Spoilers should always be hidden using spoiler blur.
When discussing a specific section, please mention where you are in the book, ideally by chapter so people reading different versions have a clear point of reference.
Feel free to read ahead if it’s exciting, but please refrain from spoiling ahead of the appropriate week.
If you have a question about grammar, vocab, cultural things, etc - ask! That’s a welcome part of the discussion too, and other readers will be happy to help.
I was screeching through the first half of the chapter so hard my bf came over to check if maybe I’m being murdered by our cat lmao
Really, “consent”? “People that do it as their job”? Masamichi just kept putting his foot in lol
Also, “not the fingers 'cos it’s a waste now that you’ve made them the way you like them”? Babyyy, baby no. Don’t be like that.
There is a lot of empathy Masamichi is applying to Shino’s inhumanity. It’s somehow sad than when people do it IRL it’s “ignoring the red flags” but in our books is what creates a relationship
I have to say, I’m really impressed by Masamichi’s ability to remain level-headed and to rationally try to explain his feelings to Shino. And to even attempt the sleeping together strategy after all that. He really is a mature character.
While a big part of me agrees that it’s perhaps.. too much ignoring the red flags, it is a work of fiction and Shino is a non-human character. He is also a character who has mostly lived in the past - I assume the people he interacted back then had a different view of intimate relationships (consent and woman rights were unfortunately not big a couple of centuries back).
I also wonder if there are just cultural aspects involved. I feel like in Japanese (non-western?) media, things like red-flags or consent in relationship are a bit more blurred, which is a criticism I see quite often for (especially older) shoujo/BL and romance genres.
I ended up finishing the book last week, and I didn’t make a note of where in the chapter week 10 ended, so I can just comment about the whole thing now!
Weeks 10-11
This was my favorite chapter of the book! It started off a bit sus with the “please don’t rape me” bit, but in universe it was kinda reasonable. I did like how they ended up in bed together, and could see how over the course of a few books this could turn into an actual relationship. I can’t imagine them getting together in the first book of the series, but I am a bit curious about the old series. Anyway, curiosity for Later.
But as much as I enjoyed that part, I loved the evil sweater attacks host guy story! This is what I was hoping most of the book would be, tbh, and finally got me invested enough to for sure read more of this series. I loved the back and forth with Shino and the host guy, I loved how he came with his “best offer” and Shino was like “well yeah, if you want a 6万円 (or whatever it was) solution” and it was all *chef’s kiss*
But now that I think of it, didn’t this all start with Masamichi having a headache? I can very much empathize having to have important conversations with a splitting headache
Really like how we actually had a ‘case’ with a client in this chapter and how the interaction went overall. It was really interesting to read.
I was also positively surprised that Shino is paying for Masamichi to go to a cram school and study for his exams again! It really feels like a big gesture for me (as someone who values education), and I admire Shino more after this.
Yeah, it does seem like a solid foundation for a slow burn romance. I also notice Masamichi is curious about several aspects of Shino’s life, so I can see him gradually falling in love as well.
Yes!!!
I adore how he’s doing something big like this (and it sounded like a good place too) and then gets all uncomfortable at the praise like this is the bare minimum.
I think Shino fixed it by closing the third eye or whatever, but as a girl with migraines the fact that the pain stopped five seconds ago doesn’t mean anything!!!
Still can’t believe that Shino’s reaction to Masamichi’s “I’m dying help me” was “ugh, you waste my food so stupidly… Actually I’m hungry, let’s get on with it”. Come onnnn (lol)
Especially considering Masamichi asked him how to close it and Shino said that it’ll stop by itself when he stops concentrating. It’s all Shino’s fault!
Like how are you going to make this poor boy have a whole philosophical conversation about why you can’t just have your way with him, his head is killing him
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