Rape as Romance. I am feeling sick: Haou Airen

[dangermousie]

I have finally found a manga that just makes me sick:

Haou Airen.

UGH.

After reading Sensual Phrase I was curious what else the mangaka of that one had done. Browsing around, I came across Haou Airen. I have read some of it and now I want to throw up.

OK, this is totally my fault. I read that Sensual Phrase is by far the tamest and most mainstream thing the mangaka had done. I had read that Haou Airen has some really wrong stuf in it (as in forced sex). "Ehhh" thought I. I enjoyed SP. And as to sex through reluctance, I guess it depends on the situation in manga and the gradation of that or roleplaying or whatever. I could maybe deal with it.

I AM SICK NOW.

OK.

Seriously. UMMM. The premise of 'hero repeatedly likes heroine until she likes it?'

I AM SICK.

OK, fine, I have no problem with buying that the hero would do it. He is a gang leader in Hong Kong, and I don't think they are nice people. But for me to accept him as a romantic lead??????? For me to be supposed to root for the couple??????? I am sorry the whole 'OMG, she now hates me because I killed someone in front of her eyes, so I'll keep her by me by repeatedly raping her and training her to like it, as opposed to you know, talking to her, and explainin that I saved her life by that murder' is really NOT WORKING. Except for wanting me to stab you in the face, rapist. For that, it's working perfectly.

JESUS.

THE HELL????

The mangaka is a woman, too. I know men and women have rape fantasies and as long as they don't act out on them, I don't care. But looking at it makes me SICK.

I want that hero DEAD so badly.

The drawing style is gorgeous but it's just so incredibly emotionally ugly it makes me want to poke my eyes out.

Comments

[akathesia.livejournal.com]

Yeah, i made the mistake of reading that manga.
I felt like something trashy and was no way prepared for the degrading pile of filth it ended up being.
The mangaka has issues...seriously.
That manga made me so violently angry!!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

It started out not too bad, just your usual stuff but then it just...I was literally feeling nauseous. I finally met a character I hated more than Akito from Fruits Basket, only he was supposed to be the hero.

The author should consider seeing a therapist.

[akathesia.livejournal.com]

The beginning is deceptive. I thought I was in for some silly fluff w/ a dash of smut...not so lucky.

I think what disturbes me so much is the fans that praise the author as some amazing romantic writer.

How is that romance? arggh...yuck.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I thought I was in for some silly fluff w/ a dash of smut...not so lucky.

Exactly.

She has fans who think this is romantic??? Now I am seriously disturbed. It's sick, not romantic. It's like making Kira's stepfather in Mars the protagonist.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

what on...what...what...

that's like...incredibly bad 80s romance novel stuff(from someone who owns a number of 80s romances *innocence*)
urm...what exactly is it about and who publishes i *so it'll hopefully stick in my head if i go browsing*

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

OK, short synopsis: heroine is a highschool girl who saves life of young mob lord. He falls for her and takes her with him to Hong Kong. Then he kills someone, she flips, and a lot of raping follows. Seriously, you don't need to know more plot as there isn't any.

Not surprisingly, this hasn't been picked up by any American publisher. Scanlations are all over the place though.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Well, the not being picked up by an american publisher is a blessing at least...

Sad thing is, that plot could be awesome if handled correctly(sans raping)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

It totally could...

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

The setup has the makings of something we'd both go insane for, but the execution(read: rape onward)

I mean, I could easily see it having become a completely hot obsessive-protective-stalkery-bad boy thing...but...ech...

[kikintae.livejournal.com]

i don't like this manga either, i read first few volume, find it okay but then it getting worse and i just stop, i don't like the main lead in here, too violence and complicate. and it get worse as it going on according from some site.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

It gets worse? OMG, I can't even imagine it any worse.

[booknerd14.livejournal.com]

actually, a lot of shinjo mayu's stuff is kinda like that. mind you not as bad as this one but most of it's with the our male "hero" more or less forcing himself onto the heroine. the maganka's pretty twisted that way, i find. i think the kaikan phrase (sensual phrase) is the sweetest stories she's ever written, so that's saying something. but still... i have to admit to reading a lot of her stuff. the smutness of it.. i blame it on that.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

After finding out the kind of stuff she normally does, I am shocked shocked shocked that Sakuya never raped Aine. Seriously, how passe, to have consensual sex with the gf :)

[booknerd14.livejournal.com]

ya, i hade read kaikan phrase after reading some of her other stuff, and i was pretty surprise that she wrote something so tame.. and that his one had an actual good story

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I am so amuse at the fact that Viz bought Haou Airen, probably because of Sensual Phrase, but then backed out of it so fast they must have tripped over their feet :P

[booknerd14.livejournal.com]

haha, that was probably it. they probably didn't check it until afterwards. i reckon they need to research their stuff before buying it. there would have been a lot of angry people writing to them if they published it

[janlake83.livejournal.com]

i perused that particular manga once and afterwards i felt soo icky i needed to go home and get a mind wipe cause seriously umm not my cup of tea, and i am mind wiping as we speak

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Just thinking about it, I want to take a shower!

[janlake83.livejournal.com]

yeah the icky factor makes you want to wash it all away and feel less dirty.. and the good kind of dirty like thinking of JJH in a full on nudity??? * umm sorry i saw some pics without a shirt on and now gutter thoughts*

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

LOL

[calixa.livejournal.com]

... *has no words*

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Seriously. It's like 'what drugs are you on, mangaka?'

[lesbiassparrow.livejournal.com]

I must have missed this post the first time out of the gate and came via Calixa's comments.

Jesus. How do you spin that into a 'romantic' plot? How do you think, 'ho right, this is what I'd like to set on paper as a touching story of love and passion?

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly.

Btw, read your post on Heyer and completely agree. I loved her in high school, but the older I get, the more irritated I get. I mean, I still think she can be quite funny, and some of her characters are quite amusing, but the snobbery and similar makes me want to stage some sort of a French Revolution equivalent in her books.

[lesbiassparrow.livejournal.com]

With Heyer I can definitely see why people like her - she's quite a good writer but I just couldn't get past her horrendous snobbery. It's one thing to have snobbish characters but to endorse them so much makes me see red. Quite literally.

[sarasa-moku-ren.livejournal.com]

If it's any consolation, he DOES die in the end.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yay!!!! I know and it makes me happy.