#trigger warnings added

[onepickyreader]

After us the Savage God (Zankoku na kami ga shihai suru)

Heartbroken, after watching Banana Fish, I wandered online and I asked to the mighty google, “please, can you give me a manga like Banana Fish but with a happy ending? I beg of you, mighty google.”

And the mighty google said “After us a savage god”

This is a long one, a 17 volumes and complete manga, and I recommend reading all the warnings before even approaching it. The manga contains domestic abuse, grooming, assaults, suicide, murder, prostitution, drugs, violence, an adult taking advantage of a minor, unhealthy relationships, all the worst of the worst. There are no graphic scenes, but just the allusion to them is to be considered graphic in this case.

This is the story of Jeremy, who is a teenager living only with his mother Sandra, and one day meeting the man his mother is dating. Sandra’s boyfriend, a British man named Greg, uses Jeremy’s love for Sandra to abuse him. Sandra has been left heart broken and suicidal after the death of her first husband, and she cannot now imagine a life without Greg. Afraid that Sandra might fall into a depression again, Jeremy accepts to stay silent about the abuse. 

The whole first part of the manga is about Jeremy, living under the power of Greg, now moved to the UK with him and Sandra, trying to escape by moving to a school, by threatening Greg, by contacting a psychologist, by clearly screaming for help to his friends, who seems to see that there is something going on, but cannot imagine it is as horrible as it is.

The manga starts with a flash forward: Jeremy has done something to Greg’s car and the man has died, in an accident. He is finally free, but unfortunately Sandra has also died, and this is enough to break the last of Jeremy’s strength. Ian, Greg’s own biological son, starts to suspect that Jeremy has killed Greg, and starts to investigate.

The story is drawn beautiful. I cannot even state how many pages were just heartbreaking metaphors of the kind of anxiety, despair and depression Jeremy feels through the manga, the way he feels so trapped that murdering Greg is the only way he can escape the situation. He falls and falls into the abuse, until his world is completely changed, and I admit I had to skip some chapters because it was just so heartbreaking.

Jeremy was absolutely heartbreaking. The author did an amazing job in rising the stakes, but especially in showing the hints Jeremy was basically screaming at his school mates, at Ian, the way the people around him should have understood what was happening. And I enjoyed the realistic way Ian starts to find out of what is going on.

Now, for Ian. I have a lot of problems, but it is all under cut because of spoilers.

Ian is wonderfully characterized at the beginning, he is just a normal guy, having a girlfriend, being a bit of a jerk, trying to warm up to Jeremy and not really understanding this new younger brother of his. Then, I loved his investigations of the murder, the way he slowly finds out what happened and how he doesn’t want to accept that his father, a father he loved, might have been a pedophile and abused Jeremy.

It was realistic, Ian loved his father, and while later on he revisits what happened with Jeremy and all those little things he missed, at the beginning Ian believes Jeremy is a liar. This leads to Jeremy leaving and returning back to the USA, where he starts using drugs and sells himself. 

Reading the first part of the series was hard, because of the themes, and I skipped some chapters or scenes, now... I just needed Jeremy to crawl up to life, and start to heal. Unfortunately, the second part was a disappointment for me.

Ian goes to the USA and looks for Jeremy, after realizing that Jeremy never lied about Greg, and I loved the idea that the rest of the manga would be Ian and Jeremy recovering together as brothers. I wish this has not been on the shounen ai category, it shouldn’t have. 

Unfortunately, the second part of this manga is all about Jeremy and Ian recovering their relationship and becoming lovers.... I suppose it is not meant to show a healthy relationship, but I just couldn’t read this more unhealthy scenes when I was expecting Jeremy to be able to recover. Is it implied that this is relationship with Ian is helping Jeremy? Maybe. Probably. And I hated it.

The moment their relationship started, I stopped reading this.

[onepickyreader]

okay, I never thought I would say these words, but here it is, two omegaverse manhwa

1. Restless

Of the two, this is the more realistic one, it is also a complete story. Gyojin is an omega who is navigating a world made for alphas, from their shitty ability to understand consent to the discrimination at work. One day, after being hired at a new office, Gyojin meets his old classmate Hyeono again. He is sue Hyeono wants revenge as, back at school, Hyeono has been mistakenly thought an omega and bullied for it, mostly because of Gyojin. 

The premise let me believe that this would have been a story about misunderstandings, with a slow falling in love and an honorable Hyeono. Instead, the misunderstanding is resolved pretty quickly, and the rest of the drama is mostly connected to the return of Gyojin’s ex boyfriend and Gyojin not wanting a relationship. While the art was great, the drama seemed... a bit fabricated, and I ended up skipping some chapters to get to the ending. Overall, it has a nice story, but a bit boring. Furthermore I was highly annoyed by some consent issues, which I will add under cut because they will have spoilers.

2. Love Shuttle

This is a complete first volume (of ~ 50 chapters) and the ending can be an actual ending of the series, if you so decide. There is then an extra story about secondary characters (which I didn’t read) and a second volume coming out which... I think will deal with mpreg, so I won’t be reading it.

I honestly loved the start as I am a big fan of rivals becoming lover. Yun is an omega, but he is a late bloomer and never had a heat before, at 26 years old. Tae is his rival at work (mostly because Yun is stronger than him and they work for a moving company) and an alpha. One day, Yun’s hidden (even to him) feelings towards Tae throw him in his first confusing heat. The whole story revolves around Yun hating the idea of being so weak around Tae and Tae slowly falling for Yun. Tae was absolutely adorable, I would definitely consider him the more submissive of the two partners (Yun picks him up on his shoulder too, one time) and he is also a bit more insecure than Yun, but definitely more honest to himself. The first volume deals with the falling in love and the acceptance of their feelings.

Now. At the beginning, the story didn’t seem to be very sex focused, so I bought all the chapters on Lezhin before... finding out... that there is a lot of sex. Like. A LOT. LOT. Some tells us something about he characters, but most of it is unnecessary. The art is also a hit and miss. I definitely enjoyed seeing an omega/alpha relationship which is not the usual conventional one, but I wish there has been.... less... sex. Also, some warnings under cut, here, because of spoilers.

1. Restless

Gyojin and the manhwa seem to initially grasp the consent issue of “taking advantage of someone” (because of heat or drunkness) but then it’s like... the manhwa forgets about it. I hated all the sex scenes between Gyojin and his love interest, because some of them were under the influence. I am so angry. So be careful that is one contains rape (implied) and definitely some dubious consent.

2. Love Shuttle

This is a whole big warning. I am not sure I understand what the author tried to do with the whole heat thing. Was it consensual?? was it not? It looks like Yun doesn’t fully remember how he was during the heat, and other characters talk about possible people taking advantage of that, but because Yun is the one making all the first moves, then it is consensual? I am honestly baffled.

[onepickyreader]

Now for some quick reviews. Minor spoilers and trigger warnings are added under the cut.

1. Akiyama-kun (Nobara Aiko)

This one has subverted my expectations because of how the two characters were represented, with the timid guy being quite insistent in his pursuit. I did after all find this in the tag “uke-like seme”. The art is absolutely lovely. Without spoilers, the story is simply the growing relationship between the two main characters (both students), one a known bully, the other one basically an easily flustered cry baby, but who is quite sure in his desire to make his newly acquired boyfriend happy and not lonely anymore. 

Also, this one is incomplete and still ongoing. Plus it’s pretty graphic.

2. Nee, Sensei: Chapter 5 (Unbreakable bone)

I cannot read stories with teachers and students, so I skipped everything in this complete one volume to focus on the last story. This is one of my favorite short stories ever, and directly falls into my preferred trope of “ex-criminal feels ashamed of his past” and “kind hearted guy doesn’t judge”.

3.  Goshujinsama to wa Iwasemasen!  

Reading this... was a mistake. The story revolves around a newly arrived student who, unknowingly, antagonize the bully Sougo. But this is exactly what Sougo needs to decide that he wants to be the new student’s... slave? The story is complete and I have no idea what it tried to be. It’s not particularly pornish, so this slave/master thing is not an excuse to write that, it’s not particularly angsty... it’s just meh.

4. Okusama wa Alpha

I didn’t even know omegaverse manga existed but here we are. This is the story of two alphas, Takaomi and Kazumasa, who end up in an arrange marriage and are going through some problems, mostly related to the fact that they are not sure how the sex would work (as one of them is supposedly going to become pregnant, because mpreg exists in this universe). I would have probably skipped it if it wasn’t for the absolutely gorgeous art. The art was just so beautiful, that I’ve read it all (it is complete). Still, the manga took a weird detour where one of the characters decide to visit a sex-specialist to overcome the problems, instead of much needed development in the relationship between the two characters.

1. Akiyama-kun (Nobara Aiko)

I did find this one because I was looking for the opposite of the classic seme/uke dynamic, and to be honest, this manga has that. Still, it was probably a bit too graphic, like, overly so. Not to mention that the beginning had a non consensual scene, that is quite ambiguous, where both the protagonists end up forcing the other one, and is not really seen as rape, or at least, there are no real consequences to it. A part from this first chapter, the rest was quite lovely!

2. Nee, Sensei: Chapter 5 (Unbreakable bone)

This one chapter has only one graphic scene, and the rest was a lot of angst and some fluff. Definitely ideal for me! I’d like to add a warning for mentions of past child abuse.

3.  Goshujinsama to wa Iwasemasen!  

This comes with a bunch of warnings. There is a big non consensual warning for the way the “slave” character pushes his desires on the newly arrived student. Then, somehow, their relationships turns sexual after watching D/S porn on a computer, and the characters try to see if this might work for them... so definitely non negotiate bdsm stuff that at least seem to be slightly acknowledged as it ends in angst for both of the main characters.

4. Okusama wa Alpha

This one was also quite graphic and definitely nsfw. The art... is... so good... I loved it so much, I wish this manga had just been the story of the two main characters, but instead it ended up being a bit more about one of them visiting a sex counselor and learning how to like to be a bottom. Which is fine... but a missed opportunity. Also I’d like to add a warning for some drugging and non inebriated state sex, as one of the character is drugged into a heat.

[onepickyreader]

Today it’s time for two ongoing/incomplete manga

1. Coyote (2 volumes read)

This story is set in a modern world where werewolves exist, but they have mostly been forgotten by society. One day, Coyote meets a pianist that he names Marlene, and is immediately bewitched by his music abilities and kindness. The pianist calls Coyote with the nickname of Lili, and immediately falls in love with the strange man, soon discovering he is a werewolf when Coyote goes into heat right in front of him.

The rest of the story has a lot of sex and secret encounters between Coyote and Marlene, with both of them quite open about their feelings for each others and most of the obstacles coming from the external world and secrets being kept, especially after a murder caused by a werewolf starts to put some doubt on how well hidden and safe werewolves are. 

I love romeo and juliet stories, where two characters who are supposed to be enemies, fall in love, and I love secrets and misunderstandings, so I will definitely continue reading this one. Marlene is the one carrying the majority of this story, and till now Coyote’s characterization is a bit flat and underwhelming. There are also a LOT of sex scenes, like... a lot.... and I was a bit annoyed at the first one (more under cut), because of consent issues, still, I enjoyed the plot-parts of the manga and the whole destined to be enemies thing!

2. Maiden Rose (1 volume read)

Maiden Rose is set in an alternative historical 1918 and following years. First of all I have to say that I am not a fan of this historical setting, I just cannot read stories set in it (or WWII) and it is very hard for me even to watch good movies which are careful with the subjects of the two world wars and the rise of fascism, so probably this was not a good manga for me to pick up.

As you can see, I only read the first volume and I abandoned as soon as the sex scenes became too much. Like. At one point there was blood. I cannot guys. The sex scenes are not exactly rape, but for some weird reason the author gave them the same feeling?? And they are extremely violent for no real reason?? but not like in a d/s power exchange kinda way....???

The story revolves around Klaus and Taki, from their meeting, to the present where Klaus decides to become Taki’s knight, basically his “trusted” companion and right hand, after they have been a bit back and fort with their attraction to each others. The main plot revolves around the preparation to the war and the war conflict, so I needed a strong romantic subplot to keep me interested (because of my dislike for story set in WWI and II), and the romantic subplot was also so war like and violent that I had to immediately drop this one.

I know this is a fan favorite of many, but this...blog... is called....picky reader because I am one.

1. Coyote

There is some dubious consent in this one, as Marlene finds out that Lili is a werewolf when Lili goes into heat. Marlene convinces him to see a prostitute, but only with him present?? And then when Lili is... down to business, Marlene is like, whops sorry, actually let me have sex with you. And if falls right into the BL manga trope of "you say you don't want it, but I am so good you will". AJSASASaa. Later on, Lili seems to develop feelings to Marlene and spends the rest of his heat with him.

[onepickyreader]

Two shoujo ai manga short reviews!

1. Love Flag Girls

A complete 1 volume, about pirates! The legendary pirate Maria steals a precious cross from a queen, and the queen’s daughter, the gentle Lucia, decides to get to the harbor immediately and get the cross back! Of course, the captain of the ship at the harbor is Eliana, the daughter of Maria. Eliana immediately falls in love with Lucia, and vice-versa, so much that, out of nowhere, Lucia decides to accept Eliana’s offer to stay on her ship?? (with the excuse of being a spy on the ship).

The manga is more on the humorous side, with some uncomfortable harassment, where Eliana decides to touch Lucia against her will in the first two chapters (but it’s seen as a humorous thing in the comic, you can imagine my disapproval radiating from this post!). The plot is a bit of an excuse for Eliana and Lucia being cute, there is some secrets revealed, not really a lot of angst, and another surprise f/f pairing. The last three chapters are the more adventurous ones, and the better ones as well!

2. Hatshepsut

In this short and complete manga we are in Ancient Egypt. Menun and Seshen are sisters who travel and earn coin with Seshen’s power: stopping people from bleeding. Menun pretends to be the one with the power, as her sister is easily distracted and needs Menun’s smarts to keep their job. One day, after saving a man, the two sisters are taken to the two next possible Pharaohs and there Menun finds out she also has a power: she can see the future, and she predicts that the handsome man on the right will be the next Pharaoh.... everyone laughs! And soon Menun finds out that the man on the right is actually a woman, princess Hatshepsut. 

The rest of the story deals with Menun’s attraction towards Hatshepsut and her jealousy when the princess takes Seshen as her lover. Menun’s jealousy is short lived, after the court finds out that she is not the person who can stop the blood, and tragedy after tragedy strikes the poor Menun. 

The art is gorgeous but this doesn’t really fit a one chapter story. The shoujo ai element is barely there. I didn’t add a review for the second chapter because it is definitely not shoujo ai but more about a ftm prince, surrounded by people who wants him to act as a woman, and meeting his, probably, first crush, a mysterious priestess (still in Ancient Egypt).

[yukiwhitetm]

Content/Trigger Warnings have now been fully added to You will always be Monarch Butterfly! (New Danganronpa V3 crossover with Miraculous Ladybug - Superhero AU, Hope's Peak AU, Saiouma/Oumasai, Kokichi-centric, First Person POV).

It is marked as a Teen (12+) story - and I have been careful to keep it within that rating. So, unless there is anything that you personally find triggering, none of the implications, references or scenes that the content warnings are about should be too upsetting for you. Don't worry, if Teen stories are appropriate for you, then this should be appropriate for you.

If you have any further suggestions, then let me know and I will take them into consideration. Thank you!

[onepickyreader]

1. Odoru Ecstasy I hope you can feel my disapproval radiating from this, I was tricked by that amazing cover (and how much I liked another of the author's manga). Basically the story is: Dancing contestant 1 rapes Dancing contestant 2, sort of. A lot of consent issues in this one, no need to add it under cut, because they are right in the first chapter. The story revolves around Suzushiro and Nagaya who have both been accepted as dancers for a band. Unfortunately, while Nagaya is incredibly talented, Suzushiro is sent to work backstage. The rest of the story repeats... what happened in chapter 1. Still, the art was great.

2. Uchi no Ko ni Narinasai   This is an average story, with some cute moments and I did find it looking for "strong uke", as Kuon is quite belligerant. It is a complete one volume. Sunao, a rich spoiled but kind man, kidnaps Kuon Tachiban from the supermarket, trying to convince him to be his friend. Begrudgingly, Kuon accepts. The drama is added by the fact that Sunao is part of the criminal world, even if he is a respectable man going to college. The art is meh, the story is barely holding, but picks up when it focuses on Kuon and Sunao bonding and being domestic.

Still, I need to add a warning for consent issues, as Sunao is quite forceful at the beginning.