Yes, I have no idea where they got the he's in love with him part from, I guess they read with their eyes closed
I feel like ml being a child and the age gap was pretty integral to the story. it was the reason bonding and intimacy was off the table, it gave mc the space to drop his guard and change from a disillusioned person who felt useless to a leader protecting others; meanwhile being a powerless kid is the only justification I accept for the king to not go back to his throne...
Also I don't wanna be the logical one here but isn't age different in Japan? I know they graduate high school (for them its like 3 yrs) vs USA it's like 4 yrs. People keep forgetting that Japan literally has different views, doesn't make it right but also doesn't not add to perspective
stated age of consent in this manga is set at 18. I think it has more to do with the fact that stories are supposed to be interesting. it's not their purpose to teach morals, we are not in kindergarten anymore (<-- not referring to you)
Wish people could actually think like you do
saw the drama on here so i had to join in.
first of all, yeah this one's really iffy. author could have easily aged up the male lead, maybe made him eighteen when they met *or* make the mc closer to him in age. they still chose to go down the weirder route, and criticizing that is valid.
i don't think it's grooming though. HEAR ME OUT FIRST. we're literally given insight into the main character's thoughts, and at no point does he ever harbour any such feelings for the mc when he's a child. it would be weird if he thought of him sexually, but he doesn't. since we're given access to his thoughts, we also know he had no intention of grooming the kid or anything like that. hence, it's *not* grooming. (imo)
it's still weird as fuck though, idk why authors choose to write stuff like this, plot could've been decent without this one aspect, but calling it grooming would be wrong. just call it disgusting, weird, fucked up, whatever else that's totally fine