Manga Review: Ten Count, Volume 2, by Rihito Takarai

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: SuBLime (VIZ Media)

Release Date: November 2016

Volumes: 5+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository.

Volume: 1. 3. 

Goodreads Synopsis:

Corporate secretary Shirotani suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder in this doctor-patient romance fraught with compulsion!

Corporate secretary Shirotani suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder. One day he meets Kurose, a therapist who offers to take him through a ten-step program to cure him of his compulsion. As the two go through each of the ten steps, Shirotani’s attraction to his counselor grows.

Shirotani begins opening his heart to Kurose, until the counselor suddenly tells him that their sessions are over. Shocked, Shirotani withdraws into his home, refusing to come out. Out of the blue, Kurose texts him and asks to see him. What will Shirotani do when he finds out the secret Kurose has been hiding from him this whole time?

Review:

I will admit that this volume was a bit underwhelming after my enjoyment of the first one.

Firstly, Shirotani's mental health is definitely not good here. Kurose is pushing him too far too fast, for sure, especially when it comes to the sexual stuff. And there's quite a bit of that in this volume, as well, now that Kurose has dropped the pretense of strictly being his counselor.

On one hand, this is definitely not healthy. It's not good for Shirotani, and he's clearly going forward with a lot simply because of his attraction to Kurose. The way that Kurose is pursuing this, as well, is bad. The reality of these things is overall not at all good. On the other hand, this being a yaoi smutty romance, and even their romance looked at in a somewhat bdsm style, it's kind of okay? In a guilty pleasure, not realistic kind of way. On that side, I'm enjoying it.

I'm a little iffy on the contents, but I am enjoying this series. I will be giving it a few more volumes, and I hope that it gets better and not worse.