Is that last shot of Io panting and blushing a sign that Hase being violent on her actually does the trick too, or is it just she's afraid?

Both, but that isn't the blushing you should be concerned with. She was blushing when her manager slid up her body while pulling up her dress--even had the typical heart pound to make it clearer. She had a similar reaction their first time. She seems to only catch herself after a bit of time passes with Manager. In this scene only after manager had already slid down her back and pulled up her clothes did she catch herself. Those aren't quick motions and the blushing and heart pound aren't there for show. It's not the first time her manager interactions have been depicted this way before shifting. The implication is not something I'm a fan of. I see it as something predictive and I'd rather the story not go there, especially with them now living together.

She seemed to have some involuntary physical reactions but that only really says something about how Hase was touching her, rather than Io's preferences or feelings about Hase. Those are defined pretty clearly by Io fighting her off and then putting a locked door between them, and she's definitely "scared and overexerted" not "horny" in that final panel of the chapter. Io's BDSM interests aren't anything in Hase's favor. Subs don't just take on anyone just because they're subs.

We'll have to see where the story takes it. I'm not that confident in your interpretation of her behavior, or what it's implying. Would love to agree with you though and it's possible that's all it is. I'm a bit skeptical at the moment.

You can go back and compare the look on Io's face in this scene compared to her scenes with Misa. The only thing they have in common is that her face is flushed, and when the way that's drawn is different from how her blush is normally drawn.

Is that last shot of Io panting and blushing a sign that Hase being violent on her actually does the trick too, or is it just she's afraid?

Both, but that isn't the blushing you should be concerned with. She was blushing when her manager slid up her body while pulling up her dress--even had the typical heart pound to make it clearer. She had a similar reaction their first time. She seems to only catch herself after a bit of time passes with Manager. In this scene only after manager had already slid down her back and pulled up her clothes did she catch herself. Those aren't quick motions and the blushing and heart pound aren't there for show. It's not the first time her manager interactions have been depicted this way before shifting. The implication is not something I'm a fan of. I see it as something predictive and I'd rather the story not go there, especially with them now living together.

She seemed to have some involuntary physical reactions but that only really says something about how Hase was touching her, rather than Io's preferences or feelings about Hase. Those are defined pretty clearly by Io fighting her off and then putting a locked door between them, and she's definitely "scared and overexerted" not "horny" in that final panel of the chapter. Io's BDSM interests aren't anything in Hase's favor. Subs don't just take on anyone just because they're subs.

We'll have to see where the story takes it. I'm not that confident in your interpretation of her behavior, or what it's implying. Would love to agree with you though and it's possible that's all it is. I'm a bit skeptical at the moment.

You can go back and compare the look on Io's face in this scene compared to her scenes with Misa. The only thing they have in common is that her face is flushed, and when the way that's drawn is different from how her blush is normally drawn.

She blushes like she always does. We're talking about page 28. The only persuasive argument I've heard is that she's blushing (and having the typical "ba-dump" heartbeat effect) because of the mention of Misa's name. But she is definitely having an aroused moment there and until she reaches her room. It's not any different from any other time.

last edited at Jan 13, 2025 7:36PM

She also looks this way when Hase is directing her in early chapters, before the sexual assault and with no physical contact. My interpretation is that Hase is the first person she subconsciously enjoyed telling her what to do and being in charge of her. She wouldn't have wanted to do anything with her for stated reasons: Hase loves her mom, she has a professional relationship with Hase, and she's known Hase since she was a child. Then there was the unwanted sexual assault (as oppose to the wanted ones by Misa), which likely permanently damaged Io's trust.

We know that, prior to these events, she valued Hase and saw her behavior as following from her job as manager. She says Hase walking in on her masturbation is the first time she felt uncomfortable with what Hase was doing, meaning she had felt okay with what came before. Hase, a valued interpersonal relationship and trusted person, was very different than a random person off the street.

Ultimately there is some ambiguity. Since the author is the type of writer to "go there" in every sense of the word, I interpret it this way. I wouldn't say someone who is blushing wants or deserves to be assaulted because that would be insane, whether in reference in this story or real life. Most do still find people they aren't dating attractive sometimes, which can stem from behaviors or personality traits in addition to appearance.

That has already been used as a source of tension for Misa that pushed her to engage in some questionable behavior, so it wouldn't be surprising if that was used to fuel future narrative conflict.

last edited at Jan 13, 2025 7:39PM

She also looks this way when Hase is directing her in early chapters, before the sexual assault and with no physical contact. My interpretation is that Hase is the first person she subconsciously enjoyed telling her what to do and being in charge of her. She wouldn't have wanted to do anything with her for stated reasons: Hase loves her mom, she has a professional relationship with Hase, and she's known Hase since she was a child. Then there was the unwanted sexual assault (as oppose to the wanted one by Misa, which was also assault), which likely permanently damaged Io's trust.

We know that, prior to these events, she valued Hase and saw her behavior as following from her job as manager. She says Hase walking in on her masturbation is the first time she felt uncomfortable with what Hase was doing, meaning she had felt okay with what came before. Hase, a valued interpersonal relationship and trusted person, was very different than a random person off the street.

Ultimately there is some ambiguity. Since the author is the type of writer to "go there" in every sense of the word, I interpret it this way. I wouldn't say someone who is blushing wants or deserves to be assaulted because that would be insane, whether in reference in this story or real life. Most do still find people they aren't dating attractive sometimes, which can stem from behaviors or personality traits in addition to appearance.

That has already been used as a source of tension for Misa that pushed her to engage in some questionable behavior, so it wouldn't be surprising if that was used to fuel future narrative conflict.

Yes, this is all my feeling, especially considering the Author's previous tendencies. I just would rather it not go in that direction, but it's not set in stone. It wouldn't surprise me if nothing came of it, but it wouldn't surprise me if something did. There's a narrative benefit in either direction. I just wanted to make a note of it.

last edited at Jan 13, 2025 7:45PM

It makes some sense to me. Threatening Misa at this point is likely more effective for manipulating Io than threatening Io herself. Future contact between Hase and Waka provide an in - they can say they're doing it to protect Io and will stop if Io gives up Misa. Once Io distances herself, out of context information like photos could be used to try to convince Misa that Io is actually choosing Hase. This will help the unhinged evil villain of cred of team mom, that they would use information about Io that way. Misa can do whatever is a level above kicking trashcans and try to reassert herself. Then they can reaffirm their relationship since in reality they were always 100% comitted to each other.

Or something like that, since that was way too specific. Whether either of their careers survives is another question. They seem to have no leverage here.

I took her panting and blushing because hase had reminded her about the marks . Which we saw earlier she was excited over when thinking bout them . That's how I understood it but I'm kinda dumb

Is that last shot of Io panting and blushing a sign that Hase being violent on her actually does the trick too, or is it just she's afraid?

Both, but that isn't the blushing you should be concerned with. She was blushing when her manager slid up her body while pulling up her dress--even had the typical heart pound to make it clearer. She had a similar reaction their first time. She seems to only catch herself after a bit of time passes with Manager. In this scene only after manager had already slid down her back and pulled up her clothes did she catch herself. Those aren't quick motions and the blushing and heart pound aren't there for show. It's not the first time her manager interactions have been depicted this way before shifting. The implication is not something I'm a fan of. I see it as something predictive and I'd rather the story not go there, especially with them now living together.

She seemed to have some involuntary physical reactions but that only really says something about how Hase was touching her, rather than Io's preferences or feelings about Hase. Those are defined pretty clearly by Io fighting her off and then putting a locked door between them, and she's definitely "scared and overexerted" not "horny" in that final panel of the chapter. Io's BDSM interests aren't anything in Hase's favor. Subs don't just take on anyone just because they're subs.

We'll have to see where the story takes it. I'm not that confident in your interpretation of her behavior, or what it's implying. Would love to agree with you though and it's possible that's all it is. I'm a bit skeptical at the moment.

You can go back and compare the look on Io's face in this scene compared to her scenes with Misa. The only thing they have in common is that her face is flushed, and when the way that's drawn is different from how her blush is normally drawn.

She blushes like she always does. We're talking about page 28. The only persuasive argument I've heard is that she's blushing (and having the typical "ba-dump" heartbeat effect) because of the mention of Misa's name. But she is definitely having an aroused moment there and until she reaches her room. It's not any different from any other time.

The start of this quote chain is talking about the final shot of Io lol. On page 28 her heartbeat is lined up with the mention of "being under Misa's thumb" so if there's any emotional level to her reason it's there. I think this is likely also a good explanation for how Io got to the point where she's willing to use force to defend herself from Hase early like this, because the statement and Hase's touch risked crossing those streams (a thing Hase might have even been intending to do) and Io reacted violently to that. She emphatically does not want Hase anywhere near her sexuality imo. I would be both surprised and very disappointed if the author really went for Io in any way warming up to Hase sexually as the story continues.

The way I speculate this is that Hase is reenacting some of what she's experienced with Io's mom. It seems to be imbalanced in the sense that Hase likes Io's mom much more than the reverse. This was likely the case with Hase and Io, where Io saw Hase as a trusted person and Hase saw Io as a tool to please Io's mom.

In terms of "warming up", this is very unlikely. Io has experienced someone who actually likes her and would sacrifice a lot for her well being, whereas Hase has been destroying Io's trust in her. Hase's efforts are doomed in that sense and, if anything, Hase is also someone who needs help. Hase is nonetheless going to pull some stuff. While Misa is the type to act out in response to conflict, Io is likely to shut down emotionally if things get too bad. There may be some degree of physical or emotional reaction to what Hase then does, even if it goes into Io's "unwanted sexual assaults" list, that can be used to guilt Io or try to discredit her to Misa.

I do think Io is different with Misa than Hase, which is why I said she looks similar. Her feelings are clearly much more intense with Misa, she trusts Misa much more, and she (mostly) seems to be enjoying herself in a way she never did with Hase. Not surprising when they are the real pairing and Hase is the villain of this arc. I don't see this changing for the entire story, at least without some major new plot developments that it's too early to predict.

Edit: What I think will be interesting will be see if Hase and the mom's relationship was once more positive and became like this over time. Io has a similar fear of abandonment with Misa as Hase does with Io's mom and Io is willing to do anything to keep her relationship going. Misa has not asked Io to do anything that would negatively impact other people, so how Io would handle that is an open question.

I could see Io becoming more willing to act unethically over time if that were Misa's goal, though of course it never has been. Misa does have a vindictive side, at least in situations where the other person started something first.

last edited at Jan 14, 2025 10:15AM

Looks like it's Misa's turn to become a stalker. It was nice getting a little bit of her backstory, it sort of makes sense that she's as emotionally distant as she is if she got her heart crushed back in high school. I can't help but wonder if the woman she was hooking up with is Io's mom (Marei and this mystery woman are the only ones with eyes drawn like this). Wouldn't totally put it past Flowerchild to pull a twist like this, especially since there's already that scene of Io calling out Hase for using her as a replacement for Marei.

Something about the art is a little different in this chapter but I really like it

I can't help but wonder if the woman she was hooking up with is Io's mom (Marei and this mystery woman are the only ones with eyes drawn like this).

Also same, they've both got that constant calm expression.
I find this manga to be scarier than horror stuff I've seen in the past lol

The threat of exposure keeps making me think of that one manga title "Destroy It All and Love Me in Hell!". Misa and Io both know what they got is more important than their fake selves they've created for public consumption.

The only talent than matter if she score a lady

I can't help but wonder if the woman she was hooking up with is Io's mom

Oof, that would be rough on Io... We just saw she feels undervalued, constantly compared to her mother. Misa is a safe space for her, but she'd be absolutely broken if she thought Misa also wants her just because she reminds her of Io's mom (even if that isn't actually the case)

This was a nice chapter with support Misa. The author is good at portraying how Misa wants quickly became someone who wants to take care of Io, with all her behavior stemming from that to some extent. If anyone still wasn't sure how she differs from Hase, this chapter should make it clear. It also explains her level of self denial in past chapters since she doesn't want to deal with the vulnerability of feeling that way. And we have Io becoming a bit more independent, but also really suffering from the burden of needing to do that in her current environment. The way she totally let down her defenses as soon as she saw Misa says a lot about how she relates to Misa.

The mom does look very similar to the person from Misa's flashback - maybe a different hair color, but it looks like the same color as Io's hair. I could def see flowerchild going there. It would tie a lot together, with the mom having set off both these situations, and be part of why Misa had that instinctual reaction to Io back when they first met. It could also explain why the mom is confident in being able to break them up if she thinks she still has influence over Misa. It would also make the mom a little more sympathetic if she's been through a lot of difficult situations herself, enough to avoid the 'cartoonishly evil' problem so that she's only mangaishly evil.

More plot arcs were set up too. I'm looking forward to future chapters.

last edited at Feb 17, 2025 11:33AM

Io's mom is famous. If she's Misa's ex or former crush then Misa would know about it already due to that celebrity, which would make the "twist" of it feel pretty off-putting to me at least.

Misa had no idea who Io was and Io is famous, albeit more recently. We've also never seen Misa show any interest in celebrities. It seems like the kind of thing Misa wouldn't know. Speaking as someone who has no idea who the vast majority of celebrities (especially actors) are, for me it's a believable level of ignorance.

Or in her own words, women she can't have sex with are boring. Misa has her priorities and it's not pop culture. She even claims to only sleep and eat in her apartment. That could be an exaggeration, but it's not clear how much media she consumes in the first place.

Edit: Also, she hasn't seen this person in around a decade, so not recognizing her while googling would also be believable for me. People look different after that long while memory gets foggy.

last edited at Feb 17, 2025 5:34PM

Misa had no idea who Io was and Io is famous, albeit more recently. We've also never seen Misa show any interest in celebrities. It seems like the kind of thing Misa wouldn't know. Speaking as someone who has no idea who the vast majority of celebrities (especially actors) are, for me it's a believable level of ignorance.

Or in her own words, women she can't have sex with are boring. Misa has her priorities and it's not pop culture. She even claims to only sleep and eat in her apartment. That could be an exaggeration, but it's not clear how much media she consumes in the first place.

Edit: Also, she hasn't seen this person in around a decade, so not recognizing her while googling would also be believable for me. People look different after that long while memory gets foggy.

I'm on the fence about that woman being Marei, but to add to these reasons, Misa was visiting that woman in a very different context than you would associate with a film star. Seeing someone waiting wistfully in a run-down apartment does not scream "about to be/is famous". The only picture Misa's seen of Marei is also a promotional shot, with all sorts of reasons (lighting, makeup, aging) that she wouldn't recognize her. Same way she had trouble initially had trouble recognizing Io as "Ai" from a photo, but instantly figured it out the moment she saw her in person.

I was trying to keep my post simple, but people do see what they expect to some extent. I'm reminded of one of Terry Pratchett's novel I'm rereading. It's a running joke that people can't see Death (the grim reaper) because it doesn't parse that a skeleton could be casually walking around outside with them. He doesn't have to disguise himself, use magic, or anything like that. I could give less extreme examples from my own life.

With this story, I'm also not very convinced that they're the same person, though I wouldn't be surprised if there was some kind of connection. For example, she could be the sister of Io's mom that the mom abandoned. It would be fine for them to be unrelated, but it's interesting to think about how this could tie in.

last edited at Feb 17, 2025 7:13PM

I'm sooo curious about Misa's past. Who was that in her memory? Her mother abandoned by their father? An old lover or friend of hers? This will key us into her mindset on "not dating" or treating anyone special. You're in for a sore surprise Misa - love (obsession, infatuation, lust, whatever form) hits you with no warning and you have no control! God I hope Io also gets some backbone and freedom out from the nasty clutches of her mom and Hase's sheltering abuse.

Io be using the stupidest hat for her disguise; girl, get a face mask

Hmm..
Next chapter is going to be more spicy (☉_☉)..

So, Misa san has a backstory that made her who she is now, I see ⨀_⨀
She has a policy of not getting a girlfriend but I have a feeling that Io san might gradually change Misa san's thought

Will there be a happy ending for both of them?
Io san just wanted to love, that's all ಥ﹏ಥ..

For once, I'm not writing after doing a reread. Instead, I've been thinking about some of the previous discussion strands: the idea that BDSM has a relationship to trauma, Io's feelings about Hase versus Misa, and Io's particular emotional issues.

"BDSM is because of trauma" is something I've never seen depicted in any story, including this one. I notice people still bring the idea up a lot in different discussion threads. This may be due to the popular idea that submissive people are reenacting their trauma, while dominant people are predators taking advantage of them. Being seen this way understandably isn't what people in relationships that involve BDSM want. In the process of rejecting that idea, they often go to the point of denying that there is any reason for their preferences at all. This is very silly to me. While one may not know or even benefit from knowing the reason why something happens, the fact that it happened means it had some kind of cause.

From my perspective, someone like Io might have some 'hard-wired' physiological preferences. This would make much sense to me with sensory preferences, like how one relates to pain. However, rather than being a fun way to spice up sex, all of this seems very fundamental to her to an extreme degree. In my experience, when someone is like this, it is because they had some unusual experiences that affected how they relate to sexual feelings and affection more generally. This includes non-sexual experiences, like the relationship to one's parents or friendships in early childhood. These can influence what leads to someone feeling safe and cared for.

In Io's case, her unusual childhood is the most defining trait of her character. We know she was closely managed by Hase and her mom while not being allowed to have autonomy or proper boundaries in any area of her life. She also never questioned this and saw it as something good - it's how she expects someone who cares about her to act.

As I quoted in a previous post, Io says:

I think she was just looking out for me. I've been with Hase-san since I was a teenager. Because it's her job to manage me, that's why I trust her. Until now I thought nothing of it, but I hated it today.

We also know Io was under incredible pressure to maintain a pure, good girl image to fit her "character". She was given these roles in her work, while Hase used her control of Io to try to mold Io that way. This led to Io having a lot of shame around sexual desires. In the scene where Hase walks in on Io masturbating, Io is doing it over her underwear, without direct contact. I think this was a way to show us that Io feels guilt for having sexual desires even when alone by herself. Hase, the one who pressured Io to present a nonsexual image at all times, walking in on Io leads Io to question her relationship with Hase for the first time.

Misa, of course, doesn't do this at all. She seems to struggle with friendship and other types of deeper affection, but is extremely comfortable with physical affection. Misa has no issue figuring out Io's desires and acting on them, even when they end up being atypical. Misa forces Io to admit to what she enjoys, but never shames Io or makes her feel like she is bad for having those feelings. Io appreciates this enough that, after the photo shoot, she tells Misa that the "real her" is the person she can be with Misa.

I think this is what's different about Misa versus Hase to Io. It's not who is the most attractive or who she trusts the most. Currently, she trusts Misa most, but she had a similar level of trust for Hase before. The real difference is that Io sees Misa as someone who can completely accept her for who she is, without needing to hide anything or keep up appearances, and still be willing to support her. The latest chapter where she stops hiding her sickness as soon as she sees Misa shows us that Misa has totally won over Io at this point.

Misa remains somewhat mysterious, but I expect we will get a similar level of detail for her soon. Spending your whole life in the red light district would have an impact, but there's more going on that we don't know.

Edit: Also, a lot of the drama comes from there being both a toxic and positive undercurrent to Misa/Io. The positive is Misa learning to trust someone and experience long term closeness, while Io learns to accept herself and pursue her own desires as well as what it's like when someone supports her in that. The toxic is that Io feels like she can only have that freedom and safety when someone with control over her gives it to her, while Misa feels like the only way she is safe trusting and being close to someone is if she completely controls them so they can't abandon her. Both these dynamics are always present, but often one is more dominant than other, leading to unpredictability in the story.

Second edit: Another thought - if the woman in the flashback is really Io's mom, this would tie a lot together. The similarities between Misa and Hase could be because Io's mom impacted both of them in a similar way, Misa's latent dom tendencies could be because her formative experiences where with Io's mom, and Misa's fear of commitment and vulnerability could be because of Io's mom suddenly leaving after getting Misa to do all fun toxic BDSM stuff.

Misa's way of processing this could be that she tried to keep her distance from people and tried to avoid being in a vulnerable position emotionally, while wanting to take better care of people than Io's mom did with her. She tries to avoid vulnerability in both a BDSM and non-BDSM context. We see her desire to take care of people in the pickup bar, where she has a good reputation and states she never fails in "pillow talk and aftercare," and also with Io where she tries to assume a caretaker role (helping Io vomit, cleaning Io, helping Io relax, etc). This results in someone who tries to have a good impact on people, while never opening up to them about her own issues.

Hase is still the throes of Io's mom, so she is instead imitating the way Io's mom treats her. Io herself never was allowed the independence Misa was forced to develop upon reaching adulthood and remains vulnerable. It could also be that Io's mom was nicer when Misa knew her and that's where Misa learned the caretaker role, or she was a caretaker to Io's mom in some way. Then Io's mom did whatever let her escape the mold apartment, but went through some stuff that led to her being materially well off but more twisted in personality.

It might be more interesting if Io's mom wasn't responsible for everything, though. I'm not sure how long the author intends this story to be or how many new characters will be introduced.

last edited at May 4, 2025 4:03PM