The character developments in NY-NY are amazing. Yes, Kain was an asshole. He was a closeted gay dude from Brooklyn that knew nothing but the gay people he had slept with. Remember, later he recalled of meeting Mel as falling in love at first sight, but at that very moment he was simply attracted to another guy he found at a bar, and didn’t know he would fall that deep. I’m not trying to excuse for his behaviours, but I like to think of him spending the rest of his life loving and caring for Mel as an atonement for having hurt Mel.
The best part and the unique thing about this manga is Kain’s parents. Marimo-sensei did a wonderful job showing their raw emotions in accepting their son as a gay guy and his male partner. It’s so much more common in yaoi genre when MC is given either very understanding and open minded parents, or extremely homophobic parents because those two ends of the spectrum are easier to depict. But Kain’s mother feels so real. I didn’t live in the 80s but I think how they reacted is befitting with the setting of the story as well.
Some drama could have been done less intense, IMO, especially the last arc (my heart hurt so much and I was screaming internally WHY DID YOU DO THAT TO THESE TWO PEOPLE WHY????) but overall it’s one of the greatest tales about LGBT+ ever depicted in manga world.
I have waited my whole life to see this chapter in its beautiful entirety in perfectly understandable English. McQueen saying sorry and calling Edd’s Korean name is so sweet. Thank you.
Btw what happened to the 2 empty pages? ╮(￣▽￣)╭
Then this is a story about two teenagers, who have different but equally strong moral codes, struggle with the consequences of impromptu hormone-driven acts and the taste of first love. It’s so realistic and I suppose everyone should be able to relate to your teenage years. It’s not an unique storyline yet so refreshing when being put into the context of omegaverse. Thanks for the one sharing link to vol 2 chap 3 below, this manga just gets better and better with every chapter (▰˘◡˘▰)
I laughed so hard when he served Emu the horrific nikujaga and said “now it feels like a punishment right” just to validate Emu’s feeling
Am I the only one that think YangYang and LiHuan’s late mother are kinda similar? Their cheerfulness and high tension, even their smiles. Even the way she is proud of her relationship reminds me of when YangYang brags about his boyfriend to the kids in the New Year extra.
I was a bit confused because Kaede said he was a victim of gang rape after saying he has never done it with a man till the end. When in doubt? Let’s see the raw...
He did say he had never dated a man nor done it aside from pseudo sex on stage, that is true. He also mentioned the previous customers took advantage of the attack to gang rape on him. However, the next frame (chap 4 page 35) was translated wrong. Kaede said 寸前でブルーノと紅太に助けられたけど, which means “Bruno and Kouta came to save me just in time, but...”. So he was attacked to be subjected to a gang rape, but was saved before the actual penetrations. Nevertheless, the experience was traumatised for poor Kaede :(( and he became afraid of men who are interested in him.
Just want to clear the confusion ^^ and thank you translator and scanlation group for your hard work! (๑•ㅂ•)و✧
Thank you so much! I was a bit confused about that! Thank you for clearing that up! (●'◡'●)ﾉ
Anyway, brace yourself for more drama coming in next chapter lol...
Thank you so much for clarifying that (⌒▽⌒)
Wow! Thanks for that I was confused too! Good to hear they came to the rescue just in time but omg so much must have happened before they came ╥﹏╥
ohhhh i was confused there too thank you!
Thank you for further explanation
Maybe it's just my interpretation but even if the rape had led to penetration maybe it could have been "i never went all the way(willingly)."? I was a child victim of rape. I say was because I hit a point in my life where i refused to give that person any more control of my life. I refused to be a victim any longer.
Yeah, I regret what I did after that, basically picking up a rando guy I thought I could have sex with, and later did, but I always considered the guy I chose as my first instead of my attacker.
Maybe that's why I wasn't confused at the scanlator's translation because I've been there.
Hi there. I’m sorry for what happened to you and trust me when I say you are truly admirable to refuse to let the past define who you are :)
Aside from the dialogue that I pointed out above, when Kaede said “I has never done it to the end with another man” it sorts of imply that he truly had never experienced penetration. This is a common phrase that is overused throughout the yaoi trope. Of course, the nuance is very subtle and is what I personally get from the Japanese text, so it’s subjective and another person may disagree.
Still, I totally understand what you and other commenters say about how Kaede may have separated consensual sex and rape when he shares about his sex life with Kuroba. Thank you for sharing your story and your opinion (๑•ㅂ•)و✧
You're so sweet for saying that. It took many years and some not so admirable attempts of suicide before i had my "lightbulb moment". Thank you also for clearing up the translation! My Japanese is still very very beginner level so awesome people like you who clarify or revise translations for us are my heroes!
Totally, totally agreed.
Come back in about 3 chapters. Author will offer viewpoints from both MCs on this event, resolution and what not. You all can blame Megumi for what he has done; but why don’t you think that he will also blame himself? For comitting an act that he himself despised so much. I truly feel bad for him.
I don’t usually ship any couple (because they are the author’s creation and the decision is in their hands, not mine) but I really don’t like Taku. Something about him is shady and creepy as f**k (his sloppy eyes don’t help), and it seems that the reason why he appears “decent” is only because the two MCs are a mess. To be honest I would advise all of them to stay away from each other, take time to think and grow up then maybe pick it up from there. Personally I would love to see if Haesoo and Joowon can be better, then rekindle and fix their relationship; but it’s fine if they can’t.
So you don't like someone solely based on how they're drawn. You're shallow af
If your reading skill is only at that then excuse me. Where did I judge the character based on their appearance? Did I say “OMG Haesoo looks like a slut Taku is the split image of a creepy shit of a dude and Joowon must be a major jerk based on how he looks at people”? It’s the way Taku consistently approaches Haesoo despite his resistance at the beginning that causes my uneasiness with his character. His appearance is merely an addition to that (and mind you it might be all in the author’s plan how to portray the characteristics via his look). Anyway, I might be shallow (not even trying to act deep wth) but attacking people online simply because they have a different opinion to yours doesn’t make you a better person. Cheers.
"his sloppy eyes cant help" odndidnodmfofkfkd
That's the artist style. You talk about Rae insulting you but you insulted the author saying that a characters eyes that she drawn is sloppy when it's actually really beautiful art and a clear style of her. She wanted to draw his eyes like that if you've read his character background. Like Rae said, it's a little immature and shallow to solely dislike a character based on how they are drawn.
I'm team Taku and even I think the same way! Why is he in everyone's lives? And this one photoshoot with Joowon might lead to a Photobook so they might do another one? It's cool.. but Taku frickin hangs out with Leo and has a Porn Star ex bf who acts like a crazy child and even posted Taku's sex tape online.. I'm curious what the author is planning and who Taku really is.
Grabbing popcorn and soda and settle down on my couch to refresh the comment thread every 5 seconds
╮(￣▽￣)╭
Sorry I meant to like your comment because I'm gonna do the same thing :)