Netsuzou TRap
NTR: Netsuzou Trap

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

I first read this a few months ago and had a positive experience with it. Now that it's over, I'm revisiting it. Netsuzou Trap, in my opinion, does not deserve the near-universal hate it seems to get, but I will say that it is most definitely not for everyone and has a lotttt of stuff that may break the reader's engagement, so in this review I hope to not only talk about why I love the series, but point out to the cautious reader exactly where the series may go wrong for them, instead of leaving them to rely on more polarized advice ... one way or the other.

First off, NTR reads exactly how it's intended: like a soap opera with lots of yuriyuri tied into it. It is a ride of emotions first and foremost. If this isn't your thing or if you don't like drama, you're not gonna like it. Also, if you don't like cheating, also obviously stay away from this. Myself, I don't have any issue with either of these things and the yuri element is exactly what I needed to get invested in a story like this (hetero is of no interest to me, ehe). Moreover, it very overtly warns you that this is NTR genre/cheating, so really, if you don't like it, you've got ample chance to just stay away from it. The series depicts thickheaded Yuma trying to navigate her feelings as she is seduced by her friend Hotaru, going against both of their relationships - however, even though it's saturated with drama, it avoids the all-too-common pitfall of becoming completely mindless. The substance is very much there if you know where to look. In Yuma's case, her storyline is nothing out of the ordinary, however even though Hotaru, the aggressive partner doesn't get much direct focus, it's shown implicitly why she acts the way she does, and she is actually a really deep character. I didn't fully understand her beahvior until my second read and the more I understood it, the worse I felt for her.

The drama, the main focus of the series, is amazing. Despite the fact that her story in and of itself is nothing special, NTR shows Yuma's actual struggle to navigate her feelings clearly, and I wound up finding myself really invested in it-- throughout the story, I felt all her lows and highs, her confusion, her disgust at herself when things weren't going so well, and I'd cheer when things went right. In terms of sucking me in and making me live and breathe all the ~drama~ as I continued on, NTR was a complete success. The drama does not hesitate to stray into darker territory: NTR makes absolutely no effort to hide that Hotaru is suffering domestic abuse at the hands of her bf, for instance, and that is only the first example out of many. And of course the whole premise of the series is about cheating. I like the fact that this series, which mostly functions as a yuri, is adventurous enough to go into all of this stuff.

The series, in my opinion at least, does an excellent job at showing the two's raw lust and desire for each other. It does not hold back with the lewd moments. And honestly, it's one of the most wonderful and unique things I've seen. These moments are not out of place or forced upon the story, as you might expect with this sort of stuff. The way it's done here, NTR instead shows that a girl can, in fact, enjoy seducing, or being seduced by, another person who happens to be a girl without attempting to place their love on a pedestal or jump through a billion hoops to justify the fact it's between two girls - the only reason the two need is that it feels good. A lot of people call it "pandering", and for a lot of readers, the high dose of lewd may be a turn-off (which I can't blame them for) but I personally don't feel that assessment is fair. The fact that there's a lot of people out there who will be into this entirely for all the girl-on-girl action, in my opinion, does not and should not take away from the premises of the story or the style in which it is told (which is actually fairly usual for Kodama).

There is one thing that the series didn't do quite so well, however, and that's the ending, which I think is rushed. I can't really get into this without spoiling anything, but after the sequence of events leading to the ending, there was so much potential for the story and the characters (particularly Hotaru) to develop further. While it does explain a lot of the stuff that wasn't made explicit throughout the series, which was a concern I had at the time of my original read, it all ended so abruptly, and I'm left feeling a little bit left out in the cold. Had Kodama actually continued on with this series and taken it along the path implied by the ending, it would have had so much potential, and it might have claimed even a 10 rating (an ultra-rare drop) from me. But it wasn't to be, I guess, so I'm instead left with a still-good-enough story that remains squarely focused on all of the drama that led up to that path.

Since I don't have any better place to put this, I will also say that the art style generally has a cute feel to it, particularly the way the characters are drawn. That is a + in my book.

Final verdict -- I think a lot of people who stumble into NTR largely end up falling into one of a few groups and hating it as a result: people who are used to cute/innocent romance who hate the premise of cheating or otherwise get pissed off at the drama, people who like a greater focus on substance and don't appreciate Kodama's drama-focused approach, and people who see all the lewd moments the series throws at them and can't help but feel like it's just nothing more than an ecchi/fanservice series.

If any one of these applies to you, then I'll say it straight-up: you will not enjoy this series. If not, though, you'll find what in my opinion is a fine experience, loaded with lots of Kodama's signature soap opera-esque style of ~drama~. Sure, it's not perfect, but that's not the point: the point is to let yourself get absorbed into and thrown around by all of the drama and emotions going on. And indeed, NTR accomplished this very successfully, at least for me. If you're up for it, then give it a shot.

Netsuzou Trap is a story which is to some extent heart warming, as Yuma, is like Hotaru’s shield and she is always there for her. It’s quite funny that at first, that’s all there seems to be to their relationship, until you read further into the story, and it’s revealed that in fact there is more to their friendship, than any reader would first assume. I do have to say that I did enjoy the story, as it focused on their relationship. As well as that I enjoyed the art style, but also easy to follow. I’m yet to see the anime adaptation of this ... manga, but as far as just the manga, it’s worth reading if you want a different manga storyline based that focuses on only two main Yuri characters, and really expands into their relationship, and how it progresses further.

Why did I read this? I mean, I knew it'd feature a lot of cheating. I didn't go into this blind. What I wasn't expecting, except perhaps by its persistently middling ranking here on MAL, was for it to be so boring and contrived.

Story: 3/10
The story of Netsuzou TRap is pretty familiar, if you've read manga or watched anime in the past two decades. High schoolers dealing with relationships, love, university prep and The Gay(tm). Only, because it's Japan, they're completely clueless to the idea that they're even in love half the time. Therefore, the 'plot' is essentially 85-90% misunderstandings and 'convenient interruptions'. This ... manga has little time for quiet moments, preferring to jump into awkward cheesecake at the drop of a hat, then 'conveniently' interrupt it before the mangaka might have to write something too spicy or emotionally touching. And speaking of awkward cheesecake...

Art: 5/10
The art is... serviceable. It's not amazingly consistent, or particularly noteworthy, but it generally gets across what's going on without being confusing. Some have mentioned the water balloon tiddies, which are pretty bad, but I think the main reason people tend to bring those up is that they're the only thing that stands out (badly) in the art style. Everything else about it is very 'generic shoujo/yuri art'. It basically exists to give the straights reading this something to drool over without requiring much effort on the author's part.

Characters: 3/10
Yuma is your innocent nice girl character, much like Yuzu from Citrus, who gets dragged into a largely unnecessary mess of badly written drama and manipulation. Confident on the outside, but emotionally vulnerable, and prone to trying to please others. Basically, she's a big part of my problems with this series, in that she spends ages fucking around and ignoring her feelings to drag out an otherwise uninspired romance arc, in that same shoujo style that felt tired when Bloom Into You appeared on the scene. She loves Hotaru, but won't spit it out because homophobia, and while that's somewhat valid at first, it's pretty tiring when nothing else is going on.

Hotaru is Yuma's manipulative childhood best friend, who spends most of the series coming onto her awkwardly before being interrupted. She's pretty opaque as a character, and while I kinda understand her circumstances, I didn't like her. She felt like an excuse to insert lesbian ecchi material into every other chapter, moreso than a character with consistent motivations. Again, it's that 'will-they-or-won't-they' tango that was popularized in shoujo manga. Whenever one half of a pairing seems like they have it together, the other one flakes out or does something dumb, all in the name of selling another volume of manga. Your bog standard character who's looking for validation in empty, unfulfilling sex.

Takeda is an actual cinnamon roll, and all round nicest person in this series. He's a nice dude, Yuma's boyfriend, and while his idea of foreplay leaves a lot to be desired (awkwardly pin her to a bed), he doesn't really seem to have a bad bone in his body. He's quite dull, too, but considering what 'interesting' characters look like in this series, he's the best of a bad lot.

Fujiwara is the nominal villain of the piece, and if you've ever seen a villainous man in a GL manga, you already know him. He's physically and emotionally abusive towards women, an aromantic fuckboy, and only really seems to care about Takeda. His whole internalized homophobia deal might have been interesting in a less toxic manga, but gay or not, he's here to play the part of 'asshole #2', and he does it with flair. If you don't hate Hotaru or Yuma, he's here to be your hate sink, and as a result, is a pretty poorly developed character otherwise. Still, at least you're meant to hate him.

Enjoyment 3/10
What can I say? It's like reading Citrus all over again, but worse in every way. Pointless, convoluted misunderstandings plot based entirely on romantic leads not talking? Check. Emotional abuse and sexual assault for edge factor? Check. Opaque, emotionally dense characters who nevertheless end up taking their clothes off a lot on panel? Check. Honestly, the more I look at it, it feels like a knockoff of Citrus with a cheating gimmick, although I'll admit I can't be bothered to check which came first. Given that I didn't like Citrus for similar reasons, it's not like I'm some fangirl here to chastise it for 'ripping off' my 'beloved manga'. NTR is everything I've come to loathe about GL writing in one neat package, in other words. Just... talk to each other. Dear gods, it's not hard. If NTR pissed you off, like it did me, go read Tsukiatte Agetemo Ii kana to detox. It's pretty much the polar opposite of this in terms of writing.

Overall: 3/10
I came into this review thinking I was going to be like 'meh, that was kinda bad, 4/10', but on the flipside it's coming out how much I hated reading this manga. If emotional intelligence is a worthwhile concept, then this manga contains the smoothest of smoothbrains. If you like gay girls loving each other, it's a frustrating waste of time spent watching poorly written hormonal teens make bad life choices. If you like seeing 'gay' girls do the sex at each other in improbable ways, which I know is a hit with dudes in the audience, then NTR will leave you blueballed due to constant interruptions. If you like cheesecake, but not smut, the 'plot' will make you spend plenty of time that could've been better spent looking at your pinup collection reading about angsty, boring teens abusing each other. Everyone loses. Now, pardon me, I have to go see if Ikemen Girl to Hakoiri Musume has any new chapters, and calm the hell down. I invite anyone who bothered to read this rant to join me.