I'm kind of in the other direction from some people here--what I find hard to believe is actually the interludes of nonviolence and the sexual tension, not the attacks. Well, that and the heavy-handed stalking--if you're not allowed to kill her, and you've agreed to that provisionally, then whatever, let her get some food--ideally, find some way to do actual surveillance so you can catch her if she tries to grab someone's soul or do anything else illegal, rather than just sort of getting in her way without a purpose.
But for me the problem here is, the comic has this premise: Obsidian is a murderess, probably a multiple murderess. Specifically, she has tried to kill the female lead and has killed the person in the world who mattered the most to the female lead. It appears to have been premeditated and done with enthusiasm and pleasure. Since then, heroine seems to have spent her whole life training to be badass enough to take Obsidian down when she meets her again. This is "My name is Inigo Montoya" territory, not teen sex comedy hijinks territory. It doesn't even really matter if she can't remember doing it; if she isn't a completely different person with a completely different personality, she's basically an amoral killer and probably needs to be put down before she starts up again. (Well, with the mind control powers it will probably turn out she was mind controlled or possessed at the time--but until this theory is floated in the comic it shouldn't figure into the heroine's motivations)
That means,
IF
you take the premise seriously, the only question should be does the female lead use her to track down her superiors before doing her in, or just kill her now and investigate further without that bonus. The question should NOT be, do they fuck.
So that's my problem here: The comic has a serious and somewhat tragic premise, but it does not take it seriously. Rather, half the time it blows it off for quick lulz. Most of the time when the heroine attacks Obsidian, for amazingly good reason, it isn't even resolved, they just cut away and it's vaguely assumed it came to nothing. And it isn't even gallows humour, which I can appreciate. Rather, I find the comedy undercuts the serious premise, and the serious premise makes the comedy seem stupid.
It's a pity because I can see two different decent comics here, which appear to be spoiling each other.
last edited at Dec 11, 2023 12:33PM