Scarlet

Description

1-2) Scarlet
College student Akio is dating his beautiful classmate, Ryou. Unable to stand the slightest loneliness, Ryou accepts any girl who approaches him. One day, Ryou introduces Akio to a girl he is thinking of marrying which makes Akio decide to completely break it off with Ryou. Instead, a heart wrenching love story takes stage!

3-4) One Night Stand
During the day Harumi is just a normal businessman but when night comes he changes into a different person.

My Lover
Keito wonders why he is still in a relationship with the overly depressive Naoki

Type

Manga

Related Series

Koishii Akuma (Adapted From)

Associated Names

Скарлет (Russian)

スカーレット

绯红爱恋

Groups Scanlating

Blissful Sin

Latest Release(s)

v.1 c.2-5 + Extra (end) by Blissful Sin 15 years ago

v.1 c.1 by Blissful Sin 16 years ago

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Status in Country of Origin

1 Volume (Complete)

Completely Scanlated?

Yes

Anime Start/End Chapter

N/A

User Reviews

N/A

Forum

0 topics, 0 posts

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User Rating

Average: 7.8 / 10.0 (426 votes)

Bayesian Average: 7.7 / 10.0

25%

19%

24%

12%

Last Updated

April 29th, 2022 10:46pm PDT - 3 years ago

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Genre

Drama Psychological Romance School Life Slice of Life Yaoi
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Categories

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Category Recommendations

Matsu no Ma

Everyone's Seonbae

Shounen wa Watashi ni Hizamazuku

Ubawareru Koto Marugoto Zenbu

After 5 wa Kiss no Ame

Recommendations

Kyuuso wa Cheese no Yume o Miru

Author(s)

Artist(s)

Year

Original Publisher

Gentousha

Serialized In (magazine)

Comic Magazine LYNX (Gentousha)

Licensed (in English)

English Publisher

Blu (Defunct / 1 Vol - Complete)

Activity Stats (vs. other series)

Weekly Pos #653

(-163)

Monthly Pos #1644

(-284)

3 Month Pos #3414 (No change)

6 Month Pos #4779

(+233)

Year Pos #6001

(+86)

List Stats

On 209 reading lists

On 245 wish lists

On 1368 completed lists

On 10 unfinished lists

On 320 custom lists

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User Comments [ Order by usefulness ]

First chapter was enough...

by AeeDee
15 years ago

Rating: N/A

What can I say? I read the first chapter (I did browse through the second, I admit), and that was enough to make me stop reading this manga. Frankly, I'm not certain if this is a work I can enjoy. I'm the kind of person that wants a realistic story that carries real weight and believable drama. I don't like characters with an imbalanced moral compass, and I dislike rape being used as a story device to prove love. It's a cliche I grew tired of months and months ago, and frankly it's an instant turn-off.
To put it concisely, here's why I ditched this title:

In Chapter 1 the uke literally attempts to - after being knowingly unfaithful to both his partner and his mistress - murder his partner. The scene also involves rape and violence, which turns dark and dramatic. I can tolerate this, except.. The partner is a complete pushover, and even his so-called "friend" turns a blind eye tot he fact that his boyfriend TRIED TO MURDER HIM, and says something along the lines of, "Just another lover's quarrel," with a grin and persuades them to stay together. I can suspend my disbelief only so far. This title being "yaoi" does not, in my mind, serve as an excuse to condone an unstable mess of a relationship. "I love him, so it's okay". Really? Him being unfaithful at any given chance, being dependent, and potentially turning insane from his love for you is "okay"? Seriously?

I did browse Chapter 2, and despite it being a more light-hearted story, it still paints a picture of the boys being obsessive about each other. Codependent, overly self-sacrificing and rather foolish at every chance they get. "Because I love you" is the excuse for their poor decisions, but that wears pretty thin for a reader like me.

I understand the defense of "It's just fiction, guys!" for these kinds of cliches, but there's plenty of phenomenal BL titles that are realistic, and written without needing to hide behind a "but it's just yaoi..." excuse. Of course, anyone can have their own, different opinion. Obviously many fans of this book do.

If you're not as moral or "realistic" in your expectations, it's full of the typical BL elements you'd expect. Pretty art, heavy-handed emotions, obsessive personalities, drama and guys getting it on. It has a soap opera quality, in that it's sometimes romantic, sometimes funny and sometimes upsetting. It could be worth a try if you like more traditional yaoi/BL titles.

Note: Because I didn't read the whole volume, I'm not submitting a "Rating" for the sake of fairness. And it's entirely possible that the first couple is the most off-putting, so take this with a slight grain of salt.

... Last updated 15 years ago

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i love this mangaka's work but my feeling towards this manga can't be expressed into any words.

by Miss.Mist
15 years ago

Rating: N/A

This manga caught my attention at the very first page. I love all the drama within the first chapter. I love the sense of the possessive lover in this piece of work. It might be a little hard core but it actually nailed me down, so the following chapters seemed a little boring for me. I wished the whole volume could miantain such strong sense of drama all along.

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Ultimately a thumb's up

by louie29
15 years ago

Rating: 8.0 / 10.0

After quickly inhaling the first chapter, I wasn't sure if I'd want to continue the series because of the violence. Once I got around to checking it out again, the whole volume was available. Reading the first chapter again (slowly this time), it felt like I could appreciate what a sad, lonely, flawed guy Ryou really was. Neglected, no family to speak of, no friends except for Akio...I forgave him for the violence and melodrama, and forgave Akio for not rescuing him in in a more timely fashion. The humor in the story was more evident and appreciated in the re-read, and it felt like there definitely would be a happy ending for them.,, and all the couples. I'm glad I read this and can recommend it, but understand why a lot of people might not. Will definitely read more by this mangaka, and am glad the scanlators stuck with it.

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Wow

by gloomy_gloo
15 years ago

Rating: 9.4 / 10.0

I didn't really like Madarame Hiro's Akuma series all that much so I wasn't expecting a lot from this one, but wow...this manga blew me away. All of the relationships have such an interesting dynamic that got me hooked from the start, and each character has his own little quirk that will make you love him. The art, of course, is gorgeous as usual, but the plot is also wonderful with all of its drama and angst, and I didn't find the comedic moments too over-the-top as in the Akuma series.

Although some parts in the first story might seem unrealistic and melodramatic to some, I personally think that the way the characters' psyche and relationship were established in the story definitely made the scenario possible.

Overall, I loved all of the stories in this manga and I'll definitely recommend it. I only wish there were more to each story!

... Last updated 14 years ago

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It's....

by Trifoilum
15 years ago

Rating: N/A

......yes. Dramatic. And done well. And beautiful. And well-detailed. >_>; Madarame Hiro really did a good job by putting THAT story as the first wham to all of us.

The rest of that, even the continuation of the first chapter, however, is... fluff. Not as dramatic. Not as..... controversial. And even that story is the reality of "I'll kill you then kill myself!" trope, that seems to be quite prevalent in Japan.

Another case of art and tone saves the (pretty generic) storyline.

... Last updated 15 years ago

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Dramatic, Passionate ... Fictional!

by voraciouszest
15 years ago

Rating: 9.0 / 10.0

I'm really rather sick of reading hateful comments, especially when Madarame Hiro is a talented and original mangaka. So my first recommendation for Scarlet is to (if you're in the habit of doing so) quit trying to relate fiction to reality. Scarlet is dramatic, passionate and very, very unrealistic. Please do not expect anything more than that. After all, we're reading yaoi!

Yes, Scarlet's first story does touch on some quite controversial topics such as infidelity, violence and rape. Ryou is the beautiful, much admired and socially awkward half-Japanese classmate of Akio. After striking up a friendship, they begin a relationship which is difficult from the very beginning. Read onto the spoiler for a more in-depth summary.

Ryou, because of the social stigma attached to being a half-blood and his naturally shy and awkward personality, is easily forced into flings with the many women that hit on him. Akio, in my opinion, is just as much to blame for their troubled relationship as Ryou. Though Akio doesn't cheat, he never speaks to Ryou about his affairs until one particular woman appears on the scene and virtually forces Akio out of the equation. After the ending of the first chapter, where Akio believes that Ryou's act of violence is the proof of his love, it's quite clear that both of the characters are rather messed up.

I'd also like to mention that I can name more than four dozen other yaoi titles with a cheating/violent seme and a pushover uke. Is Scarlet really something to be so shocked about when it's an oft repeated storyline? One quite clear comparison can be made between Scarlet and Let Dai. Let Dai was tremendously popular in the yaoi community and pretty much all of its characters were even more messed up than the first couple featured in Scarlet and the quite long series was even more violent than this one.

Lastly, the overall theme of Scarlet (through the three couples featured within) deals with stories of unbalanced relationships. The semes are tall, handsome and very popular and their uke partners are short, timid and under-appreciated. Though the last two couples feature no hint of violence, the relationships are just as awkward and messed up as the first.

I really do have to insist that you do not neglect to read Scarlet because of the reviews of haters. If you cannot differentiate between fantasy and reality, you shouldn't bother reading. Madarame does a wonderful job of creating an intense drama - just look at all the comments! I'm quite sure that none of the many readers who enjoyed this are rapists or vicious abusers, nor in the support of such people. However, just like another book you might read, or movie you might watch, Scarlet deals with some controversial issues and tries to show you, without influencing you, what happens to these characters when something like this happens.

Madarame's authorial voice is non-existent for a reason. She wants you to have your own reaction to the story, not feed you a reaction herself. Since when do you have to love every character you read about? Why do writers have to create characters only to please you? To be honest, I really didn't like Ryou or Akio and I don't support their actions in the end, but that doesn't mean that I hate the story. In fact, I love it. Why? Because it does a fantastic job of what it's supposed to do and that is to reveal its story, develop its characters and leave me to decide whether I like them or not. I love Scarlet because it is bad, not because I support what happens in it.

Scarlet, though the first couple is frustrating, has its own wonderful merits. The artistic style is absolutely gorgeous and the stories vary from intense drama to light-hearted comedy. Given that this is Madarame's first publication, I think she's done an amazingly good job of tackling some strong issues.

... Last updated 15 years ago

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I love it

by bluesake
15 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

I actually really enjoy this story. I thinks its wonderfully done. Even though Ryou has that type of personality where he cant reject women when they ask him. I do believe his love for Akio is real to the point of desperation. I can't wait to see the rest of the chapters.

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waste of time

by asiancrackerfolife
15 years ago

Rating: 2.0 / 10.0

Okay none of the characters where that appealling. Ryou pissed the hell out of me. I don't call that love at all Ryou and Akio look pretty cute together then the next minute Ryou is banging some chick WTF! This story had no charisma at all. I felt bad for Akio and not at the same time seriously he didn't do anything about the whole cheating thing. Didn't feel much for this manga, but on thing I do believe is.............Ryou should go die in a corner!

... Last updated 15 years ago

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Disagree.

by jadey
16 years ago

Rating: N/A

What most people don't seem to understand here, is that the difference between this rape and the fairy-tale versions of rape in other BL stories is how the manga is fully aware that these two characters are messed up. It isn't something as simple as 'oh, he raped me but he loves me and I love him too so all is well in lala-land!' - the two characters have shown that their love for each other IS borderline unhealthy and obsessive, and their idea of a healthy love doesn't necessarily equate to how YOU equate it to be. There are problems littered everywhere in the manga, Ryou more physical and the other probably more passive, but in the end, this is where they ended up, and whether you like it or not doesn't take away the happy ending that they perceived it to be; there was no glamourized rape, there was no shoujo sparkly bubbles, the manga tells the story as it is.

You could also say this could also be used in defense for the "fairy-tale rape" scenarios, but hey, I'm sure people could tell if a manga is being smarter or just plain retarded and clueless regarding the glamorization (see Innocent Blue).

... Last updated 16 years ago

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Read it if you're up to see the worst side of a person and his twisted ways of love

by tolly
16 years ago

Rating: N/A

I know this just a story...even so...I can't stand it..it's beyond stupidity...
spoiler
I could have liked it more if the main character would have died (he was pretty close to that)...because it would have been tragic and not just stupid. I mean, that wasn't love that was crap..i can't stand those persons in real life and neither here. I would really love it if it were to end in a tragic pitiful way, because that would be more real...more velievable, you know.
And you know, schetenei, I understand what you mean about cheating and all but he just did it because he is a pretty akward and pitiful person who got confused. It got pretty clear when the main character said that this will repeat. I mean, he didn't even break up with that one, she broke up with him.
Anyway, Ryou should go and get a shrink already.
sigh

... Last updated 16 years ago

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