Which do you fear more? Pain or Humiliation? Not talking about petty shame, the type that comes from failure, embarrassment or the like. But real humiliation. Worst case here was something like being subjected to
gang-bang, having it lavishly video taped and spread on the internet
so that no matter where you go, no matter how hard you try to hide, there will always be the chance that the people around you will have been intimate witness to the most debasing violation imaginable. Maybe they even enjoyed it. Regardless of if they couldn't or wouldn't, they certainly didn't stop or prevent it. Now you can't escape from wondering what they might be thinking, their judgement. How deafening would their silent thoughts be? Their glances, the unspoken body language of rejection or speculation?
Would any level of pain be worse than that?
I'm afraid of pain. So much so it motivates me in almost anything I do. But after reading Wolf Guy up to the beginning of volume ten, I think I'm re-evaluating that. People can die from rape. What level of torture would that have to be to kill a person? To not be able to shower, the salt, etc, assaulting touch, taste and smell. A constant reminder of what's been done in every breath that jars ravaged muscles and raw skin. To be exposed to whatever temperature the abandoned building was, with no covering to escape from it.
Rape is humiliating enough but
to have it put on the internet and be popular…?
Especially in a society like Japan, where the group comes before the individual. Nails that stick up are hammered down. What would happen to this nail? What would that knowledge do to this nail or anyone who cared about her?
What is it about Wolf Guy that has really caught my attention? I was horrified, repulsed, disgusted by what the author/artist dredged me through. And yes, they didn't have to. We as readers aren't so desensitized that half of that would have sufficed for the shock and awe. But maybe that's why they did it. Every moment of reading it, my hands wouldn't put it down because I kept thinking,
he's going to finally make it. Someone's going to stop this. There are so many chapters left, it'll happen any page now and then I can read about the aftermath to get the foul taste out of my mouth. Even as I'm getting closer and closer to what has currently been released, someone, anyone, will burst through the door, some crazy fight or interruption will ensue, and I'll have the satisfaction of knowing it's over. I'll be able to put down this now-wretched manga and move on to better uses of my time… But it never happened. By the time I had caught up with what had been released, no one had come.
Tasting bile in my mouth, I walked away troubled, determined to move on. But, my mind keeps drifting back to what I read. Even as I read something else, my mind is thinking about what these characters reactions would be in that situation. Would they still try to save the girl, even after it's too late?
Then I start reevaluating that, what would "too late" be? She dies? I don't think so; then she wouldn't have to face the world, stranger and acquaintance alike, who has witnessed this. Her body is maimed beyond mental maiming and the rape? I'm a believer that mental maiming can be worse than physical. Makes interaction with other people harder as they can't see the extent of the damage or what form it takes. They don't know to stay away or what to avoid talking about. I do find the seeming contempt of the author/artist for the readers intriguing. Here we have the typical fan-service girl with bodily proportions and clothing and supposed attitude to match, even the "older female" and "teacher" genres are included, a few light scenes where she gets into bad situations to tickle the imaginations of readers who are into that sort of thing and then they make her completely undesirable as a fan-service character by extending the worst possible scenario beyond the breaking point of most readers.
She still looks fine, big chest and all (with no obvious disfiguration, so far),
but the readers know exactly what has been done to her and how much was done. So many of the comments here have shuddered about how this girl is no longer something they would have romantic interest in or they think the main character wouldn't have interest in her anymore. But I think the author/artist know exactly what they are doing.
So I love the guy who's trying to save her; even as he knows all of what has happened to her? No, I think it's deeper than that. Like when I first read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, I've taken an interest in what happens to these people so much so that I would damage my own health over it to find out what happens in the end. Respect. I think that's closer. I have been moved. Nothing else matters, no matter how dirty she (or society, or me "the reader") now thinks she is, he's still going to try to save her. He still Values her. This idea is all the more powerful when contrasted with his earlier contempt for humans and tendency toward a philosophy of isolationism.
I was intrigued by this series before, good art, interesting premise and all, but, after thinking about it, now I'm hooked. Of course, seeing how the story isn't finished, there is still the possibility of the ever-feared "lame" ending. But I, for one, am willing to see how this one ends.
(-4)
(+182)
