In order to control his sexual desires, a young troubled student named Zen gets his fix from taking up-skirt photos of schoolgirls. However, when he is caught in the act by the strong willed Ayame, she takes him to a rooftop and begins to humiliate him using rope bondage. This first encounter leads to continuous torment, pushing the girl's vengeance into using any opportunity to tie up her subject and threaten him with public exposure.
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Denpa books, although having limited titles currently available, have made some interesting acquisitions, including titles such as “Super-Dimensional Love Gun” and “Inside Mari”. For those unfamiliar with those works, both series are geared towards a mature audience, through explicit content and in approaching difficult subject matters. Furthermore, both of the editions feature artists who are known for being able to present stylized and detailed art. In comparison, “Pleasure and Corruption” from You Someya fits well with the other titles, both in visual flair and content, although the depth of narrative is more hinted in the first edition than fully realized.
To first touch on the narrative, the first volume is more of a set up to future editions and just begins to tease the sexual relationship between its subjects, as well as third parties that may potentially get involved. Consequently, it does become difficult to discern where the series is heading, although there are obvious hints of either a romantic relationship evolving between master and slave, or the slave having to overcome his kink for an innocent romantic interest.
As it stands from a narrative point, there seems to be two ways the story can divulge, going off the cryptic tag of “Broken souls achieving satisfaction through their corruption”. The series' echoes vibes of “Scum's Wish” (Also adapted into an anime), with a possibility of focusing on the disenfranchised and disconnected sexual nature of its subjects. Adversely, the starting set up of a sexual contract feels reminiscent of the nightmarish coming of age drama “Flowers of Evil” by Shuzo Oshimi (Recently made into a faithful live action adaptation). Ultimately, the first edition offers up a lot of potential scenarios to the reader, all of which point towards an exciting revelation for later volumes.
As an additional note, the series offers some intrigue in a bit of switch in the roles, focusing largely on male bondage and male objectification. However, given this is the first part, the sexual paradigm could easily switch in later volumes as both characters sexuality is further explored. As it currently stands, the role reversal with a focus on male bondage offers up a nice switch to the normal manga tropes.
Visually, You Someya brings a strong and detailed presence that is really captivating. Fans of detailed artwork with a particular emphasis on body form will find the visuals appealing. Additionally, this detailed approach elevates the depictions of rope bondage, which sexualizes contortions and modeling of the human form. The only negative within the art is in it feeling a bit too technically well executed, lacking in any eccentricities that would define the style as being unique to the mangaka.
This edition includes a nice added bonus, besides some more ‘lewd' depictions the artists could not include in the actual manga. This comes in the way of a short comic of the personal experience in going to an S&M club with a friend to garner research. This story adds a degree of humor to the series and shows the dedication of the mangaka in both him tackling an unfamiliar subject in his art and willingness to research. Additionally, there are some story boards and a chronicle of some of the earlier failures in trying to get his work to print. Overall, the little additions add a nice touch and will hopefully provide a continuing narrative of behind the scenes within each edition.
It is still early in the series to really offer a lot of praise and it is possible things will fall apart in further releases; however, given Denpa's seemingly selective process for titles to translate, there is hope that the series will only get exponentially better. Undeniably, the groundwork is there, and with the recent release of volume 2 it is a good time to jump onto the series to see where it goes.
