This is adorable.

But I have this nagging question stuck in my head... aren't the "beastkin" just slaves? It seems that they're treated fairly well, but still.

I enjoy this very much (like all of the author's works). If the story is that cute little girls with animal tails and ears are raised from childhood to be taken as domestic servants, and it all works out great for everyone, then I'll gladly accept that.

Lots Itou Hachi's works take place in some kind of pseudo-Victorian or late Meiji era, where wealthy people have domestic servants living with them, and I guess that isn't much different than this. It just feels uncomfortable when an entire race (species?) of humanoids are enslaved by another.

The story is kinda... the manga said itself that the beastkin is too similar to humans, but still they are taken into custody when they're born (they steal them away from their parents I guess) and they educate them to live their lifes as slaves, they have no freedom whatsoever... and what happens to those who are not fit to "adapt" to human society? That's so bizarre and not cute at all xD

Edit: ^ I'm glad I'm not the only one who found it so weird ._.

last edited at Mar 12, 2017 1:16AM

^ I've posted about that very thing before in some cat girl story - it often just seems like slavery if it is a whole species and - institutionalized legal slavery - I'd hope the human race is past that.. You see it in many cat girl settings like nekko para - or even robots like chobits. The fact they are not human doesn't help - they are sentient.

And even if they are protected under law and treated well it still is wrong.

The story itself is very cute and nice though - and there isn't enough details on the beastkin situation to really judge it - when it says only strictly approved ones can intergrate and get a master - maybe they are put forward by their parents because being integrated is the best 'job' for then long term? i.e good education and long term guaranteed job? Lets assume ones who are not good enough or fail stay with their parents.

I assume 'master' is in the victorian sense too - though the master chooses or is found for them, that's about how it was for servants back then - and typically would stay with one household all their life. We also don't know if they are free to leave if they like - which really would make it 'servant' not slave.

Soo - lets just say I wouldn't write the world setup like that - and I'll try to assume it in the best light possible so it doesn't ruin such a good cute story.

last edited at Mar 12, 2017 1:43AM

You guys are over thinking it way too much. They're just pets, not slaves. The master plainly states that Mel doesn't have to do anything, she is free to do whatever she wants and chooses to be a maid. Without a further look into beastkin society it's hard to judge what's going on. If beastkin are like cats and scatter their children well before adulthood it's understandable that humans would adopt them until they are full adults. I think you are jumping to the slavery accusations a little too early.

All work deserves payment.

If they work, they are not pets. If they are not paid, they are slaves.

That is all.

Especially is their work could be done by humans.

Let's hope there's no unemployment in their world...

last edited at Mar 12, 2017 5:22AM

Aside that judging from that chapter 3, all we know is Mel chose to work as a maid out of gratitude to get "adopted". We don't know what the others girls do at their masters' place. We don't even know if they're getting paid or not if they do some similar work. We don't even actually know if Mel is getting a salary doing her work (but then again, she wasn't hired to be a maid, that was her decision to work as one).

The setting stays vague on too many points, but I kind of feel that this chapter was the author way to point out that even though we saw Mel working as a maid so far, she's not exactly one, which explains partly why both Colette and the Master are so lenient about her messing up, oversleeping and so on. :p

Beastkin are like pokemon. Solved.

All work deserves payment.

If they work, they are not pets. If they are not paid, they are slaves.

I'm going to have to have a word with my parents about all those years of slavery then.

It's not necessarily a problem. Everyone, including the beastkin, seem perfectly happy with the situation, and there may very well be an explanation that obviates any discussion of slavery. I'm just saying that there are some superficial similarities to a slave society, such that this may potentially be an issue.

What is somewhat troubling is the fact that it seems "natural" that the beastkin be raised by humans in order to become their pets/domestic servants. "They are incapable of taking care of themselves" "they are childlike and need masters to look out for them" etc. are all explanations that were used to morally justify slavery throughout history. Maybe, in this world, those explanations are simply true, and this arrangement benefits everyone. Maybe there's something else going on.

Whatever it is, I don't think it has to be a problem, it just reminds me of a problem. Mel is obviously happy with her situation and is treated like a member of the family. The story is adorable, and I eagerly await the next chapter.

last edited at Mar 12, 2017 6:32AM

Cannibal posted:

All work deserves payment.

If they work, they are not pets. If they are not paid, they are slaves.

I'm going to have to have a word with my parents about all those years of slavery then.

Chores are not work.

If, for example, your parents owned a shop and made you work at the cash register without paying you, it qualifies as undeclared work and it's illegal. You can sue them.

Even working in the fields in your family's farm is supposed to be declared.

But as this story is in an imaginary Victorian setting, I suppose labor laws are pretty weak. And the master saying "just do whatever you want" means she bought a pet, not an employee.

Anyway, it's obvious the author didn't want to delve that far in the details of his world. He just want to show cute furry girls having cute interactions with humans and other cute furries. That she'd have no wages isn't relevant to the story.

By the way, I ship Mel & Fran. Because Tsundere.

last edited at Mar 12, 2017 6:44AM

Those reasons easily apply to orphaned children as well, they can't take care of themselves and require adoptive parents or institutions. Still wouldn't call a family adopting a child and having them do chores "slavery".

And Nya-chan, they are chores. What has Mel done that has anything to do with actual businesses? Also, you are wrong about child labor laws, at least in the US. As long as the child isn't being taken out of compulsory school they can work without getting paid. Children that work on family farms don't have to be paid unless they do more than 500 man days worth of work. For a non-agricultural business children don't have to be paid unless you are paying someone else to do that same job while the child is unavailable.

last edited at Mar 12, 2017 7:11AM

Ya, a cute form of slavery, niiiice... I instantly remember the art by as109, iykwim, about an elf slave. Not always this sweet.

Personally I'd really like for them to meet up. I really hope there will be a chapter of them meeting (maybe a meeting of masters and they'll come along?)...

It's really adorable! Good to see that Fran actually cares for her. I really thought that she'll be lonely after Mary left but I forgot that this is Itou Hachi, so that's a relief.

However, on the topic of beastkin training and adoption, I just wonder how they evaluate which ones are fit for a master since at first they so cute, adorable, fluffy and cuddly... Anyway, what if they grow older and their feral instincts take over? Of course since they are beastkin, they have these different traits depending on their beast half. Ooooh I wish to see a timeskip where Mel is fighting her instincts - both her violent side and her not so violent side. I mean, you know, when it's that season of the year when they want to do... stuff. I want to see how master would handle such a situation. It would be interesting to see.

I ... don't really want to know what they do to those beastkin babies that don't pass the inspection ...

There's also always the possibility that beastkin aren't a naturally occurring species, but are quite literally created by the state for...whatever reason. Also, we don't know what happens to the babies that don't pass the inspection to find a master. It's never stated to be bad, or even actually implied. For all we know, they're just not deemed suitable for adoption as household servants/companion pets/etc. and are given some other role to fill (not that any of this, including Mel being happy with her situation, rules out a Brave New World scenario either).

We really don't have enough information to really say a whole lot, especially since we know so little about this world at all.

Well, now i want to see when they started the kissing stuff, and see if they went farther or not

Fudge-- the characters are so cute and even the story... I can't wait for the next chapter.>,<

last edited at May 10, 2017 4:07AM

Translations seem to be held up at the moment. There have been like 10 chapters released and available at the moment: https://comic.pixiv.net/amp/works/2430

I've wondered for a while if Itou Hachi would ever do porn. It's finally here, and it's really savage. Low lolicon bordering on toddlercon. Nice!

http://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/2885003
http://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/2885004
http://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/2885005
http://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/2885006
http://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/2885007

(If you don't have a gold account or whatever it's called, click the source link. Itou deleted the tweets, but Twitter cached the pictures. Once it's on the internet, it's on forever!)

https://i.imgur.com/IYTN5oy.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/lLuIBjV.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/pKbWK4X.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/9mdA2rO.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Kc2zHnJ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/JNGsOl0.jpg

^I don't know what to say. This is slightly off-puting to me.

I wonder why Itou Hachi deleted the tweets. Did she get in trouble with her editor or something?

itou hachi is always uploading then promptly deleting pictures on twitter.

This is just me, but I find the fact that Hachi did porn of these two makes me enjoy the series less. What I liked about the series was its innocence, where they never did anything more than kiss (as with a lot of Hachi stuff), but this kind of ruins the illusion for me.