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morthos's review
1.0
Update: Dropping the series as a whole but I did read all of this 2 vol combo. I also don't know the date I read this other than it being 2016 but I wrote as little of what I could remember down for it in 2023. So this is old but I don't really want to update it because I don't want to reread this shit book.
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Maybe it's because I'm 20, maybe it's because I'm not 15 years old anymore, maybe I'm not much more aware of how horrible everything in this book is, but the way how this relationship started bothered me to hell and back. The fact that Nemu just took the harassment (then rape) that Maya was forcing on him just angered me so much. Only the last 7 was actually something good. But throughout the book I was very disgusted by the "rape and blackmail is ok because they love you" narrative this game me.
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Maybe it's because I'm 20, maybe it's because I'm not 15 years old anymore, maybe I'm not much more aware of how horrible everything in this book is, but the way how this relationship started bothered me to hell and back. The fact that Nemu just took the harassment (then rape) that Maya was forcing on him just angered me so much. Only the last 7 was actually something good. But throughout the book I was very disgusted by the "rape and blackmail is ok because they love you" narrative this game me.
akookieforyou's review
4.0
When I started reading this, I did not care for it at all, but I decided that I should give it another chance. The story gets so much better as the manga goes on. You actually learn things about the characters, and I started to care about them too. It makes me curious about where this series will go in the future volumes.
dynamicdylan's review
4.0
CW: Blackmail, Sexual Assault, Bullying
This was a rocky start to the series. However, volume two was a lot better and made me want to keep reading.
This was a rocky start to the series. However, volume two was a lot better and made me want to keep reading.
heyjudy's review
4.0
~3.5/5
I was intrigued by this series when it first came out, but didn't pick it up until just now. I didn't even know what it was about, but the artwork looked good. I'm really glad I finally picked it up, though. Once I started the volume, I just breezed through it, and it was over much too soon.
Nemugasa is on a scholarship, and he cheats on a test in order to keep it. Maya sees it and blackmails him. Nemugasa goes along with it, but all he sees of their relationship is that he's being used, even as it grows into friendship.
Normally I wouldn't like these kinds of plotlines, but their relationship quickly grows into a friendship, even if Nemugasa doesn't realize it. Plus, given how obvious it is that Maya has feelings for him, and how much of a teddy bear Maya really is, it's hard not to like him.
Nemugasa goes along with it for the most part, and he's actually the harder one to like in their relationship. He's worried more about studying and school than he is Maya's feelings, and he pushes him around quite a bit. In the second volume, he finally sees Maya's and his own true feelings.
This series is quite fun. There are a lot of sexy times, and they are quite hot. But there's also a good mix of humor, and the development is really nice. I liked most of the characters pretty early on, and the art is pretty inside.
I really can't wait to get the next one.
[Read more at my blog, Geeky Reading!]
I was intrigued by this series when it first came out, but didn't pick it up until just now. I didn't even know what it was about, but the artwork looked good. I'm really glad I finally picked it up, though. Once I started the volume, I just breezed through it, and it was over much too soon.
Nemugasa is on a scholarship, and he cheats on a test in order to keep it. Maya sees it and blackmails him. Nemugasa goes along with it, but all he sees of their relationship is that he's being used, even as it grows into friendship.
Normally I wouldn't like these kinds of plotlines, but their relationship quickly grows into a friendship, even if Nemugasa doesn't realize it. Plus, given how obvious it is that Maya has feelings for him, and how much of a teddy bear Maya really is, it's hard not to like him.
Nemugasa goes along with it for the most part, and he's actually the harder one to like in their relationship. He's worried more about studying and school than he is Maya's feelings, and he pushes him around quite a bit. In the second volume, he finally sees Maya's and his own true feelings.
This series is quite fun. There are a lot of sexy times, and they are quite hot. But there's also a good mix of humor, and the development is really nice. I liked most of the characters pretty early on, and the art is pretty inside.
I really can't wait to get the next one.
[Read more at my blog, Geeky Reading!]
ellelainey's review
3.0
2021 UPDATE:
It's been a little more than 2 years since I first read this. I didn't really remember anything about it except the non-con, but I needed something to read that was short, easy, quick and didn't require a lot of thought - because I'm completely mentally rundown. I picked this out of a dozen manga on my Kobo, because it's the oldest and I was actually surprised. Going in, knowing about the non-con, was far less shocking. In the end, I enjoyed it A LOT more, without that initial shock.
I've bitten the bullet and bought the rest of the series, since it's now finished, so wish me luck!
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Okay, first off, let me say...this story wouldn't exist without rape. When the blurb said that Maya would blackmail Nemugasa and it would result in "steamy action" I assumed it was because Nemugasa was the ill-fated geek in love with the school-God and that God was going to take advantage of his attraction. Nope. Nemugasa is a straight boy who is tricked into cheating on a test, by Maya, so that he can be blackmailed. However, it's not blackmailed into sex or a relationship. Their first encounter is nothing but rape.
And it continues. Nemugasa says no repeatedly, and...you get the point. Rape all over the place.
Saying that...and I never limit or downplay rape, no matter what the story...IF that part hadn't been rape, I could have believed everything that came after. I actually could see Maya's feelings from early on, that he was attracted to Nemugasa, but that it wasn't really acceptable for him to and he felt he had to make it out to be something it wasn't. And I could see Nemugasa slowly falling for Maya, in return. If they had come together with a different blackmail, I would have totally shipped and loved and fallen for these two.
But, the deep-rooted problem with Yaoi, as much as I love it at times, is that a lot of the relationships are centered around rape. And usually always of a young, teen age male who is straight, who suddenly and inexplicably becomes super-hyper-in-love with his rapist. That is NOT a message that should be spread to anyone.
So...I gave this 5* for the story that *could* have been, without the beginning. And I took 2* away for the completely unnecessary and graphic rape scenes at the beginning, as well as the unnecessary use of rape between two characters who eventually love each other. Isn't not even Stockholm Syndrome, because that at least would suggest long-term psychological abuse and coercion. Sadly, Nemugasa just falls madly in love with Maya's abusive behaviour and doesn't realise it until it's gone.
It's been a little more than 2 years since I first read this. I didn't really remember anything about it except the non-con, but I needed something to read that was short, easy, quick and didn't require a lot of thought - because I'm completely mentally rundown. I picked this out of a dozen manga on my Kobo, because it's the oldest and I was actually surprised. Going in, knowing about the non-con, was far less shocking. In the end, I enjoyed it A LOT more, without that initial shock.
I've bitten the bullet and bought the rest of the series, since it's now finished, so wish me luck!
--------------
Okay, first off, let me say...this story wouldn't exist without rape. When the blurb said that Maya would blackmail Nemugasa and it would result in "steamy action" I assumed it was because Nemugasa was the ill-fated geek in love with the school-God and that God was going to take advantage of his attraction. Nope. Nemugasa is a straight boy who is tricked into cheating on a test, by Maya, so that he can be blackmailed. However, it's not blackmailed into sex or a relationship. Their first encounter is nothing but rape.
And it continues. Nemugasa says no repeatedly, and...you get the point. Rape all over the place.
Saying that...and I never limit or downplay rape, no matter what the story...IF that part hadn't been rape, I could have believed everything that came after. I actually could see Maya's feelings from early on, that he was attracted to Nemugasa, but that it wasn't really acceptable for him to and he felt he had to make it out to be something it wasn't. And I could see Nemugasa slowly falling for Maya, in return. If they had come together with a different blackmail, I would have totally shipped and loved and fallen for these two.
But, the deep-rooted problem with Yaoi, as much as I love it at times, is that a lot of the relationships are centered around rape. And usually always of a young, teen age male who is straight, who suddenly and inexplicably becomes super-hyper-in-love with his rapist. That is NOT a message that should be spread to anyone.
So...I gave this 5* for the story that *could* have been, without the beginning. And I took 2* away for the completely unnecessary and graphic rape scenes at the beginning, as well as the unnecessary use of rape between two characters who eventually love each other. Isn't not even Stockholm Syndrome, because that at least would suggest long-term psychological abuse and coercion. Sadly, Nemugasa just falls madly in love with Maya's abusive behaviour and doesn't realise it until it's gone.
moirwyn's review
4.0
This review originally appeared on my blog, Books Without Any Pictures:
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/2019/01/14/2018-mini-reviews-to-wrap-up-the-year/
A two-in-one volume in a series of m/m romance. And props on the 2-in-1 edition, as manga can get expensive, not because the books cost more than an average paperback, but because each volume can be read in an hour or two, versus a traditional book that would take much longer to read. The basic premise of Don’t Be Cruel is that one student catches another one cheating on a test, and blackmails him into a relationship. As the story goes on, it becomes more obvious that it’s consensual and that both characters have feelings for each other, but it takes a little while to get there, and starts out feeling a bit rapey.
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/2019/01/14/2018-mini-reviews-to-wrap-up-the-year/
A two-in-one volume in a series of m/m romance. And props on the 2-in-1 edition, as manga can get expensive, not because the books cost more than an average paperback, but because each volume can be read in an hour or two, versus a traditional book that would take much longer to read. The basic premise of Don’t Be Cruel is that one student catches another one cheating on a test, and blackmails him into a relationship. As the story goes on, it becomes more obvious that it’s consensual and that both characters have feelings for each other, but it takes a little while to get there, and starts out feeling a bit rapey.
louandlife's review
4.0
If you read the blurb of this novel, then you know that it is going to be problematic from the start. The playboy Maya, blackmails fellow student, Nemugasa, into a sexual relationship. But I think that if you can accept the fact that a book is problematic, and see the reasons why it is, then you can enjoy the unproblematic parts of the story. And I did. If you disregard the blackmail, it is a cute story. I also like how the story evolves. How the relationship goes from a physical one, to one where both characters want to be with each other and respect each other's wishes. They just had to start off at the completely wrong place.
With this volume bind up, it leaves me feeling as if it could be a standalone novel, so I do wonder where the rest of the series will go. I hope that the story continues to be interesting and won't go down hill.
Would I recommend this book? Ummm.... This is hard because it doesn't show a healthy relationship (at least in the beginning), and perpetuates the negative aspects of yaoi mangas, but if you are a person that can put things aside and forgive characters, then maybe this manga is for you. I do also want to mention that this manga probably has the most graphic artwork.
With this volume bind up, it leaves me feeling as if it could be a standalone novel, so I do wonder where the rest of the series will go. I hope that the story continues to be interesting and won't go down hill.
Would I recommend this book? Ummm.... This is hard because it doesn't show a healthy relationship (at least in the beginning), and perpetuates the negative aspects of yaoi mangas, but if you are a person that can put things aside and forgive characters, then maybe this manga is for you. I do also want to mention that this manga probably has the most graphic artwork.
juicelina's review
2.0
This was frustrating to say the least. Maya was toxic and unlikable and Nemugasa was super clueless and dumb. They didn't get cute until the veryyy end. The back and forth arguments were kind of annoying. Maya was so overbearing and rude and when Nemugasa finally stands up for himself and gets a little attitude back it gets flipped around and everything is his fault. Sure he's clueless and is all we're just friends right? But the fact that it got flipped like Nemugasa was the one using Maya for sex was so stupid. Maya literally blackmailed him into doing it?? I don't know, I've liked my fair share of toxic relationships and characters, but this just didn't do it for me. There wasn't anything redeeming about their relationship. And it was just bad and annoying.
rita_r's review
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
autumnk3lly's review
Theres nothing cute about the book. The relationship can’t even be called a relationship - within the first 30 pages Maya handcuffe Nemugasa against a chain fence and literally assaults him and then for the rest of the book continuously blackmails him into sex. Its not cute or sexy or fun to read. Its wrong and I regret buying this
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Rape
Moderate: Gaslighting and Infidelity