Still, what we should take from it is that using it implies some connection to animals.

The furry ears and bushy tails are a big clue in that direction as well.

Again, we don’t know anything about what the beastkin are or where they come from. Some possibilities:

• They are a previously unknown/suddenly discovered offshoot of the human race.

• They are a recent mutation or evolutionary offshoot of humans, forming a sub-species (may or may not be the actual scientific term).

• They are born individually from regular humans (“sports” is an old-fashioned term for this).

• They are a completely different humanoid species of unknown origin.

Each one of those possibilities (as well as all the ones I can’t think of right now) carries a variety of different implications and raises a multitude of questions.

Meanwhile, I just want Mel and the Master to be reunited and take a nice warm bath together.

• Or they are engineered and the result of some forced evolution of animals.

Think "Frankenstein's Creature", or "The Island of Dr. Moreau".

But anyway, you know what? Itou Hachi didn't think that far and just wanted to draw cute furry lolis. The serialization forced her to elaborate a bit on the world, but this is clearly not too much in depth.

I don't want to spoil anything, but I'll say that the social status of beastkin is elaborated upon a bit more in the next chapter, to the extent that I think Itou Hachi did have some kind of plan for this setting, and isn't just making it up as she goes along.

Obviously I can't read her mind, but this does appear to be a consistent element that was just in the background all along, rather than some last minute asspull.

Even starting from Chapter 3, this section was pretty explicit about their subservient nature:

The most distinctive features of beastkin are their animal ears and furry tails. Due to their similarities to humans and their adorable appearance, they are gradually becoming common as companions. From the moment of birth, beastkin are managed by the state, and humans, after a thorough evaluation, can be approved to adopt a beastkin as its master. Thus, until the age of ten beastkin live and study together in an institution where they wait while dreaming of the masters who will one day appear before them.

Note: the line about humans being approved to adopt them says 人間だけ as the subject. I'm pretty sure here this means "humans, and humans only"—beastkin cannot adopt other beastkin.

last edited at Nov 5, 2018 1:10PM

Still doesn't say anything about how they are "created". It can't be from adult beastkins. Those don't seem to exist.

Or it would mean that once a beastkin is too old to keep on being adorable, they are converted into breeding machines to produce more pets.

There's still some holes in that setting. Where do old beaskins go? Soilent Green?

Maybe they are like animals you breed to sell? They are pretty much described like a cute pets waiting to be adopted. And you know, you usually don't fuck your hamster.

last edited at Nov 5, 2018 1:38PM

don't you ever make the loli cry!

And you know, you usually don't fuck your hamster.

Wait, what now? Where does it say that?

Asking for . . .um, intellectual curiosity, is all.

Blastaar posted:

And you know, you usually don't fuck your hamster.

Wait, what now? Where does it say that?

Asking for . . .um, intellectual curiosity, is all.

Well do you fuck your hamster? I know they're adorable, but...

Seriously though, I was referring to how there is law against romance between bestkin which might have similar reasoning. They are similar to humans and have human characteristic, but they still aren't human and just animals/part animals so sexual interactions with them is seen as "animal" abuse and forbidden.

Yes, there are definitely still some holes. All I'm saying is that enough information is given to us that all fits together that I feel comfortable in assuming that answers to the other questions do exist, even if we never get to see them. A coherent setting that is only partially revealed is different than an incoherent setting where there simply are no answers to the questions the audience has.

In the one case, the author has established a world that just isn't entirely conveyed within the narrative—naturally, a work can't tell everything there is to know about its world, or else it would be a textbook rather than a story. In the other case, the author has abdicated their duty by just throwing in random details with no coherent structure behind them.

A lot of fantasy and sci-manga manga (and stories in other media, especially young adult books and films) have the bad habit of just dumping a bunch of information on the audience out of nowhere. Oftentimes this is done by making an audience stand-in character—someone who doesn't know what's going on or is new to the world, so there's an excuse for other characters to explain things to them, or for they themselves to remark upon things, which provides an excuse for the author to explain them to the audience.

Here there is no character who's new to this world. Everyone we meet knows about beastkin, and there's really no reason for them to discuss their origins or lifespans or whatever. Itou Hachi cheats a bit by throwing in narration like in chapter 3, but other than that we just have to piece everything together ourselves more naturally through observation and inference. This can of course be abused by bad writers who use this as an excuse to just not bother creating a coherent setting and hiding it by hiding information.

Basically, I'm just saying that I trust Itou Hachi that answers do exist even if we never get to learn them. In many works I don't trust the author and accept that the answers aren't given because the author never came up with them in the first place.

Page 20 broke my heart.

Basically, I'm just saying that I trust Itou Hachi that answers do exist even if we never get to learn them. In many works I don't trust the author and accept that the answers aren't given because the author never came up with them in the first place.

My questions are not primarily aimed at what Itou Hachi is doing (although if she wanted to, it seems like it would be easy enough to drop some more specific background details into Mist’s responses, etc.), but at what readers are doing (and what they are given the information to be able to do) with what Itou Hachi is doing.

Is the whole beastkin/human system a hopelessly corrupt exploitation of the labor of the powerless? (All of human history making “yes” a pretty good bet.)

Is it a humane (and ponder the implications of that word for a second) way of helping the beastkin make the most of their lives?

So when readers are considering the pros and cons of the possibility of physical love between Master and Mel, are we looking at:

• Bestiality
• Pedophilia
• Interspecies MIscegenation
• Sexual Slavery

And how soon can we get it?

And on another note, why did my predictive text think that the next word that comes after “Pedophilia” might well be Blitzkrieg?

That is a good question: how is Itou Hachi expecting us to view this system? Is she thinking we're going to interpret their love as a metaphor for homosexuality or miscegenation, acts that, despite society's disapproval, can be ethically practiced? That would be a pretty odd expectation on her part, since it ignores the power dynamics and obvious differences in maturity between Master and Mel.

Is it meant to be a metaphor for pedophilia and try to convince us that real world pedophilia is unfairly condemned? That too would be a very strange message, since in many ways the power dynamic between Mel and Master is even more unbalanced than that between a human adult and child, since Mel is not only as immature and helpless as a child, she's also part of a legally dependent group with no independent rights. By any real-world standard, this relationship would clearly be predatory and immoral.

Maybe it's not supposed to relate to reality at all, and it's just a self-contained story with no external message.

Maybe it's not supposed to relate to reality at all, and it's just a self-contained story with no external message.

While it’s a given that nobody gets through the “Master & Mel” material in any of its versions without at least some queasiness around the edges, I was perfectly fine with the doujin stuff (the hentai is a rather different category) with its explicit “special” physical relationship between the two, in part because very little seemed to actually exist in that world outside of the bubble of domestic cuteness in the manor house itself—there’d be some butterflies, and some kissing, and falling onto Master while cleaning windows, and the whole thing was too adorable for words.

But now that the underlying issues are being brought more into the light and made (apparently) highly problematic, I kinda don’t quite know what to make of this stuff anymore.

I know that basically I still just want to see Master and Mel being cute and lovey-dovey, but I’m no longer sure exactly how we get there from here without feeling terrible about it.

It's just a metaphor for "love transcends everything" no?

Anyway, the system is really ambiguous, because beastkin seem to be treated really well. There are laws protecting them from harm and if some bad guy abducts some, they are chased by police. It's as if the setting was some kind of benevolent slavery toward beings considered like human children but also pets at the same time.

I think the mentality of people in this setting is too far removed from our own to warrant any meaningful comparison. We lack too much context.

Take in mind that even if they had been both humans, the consequences of their romance would have been the same, given Mel's age.
If anything, the beastkin thing seems to be used as to not reference pedophilia directly, and their eventual reunion is deemed as a triumph of love against prejudice instead of ... less healthy results.

But well, whatever. After that crying face, I hope Master won't disappoint and give us a kiss scene while retrieving her princess from the clutches of the people who will likely try to kidnap her, as the author can't seem to conceive the idea of Mel being 5 secons alone without something bad happening to her.

EDIT: while I'm still concerned about what exactly happens to the beastkin child who do not pass the examination pre adoption school, we do have to point out that, up until now, we have not seen beastkin being used as forced labor, and as per Mist comments, are not intended to be sexually exploited either, with a system in place to protect the beastkin while punishing the perpetrator in case it happens (so the law does favor them in those scenarios). Perhaps that'd change if Mel ventures into the city slums while escaping from her "loveless" home, but I wonder if the author would want to go this far on world building.

last edited at Nov 5, 2018 4:07PM

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/oneeloli_manga_123#2

Mel's age is mentioned here. Also she looks a bit older than in the main series

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/oneeloli_manga_123#2

Mel's age is mentioned here. Also she looks a bit older than in the main series

In chapter 3, narration says beastkin are chosen by their masters at age ten, so it might make sense that the doujins are set some time after the events of the manga series.

And after all our careful and thoughtful analyses, let me be sure to reiterate the main point:

You make Mel cry—Hulk SMASH!

Thank you for your attention.

Somebody here have a link to raw scans for the rest of the chapters? I can´t wait DX!!!!

It is on YouTube.

Sauce? and are you sure that they had the rest of the chapters? .-.

And after all our careful and thoughtful analyses, let me be sure to reiterate the main point:

You make Mel cry—Hulk SMASH!

Thank you for your attention.

This isn't entirely inaccurate, for the record. IIRC Hulk has a thing for puppies, rabbits and other small more-or-less-harmless animals. And this he will smash you in absolute fury if you hurt them.

... Oh man, now I'm imagining Hulk being hired by Master (FFS, give her a name already! I'm just a straw away from writing a tweet to Itou Hachi begging her to do this) as a guard for the manor, and the two of them bonding over their shared love for Mel's adorability (platonic in Hulk's case).

last edited at Nov 5, 2018 6:27PM

Next chapter is sent for final qc btw, hopefully it will be out after the weekend

... Oh man, now I'm imagining Hulk being hired by Master (FFS, give her a name already! I'm just a straw away from writing a tweet to Itou Hachi begging her to do this) as a guard for the manor, and the two of them bonding over their shared love for Mel's adorability (platonic in Hulk's case).

There are times where horrendous things are done to language in order for her namelessness to be maintained. In particular when Mist, Marie, or Stella are talking to her or about her, they speak in a way that just doesn't make sense. I feel like Itou Hachi committed to the idea of leaving her nameless early on, and was just too stubborn to quit even when it stopped making sense.

There are times where horrendous things are done to language in order for her namelessness to be maintained. In particular when Mist, Marie, or Stella are talking to her or about her, they speak in a way that just doesn't make sense. I feel like Itou Hachi committed to the idea of leaving her nameless early on, and was just too stubborn to quit even when it stopped making sense.

I'm intrigued. Please elaborate on the matter about the language thing

I'm intrigued. Please elaborate on the matter about the language thing

Well, I'm exaggerating a bit, but there is quite a bit of awkwardness resulting from Master's lack of a real name. Usage of "you" is uncommon in Japanese, since usually people just call each other by name when speaking to them, but by necessity Stella and Mist use "you" quite a lot—Master doesn't have a name for them to use, and they can't call her Master since she isn't their master. When Stella is talking about Master indirectly, she uses "kanojo" ("she") which is also uncommon in Japanese—usage of third person pronouns is pretty rare, usually people just call others by name when speaking about them as well. It's not completely out of the ordinary, but it's clear that the characters would probably be calling her by name if she had one.

It'd be too rude/overly familiar for Marie to refer to Master by pronoun, so she calls her "Mel's Master" to her face, or just doesn't use any form of address. This isn't entirely unusually, since people often refer to each other by their position or by some other relation ("Manager", "President", "Teacher", "X's grandmother", etc) but it's still awkward here, especially considering that Mel calls Stella "Stella-san". Obviously I can't have Marie calling her "Mel's Master" to her face in English since I don't walk up to Bob's mom and say "Hey, Bob's mom, how are you?"

I think the way people refer to each other is one of the most consistently awkward parts of translating. At least this isn't as bad as in Happy Sugar Life, where it wasn't until chapter 21 that someone finally referred to Asahi by some gendered language. I assumed he was a boy from the beginning, but nobody ever used "he" or "him" or "son" or "brother", so I was anxious that it'd suddenly be revealed that he was actually a she and had been from the beginning.... This kind of thing happens a lot when characters discuss people. In English you have to use a gendered pronoun, since people almost always say "he" or "she" when discussing someone if they know their gender (I know usage of "they" is possible, but when discussing a known person, it's restricted to the very rare cases in which that person doesn't identify as male or female—this situation is basically nonexistent in manga). When translating sometimes you just have to guess the gender and pray that the person isn't introduced later in a way that proves you wrong.

last edited at Nov 5, 2018 8:15PM

EDIT: while I'm still concerned about what exactly happens to the beastkin child who do not pass the examination pre adoption school,

And why is it that the one thing the students at that school must never ever do is to go down in the basement? There’s nothing down there, nothing at all, even though there are hints that the basement is considerably larger than one would expect for the size of the building, parts of which might even be accessed from hidden tunnels deep in the woods behind the school.

And there are no strange sounds coming from down there. That’s just beastkin girls being silly with their overheated imaginations.

And what smell? Those silly girls again . . .