beta
be so serious... just because theyre pg doesnt mean this isn't major league wrong... does everyone know the original meaning of the term grooming???
not only is it super predatory age-wise, its also super predatory as a fan-idol parasocial relationship. I literally refuse to accept any rebuttal that starts with "its fiction" or "its a story", as thats just a dismissal of what stories do in our society.
Stories reflect the authors worldview and inform readers on how the world ought to be. Should children be getting groomed by adults? Is it ok just because the leading romantic partner is cute or hot or silly? Or because it seems like he simply doesnt know any better? Is it okay just because the protagonist is getting what she wants?
The story also spins a narrative where adults cannot normally tell that someone underage is a minor. Most adults can tell if someone is simply under the age of 22. This could be overlooked, but the story is targeted towards young girls like the main character, who may inadvertently take these messages to heart, and put themselves in harms way. This could be refuted by saying "oh well, when i was a kid i wasnt influenced by what i read or watched", which first of all is not true even if it wasnt obvious, and second of all how can you guarantee that your classmates or friends are not influenced by what they consume as well?
The book is LITERALLY grooming young girls, and the amount of people pointing it out is absolutely not an issue of only targeting this book because of the ml, this book gets more attention and stands out most because it presents itself as the most innocent, and has a more compelling hook to it.
Things like their "age gap" and social issues could all be written off "because its a story, its fiction", only if it were being targeted towards adults with the right genre being applied (IT IS NOT OK FOR ADULTS TO BE READING THIS EITHER UNLESS A MAJOR TONE CHANGE WAS MADE). If the story actually took its audience to heart.
When i was around 12-14 i remember actively searching for manga just like this. Literally looking up "age gap" and "wrestler", LITERALLY i was the target audience, and im sure if i had found it when i was searching, i would have put it at the top of my list of favorites. Theres a lot of manga I put there that when I look back at them now, i feel a lot of pain, because they were absolutely unacceptable to be reading, period. I dont want young me reading this shit, and just because I wouldnt go searching for it now, does absolutely not mean it was okay for me to be searching for it when i was the target audience.
Its not just not ok for kids, its a dangerous mindset for adults to have too, that reading this is ok. And im not even that sensitive ab these things fr, i read anything