Rating (Out of 5): ~2
Publisher: VIZ Media (Shojo Beat)
Volumes: 5+
Spoilers?: Yes ('cause, rant)
Miko is a shrine maiden
who has never had much success at seeing or banishing spirits. Then she
meets Kagura, a sexy demon who feeds off women’s feelings of passion and
love. Kagura’s insatiable appetite has left many girls at school
brokenhearted, so Miko casts a spell to seal his powers. Surprisingly
the spell works—sort of—but now Kagura is after her! Reads R to L
(Japanese Style) for teen plus audiences.
Review:
Warning: contains cursing and ranting.
So, do you remember
when I reviewed the first book of this series? And I said that it was just kind
of mediocre, with very little to no offensive material? Do you remember that?
Here’s another link, just in case you really wanted to go back and look.
Because, within the first chapter of this volume, that completely changed. I
was almost ridiculously offended. I just could not believe how bad it was, and
how much of a change my thoughts went through. (Although, to be fair, I did say
that I didn’t
remember anything
overtly offensive, but I thought there probably was something. Now, I’m sure
there was something, it just didn’t leave much of an impression.)
I’m going to start
with the minor plots of the volume, just to get them out of the way. Then—then
I’ll get to the offensive part.
The first chapter
completes the fox-demon plot line that was started in the first book. The fox
is really sweet, and was starting make me wonder, but then his storyline ended
with that chapter. I was not expecting that, and while I’m not going to spoil
what happens, I was not very happy with his ending.
The rest of the
volume is taken up with a plot regarding this one-eyed demon who is trying to
save his sister from this other jerk of a demon, and the one-eyed guy ends up
being a jerk and using Miko and making Kagura angry. I understood the guys
reasoning for why he did what he did, but I don’t think that Miko should have
been so willing to help him after what he did. She should have been pissed, not
eager to help after he used her the way he did. But whatever.
Now, the offensive
part. All of the offensive material centers on how the men are constantly using
Miko, forcing Miko into things, and how she never fights back. She might as
well not even have a voice, for how much the men are constantly forcing
themselves on her, and particularly not listening to her when she blushes and
says no.
And, on the topic
of no… So, for one, it’s never okay for a guy to force himself on a girl, okay?
Never. When she says no, then she
means no, and the guy needs to back the hell off. But I also understand when a
girl says no but actually doesn’t mean it, and it’s obvious to the reader just
as much to the guy. There’s also the fact that Japanese women tend to say no in
the midst of a sexy scene when they actually don’t want him to stop, and she’s
only saying it because she’s embarrassed. I don’t understand that, but that’s
beside the point here. Because neither of those instances were what happened
here.
In the first
chapter, Kagura starts kissing Miko, is on top of her, and she says “Stop it.
Let go.”. And it actually looked like, to me, that she meant no. She was acting
like she actually did not want him to be
doing this to her, okay? And he said, “I hate hearing those words”. Like
that excuses it? And then, not only does he keep forcing himself on her, but
when she says that he never listens to her, he
turns it back on her! He makes her think that she’s the one that never
listens to him! Like he’s not doing that exact thing, right in that moment?! I
just…
And then, his
reason behind his forcing himself on her, which he openly explains before getting
on top of her, is that he’s an incubus and he’s getting weak without any sexual
satisfaction, seeing as how he’s given up going to any woman besides her.
Which, okay, I get that. He’s an incubus, they need sex, I understand. That
doesn’t excuse him almost raping her, but I understand his explanation. She
outrightly doesn’t listen to him, and when he passes out and gets a fever, she
freaks out and realizes that he needs sex, as
if he didn’t just tell her that, two pages ago! I just… I just don’t…
Okay, and that’s
not all, either. Later on in the book (remember how that was only in the first
chapter? Yea…) Kagura tries forcing himself on her again and she freaks and
comes up with an excuse so he will stop: they can have one day every month
solely for sex, but he can’t touch her at all aside from that one day. Mind
you, that she came up with this to give her more time to find an excuse, some
way, to stop him from trying to make her have sex with him (which they still
haven’t done, except maybe in her dreams, when he invaded them in the first
book). For some reason that I don’t understand, he agrees. I guess because he
thinks she’ll be completely consensual then? I don’t know, whatever.
But anyway,
throughout the whole time leading up to this day, she’s trying to think up ways
to get out of it, and he’s thinking of what to do with her on that day. And up
until the day before the big day, she’s adamant about getting out of it. But
the night before (or of? I’m not really sure, because it seems like they don’t
understand how a day works, because they also say later in the volume that it’s
still that day, when several days
have obviously passed), she gets all ready: she takes a bath, does her hair all
pretty, to make sure that she looks and smells good for him. Practically the
page before that one, she wanted out of it, and a couple pages later, she acts
all shy and like she wants him to stop even though we all know she doesn’t.
Again, I just don’t understand.
I really didn’t
think that there were so many
examples, so many things that pissed me off, but there’s one more. Near the end
of the book, Kagura gets stabbed (I’m not going to explain why. I’m just…
not.), and since Miko knows that he heals from sex, she, while in a classroom
with another demon who just forced a kiss on her, strips down to her underwear
and bra and presses up against him and tries kissing him, and once again, I
just don’t understand. For several pages after this, she only has on her
underwear and bra, and I just didn’t really see what the point of that was. I
just didn’t. I mean, why was it necessary for her to strip? I understand that
she was frantic and all, but there was another person in the room, and up until
this point she has been very shy and naïve and avoided all sexual interactions.
Kagura also told Miko
that he loved her and she realized she loved him, too, I think. And her parents
found out that Kagura is a full-size demon who quite possibly has something
going on with their daughter.
I just… I just don’t
know anymore. I thought that this was going to be a guilty pleasure,
drama-filled, smut-flick that I would enjoy ragging on. But instead, I was
rather pissed off with this volume. And I didn’t even really mention how I don’t
like Miko as a character (although maybe you got the hints?). And seeing as how I was reading this for the smut, and the smut is what's pissing me off, I just don't see the point anymore. I don’t see what
people like about this series. I just don’t.
I’m thinking I
might read one more volume, see if it continues to be horribly offensive or if
it lightens up, or maybe just so I can talk about how horrible this series is
because I’m in the mood to hate on something, but I’m in no hurry to get that
volume. No hurry at all. (I am, however, still planning on reading more of
Ai Ore!, although I’m a bit more wary
than I was before.)
