Authors in an attempt to stand out try to come up with more unique premises to hook the audience. While unique, it risks lacking substance or relevancy making these twists difficult to write and a trap for authors. The idea has potential, but the execution is difficult and is where this story fails; making “Netorare Manga no Kuzu…” a good "junk food" manga but nothing amazing. The premise doesn't matter much in the overarching story. It boils down to a "moe gap" delinquent that's actually a nice guy with a harem. Plot progression gets repetitive, and character development while it exists, is rushed without sufficient
...
build up. A fast-paced romance can be good, but it’s so quick that it becomes unrealistic. There's also a touch of sexual assault and nudity so be warned.
Just to get it out of the way as I intend to focus primarily on the writing; the art is pretty good. It isn't super detailed and there is better art out there, but it's still really good. While certain panels wouldn’t be out of place on a +18 doujin, the ecchi aspects are very tame given the context of the premise.
The story is decent for the first 9 chapters. Before being truck-kunned, the protagonist accidentally reads this NTR doujin and just so happens to reincarnate as the “scum” (Kuzu) from said doujin. He is a composite of both individuals with their memories. Immediately the MC realized that the scum, Shishidou, had abusive parents that led to his current personality. The MC decides he will change fate and avoid the main girl; Shizuna. By acknowledging the scum's upbringing, it leaves potential for redemption and recontextualization. Either way, despite his best efforts, he keeps encountering Shizuna and with his much nicer personality, she gets smitten by him. He has the looks and demeanor of your cool “bad boy” type but underneath, a heart of gold, so it is no wonder Shizuna is attracted to him. Honestly, it was sweet. While Shizuna quickly grew fond of him, it still happened organically. It is a wholesome boy meets girl story. Although he still wanted the cuck, Souhei and Shizuna to be together instead. However, this internal conflict wasn’t used properly to create drama or challenges for their relationship to build and grow from. This is where everything starts going downhill.
The entire “love triangle” between Shishidou, Souhei, and Shizuna was completely sidestepped. First, Shishidou reincarnated BEFORE those two were together making this less so a NTR and more a BSS. The problem with sidestepping this conflict is that Shizuna doesn't need to make a decision which would have been a moment for genuine character development. Likewise, Souhei's position becomes indefensible as they are only merely childhood friends and not lovers. The only one who has qualms about this new relationship dynamic is Shishidou and it is self imposed. But even that internal conflict from Shishidou is wiped away when the manga decides to deviate from the WN and have Souhei become a stalker before eventually assaulting Shizuna. Things become black and white and any nuance gets vaporized. The plot literally solves the conflict for the characters. Absolute dogwater direction. Souhei, despite being a creep, could be redeemed but is no longer the case. Shishidou also no longer has to care about Souhei's feelings since the latter is now a r@pist. Shishidou comes to save the day, gives Souhei a beating and no police are called. The alternative could have been all three having a mature conversation over the matter. Souhei moves on, maintaining a platonic relationship while Shishidou accepts he is now a better person and can maintain a healthy romance with Shizuna. But no, the author for whatever reason decided that his WN’s direction was too good so he made it worse.
On top of that, Shizuna after nearly getting r@ped, decided to ask Shishidou to F her instead; to "overwrite" that bad memory because we all know sexual assault victims are eager to bang immediately after, right? That was one of the dumbest scenarios I ever saw. Shishidou refuses but still gives her a good fingering. I'm serious about what happened.
Ok, so they start dating and happily ever after right? If only… During the early chapters, it was revealed that Shishidou had slept with plenty of people before he regained his memories. Maybe he has to navigate through his past mistakes right? That's what I thought when it was revealed that Shishidou had unwittingly slept with Shizuna's mother (before he met Shizuna). Oyakodon, my favorite.
Shizuna's mother was a widow and gets lonely when Shizuna is away so she sought a one night stand to ease that pain. It is a character trait that could be developed but alas it was not to be.
At some point, Shizuna follows him to a bar where she encounters her own mother. Considering Shizuna's mother is aware of how much of a scumbag Shishidou was, you'd think she would be heavily opposed to this situation. Especially since Shizuna, who is underaged, is at a bar with this man.
LOL no. Instead, the mother tried to keep it a secret that she slept with Shishidou. Which made sense except she also ignores the aforementioned fact and raises no objections about this whole situation to Shizuna. To top it off, when Shizuna went to the restroom, the mother cuddled up to Shishidou. Shizuna realizes something was off and confronts Shishidou the next day. Surely this causes a rift between mother and daughter? Or perhaps this causes a rift between Shishidou and Shizuna. Maybe at this point, he needs to prove he's a reformed man. Perhaps even the mother has to prove that she regretted and learned from her mistake. Shishidou might even realize his own feelings when Shizuna stops talking to him. Nope.
Shizuna was in fact HAPPY he F'd her mother because she knew her mother was lonely.
…
Anyways, the mother knew her daughter caught on and was ok with it. So why have any self reflection or character growth? Indeed, when Shizuna wasn't looking, the mother would go and kiss Shishidou again, apparently not having learned a single lesson at all. Just keep living the hedonistic lifestyle! Yet another conflict point was sidestepped where even past mistakes couldn't catch up to this chad.
The sidestepping continues when Shizuna finds out about Chisa. Shishidou post-memory awakening did not sleep with Chisa, but prior to then, they were and still are officially friends with benefits. Shizuna was concerned at first until Chisa reassured her that they weren't competitors. Except Chisa and Shishidou never officially re-examined their relationship. While it is possible to have a healthy polygamous relationship, there are MANY signs that neither Shizuna nor Shishidou actually prefers it.
For one, Shizuna was visibly upset when she learned about what happened between Shishidou and her mother. But she somehow dismissed it. Secondly, she ran away upset when she saw Chisa come out clinging on to Shishidou at his place. Thirdly, she was defensive when she first talked with Chisa and only loosened up when Chisa reassured her. Fourth, Shizuna pouts whenever Shishidou compliments other girls such as Satsuki's swimsuit. Lastly, while she is friends with Chisa and Satsuki, she isn't romantically interested in either of them; only Shishidou.
For Shishidou, he has not had sex with anyone ever since his memories awakened. He never initiated any encounters and never reciprocated any advances other than those from Shizuna. In fact, he constantly tells Chisa to call first before coming over. He wants to maintain boundaries between him and other girls. It is implied he doesn't want Shizuna to misunderstand his relationship with others. Next, he always compliments and shows stronger reactions towards Shizuna than to others. He acknowledged they were all attractive but only visibly gets flustered with Shizuna. He is also very protective of Shizuna specifically. He warns her not to go to bars or clubs with him and doesn't like it when she wears clothes that are too revealing. E.g. covering up her bikini with a parka. He reassures Shizuna that he likes her innocence and she doesn't have to force herself to change. Additionally, when Satsuki asked him to hug her from behind, he hesitates before caving in and feels guilty over it.
So while he warned Shizuna about his many relationships and she acknowledges it, they do not act as if it’s ok. They prefer monogamy and show all the signs of such preference. They are in an official relationship in all but name. They never asked each other or told others they are dating, but after the Souhei incident, they started doing goodbye kisses, they went on a date, and she always came over to cook for him. He also shows preferential treatment to Shizuna and only actively engages in romantic and sexual activities with her. I really appreciate this show-not-tell approach in regards to their relationship.
Yet the plot drives headstrong into the harem route by introducing yet another girl called Satsuki. Eventually, all the girls including the mom(!) shoves themselves all over Shishidou during a party; some drunk, others not. Either way, there was no animosity or serious relationship conflict spawning from this scene. It is meant to be taken as a fan service comedy scene. That is despite all the signals from both Shishidou and Shizuna. At this point, it seems they only tolerate the status quo because they are all friends(and family...), not because it is their preference. There is nothing inherently wrong with harems, but this is perhaps the worst type because it is so forced and clearly unhealthy. Yet everything is ok because the author wills it so. The plot demands a harem, good writing be damned.
Satsuki’s arc highlights the repetition of the plot structure and how fast girls fall for him, turning it into a harem after chapter 10. If this was some meta mechanic from living in a doujin world, it was not portrayed or hinted as such.
Shishidou saves Satsuki from unwarranted advances while in a club. Then the next time she meets him, she asks him to hug her from behind. A guy she met only once before mind you. Afterwards, she gets all flustered about him back home and goes "I don't mind not being his girlfriend as long as I can be with him."
That progressed way too fast and he barely did anything. I think the author is taking the doujin logic of this story's premise a bit too seriously. Either way Satsuki gets smitten by this hunk of a man leading to her siscon brother getting jealous. Eventually like Souhei, the brother assaults Satsuki where then Shishidou comes in and saves the day. But no one called the police once again. This is the exact same plot line as Shizuna's arc and suffers the exact same characterization issues. Instead of exploring why Satsuki’s brother is so attached to her, or how they can develop a healthier sibling relationship, it gets swept under the rug with Satsuki moving out.
Granted, Satsuki did show some character growth from being a shy person who can't say no to finally someone who can. Except she somehow made such a drastic change after Shishidou once told her to be more assertive. So she finally stood up for herself because she got told to. Apparently it’s just that simple! No social anxiety or fear of retaliation from the abuser. So easy…
Unfortunately, people don't change that quickly or easily. She should slowly assert herself more over time, not just from 0 to 100. This is the rushed character development I mentioned. Despite asserting herself against her incestuous brother, she was still ultimately subdued and needed Shishidou to save the day. It would have been better if that character growth was rewarded appropriately instead of being a damsel in distress. A lot of these issues could be solved if the arc was longer with some more intermediate scenes to make her growth more organic. The catalyst for Satsuki's growth could still spawn from her new found friends, but the resolution should be from her own effort. This arc only lasted 5 chapters (compared to Shizuna’s 10) and it shows.
Ultimately, the author picked an interesting and unique premise yet it alone is not enough. It’s not easy to navigate the relationship and social drama associated with cheating. So the author decides to sidestep it every time and frame things in a black and white scenario while blaming the victim (the cuck) by turning them into r@pists. Except they aren’t even a victim anymore because they weren’t even in a relationship to begin with. And by being a r@pist, is now the villain. It couldn’t even stick to the original premise. This was written when the latest chapter was 15. Despite my negative review, the manga was genuinely entertaining to read. I just can’t give it a good score based on objective reasoning. If you turn off your brain, this is good “junk food” manga but that’s about it unfortunately.
Nov 29, 2024
Authors in an attempt to stand out try to come up with more unique premises to hook the audience. While unique, it risks lacking substance or relevancy making these twists difficult to write and a trap for authors. The idea has potential, but the execution is difficult and is where this story fails; making “Netorare Manga no Kuzu…” a good "junk food" manga but nothing amazing. The premise doesn't matter much in the overarching story. It boils down to a "moe gap" delinquent that's actually a nice guy with a harem. Plot progression gets repetitive, and character development while it exists, is rushed without sufficient
...
Aug 23, 2024
Nanatsu no Maken ga Shihai suru
(Anime)
add
My expectations for this anime certainly was not high so this may lead to a higher rating than I would if it was the opposite. So, yes I was pleasantly surprised how entertaining the show was and would recommend it. But be warned that the show is not without its issues so don't expect a masterpiece. While I would recommend watching up to episode 6 to see if you enjoy it, that is quite a bit of commitment. And quite frankly, what you will see in episode 6 is not going what this season focuses on. But perhaps you may want to give the LN
...
|