About:
Warning:
This review will contain spoilers for the manga and anime series Kuroe and the Garden of Feminine Pleasures. While the manga may vary slightly from all other forms of media, it may have similar story elements and could be considered spoilers.
Trigger Warning: There may be references to drugging, sextortion, gender-bending, noncon/dubcon, stalking, age gap, misgendering, blood, violence, BDSM, blood play, death, obsession, mentions of teen pregnancy, child neglect, child abandonment, child abuse, being orphaned, bullying, PTSD, implied sex work, attempted rape, torture, exhibitionism, and mafia/gang activity, as it appears in the manga.
Synopsis:
Sonogi Eda woke up after a night out drinking in a shocking predicament. He has a vagina. Thankfully, he still has all his other parts, too, but that is a small comfort during this horrifying discovery. What's worse is that Sonogi doesn't have insurance, so he can't even afford to go to the doctor to get it checked out. Desperate for an outlet and anyone to confide in who can help, Sonogi goes in to work at the host club and asks his boss if he knows anyone with medical knowledge he could talk to.
As it turns out, the boss recommends the number one host of the club: Kuroe. While Sonogi's not convinced Kuroe can actually help, he has nowhere else to go and asks Kuroe to meet him in private. After disclosing his current predicament, Kuroe talks Sonogi into showing him his new body part. While all Kuroe does is humiliate and tease Sonogi, as well as blackmail him with this new secret, Kuroe does have some information about what is going on with Sonogi's body. There is an illegal drug going around that gives the person who takes it the opposite sex's genitals. Thankfully, it isn't permanent, but it won't go away in less than a month.
Relieved that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, Sonogi is comforted… except that now he's forced into Kuroe's servitude in exchange for keeping his secret. Can Sonogi withstand Kuroe's sadistic, womanizing tendencies?
Review:
I will go ahead and say it: Chifuyu's art style is ugly. Everyone looks like an alien with wildly narrow chins, super wide heads, and very wide eyes on top of that. Their noses are also usually just single lines in the middle of their faces. It is super unattractive, but having read a couple of Chifuyu's series at this point… I actually kind of like it? It's so unique that it is immediately recognizable, and while it is ugly, there are actually some very pretty panels. I also have to say how impressive it is for this to have such a unique style with such distinct facial features but to have very few issues with same-face syndrome (at least in this series). If you are very, very picky about your art, you will probably hate this, but I have to admit, Chifuyu has really won me over.
Something else that would probably have usually either turned me off or scared me off is the premise. One of the things I hate in BL is when the bottom is referred to as a woman just because they are a bottom. This takes it to the next level since Sonogi grows a vagina between his penis and balls and his asshole. That does not mean Sonogi is a woman, but this gives Kuroe, in his own mind, the right to call Sonogi a woman over and over again. I totally understand it's due to the premise and is meant to be teasing and even humiliating for the sake of titillation, but I hate it all the same. It just, for me, reinforces the idea that being a bottom means being a woman, and I just don't like that, personally. I also really hate the word “pussy,” and that is used about one million times.
However, as much as I despise a lot of the sexy time because of all of those preferences I have, I feel like this might have awakened a kink in me. There's a portion of this where Kuroe is, once again, teasing and humiliating Sonogi, but he threatens to impregnate him. I am a huge fan of male pregnancy, and while that doesn't happen in this particular work, something about that dirty talk spoke to me, and I despise dirty talk. I'm not sure what that says about me, but I liked the idea of it all. I also enjoyed that Sonogi ended up having his period, which prompted an arc in Kuroe's character that you really don't expect based on his cruelty prior. He exposes a more soft and vulnerable side, taking care of Sonogi during this time. It really humanized Kuroe and allowed for a reprieve from the sex for some story development, which was a nice change of pace and gave more depth to a series that was beginning to look like nothing more than a smutfest (not that I would complain if it were, but I'm always here for some substance with my smut).
On the topic of the story, what story is very dark and painful, which is expected when you've got a character like Kuroe who is fine with women stabbing and cutting him. But there's a short moment at the end where Kuroe sees Sonogi smile (a stunning panel, by the way), and he recalls the neighbor who gave him a reprieve during his lonely and cruel childhood. As it turns out, it is revealed to be Sonogi's mother, and we see her pregnant with Sonogi, and eventually, we see baby Sonogi. Little Kuroe played with baby Sonogi and told him to live a good life, even though he was leaving and wouldn't be able to see him anymore. That little segment, while not necessarily all that unique or groundbreaking, really just spoke to me. Kuroe struggles with learning to feel and express love and the weight that emotion carries. He assumes he's never loved anyone until he was with Sonogi, but that takes on a whole new meaning when he recalls that he knew Sonogi as a baby. He realizes he has had the ability to love within him all along, having loved baby Sonogi first. It's just such a heartrending realization, and I loved it.
Results:
I, for some reason, really like this. It has so many elements that go against my preferences, but at the same time, it's so unique and odd that I can't help being intrigued by it. It is in no way a favorite, but this work alone sent me on a spiral checking out all of Chifuyu's other work that has been officially licensed and localized, so take that as you will. I would not recommend this to most people. It's weird, a bit of a whirlwind, and very, very dark, but there's just something about it that just speaks to me. If you're looking for something really unique both in art and story, I'd say this is worth giving a shot.
Have you read Kuroe and the Garden of Feminine Pleasures? If so, what do you think? Do you agree with my assessment? Do you not? Let me know, and comment below!