Shiiku Gakari Rika

So I just finished reading “Shiiku Gakari Rika” which is the main story of “Tetsu x Rika”. It is unfinished and sad to say the mangaka herself listed it that way. I am really disappointed and I really wished for the mangaka to continue it but that’s impossible now. The readers such as me would be left with nothing but imagining any possible ending of this beautifully crafted story. I have always adored Modoru Motoni-sensei’s so much more when I had read TetsuXRika. I always had a change of mind everytime I tried to read Rika the Breeder because of TetsuXRika. That manga left me in awe, of sadistic joy and at the same time sorrow of why things had to end that way.

                The story is left unfinished but it was a good read. People might despise Rika but he has his reasons and I don’t hate him for what he has become. However you look at it, Rika’s main goal is to destroy the system—for the “salon” that robbed him of his days of tranquillity to cease to exist and Hotarou is the proof of that. As what Hiro made Rika to confess, Rika hates to have sex. I think he only loved sex when it was with Tetsu but because Tetsu was haunted by his mother’s rape and death, he wasn’t able to understand Rika’s feelings. But maybe, if after Hiro hears from Anji what really happened to his brother, then he might or might not protect Rika as how Rika wanted it to be.

I want to know what will happen next and how will things between Hiro and Rika end! I want Rika to destroy that system that took his and Tetsu's heart apart and completely destroy their lives. I want Rika have his peace of mind again this time with Hiro in place of Tetsu. Rika only loved Tetsu and wanted him to look at Rika not as someone desired by everyone or like Tetsu's mother but as Rika because he is Rika. 

                Now I’m wondering, had Rika let Tetsu diminish his title as the “President” because he couldn’t have him or was it because of the torture he experienced under Tetsu? I believe that he only wanted Tetsu to quit and go out of that school because he was starting to break. And since Hiro isn’t a dumb kid, I think he will understand the situation. He himself knew the nature of his brother and what his brother can possibly do. Either way, it was the psychological trauma that they are suffering that lead them to what they have become.

                After everything what I can only say is that it was beautiful. The twistedness of the story, the intense feelings of hatred, vengeance, love and suffering. Both prequel and sequel are worthy of praise and worth reading.

Summary from mangaupdates:

Shiiku Gakari Rika-New boy Natsume Hiro comes to a boarding school unlike any other school in existence to solve/resolve something that happened in his past- but even that fact takes a while to emerge.
The school is a hotbed of bullying and rape kept slightly in check by a feudal organization called the Salon. The Salon protects its members from random abuse by specifying who can/must rape whom (yeah, there are must rapes here) under what circumstances, and punishing those who rape/abuse without proper permission. All this to be decided at the whim of the Salon head.
Sex at the school is both an overwhelming obsession, as befits an all-male society where there are no other outlets for stress, and a matter of down-and-dirty power politics, not unlike an American jail.
When you throw in the Byzantine institution of the Salon, you have a scenario reminiscent of the surrealistic, closed, hothouse world of British boys' schools. But the Rika world is even more bizarre than that.

Genre: Adult, Drama, mystery, psychological, school life, tragedy, yaoi

Let Dai by Woon Soo-yeon -- a review

It’s been a while since I’ve written a review for a manga that I’ve read. This time, it’s for a manhwa entitled “Let Dai” by Woon Soo-yeon. Manhwas really amaze me for the deepness of their stories and how they tell beautiful and sorrowful tales that could drive you into it. It was like you are a bystander witnessing the events of the lives of people and you just couldn’t help but get drawn to every phrases and scenes in it. This manhwa is really something that caught my feelings and thoughts into a whirlpool of emotions and I just love how the manhwaka created the story of these people involve. Especially the two persons who imprisoned my heart with their love so pure and true. I love how they fought with each of their own weakness and beliefs to set things right but at the same time trying to protect the love they have for each other. The events in their lives might have been very painful and confusing as well as tricky and injustice into their eyes but they strived hard to protect what they want to treasure and cherish. As the manga continues and I was reading it, I couldn’t help but feel sad and sorrowful for the life lost and for the pain they felt. These youngsters are just like us in our teens, trying to figure out life and love but at the same time finding out how cruel the world can be.

Dai is someone who was trying to live his life according to his own understanding and judgement, that’s when he meet Jaehee who swept him away. The meeting wasn’t something that special but it was the beginning for them. The start of an endless trials and overwhelming emotions, the start of their love for each other. The story left a very deep impression on me especially how the author put such deep and meaningful words. I avoided reading this manga for quite a long time since it was labelled as tragedy and oh boy how tragic could this manhwa be? For me, the tragedies happened deep in the characters hearts as they strive to continue life with the will to grasp what they want the most—and for Jaehee and Dai, it was to stay together forever. The words uttered by the characters are so moving that I couldn’t help but feel every words spoken.

 

The art is very good that it gives every scene real beauty and emotions. I have always adored manhwa style arts and this one is one of them. Just like the rest of the mangas I made a review, “Let Dai” is a struggle for both these young males to view love as something that isn’t defined by gender. I just love how they showed each other how they love one another simply because they love each other and that’s it. They wanted to be together despite all the obstacle ahead of them—because they feel love. And for them that is the most important thing. I couldn’t stop but wish for a love the same as this, yet I feel like I wouldn’t be able to endure the hardship the same as them.

The friendship borne are real despite the distasteful events that happened. This manhwa teaches readers a lot of things such as the importance of life, the sorrow of those who are left behind, the struggle of those who wished to be heard, the pain of those who longed for happiness, and that love will always find a way. For quite some time, I have given up on the word “love” but now I am able to believe in it again. Not just because I know I’ve already matured a little, but because of the stories that I get to read just like this manhwa.

In the end, without giving up, they will always find a way of achieving happiness in life. The road might not be that easy but they will get through as long as they believe. The ending of the story shows hope—hope to oneself and for others, and of course, that Jaehee will find happiness together with Dai wherever he is.

Summary from NetComics:

Set in a soulless neo-Seoul ruled by young punks and pleasure seekers, an amoral teenager named Dai is the living embodiment of the city's beauty and cruelty.

As the leader of the vicious Furies gang, Dai seduces everyone who lays eyes on him, only to blind them to his own barbaric nature. When an honest schoolboy named Jaehee rescues a beautiful girl from being mugged by the Furies, he can't possibly realize how this brief encounter will plunge him into a downward spiral of unbridled passion and unfathomable pain.

From his brutal gang initiation to an unspeakable act committed against his girlfriend, Jaehee wavers uncomfortably between revulsion and fascination. And in Dai he finds a tender, caring friend one moment and a heartless sociopath the next, awakening strange and unhealthy desires in Jaehee that he could never before have imagined.

Genre: Drama, Mature, Psychological, School Life, Shoujo, Shounen-Ai, Slice of Life, Tragedy