Reading this helped me to assimilate the bitter ending it had, such a great reflection.
And no wonder as soon as I read this manga it filled me with anxious and expectations for the next chapter but at the same time I agree with you that it doesn't really need any more.
Again, such a perfect way to show us that relationships between people aren't really that simple and all of us have flaws no matter what
thanks a lot, i appreciate your kind words!
tbh i read the manga just before i was about to go to sleep and just had to type out that big review to process and vent my shock and displeasure but i do feel calmer now.
This manga left me feeling angry and depressed in a very real way that I haven't felt towards a literal piece of fiction in a long time.
Most of the time, when you read a manga, it's very straightforward who the bad guy is. A lot of main characters in yaoi, ukes and semes alike, are selfish, or rude, or even abusive, but the author still tries to give them some redeeming qualities or a sob story, so that you still end up begrudgingly accepting the couple's eventual happy ending. The trope of a past "ugly duckling" getting revenge on their former bully but eventually falling in love with them is certainly nothing new in yaoi.
But what separates this work from other similar ones is the lack of predictability. What I liked (and hated) about it was how bitterly realistic it is. In real life, horrible people stay horrible and it's not possible to forgive someone who utterly crushed your mind and spirit for so long in the span of 5 chapters.
Even though I actively understand it's perfectly logical for tsukasa to turn out to be just as manipulative and cruel as ever, I still despised him deeply. I can usually find some way to connect with even the most flawed characters, but his overwhelming apathy disgusts me. Shuu is no storybook underdog hero either, but I can't help but pity him immensely. To be trapped in such a state of resentment and an ingrained sense of powerlessness in the fact of his old tormentor, along with a new twisted feeling of attachment and desperation, must be psychologically excruciating.
What makes it even worse, just to finish top everything else off, is that despite absolutely everything, I still somehow rooted for their relationship. I wanted Tsukasa to grow remorseful, seek forgiveness and become a better person after he started to care for Shuu, I wanted Shuu to finally break free of Tsukasa's emotional hold on him and get his long-desired revenge not by petty backstabbing but letting go of his issues altogether.
This is the most reluctant 5 stars I've ever given a manga. Why 5, and not 1 or 2, you ask, when it clearly put me in such a foul mood? Because all art has one single purpose that gauges its true worth, and that is its ability to make the viewer feel something. It's not like the author tried to craft a twisted but ultimately uplifting narrative and simply failed at getting the second part across, though that little bit of Tsukasa showing slight affection at the end might imply that. In fact, I'm pretty sure there's going to be no sequel because that wasn't her point. The ending is ambiguous and leaves you with a gut feeling of eventual disaster despite some unexpected positives, which is what most toxic relationships embody.
I believe the author conveyed the message exactly as she intended: human beings are inherently self-destructive, the past always comes back to haunt us, and no matter how much we delude ourselves into thinking people or our own selves are differently, we aren't really - all of which fucking sucks, but isn't any less true.