So that was... Hunh.
Okay, so you kind of go into it expecting it to be trashy, and it pretty much is for the first part.
Casual misogyny too. Okay. Whatever, I moved on, because I had low expectations going into this to begin with.
Then shit gets kinda real? lol. Though I would've preferred
Akanishi to have developed feelings through a bit more hoops too,
shit surprisingly goes pretty deep and gets pretty well fleshed out. So it turned out actually pretty pleasant, and the later chapters are actually pretty magical in some places and weak in others.
The 8 rating is the book at its best, and is pretty generous. 4 at its worst. Tbh there really was no reason for the scene where Ryou goes
get himself messed up.
I mean yes, it was hot, but it felt so meaningless after the fact that it kind of took away the magic. It would've been more effective if Akanishi
! had actually went to get himself a girlfriend and hadn't realized his feelings either at that point.
People would probably prefer this without the characters freaking out either about their own orientation, but tbh that was a small bummer for me lol. Seeing that kind of internal turmoil is fun for me~ Also it feels so unrealistic... for me, it's distracting, but it's a preference thing.
Another good point is Akanishi trying to develop as a person without being so highly overly possessive, too. No fostering co-dependency, indeed. That's another thing this book has going for it in terms of character depth and development.
The expressions are definitely the highlight of this book. Some of the erotic panels, sure, looked quite damn good, while others were "yikes no thanks" (I'm getting Shungiku flashbacks here sometimes lol). I'm not particularly inclined towards smut in the first place, actually. But yes, the EXPRESSIONS. WERE SO GOOD. Honestly yeah seeing all of Ryou's faces of vexation, yearning, and pain... A+ (ok hand)
So yeah, surprisingly more depth than expected! Kinda worth reading, I guess, but not the best. I love this kind of trope because it seems so superfluous but then sometimes ends up having more depth than a lot of things, lol. It was a pleasant surprise!