OmNom - In general I appreciate your comments and I find them very useful (we have similar taste I guess) but not this time. Nope. I just can't agree with you. I love the art style of Ogawa Chise, we all know it's amazing, so let's put aside all the good things for now.
You complained about bodily fluids - I'll try to explain where did that came from and what's this all about. If you dig into the history of Japanese art you'll home in on ukiyo-e - the woodblock prints emerged in the XVII century. Ukiyo-e means "the pictures of the floating world" and the "water" in this term refers to the sex-related business (sth. like "mizu-shōbai" = the water business = the nighttime entertainment business). Ukiyo-e depicted pleasure districts, courtesans, geisha and sex scenes (later also landscapes and more proper stuff) but let's stop here. If you take a better look at the prints of sex scenes (called shunga) from Edo period you'll realise that the size and colour of certain organs is wrong, inhuman - both male and female organs are enormous, moreover the body fluids are overflowing, it's just too much of them on shunga. It had to look like that, it was the canon to portray sex in this art genre in Edo period (and later on). I heard that shunga was considered a protection against fire in merchant warehouses and at home, wanna try to guess why?
Let's go to the conclusion - the amount of body fluids in Ogawa Chise's works is not a matter of imagination or lack of experience in bed, she's clever - she's using and adapting the canon of the old Japanese genre of art (ukiyo-e) to depict sex scenes in her works. She knows the history of Japanese art. Remember that manga itself is also a kind of Japanese art and in a way it's related to ukiyo-e, it's an inseparable connection and what's more manga is basically made for Japanese people who more or less recognize and understand the background of contemporary Japanese art (they're familiar with ukiyo-e). There's not enough space to point everything, so I'll just say you may love or hate it, like you may like impressionism or not, I mean it's all about the art genre standard. I hope you get what I mean.
The imbalance of power between the couple - I don't quite get what's your point. I see that the younger guy has the real power here, he's the one to decide, he's the one to draw the line. His complaints are not serious, not convincing at all, it' more like he's the real teaser here - he brags a little but still he lives in the calligraphy teacher's house although he could easily go back to his parents' house and get rid of Etsuro once and for all. This kind of behaviour is just so typical for a teenager, she couldn't portray it better.
As for the older guy - he's just pretending he's good for nothing, he's been taking care of himself for many years and he was quite successful, it's more like his family opinion made him look pitiful (they can't stand he's not married, that's all), but in reality he's doing just fine. He's got a big house, no debts, a name in the calligraphy world and many students and also many women ready to take care of him. He seems to be carefree but he's got a happy successful life. He proved he's an adult - not only by saving Kyuta from the accident but also while asking "how serious do you want me to be?". I mean he's considerate, thoughtful and kind, he's just playing the fool. You should be able to see the difference, to look - as you said - below the surface. As for the growth of the characters - there certainly is a big change in the end, not splashy but meaningful - again take a look below the surface.
Is it fast paced? Maybe. Rushed? Definitely not. The whole story has a strong background and there's quite long relationship between the main characters, it's not like they met yesterday and had a one night stand. You may be unhappy cause they're blood related but for goodness sake it's Ogawa Chise! She's famous for incest and all kinds of filthy stuff, it's YAOI after all, it's about guys taking up to their asses every day (or night) so don't pretend you're innocent, you know her other works very well. I know you reed them. I'll just assume you slipped through this manga half asleep. I mean no harm, I kind of like you ; )
I like this manga, it's entertaining etc. etc., so if you like Ogawa Chise's works this is a must read.
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