otakulys's manga / #sad(233)

I really loved Demon Flower, which has a bittersweet ending itself, and I know this mangaka's style is to kill everyone as much as possible, especially sweet and innocent characters that stumble into the frame (I've never read a shoujo manga with so much graphic murder and torture of children), but the ending petered out so oddly. I've owned all four manga since they came out when I was in high school, but I only now read it on here, and I have to wonder if she'd meant to continue this but then it didn't work out, because even compared to her other abrupt endings, this was like she walked off a cliff mid-sentence. Plus, I hate it so much when a character is like, "You're all I care about! I don't have anyone else!" when friends of theirs are literally dying all around them to protect them. Seriously, bitch? You have no one else? The ending was a miss for me. It could have been more powerful, but in the confusion it just fell flat. 2.5 stars overall. EDIT: Apparently there's a follow up out there that she wrote in 2007. I had, in my delirious, sleep-deprived state, thought it was a continuation for Demon Flowers, though I'm not sure how that would have worked, and I got super excited. Now I'm a little sad, but I'm hoping it gets translated eventually, because this ending is so random. We need a follow up.

I seriously spent years agonizing over the fact that the publisher went under before releasing the final, translated volume. I thought I'd never read the ending. Then I discovered it had been scanlated about two years ago, and I was so freaking happy. It took them a while to get to it, so I'd lost hope. Thank you so much to the scanlation team! This manga is so sad and screwed up, typical of the mangaka, but at least the ending isn't as depressing as it is in some of her other stuff. Still sad, but it could be worse. I just saw that she wrote a follow up to the series in 2007, though, and I wonder if anyone will ever pick that up. It's been a long time, though, and it seems like her work is less popular in general, so I have no idea if it'll ever be translated. I miss how active scanlations used to be. EDIT: Damn it, I was deliriously tired when I saw the continuation thing, and it isn't for this at all. It's for the other one, The Demon Ororon. I should have read more carefully. But that one should be translated, because that story had such an abrupt ending.

Those guys are so pretty. I'm forced to assume after a long day they go home and make out. I wish this had been longer. It leaves a lot for you to conclude on your own, which is fine, but there was a lot of potential here. Too bad it's a oneshot. That's pretty much what everyone has been saying, of course. Seems a shame to stop here.

Wow, that's sad and fucked up. Kinda gross. I love bugs, so I knew I probably shouldn't have read this (had the feeling there'd be bug torture and killing), but it's definitely a powerful and sad little short.

Aw, that one was sad! There's usually more of a slight twist to the character in these, but that's okay. Not my fave, but it wasn't bad.

Hm. Kind of abrupt, though I do like that the he was deeply in love with his wife. I hate how yaoi just tosses aside female characters like they're placeholders. I really hate "it's okay if it's you" type stuff with a straight character, so I'm kinda glad it... went the direction that it did. Sad, but it didn't make me cry, which is unusual for me with emotional stuff. I guess I just couldn't really connect with the characters. But it was unusual, so three stars.

Creepy, but it seems to be aware of it? I dunno. Interesting, regardless. Too bad it was so short. I feel like that could have been explored more. Definitely got a Stockholm syndrome vibe.

Kind of jumps around awkwardly, but the art is lovely, and I like it so far. Fingers crossed for it staying awesome. EDIT: After more chapters came out, it quickly became fantastic. I'm really excited to see where this goes. This has so many things that I love and rarely find in yaoi. EDIT AGAIN: So, here I thought this manwha was everything I wanted. We had the dark past with the screwed up, obsessed, gangster lover. We had the new love and the main character moving on. When things went south, I loved it, and I thought this would be a thriller involving them trying to escape and the main character and his sweet boyfriend eventually being together. But the moment it suddenly stopped being about him just trying to protect his current boyfriend, I realized this was just like all the rest. It's rape porn with no real growth on the part of any of the characters. The least it could do was give us the ending these characters deserved. Instead, the main character decides he has to stand by the fact that, after hurting a sweet person, he is never allowed to be happy again, nor is his ex. So, the only way to do that is to get back together? Whatever, they should both just get hit by a bus. I'm so over this crap. It was beautiful art, and it had SO much potential, so I'm endlessly bitter. Why do these things never go a better way?

Aw, that was really sad! I knew it would be, but damn. It wouldn't have made me so sad if he hadn't wanted a friend so badly. His reactions were what got me. Definitely a downer.

This had potential, but it was too short to do what it wanted to do. I would have enjoyed there being more here, like an ongoing history between these two, and an actual relationship (like they knew one another and talked) between the main guy and the younger brother. But at least he doesn't end up with the rapey dude.