Chokos Leben steht mal wieder Kopf! Sie wird massiv von Masayukis Exfreundin bedroht, doch der scheint sich nicht dafür zu interessieren! Und dann bedrängt sie auch noch ihr Chef Otaki, der eine Antwort auf sein Liebeswerben verlangt und vor nichts zurückschreckt, um das zu bekommen, was er will ...
UGH NO UGH DATE RAPE MINIMIZED UGH UGH UGH NO NO NO NO NO.
I had thoughts about the romanticization and eroticization of sexual harassment in womens' manga, but they were driven out of my head by the INCREDIBLY HORRIBLE HINKY DISGUSTING NO GOOD treatment of date rape. When somebody drugs a girl's drink and rapes her, it's only bad because she's "betrayed" her boyfriend! There's no problem with her continuing to work with the rapist the next day! The rapist totally did this out of love to break the couple up! It all goes away and is totally fine when he admits he "only" undressed her and didn't rape her!
This book... I have every conflicted feelings on. I would say that 80% of the book was good, but the other 20% had things which I absolutely detest in a manga. It implies non-consexual sex, you find out later on in the volume that nothing happened apart from Choko being drugged, but that doesn't make it right. I'm pretty sure it's still illegal to drug someone's drink. It's really annoying because I enjoyed a lot of other aspects about this manga, but I can't get over that along with the other problematic plot twists in volumes 3 and 4. I feel really sad because this series not only had so much potential but volumes 5 and 6 had started to redeem the series. Then this volume proved to me that this series is still problematic af.
I wouldn't recommend this series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Forcing someone to wear a Yukata and saying you won't got on a romantic date without them doing so is abuse. Drugging someone's alcohol is not okay. Forcing yourself on someone is not okay. Rape is not okay. DEMANDING sex and attention from someone that's been raped IS NOT OKAY.
AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THE TRUST ISSUES IN THIS. THE COMEDY CAN'T COVER THIS UP.
I actually like this volume but I wish chapters 32/33 weren’t a part of the story!!!! I don’t think making someone think they were raped is funny!!!! And even Masayuki knew as well? Then why not comfort your f*cking woman by telling her she wasn’t raped??
Anyway, I liked the rest of the volume. I liked their little fight and I liked the whole thing about festivals and yukatas.
Least favorite of the series so far. I understand that tension is needed, but Chapters 32 and 33 took a turn that unfortunately shows the age of this series. Still enjoyed the rest of the book, but the drugging and possible assault was too close for comfort, especially with how much sexual harassment is just joked off in this series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
There were a lot of hilarious moments in this volume, however, besides that, I really felt like this was a filler volume - a volume that had really no purpose other than to make the story drag out longer. I didn't really care for the storyline of the two devious characters trying to break Domoto and Choko up. The yukata side story was really lame too. The only story that seemed to be of any importance was the topic of Choko not understanding Domoto's sex appeal. Haha, and this is only slightly important because in an earlier volume, I made a speculation on their sex life... er, rather, lack there of. So anyway, that little side story sort of help explained my earlier speculations.
One more volume to go!
But first... enjoy:
Choko, after telling Domoto he doesn't trust her:
Choko and Otaki are off on an out of town business trip together...but who should show up...
I haven't been reviewing volumes of this series, but I wanted to take this opportunity to comment on a part in it that's led to some strong reactions from fans.
While I can understand why some find this series offensive, to me being offended by Butterflies, Flowers is like picking up a bodice ripper and then being like "Why is this man ripping at her bodice? How uncouth!" It's not meant to model how men and women should behave in anything resembling reality, it's a totally over-the-top romantic fantasy, complete with archaic views on sexuality just to produce maximum drama.
Just wanted to comment on this because I dislike it when everything a character does is interpreted through the lens of "How can you show a female character reacting that way, OMG that's so socially backwards." Some female characters will do socially backwards things, just as some male characters will; it doesn't necessarily make the author ignorant or sexist.
Ngomong-ngomong, ini kenapa judulnya harus 'Oh Butterfly Oh Flower' ya? Perasaan, dari volume 1-7, ini, nggak ada yang menyangkut kupu-kupu sama bunga deh, sigh.
Yaa, di sini diungkapin sih kenapa Masayuki baik sama mantannya. Untungnya Choko percaya--ahh, kayaknya apa pun yang dikatain Masayuki dipercaya aja tuh sama Choko. Haha.
Sayangnya, Pak Direktur masih menunggu jawabannya Choko. Tapi nggak mungkin kan Choko nerima Pak Direktur. Secara hubungannya sama Masayuki udah mendarah daging kayak gitu,.
Why was Domoto so sweet on his ex? This book is supposed to answer that, however I was let unsatisfied. I think he got away too easily. And he let the boss harass her lover sexually? This is something beyond my ken.
It's still a fun read, though, and this is the kind of manga that I am going to read again and again.