Inazuma to Romance: An ongoing work that unfortunately should have remained in the depths of imagination and never been published. Inazuma to Romance is a romance between a young man and a high school girl who due to circumstances end up talking and getting to know each other. However several problematic aspects need to be addressed in this ongoing work. Personally I find both the art and the plot to be quite average and not to my taste. The story focuses on two characters: Simure our female lead a high school student with a heart of gold who is always ready to help others and doesnt rely on rumors. She is confident with a strong sense of justice knowing what she wants and doesnt want. She is somewhat spontaneous but also very naive and not very thoughtful in her actions. On the other hand we have Lo the male lead who is not particularly comfortable with others and has a somewhat cold and hostile aura maintaining distance from people. This is accentuated by the scar on his face which feeds into his bad boy image. He does nothing to change this and on the contrary continues to reinforce this stereotype to keep his peers at a distance. Given their profiles they complement each other relatively well with the introverted Lo and the extroverted Simure. However as the story progresses it becomes increasingly problematic and disturbing. An agegap in a story can be acceptable if handled well adding depth to the plot serving a narrative purpose and enhancing the story. Unfortunately this work fails to do so. Simure being only 16 is not fully responsible and her behaviors and choices can be attributed to her immaturity. However what about Lo who is in his twenties and starts a relationship with a girl 56 years younger than him without acting appropriately? The romance is based on Los lack of maturity and Simures illusory desire for a love story. Currently with only one volume released in France and the second coming soon the work minimizes Los past actions. Simure does not question Los previous behavior or actions. She easily accepts and yields to Lo without any serious questioning. While love can lead to overlooking certain issues should the work ignore the need for questioning and concern about the characters actions? The story romanticizes an agegap relationship where the protagonist is manipulated by a love illusion ignoring logical reflection and her fathers concerns. It feels like a poor parody of an adolescent crisis where everyone sees the danger except the person involved who thinks they are mature and heads straight for trouble while neglecting others concerns. Furthermore the praise for the work calling it interesting endearing or cool only for its beautiful art is troubling. A problematic work that trivializes agegaps minimizes kidnapping and ridicules a fathers concern cannot be defended just because the art is beautiful.
20 /100
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