reading until the end.