My abusive girlfriend cosplayed as sobe and had me cosplay ritsuka and walked me around a con with a leash and collar. I thought it was great at the time, but then I went to therapy 😂
@@wolfsign9168 I had completely erased the plot form my memories as well. All I remember was the weird dynamic the two main characters had. And oh boy, it was so much worse than that 😭
She was 23!! Acting like she’s some old maiden when she was fully in his age range😭 even if he doesn’t want a girl too much older than him 3 years is not a lot!
I remember watching this as a KID and finding the cat ears a great idea, I grew up Christian, so the idea of having a way to show how "pure" I was had me over the moon. Then I grew up, left the religion and realized how horrible would this actually be. Also I never got that he was 12, I thought he was in university because I don't remember anyone wearing a uniform, an where I come from, only university students don't wear them.
Just as a heads up, most grade schools in Japan don't require a uniform. That said, given the way that one pink haired girl was drawn with DDD boobies, I can't say I blame you lol
I remember I was terrified because I was R at the age of 3, so I always worried that i wouldnt have had ears then Ii went to therapy and became an atheist and feel so much better about that purity culture crap
I thought he was like in his mid 30s 🙃 gave me such ick when being told about it in middle school i got curious. Stopped after a couple episodes in cause the ick became too much
I'll be honest, I always remembered him being younger than he is too.. It didn't help that artists in the anime industry really really like to design characters that could be anything from 16 to 26 years old
1:09 honestly the whole cat ear virginity thing horrifies me, like imagine seeing a baby or toddler without the ears that would be horrible (to say the least
Thats cursed because it would be possible. Plus what if someone's just gets ripped off or they weren't born with it. Someone said the author liked the ears look on most kids but didn't like the way the ears fit with a lot of the adults hair. To explain it away the virginity concept was added in post. Idl if its true.
@@squirrel670 Even if the hairstyle bit is true, it wouldn’t be hard to come up with a non-sexual reason for kids having ears but not adults. It could literally be as simple as “they lose their ears when they become adults”. It sounds like the author wanted a sexual explanation, to so intentionally choose “virginity” when there could’ve been other explanations.
I thought Soubi was going to act like Ritsuka’s big brother/ protect him as a promise to his late friend. Then the kiss scene happened … What are you doing, step-Soubi?
100% remember thinking that at first to and being like "wait, what? Oh, well ok then..." but, I mean, I was really young and I did not realize UNTIL NO WATCHING THIS VIDEO what those ages actually were (besides one is still in I THOUGHT HIGHSCHOOL and the other is older)
Age of consent is 18 now. So even Japanese ppl thought 13 was bad. Also "cultural differences" is a bad argument. Child Marriages are legal in the states. What gonna say there? Are those ok then?
thirteen was never the age of consent in japan, as far as i can tell. each prefecture has its own age of consent, and according to law, the lowest it could go is thirteen. and that's for minors getting involved with other minors, not adults. of course, i'm no expert on japanese law, so i might be getting things wrong.
That's basically the gist, yeah. There's some TLDR feudal laws reason why nationally the minimum was 13 but that hasn't been the accepted AoC anywhere since well before WWII
@LuLiLapis I didn't want to get more into detail with this but yeah... Pretty sure that "recently" they made it 18 all around. Not sure specific timeline but I think the change happened couple years ago
& yes it was 13 between minors. It's same in some places in EU where its 16. It's a funny disconnect that technically you can have se× couple years before you can watch others do it. But yeah, 16 age of consent does not mean adults can go at it with girls 16 & up
Do ya think there'd be a market for fake cat ears and tails in this universe? Conversely, I wonder if folks would be able to hide their ears and tails (sorta like Sucrose from Genshin).
Oh there is! All I remember is a school girl who had them or something. I didn’t get far into the anime before being like this is a bit too disturbing. Idk. Maybe that was a fever dream.
@@Nora-dr8vs yeah, there was a subplot with a girl who had lost her ears and I think we even saw her in a shop that sells fake ears or something. She later goes through a "character development" and during lunch time she goes into the bathroom, throws away her fake ears and tail and goes out for everyone to see the real her. Even as a teen who genuinely enjoyed the anime the only thing I could think of was "wtf would people who had seen her leave the cafeteria with her ears on think"
Oh, the Yaoi back in the day was like a total wild wild west, everything goes and the more toxic it was the more popular it seemed to be. Okane ga Nai, Junjou Romantica, Loveless, that other weird one with the teacher, you name it... But hey those were basically the only things a little weeb like me outside of Japan could get their hands on so, I couldn't complain.
I will say, having been interested in and reading manga for as long as i have, that a lot of the romance in manga in general is not a good example of romance. A lot of it is given a pass because of the medium (how much of a relationship can you fit into a volume or two of manga and not have bad tropes) and the expectation that you don't think it's something to copy. I'm not saying okane ga nai and (i think it was called) 365 are the same, but i am saying one is oddly more reasonable to like, according to people on the internet. You can own killing stalking and not want to emulate it at all. Yaoi today has changed a lot (especially with the prevalence/popularity of o-verse), and i'll say there's still some wild stories out there with all the bad tropes in them, but also that it's not just the most wild things coming to america anymore; we have variety now. People also forget things like antique bakery existed. Or should i say the romance genre has a lot of "i dunno about that" stuff in it (just think about twilight and all the problematic stuff in that), but the stuff that you pick up and aren't reading for the plot tends to be worse on that stuff (think 50 shades).
I never read this, but it was EVERYWHERE. It's another one of those manga/anime that got by on *aesthetics* mostly instead of story. Teenagers love edgy romance manga with frills like cat ears, angel wings, devil horns, especially when it's drawn with pretty boys and dark shades. Another one that comes to mind is D. N. Angel
Heard of it but didn’t touch it thank god as a young 12 year old. Sadly my awakening was Black Butler and High School Of The Dead especially Saeko as a lesbian
I loved watching the anime since fuk the fact all these shows are screwed in its story to some degree but am not the Demon in Black Butler that wants to eat a child am just interested in the dynamics
Yeah. Even as a tween who watched any anime back then (and has been into BL since that age too), I just didn't get into this show because even I picked up on how weird it was.
As teens we don't see the bad of the age difference. But as an adult... I'm shocked this manga is still going though, the most shocking part to me hahahah
I read what was translated of the manga in middle school. The impression that I got was that it *was* a commentary on dysfunctional and/or abusive relationships. It’s very exploitatively framed for weird BL reasons, but like, I felt like it was leading up to a point that ‘just because you love/care about/feel like you’re soulmates/are family with someone, you still shouldn’t endure abuse or toxicity. The manga might have pivoted away from that after the point that I read it, but I was genuinely under the impression the big ending was going to be ‘the acknowledgement and breaking of generational trauma’ that the fighting organization represented I came to this conclusion when I was like 13 however, so take it with a boulder of salt
No, you're correct. The manga is about abuse, gaslighting, and trauma, and the systems that perpetuate them. It's not meant to be a a romance. It's a josei (meaning intended for adult women) series meant to explore dark themes. Your middle school self has more media literacy than OP.
@@Akanezora69 to be fair to them, the anime played it pretty straight as a BL. It only adapted the first few volumes and cut out a lot of smaller scenes where more people acknowledge how toxic and abusive a lot of these relationships and situations are, then stops before the themes become more obvious. Their analysis is pretty fair for having only watched the anime.
@@Akanezora69op doesn't lack media lit, this is literally based on the anime. You don't have media literacy bc you literally misinterpreted the creator on purpose
@@Spider8itchyOP has been corrected by hundreds of people on twitter regarding their complete failure to understand even the most basic themes of the show and manga and they doubled down on their troll-level response because they know hate clicks get more money than actually thoughtful commentary. OP's take is basically a toddler throwing a tantrum. No one should take this video seriously. "Negative Legend" living up to the title.
"Not to judge something based on how icky it makes you feel" Me every 2 second to my sapphic friend while showing her Utena. I KNOW NANAMI'S AND TOUYA'S RELATIONSHIP IS CREEPY , THAT'S THE POINT , WE'LL GET TO THE POINT OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENT SOON.
@@fall_tea8857 Wish me luck in catching the "should watch Utena" bug soon, pls, I'm starting to get curious about it! I kinda wish someone didn't try to push Utena on me so hard that it backfired and I got turned off of it, because each time I see an Utena fan I only see good takes from it (y'all are great at being upfront about the problematic parts even if they ARE plot relevant and that warms my cold heart a bit) I kinda wish I met fans more like you and OP instead of the one who basically shoved my face in it.
@@neoqwerty Yeah as much as i like the show it still Irks me when people just force it (or any form of art on people). Like it’s supposed to be enjoyed c’mon.
@@neoqwertyI'm glad the fandom is for once so forthright with the triggery bits. But then it's honestly what makes the show stick with you? If we tried to pretend it wasn't horrible and traumatizing then it wouldn't be so cathartic?
Please review "Tyrant falls in love" Even as a teen the whole story was very icky to me. Poor guy gets assaulted by his younger friend, and then when he tells him no more that, his friend leaves him for few weeks without a word. And when he comes back he blackmails the guy that either they are lovers or he will leave for good. And yet the assaulted guy is somehow the titled tyrant?!
Oh yes, that one... I get major "gay revenge" vibes from it, it's so icky. The poor guy, whatever his name was, is such a homophobe because one of his professors assaulted him in the past and thus thinks all gay men are predatory. It sure doesn't help that the kouhai who's in love with him assaults him too. One would ask who in their right mind would want to accept such a phony blackmail? Cause the kouhai is the only close friend he've had in years... And get this in the manga, the assaulted guy gets an offer to study abroad in the US that he accepts, being relieved that he gets away from everything for a while and process his relationship to his supposed friend. Showing signs of what I think is a beginning for hypersexuality (a common reaction from assault) and feeling utterly disgusted of himself. Only for his obsessive kouhai to book a flight and stalk him to the US. I haven't watched or read it for at least 8 or 9 years so I'm reciting from memory.
I’m so glad someone agrees on this cuz I rewatched a couple of months ago for the first time in years and I was so uncomfortable. And people were up in the comments saying it was “hot” after watching this man get raped. 😭
@@Kellthulu ...That unlocked memory... Yes in did he was. He drank some special alcohol that his friend had, and apparently it was drugged... And meant for him anyway...
Bro that one was really icky..... idk why but i was obsessed with it when i was a kid and read a lot of the volumes of the manga, almost all of them, and it gets worse.
Loveless... the weird grooming bl anime that my 13 year old self was too dense to realise what a creep Soubi was. 3 or 4 years later I got that "wait a minute" moment. Honestly poor Ritsuka and all the abuse and manipulation he has to put up with.
@@mariefurukawa2627 probably not, but kids did anyway. It was labeled under shonen ai so I watched it and kept reading the manga. I remember being intruiged by the story progression in the manga but not what it was about. There's probably a lot of themes that went right over my head. Will I read it again? Also probably not.
Yeah the author did say that she doesnt see it as BL but its kinda like with stories like killing stalking, which is intended to be psychological horror, getting interpreted as a romance story or even sold in the romance section
@@Coffee_nightowlI remember the anime being targeted at young girls so much. Everything from the aesthetic to the music and character design gave yaoi (thus being marketed towards girls). Speaking of awful gr00ming yaoi animes for girls, does anyone else also remember how popular and how BAD junjou romantica was? Basically the same creepy age gap/non consensual relationships but without fantasy going on
"The manga gets better tho" an adult man still kissed a child on the mouth in a romantic way. I DO NOT understand how that is defensible. I remember my friends going crazy for this manga. I thought it was creepy then and I still think its creepy
I think the only way it’d be ok is if the story was written to show how these relationships work so people could be more aware of being groomed, similar to Lolita. But from what I’ve seen, that’s not the case
When Ritsuka said "Soubi..." the flashbacks began, I fought for this series so hard back in the day and I still think the manga art is gorgeous honestly, but no no nope no The fact that I cosplayed as Ritsuka at 14, this brings back too much but thank you for covering this wild series
I was 14 years old when I saw him. Most of the relationships of these characters are very creepy, not to mention Ritsuka's parents (abusive mother and absent father), Ritsuka and his unhealthy obsession with his brother, Soubi also suffered from Gromming as a child, Seimei is a first-class manipulator. The truth? I think that was the essence of the story, Ritsuka living in a hostile environment and Soubi not really knowing what love is, just following other people's orders because that was instilled in him. By the way, the manga has been on hiatus for years. Fun fact: The author made an illustration of Ritsuka as an adult where it says that he "lost his ears" at age of 21. The story is still one of my favorites. Although you must take into account that it is a twisted one.
Shame this was one of my first exposures to queer rep. I watched this before I realized how normal and common queer relationships actually are, so I saw the anime as a “double taboo” instead of “oh wow this boy is being groomed”
When I saw the thumbnail, I was like "ah yeah, that exist". I was never into this story, I tried reading the first couple of chapters in middle school and just felt uncomfortable. Now that I'm an adult, I understand why I felt uncomfortable, since I may like BL, but I was never a fan of age gap couple in romance story when a minor was involved. So I was never into love story like that, especially if it was a teacher student relationship, the concept made me uncomfortable, although I understood why people liked it, it just wasn't my thing. I thought I was weird for that, since back when I was in school I among the few girls who didn't like this type of romance. I was also really into BL, GL, Yaoi and especially Yuri, but stories that showed adults going out with teenagers or kids in any media was never my thing. I'm glad to know it wasn't just me who couldn't really get into the "Loveless" manga/anime hype. Loved your video by the way and I'm looking forward to your review on the manga. Honestly, I didn't know if the manga was any different from the anime, since I only read a bit of the mange and wasn't interested in the anime. I'm still not interested in reading or watching "Loveless", but I am curious to know your opinion on it.
its not even BL technically an the story of the MC an how the other kids who are a part of the magic system is what is the most interesting everyone has some emotional fear or disorder an the work through them episode 11's ending with the MCs Dub voice over with the music is why I re-watch
I was introduced to it in elementary school, specifically the anime, but never really got into it. Came out of the encounter with the person who showed me absolutely in love with Ruroni Kensington tho.
I used to love this as a very closeted, mentally ill teen, and over-sympathetized with ritsukas worldview 🙃 I remembered this anime a few months ago and was like “wow this was revealing about who I was as a teen 😬” Now I *try* to see it in the same way you mentioned, that it just shows kind of a perfect storm of ways that a traumatized child can be taken advantage of. If they didn’t frame the kissing and “romance” scenes between ritsuka & soube as so aesthetically beautiful, it would be much easier to read that way.
i have a fun memory about reading a fan translation of loveless. they really made a kid in modern japan say 'why are you looking at me like lenin at the bourgeoisie?' 😭 funny that THIS manga had an official russian release considering the latest events i don't remember how i found loveless but it was in the middle school and i secretly bought a whole 4 (four) tomes along other series on the money my parents gave me for a school trip. they are still hidden somewhere at my family's house. lmao thought the uhh. 'romance' part was kinda dumb but kept reading online because the plot was so wild i had to find out what seimei was cooking. i've read it twice years apart, ending on the same cliffhanger. this was wild indeed
но насчёт романтической части - мне плевать (у меня низкие моральные принципы? может быть), пока это "на бумаге" то это никому не доставляет вреда. я лично читала сначала ради ушек у людей, а потом ради сюжета и сеймея, потому что мне он понравился как персонаж в аниме. но момент на котором мне действительно стало некомфортно - когда в манге пошли намёки, что сеймей пристаёт к рицке. типа в случае соби сами персонажи постоянно отмечают какой он проблематичный, и рицка будто сам находится в курсе этого. то есть, отталкивает его когда надо. но сеймею он доверяет и считает своим защитником, и в манге потом такое показывают...🥲 в любом случае, мне жаль, что что-то помешало мангаке сделать рицку хотя бы 16-леткой, может быть тогда об этом аниме знало больше людей (и мне было бы с кем обсудить это...) ;( потому что сюжет сам по себе нормальный, но многих определённо оттолкнули такие отношения
The mention of MadK was like an uppercut to my jaw, the memories of me in middle school in the throes of a gender identity/sexuality crisis. My only solace- bl gore smut. Honestly thinking about reading it again. Also, thanks for informing me about/ summarizing this gross and creepy anime. I don't think I'll be watching it, even I have limits. 👍
@@ilaya4183 do you know if theres an official english translation outside of vol 1 yet? I was reading it with fan translations for a while when it was still in progress until it got booted on fansites. Managed to find an english vol 1 though, but I'd like to finish the story.
imma be honest i wish it had stayed unfinished it felt rushed and kinda tame(?) compared to the start and there felt like a lot less tension between them but the end end was pretty good (i just didn’t like the last bit of build up to get to it). you deffo should reread it tho
That one is at least consensual. As gory as it is but even the eating the other "person" is fully consensual. MadK also doesn't act like any of what is happening is normal or morally right so honestly they can get away with a lot of weird shit and I'll let it pass.
I cannot speak for the anime, nor the entirety of the manga, but from what I remember it was about abuse. Not really BL at all. I don’t think they tried putting the little boy and older guy together, rather the older guy was in an abusive relationship with the kid’s older brother. And it seems more of the focus was on the kid reevaluating their relationship. Of course, that’s just my memories.
Finally, someone who understands that LOVELESS wasn't a romance series or BL. It's a Dark Fantasy series whose intention is to discuss themes of abuse, trauma, CSA, kids being abused and it going unnoticed by the adults around them, and the struggle to break the cycle of abuse. Your memories are correct...because you actually understood the nuance and what the series was trying to discuss.
@@Shibuya428-yg7gj From all the comments I was starting to be gaslit into thinking that I was wrong with that interpretation! Watching it as a teenager, it was this fascinating, messed up world with two people who Explicitly were not meant for each other for Many reasons, who in a better/happier world would Never have ended up even considering each other in this twisted light. Literally the name of the series, Loveless, is saying that these two Should Not be together. Just because a "relationship" exists does not mean the series is a romance. =P
to be fair msot of us reading it at a young age didnt understand that at the time. I wouldve saw that if I went backa nd reread it but most ppl didnt wanna reread it for sveral understandable reasons. this comment does make me wanan reread it to see if it actually has that intention@@Shibuya428-yg7gj
LMAOOOO HOW DARE YOU 😂 Actually, one of my favorite CC comics from waay back, was Genesis throws a Loveless party and invites everyone. However, Zack and Seph show up with cat ears and tails, thinking he meant THIS Loveless. 😅
It is about grooming and toxic love, but gives me a weird solace in that -because I identify with Ritsuka a lot. It sort of helps, finding a character that goes through as much hurt, distress and loneliness as I once felt. All characters are messed up, nothing makes sense, love is dangerous and wrong, but also the one thing one craves. This is about abuse, and it’s oddly cathartic to me. I can’t defend it as a whole, just state it resonates in me even as an adult.
You are not alone! I feel the exact same way, I used to read so many stories like this. Like seeing a character that was my age go through such similar things to me was cathartic.
5:01 is not targeted to girls but to women/adult, is a Josei manga. Even back then it was a late night premiere. And...that is all i'm gonna say. Story is about abusers, groomers and codependency (manipulative poeple), all this stuff by no means targeted to little girls. I just feel i'm seen the whole Killing/Stalking shit renew with material not mean for actual minors. Edit: because typos.
Naw, Killing stalking was supposed to be a psychological horror about unstable mentality and stuff but the fujoshis romanticize it and call it "bl" anyway 🤡
@@pameladuente5449IT is a BL but not a romantic one and by no means targeted to underage/minors/girls, story was always rated 18+ (most BL are 18+ material by default), that's what i'm doing comparasion, because is something little girls should not giggle/squish/read about it but we have A LOT of minors getting hype and that was disturbing.
@@pameladuente5449Killing Stalking IS a BL, just not a romantic one or with the romance tag. Most BL are 18+ material, that's why I'm doing comparison. It was very disturbing how underage were so hype about a manhwa no mean to enterteiment them.
I think that’s actually worse. Kids, it’s understandable for them not to realise that an age gap like that is bad; adults condoning or even enjoying it rings major alarm bells, regardless of gender.
I feel like this started my love of toxic relationships. The story always felt very fucked up and kept getting worse in a good way. Like it was beating the readers over with how fucked up it was. I really hope you will make a video on the manga. If you want to deep dive into something similar I recommend Yami no Matsuei (Descendants of Darkness).
Black Butler is the same its a long series of fuk your feelings this MC is barely gonna make it out or they may not but the development was dope I mean the BB anime original story-line ends with in some sense of the term dies at the end Ciel is turned into a Demon "I always know I would end up here" which makes sense he refused to reach out to anyone
so do you an the youtuber since you love watching stuff like Black Butler an that whole shows is a creepy man exploiting a murderous child he wants to eat @@ChangedMyNameFinally69
This was technically the first anime I saw not counting the 90s childhood ones like Dragon Ball (R.I.P) and Sailor Moon. I know there’s something f’d up about that.
man, I remember literally /squeeing/ about the last ep of the anime with a girl in the school anime club, and god, I still HAVE the first four volumes of the manga floating around my house from when i was a teenager. I tried putting them on depop but, quelle fuckin' surprise, NOBODY WANTS EM 😂😭 and i'm torn between wanting to rehome them bc I was raised not to waste stuff and just... not wanting to inflict these things on anybody else - I did read a lot further online for a while, tho I don't remember shit about what actually happened, I can't believe it's still going??? def gonna give resuming it a pass
you can wait for the manga to end (in who kows how many years) and they will for sure be more valuable for colectors. I'm sure the very log time to end the manga made them less wanted, because it hass been years and the public has grown and the mentalty has changed. The autor's marketing team did a pretty bad job letting them dragg the story for so long
Maaaan I remember this was so many “baby’s first BL” for people, or should I say kids cuz it was teens and tweens, tried SO hard to justify and rationalize what was going down, mainly because they hadn’t learned red flags yet. When I saw it I knew Ritsuka was young but I didn’t know he was 12!! ICK
Dude. I think is saw a casting call for a Loveless dub or something like that on the site I use for voice acting gigs. I was never gonna do it cause it wasn't paying and I'd never heard of the manga/anime but I still feel like I dodged a bullet
If you ever get the chance, please do Tyrant Falls In Love. MC gets raped by college classmate and when MC confronts him about it, he’s gaslit into thinking it’s his fault for being raped and classmate disappears for several days. Then classmate comes back and blackmails MC into having sex with him again.
My sister got me the first book for my birthday in middle school. She knew I liked anime and manga so picked a book with a pretty cover. Oh little did she know😅. The other was the second volume of Hibakis Magic( I still dont have the first volume, lol). Bless my sisters soul, it's the thought that counts
Man, I think I must have blocked out a lot of the key elements of this show, because this is *not* what teenage me remembered until you started explaining it. 😂 Thank *god* I never watched most of it and that it faded from recollection (unlike Vampire Knight 😬)
@@toodles.3117 Oh yeah, same here. I was big mad about it, and still am. I can (kinda) understand some of the mythology reasons? But that doesn't mean I have to like it 😬
MADK mentioned! I'm interested to know what others make of it, i found the story really interesting till the last volume went in a direction that was a no for me.
This and Gravitation was my first anime ever. I remember renting the entire show from redbox (back when you had to have them mailed to you.) I had every book until Volume 10. I was in 5th grade being OBCESSED with it. I swore for a while that the anime never existed.
i really struggled to get through this video. i'm currently recovering from covid and i feel like watching this made me regress back into the worst of it LMAO
You should discuss or well review “gushing over magical girls” it’s a very well… think this anime but with girls who are MOST DEFINITELY UNDERAGED!! But yeah I tried making a Reddit post about it and wow the amount of people defending that shit was willld.
UGH! I just was dusting off my manga library, and found the first 4 volumes. Gosh darnit middle school me. Like the magic system, with words having power; could do without... the everything else :/
I remember reading and watching this as a teen just freshly into manga/anime because it was in its peak. With a few friends even wrote some RPs in the universe because we liked the wordplay. I don't remember much of it, don't think I ever realised how icky it was. I drifted off reading the manga because they were taking too long to progress the story. One thing I remember liking about anime was the music though. I remember liking it. I look forward to the manga breakdown though, I am curious what they did.
Most of the time when people protest that “we can’t judge *insert asian country here* by our western views” they don’t actually know or care about the views of people in that country. Like sorry buddy but feminism isn’t just a western idea. Age of consent has changed and people have been trying to have it changed for a while. I never read this but I knew about it. Even middle me could see that this series had red flags. I think there can be value in problematic media but that media needs to be self aware that it’s problematic and avoid glamorizing the problem. It’s a bold move to try to get people to support a romantic relationship that starts when one of the characters was 12 and the other was an adult. Like simply making it so that they were both adults even with the gap in ages would have been less problematic.
I read the manga before I watched the anime; I was extremely disappointed. The anime is total trash and, as you said, doesn't explain anything. If my memory serves me correctly, the manga at least explains things a bit more
how the hell is it trash guys the shows tone is above a lot of series an what did it need to explain in bold text all ya need to know is the person owning all these magic kids is an ass an big brother is gonna return in some form oh dear but the MC has friends to help out that makes ya wanna read a manga don't it
i'm from ukraine and i have honestly never heard of this title before, it kinda evaded my anime-obsessed teen self hearing you talk about it just brings so many questions of "WHY?" even in age difference enjoyer as myself like... 12 y.o. is just before the puberty hits and your brains get scrambled by hormones i can't imagine a more vulnerable person that this boy tbh it's real creepy and gross af
Loveless так-то був доволі популярним серед анімешників в 2007. Пам'ятаю, на ринках (я з Харкова) можна було знайти болванки двд з цим аніме, а в кіосках навіть продавались наліпки/стікери доволі якісного друку. 😂
I'm from Ukraine too і чесно ця манга та аніме були такими популярними в школі у 2008-10 році я навіть здивована що сама не читала (але всі мої однокласниці анімешниці читали, але що сказати нам усім було 12-14 років)
Happily, I never watched this in my Yaoi phase. I think I'd heard a TH-camr call it predatory and luckily decided not to touch it upon hearing more about it. I went deep into Doujins instead. Also, yesss, the Therapy Game shout out, it's so good.
God I remember watching this for the first time in my family living room. Luckily no one was home, but I was too mortified that someone was going to walk in while I'm watching this to ever watch this again.
Man, I remember this. I didn't realize it was a romance until I found the box set years later. Kid me grew up in a very religious setting and didn't know anything about boy love. I thought it was a really weird mystery story. The anime was definitely worse, but I can't remember the manga too well, and I no longer have it to check. The art was really good, but after watching the series, I was too icked out to continue. I'm really shocked to hear they're only on book 13. I could have sworn I got to something like book 11, and that was like a decade ago.
I didn’t know it was a romance either! I loved the mystery and the unique fighting system. My best friend DNFed it when I recommended it to her because it made her so uncomfortable and I had no idea why
@@sparrow8072 @ashkaa Loveless isn't a romance story, it's a dark fantasy story that explores dark topics about cycles of abuse, trauma, the dangers of sexualizing purity, etc., it's just that for some reason western audiences with poor reading comprehension didn't realize that the series is and has never been intended to be a romance. The series is called LOVELESS for this reason. Calling Loveless "romance" is like saying that Scream is a romance because certain characters have romantic feelings towards one another, when Scream is first and foremost a horror slasher film.
It's not and has never been a romance series. It's always been a dark fantasy series that explores themes such as toxic relationships, abuse, trauma, CSA/SA victims, etc.. It has never been a romance series or a glorification of grooming like most people with poor reading skills claim it to be. The series is called LOVELESS because Ritsuka and Soubi are not a romantic pairing despite the intentional creepy overtones the mangaka chose to feature in order to get their story points across
When I was a kid I made my own writing project called Loveless, and I only found out in recent years that there was something already called that, but I didn't know it was like THIS!?!?!
I remember the manga being sooo different, but I read it so long ago and I was also 13 xD please do a comparison of it, I’m staying tuned to see what’s up
Almost forgot this anime, one of the first BL I saw as a teen...but yeah I remember bring so annoyed that the cool stuff was kinda shoehorned in the last episode. Neve read the manga but honestly props to you for taking in that task!
I remember this! I was a fan too when i was a kid, did fanart and fanfic. Looking back I understand how weird it is. When i travelled to the US it was the first manga i bought haha. I thought the manga was on a long term hiatus??
The amount of horror-shock-concern responses out of me BEFORE THE 5 MINUTE MARK... I loved this one back when I was a kid, and I am 100% certain I had no idea (probably glossed over it mentally) THAT RITSUKA IS 12 AND SOUBI IS IN HIS MID 20S adkxjhakjfhasdasd WTF did I watch/read who let me have this. My mom took away Paper Star (novel, fiction and way less questionable) BUT LET ME HAVE THIS?!
Lmao, I also only made it about 3-4 volumes into the Manga BACK THEN when it was new to import here, before I went "oh god what have I done" and yeeted myself into Girl Got Game and Ouran HSHC
As someone who used to love this Anime & Manga, someone who even went as far as to write FANFICTIONS (Fluff never Lemon), I even got the DVD series for Christmas, and I even still like this Anime/Manga (FML, lol). I do recognize this as a HIGHLY questionable anime/manga. Anyway I absolutely loved this video and laughed tons, thank you! XD
Oh my God, I cannot believe you have read MADK!! it’s so good. And the last volume was definitely something, let’s just say that. Are you by any chance, considering doing a Video on it? Because if you are, I think the reaction to it would be absolutely amazing.
Yeah, I mostly only know about this from a few AMVs and some videos saying how bad it was. But when a media genre becomes so infamous that it's replaced by a pron tag, to escape the negative connotations, you know something went really wrong.
I remember being in so deep in this shit that i read the manga and now that i look back and see how bad it was i want to cry Also i remember being so hypnotised by it i searched for content on it on youtube but i never rlly found much so i assumed its smth nobody knew about who would have thought smth like this would acc be somewhat popular (but honestly i coundlt even finish the manga and i dont remember anything about it only thing is im pretty sure i hated the brother for something and they there was a plot about somebody not having a name but i dont remember why or who so its probably pretty forgetable
Im in love with your analizys videos. Can you do one on Heaven official's blessing? (Tian guan cifu) has two seasons, a visual novel, and the original novel.
I didn't know that this anime/manga existed until I watched Gundam 00 and heard that the mangaka did the character designs for that show. Trivia that totally trips me out!! Looked the manga up mainly out of curiosity, immediately got red flags from the description & didn't really look further.
this was one of the first BL animes I watched, and I could not get through the first episode because of how gross it felt. I didn't know their exact ages, but it was clear there was a big age difference and it made me very uncomfortable. I don't know how good or different the manga is compared to the anime, but I'd definitely be interested in seeing your video on it!
Therapy game is freaking good, I’ve finally bought vol1-2 of restart and can’t wait to crack into it The dragons betrothed is still my fav but this is a super close 2nd
I've never heard of this manga/anime before and the amount of psychic damage i took withint the first 2 minutes of this video... what the ever living hell is going on jdslkgje
Oh god... this... The amount of shame and nostalgia I felt while watching this. I used to be ok with so much bad shit back then. Ugh. Excuse me while I go find a hole to crawl into.
No need to feel ashamed, I bet we were all once like that. The good thing is that we managed to grow out of that phase and become non-problematic individuals I know a girl who didn't, she kept the weird mindset she had when she was a kid and defended it with every fiber of her being. She's now obsessed with mlm and would root for any kind of contents that include it regardless of how immoral they might be.
@@Homodemon Sorry if unintentionally offended you somehow. English isn't my first language and my skills are very limited so I sometimes struggle to express my point which could possibly lead to misunderstanding
I went into the anime knowing nothing about what happens in it and when I found out about their ages in the 3rd episode, I immediately dipped out and never looked back.
I watched and read this at the same age as Ritsuka in the story and I read it again recently. I remember understanding, Ritsuka and why he is the way he is and understanding his connection with Soubi so well. And now that I am older, I understand all of the characters and their perspectives well now, yes, including Soubi. See, shockingly, I know, Soubi does not have a healthy backstory with relationships either...lost his ears to a trusted adult, was groomed, was tortured, was given to Ritsuka's brother to CARVE HIS NAME INTO...yup the name Beloved isn't Soubi's name...he never had one and was a blank slate for whoever needed a sacrifice at the time...ie Seimei. And then Seimei found his real partner that shares his name...and he didn't need or want Soubi anymore...and he abandoned him...Seimei also abandoned Ritsuka. Ritsuka and Soubi bond over their shared trauma from this man, who is not a good man at all...but who they both loved so dearly. They see each other, and each others pain and they understand each other better than the other pairs in the show at a fundemental level...but they never really talk about the things they should and it makes Ritsuka mad and confused and makes Soubi feel guilty. Soubi was not taught how to have relationships properly, and Ritsuka is learning how to do that very thing as the story goes on. He learns and teaches Soubi how relationships are supposed to be. A LITERAL CHILD teaching an Adult how to behave...yet... I personally am 25 now and was just friends with someone who was 28 who, I tell you, had a similar backstory to Soubi and who, believe it or not, behaves in ways he does, all-be-it not with a person Ritsuka's age...but with a person who is 19...yeah...it happens. I am not friends with this person anymore. The real world is not sunshine all the time. People do horrible things to children and we expect those children to grow up into adults that behave 'normally.' Soubi is just looking for a place to belong, and he wants to belong to Ritsuka because they do share a connection as horrible as it's origin may be, so he does all the things he has been groomed into doing to try and please Ritsuka the way he did for the other people who he 'belonged' to...and Ritsuka teaches him not to do those things. The point of the story is literally to demonstrate how traumatic events in childhood affect how we form bonds with people in the future. The other 'couples' they fight all are not in healthy relationships as they are when they meet Soubi and Ritsuka, but through fighting them, losing, forming friendships with them, and coming to understand them as people, coming to understand how Soubi and Ritsuka's relationship is strong when their own relationship feels like it is falling apart...they start to see each other again and form a stronger bond with their own partner. Seimei's name, Beloved, comes from Ritsuka and Soubi loving him so much, for everyone loving his and idolising him; Ritsuka's name, Loveless, comes from Seimei never loving him, for him abandoning him, despite all the love Ritsuka, had AND has for him, and for everyone he loves abandoning him....and that bond being the catalyst and his reason for his relationship with his future partner. The story had good promise and intentions, but is not understood well by the majority because it truly was not excecuted well. I am a firm believer that we do need more media that portray relationships that are not healthy and SHOW WHY they aren't healthy, and explore ways to improve, because if we don't talk about it, and just label it as yucky, then we won't ever understand these marginalised forgotten people. By the way, Soubi says and does things for the shock factor as a coping mechanism. 😅 He lost hos ears and a child and so learned how to fire back at people who labelled him horrible things. Most important, none of this is an excuse, but it is an explanation. People like these characters need help and compassion just as much as punishment.
Oh my God Mad K is soooooo good! I love how disturbed yet tender it is~ Also Therapy Game! Oh my goooooodddnneeesss I nearly combusted when I saw it on book store shelves!
My abusive girlfriend cosplayed as sobe and had me cosplay ritsuka and walked me around a con with a leash and collar. I thought it was great at the time, but then I went to therapy 😂
I pray for my brotha but soon you will be seeing better days
Damn she sounds like she sucks, congrats on not being in a relationship with her, hope you are happy
Yikes. Eeesh. Jesus. Anyway, I hope therapy helped.
Holy shit.
I'm speechless ngl🤭
that's why I'd rather stay loveless🙈
Loveless is the prime example of "Wtf did I watch as a teen"
i havent gone back to loveless since i was a teen - im scared to watch this video ahh :')
Big time agree
@@wolfsign9168 I had completely erased the plot form my memories as well. All I remember was the weird dynamic the two main characters had. And oh boy, it was so much worse than that 😭
Yeahhh it’s pretty bad
I watched it out of curiosity and I was totally disappointed
that "im not interested older people" made me sick. This whole thing is makin me sick. Why.
especially since she was TWENTY THREE. That's not even "old"
23 is super duper young too! Barely 2 years over the legal drinking age in the US even.
She was 23!! Acting like she’s some old maiden when she was fully in his age range😭 even if he doesn’t want a girl too much older than him 3 years is not a lot!
I remember watching this as a KID and finding the cat ears a great idea, I grew up Christian, so the idea of having a way to show how "pure" I was had me over the moon. Then I grew up, left the religion and realized how horrible would this actually be. Also I never got that he was 12, I thought he was in university because I don't remember anyone wearing a uniform, an where I come from, only university students don't wear them.
Just as a heads up, most grade schools in Japan don't require a uniform.
That said, given the way that one pink haired girl was drawn with DDD boobies, I can't say I blame you lol
catears are great, the way there to, is yikes thou.
@@KariIzumi1 reminder that 12 year olds can have large breasts. Breast size can't be used to determine age alone.
@@squirrel670 I'm fully aware of that as someone who was a 38C in high school
I remember I was terrified because I was R at the age of 3, so I always worried that i wouldnt have had ears then Ii went to therapy and became an atheist and feel so much better about that purity culture crap
I didn't realize the gap was so big as a kid. I though subi was like 17... I just didn't like the vibes and stopped at episode 2 or 3, glad I did
And even then, that'd still be enough of an age gap to qualify Soubi as a ped0phile (minimum age to be considered one is 16). It's wild!
I thought he was like in his mid 30s 🙃 gave me such ick when being told about it in middle school i got curious. Stopped after a couple episodes in cause the ick became too much
Saame I was like "Oh he is the cool high school senior" well thank God my mind made that up, probs saved me from some weird trauma.
I'll be honest, I always remembered him being younger than he is too.. It didn't help that artists in the anime industry really really like to design characters that could be anything from 16 to 26 years old
1:09 honestly the whole cat ear virginity thing horrifies me, like imagine seeing a baby or toddler without the ears that would be horrible (to say the least
Thats cursed because it would be possible. Plus what if someone's just gets ripped off or they weren't born with it.
Someone said the author liked the ears look on most kids but didn't like the way the ears fit with a lot of the adults hair. To explain it away the virginity concept was added in post. Idl if its true.
@@squirrel670 Even if the hairstyle bit is true, it wouldn’t be hard to come up with a non-sexual reason for kids having ears but not adults. It could literally be as simple as “they lose their ears when they become adults”. It sounds like the author wanted a sexual explanation, to so intentionally choose “virginity” when there could’ve been other explanations.
@@ivoryphoenix7 it's really just the same as submissive cat girl fetish stuff. Just worse. So much worse
Tbh thats more advocation for it since if the child had no ears, you could def take action much sooner
I mean there are the two 12yr olds who don't have ears and just wear fakes from time to time in it. Can't remember their names since it's been years
I thought Soubi was going to act like Ritsuka’s big brother/ protect him as a promise to his late friend. Then the kiss scene happened …
What are you doing, step-Soubi?
Same reaction from me when I watched it as a kid
100% remember thinking that at first to and being like "wait, what? Oh, well ok then..." but, I mean, I was really young and I did not realize UNTIL NO WATCHING THIS VIDEO what those ages actually were (besides one is still in I THOUGHT HIGHSCHOOL and the other is older)
Hahaha yes I thought the same 🤣
@@bakaichigoyes Suobi was at university! And probably not first year but older
Age of consent is 18 now. So even Japanese ppl thought 13 was bad.
Also "cultural differences" is a bad argument.
Child Marriages are legal in the states. What gonna say there? Are those ok then?
thirteen was never the age of consent in japan, as far as i can tell. each prefecture has its own age of consent, and according to law, the lowest it could go is thirteen. and that's for minors getting involved with other minors, not adults.
of course, i'm no expert on japanese law, so i might be getting things wrong.
That's basically the gist, yeah. There's some TLDR feudal laws reason why nationally the minimum was 13 but that hasn't been the accepted AoC anywhere since well before WWII
@LuLiLapis I didn't want to get more into detail with this but yeah...
Pretty sure that "recently" they made it 18 all around. Not sure specific timeline but I think the change happened couple years ago
& yes it was 13 between minors.
It's same in some places in EU where its 16.
It's a funny disconnect that technically you can have se× couple years before you can watch others do it.
But yeah, 16 age of consent does not mean adults can go at it with girls 16 & up
facts bro
I DIDNT KNOW HE WAS TWELVE😢😢 I was so innocent lol
Yea, when I watched this as a younge teen I think my brain skipped over the age part because I didn't want to notice it haha.
He was actually 11 when they first met lol
I could've sworn he was fifteen at least...
i thought he was 16 17ish 😭
I didn’t either. I feel so bad!
Do ya think there'd be a market for fake cat ears and tails in this universe? Conversely, I wonder if folks would be able to hide their ears and tails (sorta like Sucrose from Genshin).
There is, for the safety of the people who 'lose their ears.'
Oh there is! All I remember is a school girl who had them or something. I didn’t get far into the anime before being like this is a bit too disturbing. Idk. Maybe that was a fever dream.
@@Nora-dr8vs yeah, there was a subplot with a girl who had lost her ears and I think we even saw her in a shop that sells fake ears or something. She later goes through a "character development" and during lunch time she goes into the bathroom, throws away her fake ears and tail and goes out for everyone to see the real her. Even as a teen who genuinely enjoyed the anime the only thing I could think of was "wtf would people who had seen her leave the cafeteria with her ears on think"
Oh, the Yaoi back in the day was like a total wild wild west, everything goes and the more toxic it was the more popular it seemed to be.
Okane ga Nai, Junjou Romantica, Loveless, that other weird one with the teacher, you name it... But hey those were basically the only things a little weeb like me outside of Japan could get their hands on so, I couldn't complain.
Oh, maaaan, I forgot about Okane ga Nai. Disco Finger of Doom!
I will say, having been interested in and reading manga for as long as i have, that a lot of the romance in manga in general is not a good example of romance. A lot of it is given a pass because of the medium (how much of a relationship can you fit into a volume or two of manga and not have bad tropes) and the expectation that you don't think it's something to copy. I'm not saying okane ga nai and (i think it was called) 365 are the same, but i am saying one is oddly more reasonable to like, according to people on the internet. You can own killing stalking and not want to emulate it at all.
Yaoi today has changed a lot (especially with the prevalence/popularity of o-verse), and i'll say there's still some wild stories out there with all the bad tropes in them, but also that it's not just the most wild things coming to america anymore; we have variety now. People also forget things like antique bakery existed.
Or should i say the romance genre has a lot of "i dunno about that" stuff in it (just think about twilight and all the problematic stuff in that), but the stuff that you pick up and aren't reading for the plot tends to be worse on that stuff (think 50 shades).
@@catelynh1020 I really liked "Anitique Bakery". I think they did a live action of that.
Which one was the Yaoi where a dad gets together with his son? I remember that one being super big.
@@shizachan8421I'm not 100% sure but, either Kirepapa or Super Lovers...
I never read this, but it was EVERYWHERE. It's another one of those manga/anime that got by on *aesthetics* mostly instead of story. Teenagers love edgy romance manga with frills like cat ears, angel wings, devil horns, especially when it's drawn with pretty boys and dark shades. Another one that comes to mind is D. N. Angel
never thought somebody would ACTUALLY remember dn angel
@@floffnie -finger guns-
D.N. angel had me in a vice like grip during middle school 🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@rapidashrorschachtest430 My friend at the time too. I couldn't barely understand with was going on myself tho haha
@@floffnieHow dare you xD
Heard of it but didn’t touch it thank god as a young 12 year old. Sadly my awakening was Black Butler and High School Of The Dead especially Saeko as a lesbian
Damn I've seen both of the last one's except the this
I loved watching the anime since fuk the fact all these shows are screwed in its story to some degree but am not the Demon in Black Butler that wants to eat a child am just interested in the dynamics
Hot take: High School of the Dead is better than Black Butler DON'T TRY TO CHANGE MY MIND!
@@Ethetjorsa I don't know they just yapping
Yeah. Even as a tween who watched any anime back then (and has been into BL since that age too), I just didn't get into this show because even I picked up on how weird it was.
As teens we don't see the bad of the age difference. But as an adult... I'm shocked this manga is still going though, the most shocking part to me hahahah
There is nothing "bad" about it.
It’s actually amaze me that so many of y’all thought it was okay. My 12 years old self knew better
@@Fuyoflo It's perfectly ok.
Nu uh.@@Serjo777
@@Serjo777have you heard of paedophilia?
I read what was translated of the manga in middle school. The impression that I got was that it *was* a commentary on dysfunctional and/or abusive relationships. It’s very exploitatively framed for weird BL reasons, but like, I felt like it was leading up to a point that ‘just because you love/care about/feel like you’re soulmates/are family with someone, you still shouldn’t endure abuse or toxicity. The manga might have pivoted away from that after the point that I read it, but I was genuinely under the impression the big ending was going to be ‘the acknowledgement and breaking of generational trauma’ that the fighting organization represented
I came to this conclusion when I was like 13 however, so take it with a boulder of salt
No, you're correct. The manga is about abuse, gaslighting, and trauma, and the systems that perpetuate them. It's not meant to be a a romance. It's a josei (meaning intended for adult women) series meant to explore dark themes. Your middle school self has more media literacy than OP.
@@Akanezora69 to be fair to them, the anime played it pretty straight as a BL. It only adapted the first few volumes and cut out a lot of smaller scenes where more people acknowledge how toxic and abusive a lot of these relationships and situations are, then stops before the themes become more obvious. Their analysis is pretty fair for having only watched the anime.
@@Akanezora69op doesn't lack media lit, this is literally based on the anime. You don't have media literacy bc you literally misinterpreted the creator on purpose
@@Spider8itchyOP has been corrected by hundreds of people on twitter regarding their complete failure to understand even the most basic themes of the show and manga and they doubled down on their troll-level response because they know hate clicks get more money than actually thoughtful commentary. OP's take is basically a toddler throwing a tantrum. No one should take this video seriously. "Negative Legend" living up to the title.
@@Akanezora69negative legend literally said in the first few minutes that they were gonna read the manga and see if the commenters were right
"Not to judge something based on how icky it makes you feel"
Me every 2 second to my sapphic friend while showing her Utena.
I KNOW NANAMI'S AND TOUYA'S RELATIONSHIP IS CREEPY , THAT'S THE POINT , WE'LL GET TO THE POINT OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENT SOON.
Ahh Revolutionary Girl Utena is great:D!!
@@fall_tea8857 Wish me luck in catching the "should watch Utena" bug soon, pls, I'm starting to get curious about it!
I kinda wish someone didn't try to push Utena on me so hard that it backfired and I got turned off of it, because each time I see an Utena fan I only see good takes from it (y'all are great at being upfront about the problematic parts even if they ARE plot relevant and that warms my cold heart a bit)
I kinda wish I met fans more like you and OP instead of the one who basically shoved my face in it.
@@neoqwerty Yeah as much as i like the show it still Irks me when people just force it (or any form of art on people). Like it’s supposed to be enjoyed c’mon.
@@neoqwertyI'm glad the fandom is for once so forthright with the triggery bits. But then it's honestly what makes the show stick with you? If we tried to pretend it wasn't horrible and traumatizing then it wouldn't be so cathartic?
That comment about how you prolly weren't alive when "it was peak" cracked me up because only extremely young people talk that way.
Please review "Tyrant falls in love"
Even as a teen the whole story was very icky to me.
Poor guy gets assaulted by his younger friend, and then when he tells him no more that, his friend leaves him for few weeks without a word. And when he comes back he blackmails the guy that either they are lovers or he will leave for good.
And yet the assaulted guy is somehow the titled tyrant?!
Oh yes, that one... I get major "gay revenge" vibes from it, it's so icky. The poor guy, whatever his name was, is such a homophobe because one of his professors assaulted him in the past and thus thinks all gay men are predatory. It sure doesn't help that the kouhai who's in love with him assaults him too. One would ask who in their right mind would want to accept such a phony blackmail? Cause the kouhai is the only close friend he've had in years... And get this in the manga, the assaulted guy gets an offer to study abroad in the US that he accepts, being relieved that he gets away from everything for a while and process his relationship to his supposed friend. Showing signs of what I think is a beginning for hypersexuality (a common reaction from assault) and feeling utterly disgusted of himself. Only for his obsessive kouhai to book a flight and stalk him to the US. I haven't watched or read it for at least 8 or 9 years so I'm reciting from memory.
I’m so glad someone agrees on this cuz I rewatched a couple of months ago for the first time in years and I was so uncomfortable. And people were up in the comments saying it was “hot” after watching this man get raped. 😭
Right, like the dude was drugged.
@@Kellthulu
...That unlocked memory... Yes in did he was. He drank some special alcohol that his friend had, and apparently it was drugged... And meant for him anyway...
Bro that one was really icky..... idk why but i was obsessed with it when i was a kid and read a lot of the volumes of the manga, almost all of them, and it gets worse.
Loveless... the weird grooming bl anime that my 13 year old self was too dense to realise what a creep Soubi was. 3 or 4 years later I got that "wait a minute" moment. Honestly poor Ritsuka and all the abuse and manipulation he has to put up with.
The author has said it isn't a BL. The creepiness is the point. It's a josei series (17+), you probably shouldn't have been reading it at 13
@@mariefurukawa2627 probably not, but kids did anyway. It was labeled under shonen ai so I watched it and kept reading the manga. I remember being intruiged by the story progression in the manga but not what it was about. There's probably a lot of themes that went right over my head. Will I read it again? Also probably not.
Yeah the author did say that she doesnt see it as BL but its kinda like with stories like killing stalking, which is intended to be psychological horror, getting interpreted as a romance story or even sold in the romance section
@@ghostthelizard the anime really doesn’t help it's case either.
@@Coffee_nightowlI remember the anime being targeted at young girls so much. Everything from the aesthetic to the music and character design gave yaoi (thus being marketed towards girls).
Speaking of awful gr00ming yaoi animes for girls, does anyone else also remember how popular and how BAD junjou romantica was? Basically the same creepy age gap/non consensual relationships but without fantasy going on
"The manga gets better tho" an adult man still kissed a child on the mouth in a romantic way. I DO NOT understand how that is defensible. I remember my friends going crazy for this manga. I thought it was creepy then and I still think its creepy
I think the only way it’d be ok is if the story was written to show how these relationships work so people could be more aware of being groomed, similar to Lolita. But from what I’ve seen, that’s not the case
The "culture" part person is stupid asf
Also colonialism is global?
@@TheSapphireLeo sure leo
They're a proshipper, so it adds up
Good cry about it just because you don't like about at least the honest what the like.
@@Daisy-ue9vkGood cry about it.
As a teen Loveless was my permanent Asexual awakening.
K?.
@OdinsSageReally?!.
When Ritsuka said "Soubi..." the flashbacks began, I fought for this series so hard back in the day and I still think the manga art is gorgeous honestly, but no no nope no
The fact that I cosplayed as Ritsuka at 14, this brings back too much but thank you for covering this wild series
I was 14 years old when I saw him. Most of the relationships of these characters are very creepy, not to mention Ritsuka's parents (abusive mother and absent father), Ritsuka and his unhealthy obsession with his brother, Soubi also suffered from Gromming as a child, Seimei is a first-class manipulator. The truth? I think that was the essence of the story, Ritsuka living in a hostile environment and Soubi not really knowing what love is, just following other people's orders because that was instilled in him. By the way, the manga has been on hiatus for years. Fun fact: The author made an illustration of Ritsuka as an adult where it says that he "lost his ears" at age of 21. The story is still one of my favorites. Although you must take into account that it is a twisted one.
Shame this was one of my first exposures to queer rep. I watched this before I realized how normal and common queer relationships actually are, so I saw the anime as a “double taboo” instead of “oh wow this boy is being groomed”
When I saw the thumbnail, I was like "ah yeah, that exist".
I was never into this story, I tried reading the first couple of chapters in middle school and just felt uncomfortable. Now that I'm an adult, I understand why I felt uncomfortable, since I may like BL, but I was never a fan of age gap couple in romance story when a minor was involved. So I was never into love story like that, especially if it was a teacher student relationship, the concept made me uncomfortable, although I understood why people liked it, it just wasn't my thing.
I thought I was weird for that, since back when I was in school I among the few girls who didn't like this type of romance. I was also really into BL, GL, Yaoi and especially Yuri, but stories that showed adults going out with teenagers or kids in any media was never my thing.
I'm glad to know it wasn't just me who couldn't really get into the "Loveless" manga/anime hype.
Loved your video by the way and I'm looking forward to your review on the manga. Honestly, I didn't know if the manga was any different from the anime, since I only read a bit of the mange and wasn't interested in the anime. I'm still not interested in reading or watching "Loveless", but I am curious to know your opinion on it.
its not even BL technically an the story of the MC an how the other kids who are a part of the magic system is what is the most interesting everyone has some emotional fear or disorder an the work through them episode 11's ending with the MCs Dub voice over with the music is why I re-watch
I was introduced to it in elementary school, specifically the anime, but never really got into it. Came out of the encounter with the person who showed me absolutely in love with Ruroni Kensington tho.
I used to love this as a very closeted, mentally ill teen, and over-sympathetized with ritsukas worldview 🙃 I remembered this anime a few months ago and was like “wow this was revealing about who I was as a teen 😬”
Now I *try* to see it in the same way you mentioned, that it just shows kind of a perfect storm of ways that a traumatized child can be taken advantage of. If they didn’t frame the kissing and “romance” scenes between ritsuka & soube as so aesthetically beautiful, it would be much easier to read that way.
i have a fun memory about reading a fan translation of loveless. they really made a kid in modern japan say 'why are you looking at me like lenin at the bourgeoisie?' 😭 funny that THIS manga had an official russian release considering the latest events
i don't remember how i found loveless but it was in the middle school and i secretly bought a whole 4 (four) tomes along other series on the money my parents gave me for a school trip. they are still hidden somewhere at my family's house. lmao
thought the uhh. 'romance' part was kinda dumb but kept reading online because the plot was so wild i had to find out what seimei was cooking. i've read it twice years apart, ending on the same cliffhanger. this was wild indeed
Я НЕДАВНО НАЧАЛА ЧИТАТЬ МАНГУ (прочитала пока только половину) И ТОЖЕ ТОГДА УГАРНУЛА НАД "ЧЕГО ТЫ СМОТРИШЬ НА МЕНЯ КАК ЛЕНИН НА БУРЖУАЗИЮ?"
но насчёт романтической части - мне плевать (у меня низкие моральные принципы? может быть), пока это "на бумаге" то это никому не доставляет вреда. я лично читала сначала ради ушек у людей, а потом ради сюжета и сеймея, потому что мне он понравился как персонаж в аниме. но момент на котором мне действительно стало некомфортно - когда в манге пошли намёки, что сеймей пристаёт к рицке. типа в случае соби сами персонажи постоянно отмечают какой он проблематичный, и рицка будто сам находится в курсе этого. то есть, отталкивает его когда надо. но сеймею он доверяет и считает своим защитником, и в манге потом такое показывают...🥲
в любом случае, мне жаль, что что-то помешало мангаке сделать рицку хотя бы 16-леткой, может быть тогда об этом аниме знало больше людей (и мне было бы с кем обсудить это...) ;( потому что сюжет сам по себе нормальный, но многих определённо оттолкнули такие отношения
The mention of MadK was like an uppercut to my jaw, the memories of me in middle school in the throes of a gender identity/sexuality crisis. My only solace- bl gore smut. Honestly thinking about reading it again. Also, thanks for informing me about/ summarizing this gross and creepy anime. I don't think I'll be watching it, even I have limits. 👍
you should, it just completed recently
@@ilaya4183 do you know if theres an official english translation outside of vol 1 yet? I was reading it with fan translations for a while when it was still in progress until it got booted on fansites. Managed to find an english vol 1 though, but I'd like to finish the story.
imma be honest i wish it had stayed unfinished it felt rushed and kinda tame(?) compared to the start and there felt like a lot less tension between them but the end end was pretty good (i just didn’t like the last bit of build up to get to it). you deffo should reread it tho
Read Feeding Lamb you cowards
That one is at least consensual. As gory as it is but even the eating the other "person" is fully consensual. MadK also doesn't act like any of what is happening is normal or morally right so honestly they can get away with a lot of weird shit and I'll let it pass.
I cannot speak for the anime, nor the entirety of the manga, but from what I remember it was about abuse. Not really BL at all. I don’t think they tried putting the little boy and older guy together, rather the older guy was in an abusive relationship with the kid’s older brother. And it seems more of the focus was on the kid reevaluating their relationship.
Of course, that’s just my memories.
Finally, someone who understands that LOVELESS wasn't a romance series or BL. It's a Dark Fantasy series whose intention is to discuss themes of abuse, trauma, CSA, kids being abused and it going unnoticed by the adults around them, and the struggle to break the cycle of abuse. Your memories are correct...because you actually understood the nuance and what the series was trying to discuss.
@@Shibuya428-yg7gj From all the comments I was starting to be gaslit into thinking that I was wrong with that interpretation! Watching it as a teenager, it was this fascinating, messed up world with two people who Explicitly were not meant for each other for Many reasons, who in a better/happier world would Never have ended up even considering each other in this twisted light.
Literally the name of the series, Loveless, is saying that these two Should Not be together. Just because a "relationship" exists does not mean the series is a romance. =P
to be fair msot of us reading it at a young age didnt understand that at the time. I wouldve saw that if I went backa nd reread it but most ppl didnt wanna reread it for sveral understandable reasons. this comment does make me wanan reread it to see if it actually has that intention@@Shibuya428-yg7gj
My weird headcanon is that this is the Loveless that Genesis was obsessed with in Crisis Core.
LMAOOOO HOW DARE YOU 😂 Actually, one of my favorite CC comics from waay back, was Genesis throws a Loveless party and invites everyone. However, Zack and Seph show up with cat ears and tails, thinking he meant THIS Loveless. 😅
😂😂😂
It is about grooming and toxic love, but gives me a weird solace in that -because I identify with Ritsuka a lot. It sort of helps, finding a character that goes through as much hurt, distress and loneliness as I once felt. All characters are messed up, nothing makes sense, love is dangerous and wrong, but also the one thing one craves. This is about abuse, and it’s oddly cathartic to me. I can’t defend it as a whole, just state it resonates in me even as an adult.
You are not alone! I feel the exact same way, I used to read so many stories like this. Like seeing a character that was my age go through such similar things to me was cathartic.
5:01 is not targeted to girls but to women/adult, is a Josei manga. Even back then it was a late night premiere.
And...that is all i'm gonna say.
Story is about abusers, groomers and codependency (manipulative poeple), all this stuff by no means targeted to little girls. I just feel i'm seen the whole Killing/Stalking shit renew with material not mean for actual minors.
Edit: because typos.
Naw, Killing stalking was supposed to be a psychological horror about unstable mentality and stuff but the fujoshis romanticize it and call it "bl" anyway 🤡
@@pameladuente5449IT is a BL but not a romantic one and by no means targeted to underage/minors/girls, story was always rated 18+ (most BL are 18+ material by default), that's what i'm doing comparasion, because is something little girls should not giggle/squish/read about it but we have A LOT of minors getting hype and that was disturbing.
@@pameladuente5449Killing Stalking IS a BL, just not a romantic one or with the romance tag. Most BL are 18+ material, that's why I'm doing comparison. It was very disturbing how underage were so hype about a manhwa no mean to enterteiment them.
@@pameladuente5449KS is a BL, and the author herself is a fujoshi too afaik
I think that’s actually worse. Kids, it’s understandable for them not to realise that an age gap like that is bad; adults condoning or even enjoying it rings major alarm bells, regardless of gender.
I feel like this started my love of toxic relationships. The story always felt very fucked up and kept getting worse in a good way. Like it was beating the readers over with how fucked up it was. I really hope you will make a video on the manga.
If you want to deep dive into something similar I recommend Yami no Matsuei (Descendants of Darkness).
Black Butler is the same its a long series of fuk your feelings this MC is barely gonna make it out or they may not but the development was dope
I mean the BB anime original story-line ends with in some sense of the term dies at the end
Ciel is turned into a Demon "I always know I would end up here" which makes sense he refused to reach out to anyone
You sound like you need help
so do you an the youtuber since you love watching stuff like Black Butler an that whole shows is a creepy man exploiting a murderous child he wants to eat @@ChangedMyNameFinally69
Loveless??? As in the hit play from final fantasy vii
Maaannn genesis rhapsodos got some explaining to do 💀💀💀😭😭😭
Oh no….I remember this. How did I miss he was underage?!
Because when you’re a child, you don’t always pick up on gross age gaps in media?😅
Underage kids do not worry about the concerns surrounding underage kids.
omg you always bring up the anime i’ve been thinking about, I SWEAR I READ THIS AS A KID AND NOW IT HAUNTS ME
"Its been going for over 20years"
... *giggles in One Piece
Lol, Detective Conan.
JoJos bizarre adventure hehe
That one also has over 1000 chapters instead of just 13 volumes
Lol Berserk
@@rainliongod7493 Bruh... wtf
This was technically the first anime I saw not counting the 90s childhood ones like Dragon Ball (R.I.P) and Sailor Moon. I know there’s something f’d up about that.
I did not expect Therapy Game and Secret XXX to be mentioned. 2 of my all time favourite BLs!!!! Such beautiful art and lovely cast.
okay cool... but what's up with having FOUR ears?? that's kinda unintentionally unsettling 😭😭
They must have really good hearing.
omg finally someone said it
I NEED you to do a video on Therapy Game and Therapy Game Restart when you are done reading them. They are so good! My favorite BL series of all time.
Your makeup is always so pretty! I hate makeup on myself feels uncomfortable but yours is always pretty
man, I remember literally /squeeing/ about the last ep of the anime with a girl in the school anime club, and god, I still HAVE the first four volumes of the manga floating around my house from when i was a teenager. I tried putting them on depop but, quelle fuckin' surprise, NOBODY WANTS EM 😂😭 and i'm torn between wanting to rehome them bc I was raised not to waste stuff and just... not wanting to inflict these things on anybody else - I did read a lot further online for a while, tho I don't remember shit about what actually happened, I can't believe it's still going??? def gonna give resuming it a pass
you can wait for the manga to end (in who kows how many years) and they will for sure be more valuable for colectors. I'm sure the very log time to end the manga made them less wanted, because it hass been years and the public has grown and the mentalty has changed. The autor's marketing team did a pretty bad job letting them dragg the story for so long
I have a vague memory of reading some of this manga. The thing I remember was the cat ear concept, dead brother, and weird relationship.
Maaaan I remember this was so many “baby’s first BL” for people, or should I say kids cuz it was teens and tweens, tried SO hard to justify and rationalize what was going down, mainly because they hadn’t learned red flags yet. When I saw it I knew Ritsuka was young but I didn’t know he was 12!! ICK
Yang: "So there's this manga called Lovel-"
Blake: "My ears won't fall off after we do it."
Oh god, that was an ACTUAL LINE!??
@@TheSapphireLeo no, of course not. Yang would never read Loveless.
@@TheSapphireLeo Hello we meet again~
Dude. I think is saw a casting call for a Loveless dub or something like that on the site I use for voice acting gigs. I was never gonna do it cause it wasn't paying and I'd never heard of the manga/anime but I still feel like I dodged a bullet
If you ever get the chance, please do Tyrant Falls In Love. MC gets raped by college classmate and when MC confronts him about it, he’s gaslit into thinking it’s his fault for being raped and classmate disappears for several days. Then classmate comes back and blackmails MC into having sex with him again.
Actually this does have a US DVD release
Yep and my stupid middle school ass had it....and the first volume
@@healyrose4957 omg????😭😭
My sister got me the first book for my birthday in middle school. She knew I liked anime and manga so picked a book with a pretty cover. Oh little did she know😅. The other was the second volume of Hibakis Magic( I still dont have the first volume, lol). Bless my sisters soul, it's the thought that counts
Stares at my English localization DVDs of Loveless... like "you don't exist?!"
Man, I think I must have blocked out a lot of the key elements of this show, because this is *not* what teenage me remembered until you started explaining it. 😂 Thank *god* I never watched most of it and that it faded from recollection (unlike Vampire Knight 😬)
I adored vampire knight up until that reveal with Kaname....It was just super weird after that.
@@toodles.3117 Oh yeah, same here. I was big mad about it, and still am. I can (kinda) understand some of the mythology reasons? But that doesn't mean I have to like it 😬
MADK mentioned!
I'm interested to know what others make of it, i found the story really interesting till the last volume went in a direction that was a no for me.
Of course I know this one...😭
And I was way to young when I read this..
wasn't there a kid who was wearing fake ears on his head because he had lost his virginity?
Bro wtf is this anima
I think it was Soubi when he was younger because he was...de-eared by his teacher.
omg would you ever cover Gravitation? I remember watching it around the same time I was watching Loveless (regrets)
This and Gravitation was my first anime ever. I remember renting the entire show from redbox (back when you had to have them mailed to you.) I had every book until Volume 10. I was in 5th grade being OBCESSED with it. I swore for a while that the anime never existed.
shoutout (police call to) the upperclassmen that suggested this to me when *I* was 12 years old
i really struggled to get through this video. i'm currently recovering from covid and i feel like watching this made me regress back into the worst of it LMAO
0:27 NOOOOOOOOO I WAS WATCHING THIS WITH A SPEAKER AND PEOPLE HOME 😭
You should discuss or well review “gushing over magical girls” it’s a very well… think this anime but with girls who are MOST DEFINITELY UNDERAGED!! But yeah I tried making a Reddit post about it and wow the amount of people defending that shit was willld.
UGH! I just was dusting off my manga library, and found the first 4 volumes. Gosh darnit middle school me.
Like the magic system, with words having power; could do without... the everything else :/
I remember reading and watching this as a teen just freshly into manga/anime because it was in its peak. With a few friends even wrote some RPs in the universe because we liked the wordplay. I don't remember much of it, don't think I ever realised how icky it was. I drifted off reading the manga because they were taking too long to progress the story. One thing I remember liking about anime was the music though. I remember liking it. I look forward to the manga breakdown though, I am curious what they did.
My favorite arch was when chris hansen showed up and told Sobe to take a seat
Most of the time when people protest that “we can’t judge *insert asian country here* by our western views” they don’t actually know or care about the views of people in that country. Like sorry buddy but feminism isn’t just a western idea. Age of consent has changed and people have been trying to have it changed for a while.
I never read this but I knew about it. Even middle me could see that this series had red flags. I think there can be value in problematic media but that media needs to be self aware that it’s problematic and avoid glamorizing the problem. It’s a bold move to try to get people to support a romantic relationship that starts when one of the characters was 12 and the other was an adult. Like simply making it so that they were both adults even with the gap in ages would have been less problematic.
Why did everybody complain about the ending to Usagi Drop but nobody addressed how creepy this was for 17 years
I don't know, Usagi Drop is pretty terrible. At least this is sort of fantastic enough to ignore how weird and awful it is
I read the manga before I watched the anime; I was extremely disappointed. The anime is total trash and, as you said, doesn't explain anything. If my memory serves me correctly, the manga at least explains things a bit more
how the hell is it trash guys the shows tone is above a lot of series an what did it need to explain in bold text all ya need to know is the person owning all these magic kids is an ass an big brother is gonna return in some form oh dear but the MC has friends to help out
that makes ya wanna read a manga don't it
The fact that this anime was on "best BLs to watch" lists back in the day boggles my mind
i'm from ukraine and i have honestly never heard of this title before, it kinda evaded my anime-obsessed teen self
hearing you talk about it just brings so many questions of "WHY?" even in age difference enjoyer as myself
like... 12 y.o. is just before the puberty hits and your brains get scrambled by hormones
i can't imagine a more vulnerable person that this boy tbh
it's real creepy and gross af
Loveless так-то був доволі популярним серед анімешників в 2007. Пам'ятаю, на ринках (я з Харкова) можна було знайти болванки двд з цим аніме, а в кіосках навіть продавались наліпки/стікери доволі якісного друку. 😂
You're probably just too young for it. And good for you because this shit was everywhere back in the day.
I'm from Ukraine too і чесно ця манга та аніме були такими популярними в школі у 2008-10 році я навіть здивована що сама не читала (але всі мої однокласниці анімешниці читали, але що сказати нам усім було 12-14 років)
hell.yes Therapy Game mentioned! Hinohara's art is so beautiful!
You’re reading MADK?? NIIIIICE! That mango is so morbid I like it
Happily, I never watched this in my Yaoi phase. I think I'd heard a TH-camr call it predatory and luckily decided not to touch it upon hearing more about it. I went deep into Doujins instead.
Also, yesss, the Therapy Game shout out, it's so good.
God I remember watching this for the first time in my family living room. Luckily no one was home, but I was too mortified that someone was going to walk in while I'm watching this to ever watch this again.
Man, I remember this. I didn't realize it was a romance until I found the box set years later. Kid me grew up in a very religious setting and didn't know anything about boy love. I thought it was a really weird mystery story. The anime was definitely worse, but I can't remember the manga too well, and I no longer have it to check. The art was really good, but after watching the series, I was too icked out to continue. I'm really shocked to hear they're only on book 13. I could have sworn I got to something like book 11, and that was like a decade ago.
I didn’t know it was a romance either! I loved the mystery and the unique fighting system. My best friend DNFed it when I recommended it to her because it made her so uncomfortable and I had no idea why
@@sparrow8072 @ashkaa Loveless isn't a romance story, it's a dark fantasy story that explores dark topics about cycles of abuse, trauma, the dangers of sexualizing purity, etc., it's just that for some reason western audiences with poor reading comprehension didn't realize that the series is and has never been intended to be a romance. The series is called LOVELESS for this reason. Calling Loveless "romance" is like saying that Scream is a romance because certain characters have romantic feelings towards one another, when Scream is first and foremost a horror slasher film.
It's not and has never been a romance series. It's always been a dark fantasy series that explores themes such as toxic relationships, abuse, trauma, CSA/SA victims, etc.. It has never been a romance series or a glorification of grooming like most people with poor reading skills claim it to be. The series is called LOVELESS because Ritsuka and Soubi are not a romantic pairing despite the intentional creepy overtones the mangaka chose to feature in order to get their story points across
When I was a kid I made my own writing project called Loveless, and I only found out in recent years that there was something already called that, but I didn't know it was like THIS!?!?!
I remember the manga being sooo different, but I read it so long ago and I was also 13 xD please do a comparison of it, I’m staying tuned to see what’s up
I thought this was the book that Genesis was always reading
Almost forgot this anime, one of the first BL I saw as a teen...but yeah I remember bring so annoyed that the cool stuff was kinda shoehorned in the last episode. Neve read the manga but honestly props to you for taking in that task!
Who remembers sekaiichi hatsukoi and junjou romantica 🤣🤣
Yessssss! Watching one episodes in parts on TH-cam 🤣🤣
Oh god the memories. I've spent so much of my life wondering where everything went wrong in my life, and it was there. Those two right there, officer.
If you want a GOOD show/manga from this older Era of BL, I highly recommend 'No.6'
Yessssssssss!!!!
I remember this! I was a fan too when i was a kid, did fanart and fanfic. Looking back I understand how weird it is. When i travelled to the US it was the first manga i bought haha. I thought the manga was on a long term hiatus??
The amount of horror-shock-concern responses out of me BEFORE THE 5 MINUTE MARK... I loved this one back when I was a kid, and I am 100% certain I had no idea (probably glossed over it mentally) THAT RITSUKA IS 12 AND SOUBI IS IN HIS MID 20S adkxjhakjfhasdasd
WTF did I watch/read who let me have this. My mom took away Paper Star (novel, fiction and way less questionable) BUT LET ME HAVE THIS?!
Lmao, I also only made it about 3-4 volumes into the Manga BACK THEN when it was new to import here, before I went "oh god what have I done" and yeeted myself into Girl Got Game and Ouran HSHC
As someone who used to love this Anime & Manga, someone who even went as far as to write FANFICTIONS (Fluff never Lemon), I even got the DVD series for Christmas, and I even still like this Anime/Manga (FML, lol). I do recognize this as a HIGHLY questionable anime/manga. Anyway I absolutely loved this video and laughed tons, thank you! XD
Oh my God, I cannot believe you have read MADK!! it’s so good. And the last volume was definitely something, let’s just say that. Are you by any chance, considering doing a Video on it? Because if you are, I think the reaction to it would be absolutely amazing.
Yeah, I mostly only know about this from a few AMVs and some videos saying how bad it was.
But when a media genre becomes so infamous that it's replaced by a pron tag, to escape the negative connotations, you know something went really wrong.
I remember being in so deep in this shit that i read the manga and now that i look back and see how bad it was i want to cry
Also i remember being so hypnotised by it i searched for content on it on youtube but i never rlly found much so i assumed its smth nobody knew about who would have thought smth like this would acc be somewhat popular
(but honestly i coundlt even finish the manga and i dont remember anything about it only thing is im pretty sure i hated the brother for something and they there was a plot about somebody not having a name but i dont remember why or who so its probably pretty forgetable
Im in love with your analizys videos. Can you do one on Heaven official's blessing? (Tian guan cifu) has two seasons, a visual novel, and the original novel.
I didn't know that this anime/manga existed until I watched Gundam 00 and heard that the mangaka did the character designs for that show. Trivia that totally trips me out!! Looked the manga up mainly out of curiosity, immediately got red flags from the description & didn't really look further.
"Is this the reason why I like being collared and tied up?" Ayo...?
this was one of the first BL animes I watched, and I could not get through the first episode because of how gross it felt. I didn't know their exact ages, but it was clear there was a big age difference and it made me very uncomfortable. I don't know how good or different the manga is compared to the anime, but I'd definitely be interested in seeing your video on it!
Therapy game is freaking good, I’ve finally bought vol1-2 of restart and can’t wait to crack into it
The dragons betrothed is still my fav but this is a super close 2nd
I've never heard of this manga/anime before and the amount of psychic damage i took withint the first 2 minutes of this video... what the ever living hell is going on jdslkgje
Oh god... this... The amount of shame and nostalgia I felt while watching this. I used to be ok with so much bad shit back then. Ugh. Excuse me while I go find a hole to crawl into.
No need to feel ashamed, I bet we were all once like that. The good thing is that we managed to grow out of that phase and become non-problematic individuals
I know a girl who didn't, she kept the weird mindset she had when she was a kid and defended it with every fiber of her being. She's now obsessed with mlm and would root for any kind of contents that include it regardless of how immoral they might be.
@@pameladuente5449 you sound very problematic to me...
@@Homodemon Sorry if unintentionally offended you somehow. English isn't my first language and my skills are very limited so I sometimes struggle to express my point which could possibly lead to misunderstanding
I watched this in sixth grade 😭😭😭 THE MEMORIES THIS JUST UNLOCKED.
I went into the anime knowing nothing about what happens in it and when I found out about their ages in the 3rd episode, I immediately dipped out and never looked back.
Spoken aloud while watching: "Dude, just because he wants to be on the bottom doesn't make this okay."
I watched and read this at the same age as Ritsuka in the story and I read it again recently.
I remember understanding, Ritsuka and why he is the way he is and understanding his connection with Soubi so well.
And now that I am older, I understand all of the characters and their perspectives well now, yes, including Soubi.
See, shockingly, I know, Soubi does not have a healthy backstory with relationships either...lost his ears to a trusted adult, was groomed, was tortured, was given to Ritsuka's brother to CARVE HIS NAME INTO...yup the name Beloved isn't Soubi's name...he never had one and was a blank slate for whoever needed a sacrifice at the time...ie Seimei.
And then Seimei found his real partner that shares his name...and he didn't need or want Soubi anymore...and he abandoned him...Seimei also abandoned Ritsuka.
Ritsuka and Soubi bond over their shared trauma from this man, who is not a good man at all...but who they both loved so dearly. They see each other, and each others pain and they understand each other better than the other pairs in the show at a fundemental level...but they never really talk about the things they should and it makes Ritsuka mad and confused and makes Soubi feel guilty.
Soubi was not taught how to have relationships properly, and Ritsuka is learning how to do that very thing as the story goes on. He learns and teaches Soubi how relationships are supposed to be. A LITERAL CHILD teaching an Adult how to behave...yet...
I personally am 25 now and was just friends with someone who was 28 who, I tell you, had a similar backstory to Soubi and who, believe it or not, behaves in ways he does, all-be-it not with a person Ritsuka's age...but with a person who is 19...yeah...it happens. I am not friends with this person anymore.
The real world is not sunshine all the time. People do horrible things to children and we expect those children to grow up into adults that behave 'normally.'
Soubi is just looking for a place to belong, and he wants to belong to Ritsuka because they do share a connection as horrible as it's origin may be, so he does all the things he has been groomed into doing to try and please Ritsuka the way he did for the other people who he 'belonged' to...and Ritsuka teaches him not to do those things.
The point of the story is literally to demonstrate how traumatic events in childhood affect how we form bonds with people in the future. The other 'couples' they fight all are not in healthy relationships as they are when they meet Soubi and Ritsuka, but through fighting them, losing, forming friendships with them, and coming to understand them as people, coming to understand how Soubi and Ritsuka's relationship is strong when their own relationship feels like it is falling apart...they start to see each other again and form a stronger bond with their own partner.
Seimei's name, Beloved, comes from Ritsuka and Soubi loving him so much, for everyone loving his and idolising him; Ritsuka's name, Loveless, comes from Seimei never loving him, for him abandoning him, despite all the love Ritsuka, had AND has for him, and for everyone he loves abandoning him....and that bond being the catalyst and his reason for his relationship with his future partner.
The story had good promise and intentions, but is not understood well by the majority because it truly was not excecuted well. I am a firm believer that we do need more media that portray relationships that are not healthy and SHOW WHY they aren't healthy, and explore ways to improve, because if we don't talk about it, and just label it as yucky, then we won't ever understand these marginalised forgotten people.
By the way, Soubi says and does things for the shock factor as a coping mechanism. 😅 He lost hos ears and a child and so learned how to fire back at people who labelled him horrible things.
Most important, none of this is an excuse, but it is an explanation. People like these characters need help and compassion just as much as punishment.
Oh my God Mad K is soooooo good! I love how disturbed yet tender it is~
Also Therapy Game! Oh my goooooodddnneeesss I nearly combusted when I saw it on book store shelves!
Wait.... It never got localized? But I remember reading it as a Tokyo Pop manga I thought
Watching it now before YT nerfs this