This one sentence is said time and time again. Every time I seem to think that I've learned my lesson, and not to judge a book by its cover, I do it yet again.
How I stumbled upon this manga was in quite the weird manner. I was seeking to find what rank One Piece was at on the manga list. Upon pressing "Manga Search", I was brought to quite a bulky genre selection. I ended up finding myself astray, looking through the vast amount of genres. One of such that caught my attention was "Doujinshi". "Does independently published fan-manga count as doujinshi?" I knew that it probably didn't, but I went on to see the library anyway.
One of the first results under the "Doujinshi" section was ●Rec. "Is this a HENTAI?! Why is there no hentai tag?!" I had thought to myself. Can hentai be tagged with solely doujinshi? What's going on here? Upon reading a few sentences of the top review, my curiosity grew much wider. So I searched for the manga online and read it.
I was left both pleasantly surprised... and emotionally touched.
The manga starts off with a man filming. A sixth grader. On a bed. "Fuck, I know where this is going." Even despite the top review telling me that things turned out differently than expected, I personally expected a manga, that at the very least, had an implication of sexual intercourse. So, things kept going as if it were going to end up that way.
Until the eleventh page came.
Even after the girl was asked to call the man daddy, even after everything that was set up in quite the meticulous pattern. It was all executed to mislead you. It was structured for you to expect something differently. The build-up was intense, and it turns out to be different than what you had expected in the first place.
The man is actually the girl's father. They are on a hospital bed, and to top it off. She's getting her surgery done. Despite the sad nature of the situation, the art is done in such a way to relieve the atmosphere with tame comedy. Yes, the father seems like a pervert, or at the very least quite suspicious, but the truth is that he deeply cares for his daughter and wants to see her survive. He will cherish his daughter throughout everything, and show her how much he loves her.
The comedic timing was great, and the squishy form of the art matches the atmosphere quite well.
I expected the worst, and when there were huge hints that things would turn out differently than expected, I still expected implications of the worst. The author purposefully sets this up for you to question your expectations. From now on, should I expect the best? If not the worst, should I be expecting nothing?
I entered expecting to be emotionally appalled, and I came out being emotionally swayed. I felt relief and hurt in more ways than just one. In a structure that leaves you questioning and feeling, in the timespan of a cover and 28 chapters giving reflection and thought. I was given, and I was tested. I was hurt and I was motivated. I set my own expectations for something I didn't even create. Thinking twenty times isn't enough, nor thirty, fourty, or fifty. From this book alone, I have learned to say not to judge a book by its cover doesn't mean to not expect a result from what you see, but rather to not judge whatsoever. To keep yourself open at all times, and of course, if you see a book with a cover that leaves you expecting one thing, do not expect anything.
Time and time again, I am told not to judge a book by its cover, figuratively, and literally. Yet, I find myself doing it all the time.
