I was, in order: shocked, repulsed, and intrigued. You really start to wonder what it means for a man to be attracted to a woman. Are you ever really attracted to someone purely because of their biology or their sex? Or because of some more abstract notion like "femininity"?
More concretely: although I started this manga rooting for Yui to end up with Yo, and hoping for Kei to fade into the background as a mere plot device to drive forward the relationship I wanted to see ... my loyalties were swiftly reversed.
Without any spoilers, the interaction, and tension, between our three main characters is pretty fucked up. But you have to appreciate that each of the characters, much like real people, are all fucked up in their own special way: The toxic and hurtful aspects of our personalities are often coping mechanisms we've developed from a past trauma. In this manga we get to see the aftermath of everyone's traumas unfold before our eyes.
Through this lens, we'll come to appreciate how, despite Yui being the woman of Yo's dreams, and despite how much we as the audience may truly be rooting for her ... perhaps she is not the best for Yo. Moreover, we realize that she would only ruin Yo if they were to stay together. And, conversely, no matter how viscerally wrong it may feel to see Kei and Yo together, we gradually understand that Kei would not only be better for Yo's sanity, but also a better physical fit for Yo. But hey, the series is still just starting and anything could happen between the 3.
But honestly, this was not what I expected at all when I clicked on the cover. And now I've basically written an essay, and my head is wrestling with a deep moral dilemma ...
