I completely agree with you, though I also think in the first chapters, Takano sexually assaulted Onodera... I mean their dynamic was problematic from the very beginning (like many yaoi)
I am still reading it because I was so young when I discovered it, and I can't bring myself to dislike this manga, idk.. but I recognize their relationship (maybe less now in the most recents chapters that weren't translated yet) is/was toxic :/ people blame Onodera but Takano kept him from confessing multiple times, never respect his boundaries, assaulted him multiples times in the beginning + raped him in that one chapter.. (I absolutely hated that chapter, I wish it didn't exist) So yeah, I coompletely understand your point
The thing is, even in the beginning it wasn't THAT bad. It was dub-con.
On paper it's rape cause onodera said no. But we as a reader knew that onodera secretly wanted it. And he ultimately gave into it, stopped resisting.
In the real world this absolutely not conset but in the world of old school yaoi this all relies on the assumption that "if he actually didn't want it, he could and would have pushed him off and the other part knew this."
And compared to other stuff of that time this was super tame. Which is why I kinda give it a pass - it's a product of its time. Or at least, it was.
What happened in that recent chapter was not dubcon but full on noncon. Onodera did NOT want it, did resist and masamune had to hold him by force, leaving him with bruises. This is completely different and does not go by the rules of dubcon. And with it came this whole rape excusionary rhetoric that it didn't have before. Onodera blaming himself, apologizing and masamune himself justifying his actions. The author 100 % knows this is different.
And unlike the beginning it's not a product of 2000s toxic yaoi but of the 2020s. And this kind of stuff doesn't fly anymore today. Other authors like the one od hidoku shinaide have changed their work with time and adapted. Hidoku shinaide starts off so horribly (which is why I can't read it) but it becomes much more wholesome and actually addresses the issue.
The author of sekaiichi however has not done this but instead made it even worse
I sometimes wonder how such scenes are viewed in Japan. Especially since it often gets handled like this - like he's not completely the victim, while the other party is completely in the wrong. Moments like this should always be the end of any relationship, but here... it's just frustrating in the extreme.
I'm so sick of this manga by now.
The anime will forever have a place in my heart. But the manga is kinda ruining it for me now. Last year I read the manga up to date and was shocked at how slow the progress was going. Then they were finally getting somewhere - just so that masamune ACTUALLY raped onodera.
Like before that point it was always kind of okay because onodera wanted it (obviously that's not how it works but well, that's old-school yaoi for you). But that was full on rape. Then his friend also assaults him!!!
And what happens??? Onodera APOLOGIZES for hitting him to get him off himself. And he thinks it's HIS fault that masamune raped him, cause he didn't confess yet. Absolutely sickening.
I really can't anymore with this rape excuse behavior.
Apart from that, it doesn't even make me feel anything anymore. This was THE BL for me when I was younger. I so desperately wanted them to get together. It made me feel it.
Now I'm just.... bored. Like others have commented, it's always the same shit over and over again.
Their relationship is no fun. Masamune knows onodera loves him and onodera knows it too. There is literally no need to say it. Part of a good love confession is the surprise element - and here it's neither apparent in the reader nor the characters. We get to see how onodera thinks about it and masamune frequently asks about it. And is being an annoying ass about how it has to be done. I just want it to be over. It's been so fucking long for me and for them as well (idk how long ahhaha).
The excitement I once felt has completely vanished.
What it previously had, that made it appealing:
- the reversal of their relationship compared to when they were younger, that masamune was chasing onodera this time
- onodera denying his attraction but being unable to resist masamune
- the reader knowing, that onodera still had feelings
- but onodera not knowing / not wanting to know
- masamune also not knowing and having doubts
- the tragedy of them both loving each other but not being together because of the past still haunting onodera
So what's left?
Onodera knows his feelings and so does masamune. Onodera does not deny his feelings anymore. Masamune either has weird ass doubts that make him rape onodera or he KNOWS that onodera loves him. They are not together because onodera has not confessed. Which he would have, if masamune didn't stop him.
Basically, everything that made this appealing is gone and instead we are left with the same stale shit happening over and over again.
I am a sucker for love confessions and having it so aggressively shoved into my face how onodera is planning this shit and how they talk about it... it just ro robs me of my joy