Jan 11, 2024
It is true that the violent tendency of Masaki is inexcusable, and the "BDSM" tag is super wrong. But I'd like to write a review in favor of the story, since the romanticized aspects of it quite struck a chord with me, mostly due to its resonance with my personal life.
The story is about Tsubasa - a pianist living under the pressure of his father. He also has a kink of getting hit, and latches himself onto Masaki who obviously has issues with anger management and violence due to childhood abandonment. If it's real life, Masaki will mean bad news, no doubt. But seeing
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Masaki and Tsubasa make efforts to move on from past trauma and reciprocate each other's affection just warms my heart. I wish misunderstood people, and "bad" people in real life can have a chance in life like that, to receive genuine love, to be forgiven and to change for the better because of that.
I like the characterization of Masaki. It may be my own subjective perception but although he is portrayed as your typical abusive character, he is surprisingly "human" and "real" to me, rather throwing fists around for the sake of effect. Like how he's actually a man of few words. He doesn't talk all that much, and only uses violence as far as his line of logical reasoning allows. Ofc the author would go through the motion of giving Masaki some redeeming actions so readers won't hate him all the way through, so I'm pretty indifferent about that. I just like how he isn't the noisy, hysterical type of violent man, but the taciturn, cold type - it shows broiling vulnerability within the guy.
Small gestures and the use of subtext in certain parts provide unexpected depth to the character. Like how Tsubasa asked if Masaki liked Chiaki (the ex-bf he used to abuse) and Masaki just straight out said "Yes… but it was a failure." You get to fill in the blanks with his unspoken sense of regret. Or how Masaki asked if Tsubasa got a lift from his colleague to get home. In this scene, the author didn't make Masaki act fussy or possessive, or make Tsubasa pose cliche questions like: "Is that you being jealous?" Instead, the next panel, we just saw Tsubasa the next day, rejecting the colleague's offer, thinking Masaki looked a bit angry the other day. And BAM. Masaki had already waited outside Tsubasa's workplace to pick him up. ig lovers who think of each other without having to declare so is just my type of romance.
The story is not perfect, and certainly has flawed characters, but for me, it has some sentimental values and faint signs of human complexity that, in my opinion, are worth appreciating.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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