muse ✨'s manga / #scifi(2)

Seven years after his lover Ren died, Maki is still angry at him for his betrayal, because while Maki had been completely devoted to Ren, Ren had used him as a substitute for his straight, married brother. When Maki's brother gives him a gift, a "pet" model robot called Arata designed after the late Ren that even has some of his memories, Maki takes the chance to vent the anger that has kept him trapped in the past. But despite looking like Ren, Arata is nothing like him, and after two weeks of cruel treatment, Maki's anger turns to loneliness when he remembers Arata's affection for him is nothing more than imprinting. Original comment: I think this may have influenced a D/C AI fic I've read, the beginning especially? It's eerily similar. [On researching, I believe the fic predates the manga so it must've been a coincidence.] 2022 ETA: Purchased from SuBLime

Interesting concept but perhaps unsuccessful execution. A lot of details don’t work when you examine this from a step back. If Kai is only 17, there’s no way he has three years of CIA training. It would have been better to use made up organizations. About 2/3 of the way in is an info dump chapter. I wish the author had withheld more or worked across a larger number of volumes. There was just too much going on. I think the author knew that because her ending note goes on to explain away some of the plot holes. Beautiful art and character designs.