Forum - View topicREVIEW: Ten Count GN 1
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danshi_boy3
 Posts: 37 Location: Brazil |
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The best word to define Ten Count is "elegance."
The drawings, the behavior of both the Mr. Shirotani and Mr. Kurose, the delicacy of gestures .. in my opinion, Rihito wanted to work her best. Even the products related to this series are incredibly delicate and transmit an immense fragility. It is no coincidence this BL is the current best selling of the genre. 
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VampireNaomi
 Posts: 146 |
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I've liked Takarai's other works, but I dropped Ten Count after the first volume. I was surprised by how strongly it gave me the creeps with its therapist/patient premise. The mere idea of sex being introduced in the relationship between these two characters squicks me.
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CrowLia
 Posts: 5505 Location: Mexico |
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I remember I had the same concerns about the therapist/patient relationship when I first read it, and at the time was able to look past them for the reasons Rebecca mentioned, but I ended dropping the series sometime between volume 2 and 3 because the spoiler[relationship just turns more more unhealthy and Kurose grows more controlling and abusive, at some point even forcing himself on Shirotani and then blaming him for "not saying stop"]. It was disappointing because I thought it was interesting to have a story with a more complex subject, but alas, it was just not to be
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illusory
Posts: 10 |
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The first volume of Ten Count is one of my favorite volumes of manga. (And its cover is one of my favorite covers of all time. =u=) It was so promising--the romance is slow and sweet, and the plot (list of ten tasks) is very engaging for yaoi standards. But... the later volumes are neither slow nor sweet. I'm a shounen ai fan rather than a yaoi fan, but shounen ai is rarely published so I check out some yaoi here and there instead. I thought I found my new favorite yaoi series, but unfortunately, it turns out Ten Count definitely isn't my cup of tea...
You'll either love or hate the later volumes of TC. Either way, don't judge this series by the first volume... the relationship ends up moving very fast (considering Shirotani's crippling OCD) and the list doesn't play as big a part in the manga as I thought it would. Anyway, I still bought SuBLime's v1 because I had enjoyed reading the volume so much. |
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MoMo990066
 Posts: 27 |
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At first I never really cared about the fact it was a therapist and paitent relationship but as the manga continued to progress it started to bother me how abusive Kurose seemed to be so I dropped it. That and I got bored of the manga and yaoi/romance mangas in gernral. |
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kiminobokuwa
Posts: 547 |
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If you guys think this patient/therapist act us bad just read Harada's works. She's a legend wjen it come to yaoi. I've read her works. She does not hold back at all! But in all, this series is really good to me. I don't see the reason people r upset. Kurose isn't abusive. I never got that vibe from him at all. spoiler[ I think it's because of his past that he acts so bland and comes off aggresive sometimes] but other than that this manga is fine. I just hope they bring Harada overseas!! I will cry if they do!! She has a lot more to offer in terms of yaoi stories!!
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Moo Moo
Posts: 16 |
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It's too bad it devolves into typical yaoi tropes of manipulation and forced sex despite the beginning not giving off those signs. It's worse considering he is supposed to be his patient.
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secondkas
 Posts: 95 |
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Thank you for this review, I've been looking forward to an ANN writer's opinion on this manga. Rebecca addressed most of my concerns when I read Ten Count. As someone who has a degree in Psychology, I had specific topics in psychotherapy that discuss therapist-patient ethics and, yes, transference (glad the article mentioned that) and they are major issues that a professional has to handle very carefully. I know that Ten Count is a BL, but I cannot suspend my disbelief at Kurose and Shirotani's dynamics especially when it clearly shows that Shirotani's disorder is severe, to the point that he wounds his hands from too much washing. If they show Shirotani's problem to be realistic, then I assumed Kurose's actions as a psychotherapist would be too, but the "ten list" suddenly turned out to be a gimmick (much like Takarai's Seven Days' one-week rule) where the readers get excited in finding out what the tenth thing is.
And Rebecca is right, because I have some knowledge about therapy, I wasn't able to get past the creep. I would have preferred if Kurose were just an average person, or a mere trainee, fumbling with his feelings and his job; but he is licensed, and he approached Shirotani with that premise so that's…just…wrong. The illustrations are delicate to look at but that's only surface level. The fact that one defense for this series is that it's not as worse as the rest simply (and sadly) means the bar for BL stories is low. And some of you say Kurose got worse? I am not surprised. |
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PinKunoichi
 Posts: 33 |
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This series is quite divisive, really. On one hand, it treats Shirotani's phobia with finesse in telling how it came to be and all the baggage that comes with living with it spectacularly... On the other, Kurose can get very manipulative with how he goes about 'treating' Shirotani, to the point where it dips into unhealthy yaoi tropes. In a way I wish it weren't a yaoi and just focused on the psychological aspects.
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Ashen Phoenix
 Posts: 2912 |
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That fills me with a lotta hope. I adored Takarai's Seven Days series and I'd heard largely good things about Ten Count. Psychological or otherwise medical conditions are always complex and difficult to portray in comics and entertainment so it does my heart good to heard the MC's OCD is being portrayed with more care and gentility than is typical. I've got fingers crossed this becomes another series to join my shelves! |
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CrowLia
Posts: 5505 Location: Mexico |
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Eh, considering Junjou Romantica held that spot for years, I wouldn't take that as a failproof demonstration of quality. Remember the highest grossing movie in cinema history is James Cameron's Avatar after all. To me, that it has that spot currently just cements that Japanese fujoshi like stories that portray spoiler[unhealthy, abusive relationships and with dubious consent at best when it comes to sex] |
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Cutiebunny
 Posts: 1747 |
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I enjoy dubious consent stories, so I really like Ten Count. I hope to see more dubcon titles released in the US (Caste Heaven, anyone?). I always hate that whenever a dubcon manga is released, there are those that come out and vociferously complain that such stories should not be released. Not all of us like fuzzy snuggles in our yaoi.
I can understand why you'd hate TC if you're a psychologist. A lot of people hate media that portrays their people in their profession poorly or unrealistically. I dont know if a clinical treatment would really help Shirotani though. Yes, the man is afraid of germs, but that also includes germs he could be exposed to through friendly contact. So, if Kurose kept it to strictly a professional relationship, several items that Shirotani wants help overcoming would not be possible. |
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harminia
 Posts: 2002 Location: australia |
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Yeah, I dropped this because it made me uncomfortable. I mean, it's a yaoi so I guess it was a bit much to expect it'd be more slow in getting to its sex scenes, but I just found it dodgy that the so called therapist kept going against his patients wishes and having sex with him lots. Like, it felt counterproductive to his role; are you trying to ease him into getting used to touching stuff or do you not care? It felt kinda rape-like to me so even though I liked the art, I didn't want to continue (and this is coming from someone whose favourite yaoi is Caste Heaven and who goes for the dark depressing stories over the fluffy stuff...)
I did like the treatment side of stuff though. As someone with, I guess, slight mysophobia, I found the methods interesting and they seemed to be well researched (can't say for certain though, but they did seem like the type of things therapists would suggest). Made me want to try and apply the methods to my own life and see if it can help me overcome my condition too. *Maybe* (or, probably) that's why I couldn't get into it. Because if I personally went to seek treatment and my therapist was all like "We'll have sex to help you get over your OCD!" I'd be freaking out.
Damn, I would kill to see Harada IRL. I hear she's really nice too. |
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tentensan
Posts: 102 |
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I can see why many people would find this relationship disturbing from a professional standpoint but you have to remember people, this is nothing but a fantasy and you gotta hand it to the Yaoi logic in yaoi manga.
I have seen many yaoi manga come to the U.S but never really grabbed my attention due to the fact that some of them are pretty bland, generic, or too wishy-washy. I immediately pre-ordered this series and plan on to continue doing so just because it has all that I need in a yaoi book. Which is the hardcore scenes and beautiful art. Now that one of my favorite authors has been brought over, it's time to bring over the rest! I demand HARADA to be brought over! I would screech like a fangirl when this happens! 
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rinmackie
 Posts: 1040 Location: in a van! down by the river! |
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^This! I'm with you tentensan! I love smutty yaoi and things like this and most noncon doesn't usually bother me. Why? Because it's fantasy! Now if it simple fictional story about a man seeking treatment for OCD and his kind therapist, then yeah, I could understand the concern. But if its supposed to be a porn fantasy, then it doesn't have to be realistic or "ethical". Fantasy is supposed to bend and break the rules; if it didn't, it's just regular fiction! Not fantasy at all! |
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