I can’t help but compare Cheese in the Trap to Kare Kano.
——
Arima vs. Jung
They are kinda similar but not really. They’re both problematic (mostly Jung) and needed therapy (mostly Arima).
The main difference is Arima’s past is just…yikes. Like it makes sense why he is the way he is with the possessiveness and all. Jung on the other hand, something’s missing. I know most of it had to do with his sus dad, but it felt lacking. The entire time, his manipulative ways and how it explained in the end that it was all because of Sul, I just don’t buy it.
In real life, Jung could be considered as a sociopath. No amount of “He was in love”, or “He was traumatized” could convince me that he isn’t at-least some kind of psycho. “Jerk” is an understatement. I hate that this wasn’t explored more.
——
Yukino vs Sul
Completely different people. Yukino is more mentally stronger. The only similarity is that both characters accepted the main mc for who they were. Then again, Sul, with all the things Jung did, it doesn’t make sense for her to trust him completely, or ever.
——
Verdict
Cheese in the Trap was very interesting in the “beginning”. If the story didn’t include romance, I think it would have been better. Why? The author succeeded to make Jung Yoo a really creepy and interesting character yet also failed at it. I wish we got a more elaborated backstory of Jung’s dad. I swear Cheese in the Trap could have been Jung’s origin story. He is kinda a villain in my eyes.
Sul is the “mouse” right? Well the author also succeeded to present that majority of Sul’s problems stemmed from Jung and the blonde siblings. Funny, she is indeed trapped, forever, with Jung.
The story became repetitive with all the added plots of students backstabbing each other. It got so boring by the end. And that ending? What? What was that?
Two broken people cannot fix each other. It almost always lead to self-destruction.
——
To be honest, I’ve read this a long time ago when it was still in the early stages. Revisiting the series made me question it a lot. I might as well revisit Kare Kano.