Man, Ogawa Chise is a genius.
Also, can y'all stop reading this expecting anything but messed up shit for this to start with, lol? Ogawa Chise never pretends it wasn't rape--in fact, it was very obvious. The whole premise is based on abuse, that's the POINT. Why are you here expecting anything else?! Azusa doesn't love Karino (until much later bc they start to understand each other), it's not going "I'm raping you into love" like many manga. Azusa tries to take Karino down, drag him back down... it's a game, not one of your lovey dovey romances, okay?
I love that the moment Azusa starts to fall, it's when he sees that Karino sees him bare, like the man who hates being pitied he is. Doesn't look down at him with pity. AAAAA. SO moe.
The second couple seemed deathly boring at first, then omg. Then Ogawa reveals that the top has a codependency issue. And as always, she heals her couples to become as healthy as she can. I love that about her work. (Though not fixing it is also fun, like in Ienai Itami)
The third couple with Senzaki and Tatsumi is VERY COOL. Senzaki is absolutely crazy, and imo more in love with the idea of love than willing to actually look at Tatsumi for who he is, but that's something that can be solved with communication when they reunite. I think I screamed when they talked about how they'd die for each other, then Senzaki tipped him outside the window, and Tatsumi revelled in the thrill and held on, clenched on... holy crap, that was beautiful. And then later Senzaki had 0 hesitation when about to leap out of the window to get something for him agfshdfkl they're insane, but I love that devotion. I love that they reunited 😭😭😭
The ending was kinda rushed but absolutely went in the ideal direction. It was just very unbelievable that Azusa would choose to be that altruistic and even save the one tormenting them in the end. I'd have believed it more if he was shown not to give a shit about him, but knowing that fixing things that way would've simply been most effective.
Everything else was perfect. Oh man. EsPECIALLY after the time skip. !!! I love where Azusa ended up... and they kept their fun dynamic!! 😭😭
Seriously, I love Ogawa-sensei so much. I'm definitely putting the latter half in my purchase list.