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Tell me if this concept doesn't sound wrong to you?




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Chiibi



Joined: 19 Dec 2011
Posts: 4828
PostPosted: Thu Jun 05, 2014 9:45 pm Reply with quote
Two parents raising their baby daughter......

in a love hotel.

Yes, that type of hotel in Japan designed specifically for couples who want to have a quick romp in the sack. The innocent little heroine even walks in on a couple doing it, while playing hide-and-seek with her friends. Yup, apparently they don't even lock up the doors...which is utterly ridiculous.

This is a brand-new josei manga called "Watanuki-san Boku ni wa Tarinai" and I really hope I'm not the only one who finds this totally f*cked up and all kinds of disturbing. This is coming from a Kodomo No Jikan fan and this new series has already offended me....WHY WOULD YOU RAISE A LITTLE KID IN A PLACE WHERE THOUSANDS OF STRANGERS ARE HAVING SEX EVERY DAY AND NIGHT!? NO.

I feel that is practically child abuse but my friend disagrees. Would like more opinions.
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Touma



Joined: 29 Aug 2007
Posts: 2651
Location: Colorado, USA
PostPosted: Thu Jun 05, 2014 10:24 pm Reply with quote
It does seem rather screwed up to me.

What is the genre?
I can see how it might, possibly, maybe, perhaps work as a comedy, but I admit that I would probably have trouble finding humor in that situation.

If it is meant to be taken seriously I doubt that it could work for me.
I do have to ask though, why?
Why are they raising their daughter there?
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Chiibi



Joined: 19 Dec 2011
Posts: 4828
PostPosted: Thu Jun 05, 2014 10:55 pm Reply with quote
Touma wrote:
What is the genre?

It's josei. Aimed at women 20 and up, specifically.

Quote:
If it is meant to be taken seriously I doubt that it could work for me.
I do have to ask though, why?
Why are they raising their daughter there?

EXACTLY. WHY? They own the hotel.
SO GET A NORMAL APARTMENT.....moronic parents.

The manga is not actually about the process of raising her; it's in a flashback. She's a high school student and living in the love hotel is a secret from her school. Then a douche classmate finds out and says he'll blackmail her with a dirty-looking photo (haha she tripped onto a bed that had a bunch of sex items on it so now she looks like a slut, hilarious) unless she lets him live there too. Oh yay doesn't that sound great. =_=
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Alan45
Village Elder



Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Posts: 9809
Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Sat Jun 07, 2014 8:41 am Reply with quote
Well, it is messed up. However, it is no worse than any other blackmail based romance and there is a lot of those, Maid Sama for instance. I personally would have thought that blackmail was a bad basis for a relationship, however many mangakas and editors seem to disagree.

I should note that as far as I can determine, Love Hotels are considered a legitimate business in Japan, unlike a no-tell motel in the US. I can see a teenager being embarrassed by the family business, but teenagers tend to embarrass easily anyway. Also, outside the major cities, living at the business seems to be perfectly normal in Japan. If you aren't ashamed of owning the business, why would you be ashamed of living there?

My assessment is that it is sorta silly, but no worse than the setup of many other high school romance manga. It would be interesting if it gave some insight into the workings of the love hotel business. Probably not though.

Note: When I was in high school one of my classmate's family owned a funeral home. They lived over the business. This freaked out some of my classmates concerned about wandering ghosts etc. Her comment was that "When we get through with them, they aren't going anywhere".
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Chiibi



Joined: 19 Dec 2011
Posts: 4828
PostPosted: Sat Jun 07, 2014 11:52 am Reply with quote
Alan45 wrote:
Well, it is messed up. However, it is no worse than any other blackmail based romance and there is a lot of those, Maid Sama for instance. I personally would have thought that blackmail was a bad basis for a relationship, however many mangakas and editors seem to disagree.

I can tolerate it as long as it doesn't involve rape or other types of abuse.

Quote:
If you aren't ashamed of owning the business, why would you be ashamed of living there?

Just don't think it's right to raise a kid in a sex motel. o_O I don't know much about Japanese child-raising laws...but wouldn't the kid be taken away because it's an unsuitable environment? Or does Japan not care about that?



Quote:
Note: When I was in high school one of my classmate's family owned a funeral home. They lived over the business. This freaked out some of my classmates concerned about wandering ghosts etc. Her comment was that "When we get through with them, they aren't going anywhere".

LOL....oh man, I couldn't take that. I'd be SO creeped out. Anime hyper Corpses scare me.
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Touma



Joined: 29 Aug 2007
Posts: 2651
Location: Colorado, USA
PostPosted: Sat Jun 07, 2014 12:14 pm Reply with quote
Alan45 wrote:
Well, it is messed up. However, it is no worse than any other blackmail based romance and there is a lot of those, Maid Sama for instance. I personally would have thought that blackmail was a bad basis for a relationship,

In Maid Sama the blackmail spoiler[really exists mostly in Misaki's imagination. Usui is not really blackmailing her. For a while he lets her think that he is, which could be seen as a bit cruel, but I think that he is really just teasing her, and she knows it.]
How is the blackmail being treated in the book being discussed here?

When I asked about the genre earlier I was wondering if it is a comedy, drama, or what?
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Chiibi



Joined: 19 Dec 2011
Posts: 4828
PostPosted: Sat Jun 07, 2014 12:24 pm Reply with quote
Touma wrote:

How is the blackmail being treated in the book being discussed here?


It's........really not a comical thing. Basically "I'm going to ruin your school life unless you follow my orders". Right now, the only order is to let him live in the same hotel...but who knows what he's going to make her do in future chapters. >_> If it turns sexual, I am 130% done with this.

Quote:
When I asked about the genre earlier I was wondering if it is a comedy, drama, or what?

It's captioned 'love comedy'....but so far it's not romantic and I am not laughing.
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mdo7



Joined: 23 May 2007
Posts: 6248
Location: Katy, Texas, USA
PostPosted: Sat Jun 07, 2014 3:10 pm Reply with quote
That is weird, raising a baby daughter in a love hotel. Shocked

I don't know what to say for this, but I'll say this: I think this author is really desperate for an idea but yet doesn't know how to be creative. Just my opinion. Confused
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Alan45
Village Elder



Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Posts: 9809
Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Sat Jun 07, 2014 3:38 pm Reply with quote
@Touma
Maid Sama was just the first title that comes to mind. There have been a number of them. The idea that the "blackmail" was not serious usually shows up later in the plot to avoid the hard feelings. It is basically just a plot device to force a couple together, similar to the "X is going to be living with us for awhile" device.

@chiibi
I don't know how child welfare types work in Japan, but my impression is that they are not as proactive as they are here. It would mess up a lot of plots based on underage school kids living alone. In any case, my point is that a Love Hotel is not the sleazy thing a similar business would be here. Instead it provides a service to perfectly normal people who want a degree of privacy they can't get at home or a more stimulating environment for their fun.

It is not a place I would want to raise a child, but then, I wouldn't want to run any public accommodation. I don't like dealing with people. Apparently the mangaka or the editor who came up with the plot didn't think it was impossible.
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lys



Joined: 24 Jun 2004
Posts: 1006
Location: mitten-state
PostPosted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 4:13 pm Reply with quote
The concept sounds ridiculous and absurd... just like a lot of shoujo and josei manga (I say, as a fan of plenty of it). Not to give my approval of the "plot device," but I wouldn't think too deeply about it. It's about as dumb as a lot of other plot devices, only trying to be "edgy" with the risqué subject matter. Is this Ema Toyama's new series you're talking about? (I'm not sure, since your description doesn't seem to have anything in common with ANN's news post about it a while back, other than being a new series.) If so, I think Aria magazine is considered shoujo rather than josei, but it could be borderline or skew slightly older. At least we can be thankful she's not writing this story for Nakayoshi...
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Gidam



Joined: 08 Jun 2014
Posts: 5
PostPosted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 4:25 pm Reply with quote
Arent there endless examples of stories where daughters are raised by their prostitute moms in their place of business. Pretty sure this is not the first case we have seen something like this.
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Chiibi



Joined: 19 Dec 2011
Posts: 4828
PostPosted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 12:09 am Reply with quote
lys wrote:
. Is this Ema Toyama's new series you're talking about?

Yup.

Quote:
(I'm not sure, since your description doesn't seem to have anything in common with ANN's news post about it a while back, other than being a new series.)


ANN's post is bogus. o_O At least for the first chapter. I don't know what source the poster used...but that summary is dead wrong.

Quote:
If so, I think Aria magazine is considered shoujo rather than josei, but it could be borderline or skew slightly older.

Nope, I did research that. It's josei....unless the Japanese wiki is false.
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