Boy’s Abyss

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Boy’s Abyss” Vol. 15, by Ryo Minenami

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Reiji finds a sickly Chako armed with a knife and ready to jump off a bridge after she’d run away from home. After he talks her down, the pair of them run into some unexpected help.

Fucking FINALLY, some halfway decent adults are involved: Saki (Esemori’s ex) and Detective Ishibashi. But of course, this couldn’t last because despair is the name of the game in this series. Reiji, I believe, not only does he not want help; he feels he doesn’t deserve it. So, when it’s on a platter in front of him, he won’t take it.

Understatement of the year there, detective. 3 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Not Your Idol” Vol. 3, by Aoi Makino

(Image Source)

Kamiyama ponders what being an idol means to her while Miku askes Hikaru to guard her after she was assaulted.

Miku is just the worst and I mean that in a couple ways. First, she’s just a manipulative jerk plotting to turn people against Kamiyama because profit? I have no idea. Then the book goes back and forth as to whether or not she’s lying about her assault. And spoilers but I am NOT happy about Miyu’s suicide fake out. Those two things make whatever message this story is trying to say about how women and girls are used and perceived as objects really muddled. Exploring the way exploitation can impact people, victim blaming, and objectification is important but this doesn’t seem focused on that and just wants drama. 3 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Not Your Idol” Vol. 2, by Aoi Makino

(Image Source)

Karen/Nina has allowed Hikaru to be closer to her, making their classmate, Miku, jealous.

I’m gonna call her Kamiyama for now since going back and forth between Karen and Nina is confusing. Again, trigger warning for more victim blaming and sexual assault. I was pretty spot on in that this comic is about Kamiyama struggling to feel safe again but there’s also the questionable things she was pressured to do when she was an idol. She was absolutely taken advantage of by an industry that would sexualize her EVEN AS A MINOR. Remember, she’s in high school at the time this series begins, meaning she was even younger doing racy pictures before she was attacked and quit. Just gross. And Miku… It bothers me that we’re going back and forth about if her assault happened. It’s so weird. I’m in this more for Kamaiyama’s journey. 4 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Not Your Idol” Vol. 1 by Aoi Makino

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Former member of the idol group Pure Club, Nina Kamiyama, now dresses as a boy after being assaulted at a fan event. She now lives as a normal student, having retired from the group until one of her classmates, Hikaru, finds out who she is.

If you’re triggered by victim blaming, maybe skip this one. While this isn’t exactly subtle when talking about harassment or assault, it works fine. This is also critiquing idol culture, but I get the feeling that this will be more about Nina dealing with her trauma and eventually finding out who attacked her. Because not only is he still at large, but he is still stalking her. 3.9 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Boy’s Abyss” Vol. 14 by Ryo Minenami

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is suggested for mature readers.

While Chako is in the hospital, Gen and Reiji finally deal with Yuko. Ms. Shiba still has plans to keep Reiji to herself.

I swear, Minenami takes the phrase “can it get any worse” as a dare. Spoilers and trigger warnings, but I was NOT prepared for the incest and pimping out children to pay debts. Throw the whole family out. Hell, the whole damn town. I said it before, and I’ll say it again, Reiji needs to change his name and run far away from all these horrible people and start fresh in a place where the only person who knows anything about his past is his therapist, who can’t legally tell anyone. 3 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Boy’s Abyss” Vol. 13, by Ryo Minenami

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is suggested for mature readers.

Since Yuri and Yuko realize Reiji is in Tokyo, they work to get him to return into their clutches so he can stay in that small town forever. But Gen has other plans.

I don’t…. I just… Spoilers, fuck it.

Is this the dysfunctional Olympics here? What the fuck is going on? I don’t even have it in me to go into the themes of the cycle of abuse, despair, trauma, or how problematic Gen is for trans representation; I stand by what I said when I read the last volume: Reiji needs to run, change his name, forget everyone, and never look back. Other than that, my first impressions of this volume were the feeling of circling the drain, waiting for this to finally end. 2 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Boy’s Abyss” Vol. 12, by Ryo Minenami

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Reiji and Esemori end their visit, but after, Reiji runs into Nago. Ms. Shiba finally realizes Yuko is unstable and is using Reiji’s older brother to interfere in the family even further.

The more we learn about Reiji’s family, the more I think he should change his name and vanish from all these people’s lives. Start over fresh somewhere else where nobody knows him. Every adult around this kid is sus, and even his friends suck. This poor kid man… He deserves so much better. I still wonder if this will turn around in some way because while I am curious enough to read this and it’s not BAD, it’s just circling around all this depression. 3.8 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Boy’s Abyss” Vol. 10, by Ryo Minenami

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is recommended for mature readers.

While in Tokyo with Chako and Gen, Reiji visits Esemori in the hospital, where he’s dying of cancer.

It seems the misery is cyclical, and I am so tired of this series trying to make me feel bad for horrible people. Yeah, your tragic back story is quite moving, Yuko, but that’s no excuse to, oh, I dunno… Encourage an adult woman’s obsession with your barely legal son? This poor kid has nobody in his corner, and as much as I’d like for this to end in triumph for Reiji, with him breaking the cycle, I don’t have high hopes for that. I get the feeling the sadness will just keep going, and as a reader, the payoff will likely be just the desperate need to go read something more positive. 3 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Boy’s Abyss” Vol. 8, by Ryo Minenami

214370143

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Time has passed and Reiji is still living with his mom and now works for that warehouse he was so desperately trying to avoid. Somehow, even Chako couldn’t escape the curse of their small town.

Well fuck me sideways, Ms. Shiba is still allowed near children and is still fucking with Reiji’s life. This woman needs to be in jail, I hate her so much. This series overall is kinda making me tired. I totally understand the difficulties and complications around Reiji leaving but I’d still like to see some conclusion either way. I feel like we’re stuck in a misery holding pattern just poking our main characters to watch them in agony. They’re still dealing with so many dark secrets and we’re just not gonna charge Ms. Shiba for running down someone with car? Really? That and having sex with her student who is a minor!? Yeah, not letting that go. If that was my son, she’d be begging for the mercy of jail. 3 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Boy’s Abyss” Vol. 5, by Ryō Minenami

61812206

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Ms. Shiba starts meddling with Reiji and Chako’s friendship as well as pulling some real conniving shit with Reiji’s mother.

This is absolutely miserable. That’s the best way to describe this series. The adults are all terrible, Reiji and Chako deserve better, and Ms. Shiba should go under the jail. I guess it’s a good thing I feel so viscerally disgruntled since the story and writing is doing it’s job but I’m starting to wonder if I want to stick with this series because it makes me so mad. I hope things turn around soon. 4 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.