Kizuna volume 2 by Kazuma Kodaka
In this volume of Kizuna, we see a lot more of Ranmaru and Kei’s current relationship dynamic. Kei is rather confident in his love for Ranmaru, but Ranmaru is more anxious than that.
This all comes to a head when Ranmaru thinks Kei is cheating on him with a woman. It turns out to be a transvestite friend that Kei was drinking with, but it brings out other subconscious issues to the battleground like: Wouldn’t it be easier for them both to just get girlfriends and not come out to their families? Is Ranmaru only a replacement for a woman?
Unfortunately, Kei’s reaction to all this is to get so mad that he violently rapes Ranmaru to teach him the difference between Kei mindlessly banging him and Kei making love to him. It was pretty cringe-worthy. Thankfully it was the only actual assault in the book. (There was an attempted assault on a female character, but it was stopped before it got anywhere.)
Then the story shifts back in time to how and when Masa got his scar (protecting Kai during a fight with a rival gang) and how Kai reacted to it. The two *almost* have sex. I actually find it quite funny how much the two deny their super-obvious feelings for each other. The current story then becomes about Kai, Masa and their yakuza clan as they become embroiled in some serious trouble with a rival group. Kai gets arrested by police who think that he attacked a woman with a knife, but it turns out she was looking for someone who was impersonating him. Kai then goes into hiding, but Kei winds up getting dragged into the fray by accident before the volume ends.
There was a big change of art style in this book. Volume one was old-school, almost more like Fist of the North Star
So back to the rape. On the one hand, I’m glad there was less rape in this volume. On the other, holy shit, that was not the rape I was expecting. I figured I’d be in for more “someone getting kidnapped by yakuza and getting raped,” not domestic abuse! I’m very disappointed in Kei, as a character for this, and for some things he did in volume one. I’m also starting to get disappointed in Ranmaru for putting up with this bullshit, then turning around and allowing Kei to make love to him afterward. (C’mon! If your ass hurt as bad as you said it did, you wouldn’t be able to have anal sex again that quickly!) And Kodaka for writing this bullshit! Swear to goodness, sometimes I wonder if these creators just don’t know any better or just don’t care.
There’s also a conversation where Kai proclaims himself to be a gentleman who would never force someone to have sex with him. LIES! You totally did that in volume one, Kai! It’s just that no one in the story is going to argue otherwise because what you did moved the story along and you’re a main protagonist! Arrrrggggh!
You know, every day of this challenge, I’ve been thanking my lucky stars that I fell in love with manga via shoujo manga. It may have its own problems, but it’s far less rape-tastic…
