Okay, about ch 3...

As a side note, i don't think Kureshima was being as much of a bastard as people are thinking. There're 2 things in ch 3 that he did that are definitely questionable, these are 1. He coerced Oono into masturbation. This one is a bit of a gray area... His METHOD of coercion is the thing, he didn't physically force Oono or threaten to hurt Oono/anyone important to him if he didn't masturbate, he just threatened to leave and stop talking to him. Don't get me wrong, this was totally a dick move, but Oono was left with the choice not to do it. It was Coercion, but a very mild form of it in which he left Oono a choice to say no with low risk. 2. He wasn't as gentle as he could've been with Oono during the penetration. To be clear, you can go back and see for yourself that at no point did he physically force Oono, he never held him down or anything. What i mean by this isn't that he forced Oono, but that he could've eased his dick in instead of going inside in one thrust. This, to me, is another gray area. Him not being as gentle as he could be is objectively a dick move, but if you consider the circumstances you can kinda see why he'd choose speed over care. He was having sex with his straight crush, he had successfully got him horny through delusions. Keep in mind that he KNOWS Oono is imaging the two of them at this point, he went out of his way to shift Oono's delusions from being about Sasaki to being about the two of them, that is what the dirty talk during the delusion was about, shifting it from Sasaki to Kureshima. Meaning he KNOWS that his crush is hard, he can see it, and he KNOWS that his crush is hard imagining being touched by him. If that isn't a green light to take things further i don't know what is. So, he pushes him down onto the bed and starts touching his nipples like he'd been saying he wanted to do. It makes sense to do what Oono found hot enough to get hard about so he begins touching Oono's nipples, just like he'd been dirty talking to Oono about which is where Oono would be in the delusion. Oono goes from imagining his nipples being touched to them actually being touched, this keeps the horny mood going and Kureshima decided to finger him while he's distracted by his nipples and then fuck him when he's loose. Do you see what i mean? Kureshima was just following the flow, i don't think he was actively raping Oono, i think he was just having sex with the guy he likes. This is further supported in ch 4 when Oono kicks Kureshima and Kureshima stops, he doesn't force Oono to continue or hold him down and fuck him. He stops when he sees that Oono no longer wants it.

Wow, yeah everything you said here and in the other comment seems to match up pretty well. Dick move for seme to sHove it unprepared but yeah, I don't think it was rape per se.

Thanks! It took a LOT of looking at ch 3 and thinking about it from their perspectives. (￣∇￣")

I was gonna say, I don't think you're suggesting it for shock value, some yaoi manga has RAPE, don't get me wrong, it can happen. But I think this story has more to it, as you so well explained. ╮(￣▽￣)╭

"shock value"? I'm not sure what you mean by that, but you're right, these're my honest thoughts after serious contemplation.

I mean I've gone through other comments and some people have considered you as trolling or trying to get a negative response, whereas I figured you'd done your research ahaha

Oh, yeah... Though anyone who has called me a "troll" only did so because i disagreed with them and brought forward a good argument while doing so. If you look back, my 1st comment was that it wasn't rape at all, i got a bunch of dislikes and hate because i guess a bunch of people looked at the raws and saw the kick. I was just basing my opinion on ch 3 at the time... I decided to read the raws myself and form my own opinion on what i saw and even corrected my original opinion that it wasn't rape to that: while it was rape, i only think it was from Oono's PoV, i really don't think Kureshima was thinking in his head "i'm raping him right now", and that even that might've been influenced by the suddenness of the sex, maybe had Kureshima taken his time things would've been emotionally more bearable and Oono wouldn't have kicked Kureshima off him and been so hurt after. You can see that Oono was at least low-key becoming attracted to Kureshima even before the rape, he has trouble imagining Sasaki and gets horny when Kureshima is dirty talking to him. Oono says he has trouble imagining Sasaki because Kureshima is watching, but said that nervously like it is an excuse. He had been cumming in class around students every day... He had done it with Kureshima watching before too. It was a statement made in denial because he is confused about his gay feelings. If i were just trolling why would i admit i was wrong about my 1st comment? They just got butthurt and decided to call me names when they had no argument. ╮(￣▽￣)╭

i'm sorry i accidentally pressed thumb down (ーー;)

You're fine :^D

i appreciate all the explanation you have done, but this was ACTUAL rape. All the things you used as arguments for supporting that it isn't make it even worse. He is using manipulation in it's finest ways since the first time he saw him and decided to play him. Yes, he has a crush on him but that does not eman he can do anything without consent. I t was quite obvious Oono was uncomfortable and the delusions can not be used as excuses because they put the uke in a vulnerable state in which he can't control his thoughts and the seme used that. I really don't know how this can be consent in any way. Oono was manipulated and pressured into doing these things and this would be considered very bad in real life, but people get through with it because they just manipulate and abuse people and trust me emotional abuse leaves much bigger scars then just getting beaten up. Right now, this can take the stereotypical "uke was raped, but still ends up with seme, without actually resolving such an important issue and everything is fluffy again" or the "uke is gonna break and become dependent and tied down to the seme"

I'm writing you a book :^D Please read this, i put a lot of effort in! Don't take anything offensively, caps aren't me yelling, just me putting emphasis on words! Okay: Your entire response is based on that "Oono was in a vulnerable state in which he can't control his thoughts". There is nothing proving or even indicating that he can't function normally during his delusions. I'd actually like to point out that there is evidence in abundance to the contrary as he'd been masturbating in class each day, meaning he must've felt some measure of security that he'd not get caught incapacitated while in a delusion. I'd also like to point out that during the delusion in the rape scene Oono is talking with Kureshima while getting started, he is actively starting his delusion and talking to Kureshima at the same time, meaning he is coherent. He actually does this throughout the entire manga, if he wasn't coherent during his delusions then how would he imagine what Kureshima is saying? He wouldn't be able to hear him. I'll submit to you saying 2 things: 1. "he is using manipulation since he 1st met him", since i agree that Kureshima is a manipulative seme (though really not to any dangerous degree, his manipulations are just kickstarts to get Oono horny through dirty talking), what i disagree with however is that this means he is an all around bad guy. And 2: that the sex scene in ch 3 "is ACTUAL rape", i'll agree for now as, while i don't think Kureshima was intentionally raping Oono, if it was a bad experience once he got penetrated (i think he was fine till then, he only kicks Kureshima after being penetrated, he doesn't even resist before) then it was rape as he started to not want it when anal was involved, but couldn't kick him off in time to prevent it. Future chapters may change my mind on whether or not this was rape, depends on what Oono has to say. I had raised the argument that Kureshima only really seems to "manipulate" (put in quotes for a reason i'll explain after this sentence) Oono at key points, i'd like to add onto this and bring something forward, Kureshima has always Left Oono a choice before resorting to "threats" (i'll explain why this is in quotes further down), he always asks (step 1) and then tries to talk him into it (step 2) before (step 3) "threatening" him (i put this in quotes because any time he "threatens" Oono he never does it in an intimidating way, he's always smiling and the "threat" is always said in a joking way). Let me explain why i put manipulate in quotes: i think that the manipulation is actually in Oono's head(remember this, it's the reason i'm about to go over these instances in the manga). I'll explain this by giving examples for you to look at, the instances of the "threats".
1. Look back at chapter 1 pgs 22-33 (you should look at these pages for context so it's easier to understand), the first "manipulation" starts here. The events from pages 22-33 are as follows: Kureshima tells Oono that he has observed that Oono masturbates in class and asks how he does it without touching himself, Oono tells him about his delusions and gives an example of how they work through explaining how he can imagine the taste of a beverage. This (ch 1, pg 23) is where Oono asks Kureshima not to tell anyone about the delusions and Kureshima agrees under the condition that he shows him the delusions in action (he asks this pretty lightly, this is step 1). Oono is surprised an doesn't know what to say when Kureshima continues to try to talk him into it (step 2) saying "come on, i really wanna see it". Oono is shocked and doesn't know what to say (but doesn't refuse btw, he just stays silent). Kureshima could've threatened to expose the delusions here to get what he wants, but instead the conversation moves on to Sasaki which is when Kureshima reveals that it is Sasaki Oono masturbates to in class. kureshima then "threatens" Oono by saying "hmm... shall we let the whole class know?", but take a look at the page (ch 1, pg 27). If you notice, Kureshima is smiling when he says this and the dialogue here specifically is italicized like it's supposed to be said jokingly. A "this is hilarious, i found your weakness so i'll flaunt it a little" type thing, i think he was making a harmless joke. Oono then refuses saying "i wont in a place like this", this is the interesting part, Kureshima had the upper hand, he could've kept on with the threat and forced Oono to show him the delusion, but instead HE DROPS THE THREAT ENTIRELY and starts to talk dirty to Oono, Oono gets horny and then Kureshima puts his foot on Oono's dick to help him finish. Kureshima then just leaves, no threats or anything.

2. The next bit of "manipulation" comes in ch 2, pgs 8-24(again, you may want to read the pages for context). The events are as follows: First i'll discuss the events from pgs 8-11: Kureshima takes Oono to eat lunch, they talk for a bit and Kureshima talks dirty to Oono very briefly as a joke, to tease him because of the delusions. Oono gets hard and Kureshima grabs his erection before saying "dude, i'm just teasing you". This isn't a particularly important part, i just wanted to explain it because it might look to some like he got him hard and grabbed his erection with ulterior motives, but i think he was just teasing him like he said. Pgs 19-24 are where the "manipulation" takes place, the events are as follows: Kureshima gets jealous of Sasaki getting so close to Oono so he either accidentally spills his drink on Oono or does it on purpose. He yelled in surprise when it fell over so i think accident? Kureshima takes Oono to the restroom to dry his pants. Here is where it starts. Kureshima's goal is to help Oono dry his pants, at first he asks him to take them off so he can (step 1), Oono gets embarrassed and refuses so Kureshima tries to talk him into letting him dry them (step 2) by saying he'll just dry them while they're still on if he wont take them off.Oono is still embarrassed and refuses saying he can do it himself so Kureshima (step 3) "threatens" Oono saying "come on now, behave or i'll expose you and your habit of havin perverse delusions" ". This "threat" is a gray area, here he threatened to expose the delusions, something he promised not to do, but take a look at the page (ch 2, pg 22), if you look you'll see that Kureshima is smiling and coming across really friendly while he says this and again the dialogue is italicized here specifically to indicate he is saying it jokingly. I think he isn't being serious with this "threat", i'd even say it's obvious he's not.

3. Now, the last bit of "manipulation" comes before the infamous rape scene when Kureshima gets Oono to masturbate. This scene is from ch 3, pg 4-30(yes, almost the entire chapter. This entire chapter is important to read as it shows Sasaki is contacting Oono more and this is making Kureshima jealous). The events are as follows: on pg 4 i'd like to point out Oono's dialogue "Sasaki has started talking to me more often", from here on it shows that the two of them have actually been talking more even to the point of her fixing Oono's hair when it shows Oono's 2nd fit of jealousy involving Sasaki (1st was in ch 2 when he spilled the drink on accident) when he ruffles Oono's just combed hair. Kureshima and Oono go about their school day till pg 9 where it shows Oono's affinity towards Kureshima increasing when he says "now i get lonely when i'm alone. Why?". Oono brings Kureshima to his house and the two of them go up to Oono's room. On page 11 Oono just starts undressing without thinking and this seems to have some effect on Kureshima, i'm assuming it makes him a little horny, but not much as on pg 12 he starts digging through Oono's phone and sees some of Sasaki's texts to Oono, one of them being what looks like an invite to an aquarium date. On pg 13 Kureshima asks Oono why he hasn't replied to Sasaki about the date, you have to keep in mind that he has feelings for Oono at this point so it would seem he was gauging things. "is he going to date her, do i have a chance still?", that type of thing. He concludes that Oono is "inexperienced in both love and friendship". "inexperience" will only buy so much time though, eventually Oono WILL muster up the courage to reply to her so he decides to try and turn the mood sexy now that he knows Oono hasn't replied to Sasaki yet, on pg 15 Kureshima asks Oono "recently, you haven't been doing it, right?... Perhaps since THAT day?". Here is the "manipulation", on page 17 (Note: the entire page is italicized so you can tell from that plus the flow of the conversation and Oono's face that pg 17 is supposed to be a joke.) Kureshima asks (step 1) "why don't you do it now? I want to watch". Oono says "of course i'd refuse" so Kureshima tries to convince him saying "if you wont do it i'll let out your little secret" (again, look at pg 17 to see that this isn't a serious threat) and continues on to say that "he'll stop talking to Oono because he wont be able to have his delusions at his leisure while Kureshima is around". On pg 18 Oono replies saying "but... I didn't say anything..." (here he is saying he didn't say anything like that because Kureshima is saying that Oono can't have his delusions whenever he wants like he used to while he is around) before being interrupted by Kureshima saying "So stop your whining and just do it, do it Oono". He says this while smiling, i think when Oono went to say he "didn't say anything like that" it made Kureshima happy because that means that Oono can have sex delusions while he's around which might mean he has a chance, hence the smiling. At the middle if pg 18 Oono isn't sure what to do because he just said he didn't have a problem with Kureshima being around during the delusions, but he is still not sure if he wants to because he's straight and has never though about letting a guy watch him masturbate before. At the bottom of pg 18 Kureshima sees Oono indecision and sighs, after all, Oono had JUST said he's fine with it. On pg 19 Kureshima decides to "threaten" (step 3) him by saying "you're just dawdling so i'm going home". Oono says he'll do it and masturbates for him. I really think it was consensual on both sides once Kureshima started to dirty talk him up until he penetrated Oono specifically with his dick because Oono doesn't struggle even while he is being fingered while his nipples are being teased, it wasn't until his penis went in that Oono struggled and kicked him off. With that in mind, From here you should read my analysis of the actual sex scene up above. My original post that these replies are under.

Now, i believe i've shown you how his "manipulation" is always a 3 step process and how he's never really serious about his "threats" except during the rape scene, there he was really going to leave, but i don't think he was going to stop talking to him. I think that all of his "threats" were jokes and that the "threat" in the rape scene was a very minimal form of coercion. All he was threatening to do was go home... How is that a real threat that "forced" Oono to masturbate for him? I bring these "manipulation"s up for a reason, i had said that i think they're all in Oono's head, i'd like to add onto this and say that what i mean is that it is the insecurities in Oono's mind that make him THINK Kureshima is blackmailing him when the blackmails are just jokes up until the rape scene in the 3rd chapter and even that "threat" was weak at best and left Oono the choice to say no, this is evidenced by 2 things: 1. what i just pointed out, that the "threats" are all fake or mild and 2. by some dialogue i'll quote: in ch 1, pg 26 Oono says "it's still better if he did not find out", context is key here as Oono says this AFTER Kureshima had already said he wouldn't tell anyone about the delusions, this shows that he's afraid of Kureshima even KNOWING about them regardless of the fact that he said he wouldn't tell. In ch 2, pgs 3-7 you literally SEE Oono freaking out thinking that Kureshima probably told everyone/is going to tell everyone even though he said he wouldn't. And in Ch 2, pg 8 Oono says "Kureshima doesn't really seem to be the pushy type... But he's got something on me so i can't really refuse him", here he is saying that he doesn't think Kureshima would blackmail him, but that he feels like he can't say no. He is literally saying its in his head.

^ this.
Just because someone is aroused doesn't mean they can't be raped. So many rape myths on this site fml.

I don't think you're properly understanding that argument, when people say "they were aroused so it wasn't sex" they're almost always saying that in an emotional context, not physical. No one here thinks that if you're physically aroused that it isn't rape, the argument is that the "victim" ACTUALLY wanted to have sex with the "abuser" because they like them. I use the words "victim" and "abuser" lightly here because the entire idea is that it wasn't rape in the 1st place, just didn't know what else to call them here. The only times this argument is even brought up is during the gray areas in yaoi like ch 3 in this manga. It shows Oono starting to like Kureshima, whether platonically or romantically, despite Kureshima making their relationship sexual multiple times. Can you see why people might think, "maybe this scene isn't rape?" I mean, he's not struggling, he said he's horny, the plot up till now has built Oono's affinity towards Kureshima and to top it all off Oono never actually says no, that's just an SFX that the translator put there and could be a misrepresentation of what's actually happening.".

"they were aroused so it wasn't rape*" is what i meant there, not sex.

soooo....all of those teenage guys who manipulate girls into their beds (or the backseat of their cars) are rapists as well? Good lord, that would make a large population of males (and possibly some females) rapists by your standards. Girls get tricked into having sex all the time. "If you don't sleep with me, then we're through!" She may not be ready to have sex, but that threat, that manipulation if you will, pressured her into having sex. And she may regret it later, but that doesn't make it rape. It makes the guy an @$$ and the girl a bit of an idiot (I'll be nice and say she's too young to be making adult decisions).
I'm withholding judgement on the whole rape question until I read the whole thing

I have to say that i agree with this, it sounds shitty, but it's reality. There aren't only rapists, there're also assholes too. I think a lot of less critical, logical people conflate these two, which is a problem because if you were to ask any rape victim what type they'd rather have sex with it'd always be the asshole type because she has a choice to say no. Rapists have a very specific mindset, they ARE going to get what they want when they get you alone while as an asshole is just going to be pushy. This manga being 1 such example, people are calling Kureshima a rapist which, as of right now, isn't accurate. Kureshima never forced Oono, he gave him a choice the entire time, he just made the choice seem shitty. He talked him into it. Then when he was masturbating he got Oono horny and moved on to sex. Honestly, i consider Kureshima a mild case of the asshole type because at least he did it out of love and didn't like hold him down or try to talk him into continuing when Oono kicks him off in ch 4. They were already having sex and Kureshima knows now that his "i'll leave" threat works, he could've been like "you really want to kick me off? All right, but its your choice, you're choosing to not be in my life anymore", but instead he stops and leaves. What happened was that he talked Oono into masturbation, got him horny, moved onto sex and then left stopped when he saw Oono no longer wanted it. That's not rape. Do i think Oono WAS raped? Maybe. Right now i'm saying yes because i saw the kick in ch 4 and the angst over the sex, but i don't understand korean and he could be saying anything there. The future chapters will decide for me whether it was rape or if the translator just labelled it rape and threw in rapey SFXs like "nooo!" to drive their interpretation home. If those dark panels are him upset about the sex, then i'll say that partway through the sex it became rape, up until he was penetrated he wanted it. If those panels are actually him getting all depressed because he isn't sure if Kureshima actually likes him and he thinks he was played with, then it wasn't rape.

Hmm, new perspective. I'll contemplate. However, I do believe in "one does not simply surprise butt sex."

Most sex is spontaneous. Never mind manga, you wont often find people who consciously plan out a sex schedule even in real life. Most sex is a surprise, usually it is a good surprise. My argument here is that it was a good surprise for Oono at least until the penetration. He was iffy about masturbating for Kureshima, but once Kureshima got him horny he was fine. My evidence is that he literally says himself that he's getting horny (page and quote above) and doesn't resist or try to stop Kureshima till he's been penetrated. I honestly think he'd have been shocked, but only embarrassed if Kureshima had stopped at fingering him. I think the penetration is where he crossed the line, hence Oono ONLY kicking him AFTER being penetrated, not even when he was fingered. I'd say the flow was fine, he convinced Oono to masturbate, got him horny with dirty talk and then when Oono was feeling good he slipped his fingers in and then penetrated when he was loose. Pretty standard.