I have been keeping up with the manga chapters that get posted to Mangadex and I feel similarly. It’s such a weird setup that I can’t say it is all working, but I am willing to keep reading to see where it goes. One thing I have been a bit disappointed by as the chapters have gone on (you are likely ahead of me), is that the whole idea of “taboo” seems to be so open-ended that it is not really clear what is or isn’t considered taboo. Like, as long as there can be some flimsy rationalization, then it can count. I don’t know if this gets better or not, but I thought that aspect was really interesting and has so far been under or poorly utilized.
Yeah, there are some rationalizations given that barely stand muster, but in the worst cases, it feels like Ante is giving them to MC just to help him cope. “Yes, you had to do something terrible to the people you want to save, but in a way [enter convoluted explanation here] this helps you get stronger and brings you closer to your end goal”. At several times now it seemed to me like Ante is keeping MC’s head over water in this way. Maybe since she can read his thoughts/see his soul it’s the only thing to keep him from breaking apart. I’m only unsure if this is a sign of affection or if Ante is just stringing him along for her own gains. This ambiguity makes their relationship one of the most interesting I’ve read in a long time.
I have been keeping up with the manga chapters that get posted to Mangadex and I feel similarly. It’s such a weird setup that I can’t say it is all working, but I am willing to keep reading to see where it goes. One thing I have been a bit disappointed by as the chapters have gone on (you are likely ahead of me), is that the whole idea of “taboo” seems to be so open-ended that it is not really clear what is or isn’t considered taboo. Like, as long as there can be some flimsy rationalization, then it can count. I don’t know if this gets better or not, but I thought that aspect was really interesting and has so far been under or poorly utilized.
Yeah, there are some rationalizations given that barely stand muster, but in the worst cases, it feels like Ante is giving them to MC just to help him cope. “Yes, you had to do something terrible to the people you want to save, but in a way [enter convoluted explanation here] this helps you get stronger and brings you closer to your end goal”. At several times now it seemed to me like Ante is keeping MC’s head over water in this way. Maybe since she can read his thoughts/see his soul it’s the only thing to keep him from breaking apart. I’m only unsure if this is a sign of affection or if Ante is just stringing him along for her own gains. This ambiguity makes their relationship one of the most interesting I’ve read in a long time.