I understand where you’re coming from. I personally hate this bc of the whole situation. Knowing that these are examples of real situations does not make me like the content of the manga itself. I don’t like abuse but I understand the message and your point.
However, I think that the ending seemed to somewhat validate the abuse. Hear me out. It’s bc of the way the mc at the end just seems “happy” and has accepted his fate even knowing that they’re both hurt. It feels like the mc thinks it’s okay without any further notice from the story or author. I understand that may not be the intention from the author, but that is how I see it. You are free to disagree since this is an opinion
Oh and I 100% agree with your last statement. If it gets to a point where their fictional fantasies obstruct into reality, I think an intervention is definitely needed, especially if they start fetishizing things
I see! I've never thought of seeing it in that angle. In my pov, I don't think the manga is portraying any type of happiness or validation of abuse. In these types of settings, smiles should never be taken as a sign of anything positive, but rather, a symbol of them further spiralling to the bottom. From the way I saw and understood things, they are shown to be stuck in a cycle of dragging each other down. Portraying toxicity as the only thing they know to keep themselves and each other alive. It highlights the extremes of how a person would rather choose pain and suffering over solitude and the unknown. This type lense gives a deeper meaning to the character's ending statement, which I mentioned before. It gives a hint of how the characters themselves are fully aware of the cycle they are in, yet refuses to do anything to improve or stop the situation. This then creates a glimpse inside an actual abusive relationship, on how difficult it is for victims to leave their situation despite the door being open.
This is severely wrong comparison, but to make it more understandable, it's kind like the saying, "old habits die hard". This is especially true when the concerned parties are not exposed to any outside help or intervention.
It's a horrible situation all around but this manga incites readers to dive into themselves and see how something so dire can be hidden in plain sight. Which in this case are the explicit scenes and smiles, I guess? The explicit scenes especially, I seriously hate how people focused on that and disregarded everything else. They immediate just say "rape rape rape", like yeah? That's the point. They complain how this manga romanticizes it but clearly they're the ones seeing it in that way. I hate it so much. Sex scenes does not equate to smut. Crying for this author and their work.
Ohhh I definitely see where you’re coming from. I don’t have anything else to add, so I thank you for taking the time to elaborate and also understanding my stance. In the grand scheme of things, it’s kinda funny for me to have a real, civil discussion about a manga on a site like this I honestly enjoyed reading your essay more than the story. Alright that’s about it, have a great day :)
No coz same please have a greater day ahead! and i hope we meet in another manga someday LMAOOO
the ppl who hate this becoz of the abuse scene are so shallow and short-sighted. this story was meant to be taken as a whole. a portrayal of real life tragedies. it forces you to think and maybe even widen your horizons a little to these sick scenarios that actually happen in real life. this was even made so obvious in the end where the character themselves mentioned an analogy of being trapped in a shoe that was hurting the owner.
ppl need to cleanse themselves from smut coz not everything is about sex