Ooh, I step out for a bit and come back to two more chapters of this, very nice. I like how it's deepening the set up, with extra reasons for Reo's guilt and Meiko's obsession, rather than marching onward with the plot. It already feels a bit more efficent and controlled than Netsuzou Trap, which always struck me as bit woolly, lurching in a zig-zag rather than a straight line. Meiko's behaviour feels both crazier and more understandable than Hotaru's.
Obviously there's still time for this to go off the rails, for good or ill.
Takase's setting herself up for a lot of hurt. Intervening directly in somebody's relationship when you suspect abuse - especially by confronting the aggressor - rarely goes well. I can understand the urge to meddle and punish the wicked, but sometimes all you can do is offer somebody a safe haven if they want to make the leap. When a couple is threatened by an outside force, they can pull up the drawbridges and unite against you. Sometimes the abuse can even intensify, which I suppose is what might happen here, though I'm not getting full-yan vibes just yet.
It is horrible to watch, and there are few things that leave you feeling more powerless. If you're really close friends with someone, you have the knowledge to take more risks, but even then you have to navigate a minefield and likely recruit outside help. I'd also be extremely wary, to the point of prohibition, of interfering when you're romantically invested.
This manga's reminding me of Renaissance or Greek tragedy, where every misunderstanding and transgression is repaid a thousand times over. I guess if you think of it as inhabiting the same world as "The Duchess of Malfi" or "Oedipus Rex", its more lurid turns may be a little easier to swallow. Still, I'm surprised this isn't tagged for the confirmed rape. Am I missing something? Is it only used for direct portrayal of the incident? I'd suggest it myself using the form but I'm new so I don't want to make any presumptions.
