miseryxcompany's manga / #⭐⭐⭐(13)

Dunno if this got the axe or if it was intended to be a short series from the beginning (probably the former), hard to find much of anything on the mangaka, but chapter 13 was the last. I didn't have high expectations for how they would handle Satsuki's feelings for Rika as a girl but I was pleasantly surprised-- he's not a bad person for falling in love, but he needs to consider how it would impact Rika before acting on it. The only thing with that b-plot is that it comes with the implication that Satsuki has trouble seeing Rika the way that Rika sees himself. I would've preferred for the story to delve into Rika's transition journey after graduation, and Satsuki's perception of Rika gradually falling in line with Rika's, maybe realizing he likes him as a boy more than he did as a girl or lose his feelings entierly. There were so many bases this had the foundation to touch. This manga deserved a much longer run.

Double standards, I know, but I tend to roll my eyes at m/f brocon. Like that's for boys only. I mean, either way it was out of left feild considering Uito's sister's interest in his relationship with Sei was more like that of a supportive friend than anything perverted, so it just spoils such a cute manga.

Short manga with pretty art, poetic titles and flowery dialogue are like the self help books of BL. Though I did find this one especially beautiful. The complaints I have lay mainly with Kasumi. He isn't so consumed by his blindness that it becomes the entierty of his character, which I appriciate, but he's not afforded as much panel time and ultimately feels like an accessory to Chinatsu. It's like he only exists in relation to him- we see nothing of his mother even though we're told she hides him away out of shame and I don't think he talks to his brother directly the entire time. I just think it's a missed opportunity that we don't get to see him confront driving forces in his life before running off with Chinatsu, as Chinatsu was allowed to do. The art was beautiful though.

After sitting on it for a couple days I've come to the conclusion that Stigma is just okay. It doesn't approach it's subject matter in a particularly unique way, and it doesn't need to, but ultimately I could not get myself fully immersed in the world of Stigma. To start off on a positive note I really enjoyed how it explores different responses to abuse through Boris. His sister is lax around men she doesn't know and still offers kindness to strangers despite what she's been through, and Sehyun tries to have sex with him after being raped by Michael. Boris cannot understand how Elena can be so trusting or why Sehyun isn't completely repulsed by sex and his concern is often aggressive to the point of hurting those he cares about. It's heart wrenching and simultaneously cathartic in its graphic depictions of sexual violence, abuse, etc. but it's insistence on containing the story within a handful of characters' lives only dampened my enjoyment. One of the few times I think a story has been held back by refusing to involve characters and storylines not directly related to the main pairing. In the epilogue Sehyun says Boris told him Tracy wanted to be a dancer, alluding to a deeper connection between the two than we are initially led to believe, or Boris learning about Tracy after her suicide. This isn't explored, though I think giving her that panel time and making her feel like a person rather than a plot device would've made for a bigger impact on the trajectory of Boris' life. As is, she's sidelined in her own tragedy and her rape is treated as something that happens *to Boris*. From the beginning Linda has been dropping hints to Maureen about wanting a child-- and the exact nature of the relationship is totally muddled; Are they dating? Is it a situationship?-- and she seems to live vicariously through Boris' love for his neice Anya. She even tries to coerce Boris into having sex with her with a sob story about her abusive father because Maureen won't give her a child. This will never be mentioned again. We'll never see anything detailing the nuances of her relationship with Maureen-- who I'm pretty sure isn't even named until chapter 26, by the way-- and this b-plot will never get a proper conclusion. My biggest gripe might be with Michaels mom. Michael is a child of rape and was neglected by his mother, regardless he still bends to her every beck and call in attempt to get her to acknowledge him. He tries to give back because he "doesn't want to create more trash in this world" but ultimately subcumbs to the gnawing realization that he'll never be loved. Sehyun becomes an outlet for his anger and sexual frustration, having someone that could take his place as the trash he is made him feel better about himself. This is all fine on its own I guess. But with Anya also being a child of rape, yet still loved by her mother, and his mother being an elitist bitch who expects others to grovel at her feet at the slightest bit of pity, it kinda reads like his mother is what made him a rapist. A "Fine, I'll be the monster you treat me like I am," kind of thing. And just why does she want Sehyun to kill him in the hospital? Is it because she doesn't want him to ruin her already damaged reputation? Does she just hate him that much? Is he not useful to her anymore? These are things you could write about!

Guess the payoff was worth it but it’s seriously annoying watching him run in circles and pitying himself like he’s entitled to Dowoon when he has had 20 years to confess. It makes sense for Dowoon to be in his own world considering he somehow doesn’t know that Seowoo isn’t homophobic yet even though they’ve known eachother forever and he apparently gets around. And he blamed Dowoon for shit that he himself is doing. And for a second he stops and goes “am I the problem?” and then later he’s like “No… It’s Dowoon who’s stupid for not noticing how I feel.” And I’m sure the ugly bastard trope was there for comedic purposes but I only shed a tear knowing those tits have been felt up by ugly degenerate old men.

The comments on this are funny, when did Harada become the means by which we measure how fucked-up something is? lol I thought this was just alright. It illustrates the cycle of depravity well enough I was just expecting him to become more of a degenerate pervert rather than a put-together salaryman with a sadist streak.

I dunno why It took me this long to realize this is a Zariya Ranmaru dj. Their art and paneling is so much better now, wow.

Not even ones own OC shall be spared from denegrofication.

//Preliminary Jaekyung is just so emotionally stunted. I’m interested in seeing just how he’s going to progress from that to being more mature and honest with himself. That he has these bouts of [harsh] tenderness between his aggressive behavior that lures Kim Dan into a false sense of security— at times he even convinces himself he should be grateful to Jaekyung— before ultimately using that kindness against him to coerce him into sex, makes him that much more intimidating. It’s like Team Black said, they’re lucky a guy like him found a relatively healthy outlet for all that aggression. By the time Jaekyungs feelings for Kim Dan begin to manifest, he’s already grown accustomed to the thought of Kim Dan as something he owns. He’s just so repressed and emotionally stunted that those feelings have morphed into a desire to possess and control him entirely. He’s so obsessed with control that when he finally has Kim Dan at his feet begging to be fucked, he starts taunting him with the promise of release. My little sadist. Id be fine if he didn’t even get a redemption arc seeing as I can’t help but look at Jaekyung as being an example of how emotional repression shapes manipulative and abusive tendencies. He could just keep falling back into his vices and hurting Kim Dan, those small slivers of kindness coming back in waves to keep him attached. But I know he will so I’m kind of looking forward to it. This is like GriffGuts if Guts was a frail and helpless twink.

I think Afurete Shimau does well in portraying feelings of isolation in younger queer boys, especially in how Yuichi's suppression of his sexual urges have made him almost grossly hypersexual, which only causes him to punish himself further. The summer festival chapter kind of negates much of the progress made by Yuichi in previous chapters. I couldn't grasp the purpose of having him fall back into his shame over something as small as holding Wakana's hand in public, only for them to have semi-public sex in the bushes after Yuichi gets sexually assaulted. Unnecessary filler angst, especially since the final chapter provides such beautiful closure to their story through their resolve to wait for one another... while also providing purposeful angst. And bless Tomomoi, but what was the purpose of her telling Yuichi they couldn't hang out since she got a boyfriend if she knew he was gay already. I also wish they'd have committed to the role reversal.