There’s no accounting for taste.
I’m not going to make apologies for the fact that I just wanted a fox/wolf romance. Think of me what you will. Skip this review if it’s not for you.
My furry friends? Other folks who just think guys with animal ears are cute? Come on in. Sit next to me and lean in! Bakemono no Hanyone /The Beast’s Bride might be for you (although I had some serious issues with this one!)
CONTENT WARNING: Discussion of rape, sexual assault, and suicide attempts.
SPOILERS
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I will admit that one of the things that I always enjoy in a good Shifter Romance is the world-building. I know, I know. I sound like I’m saying that I read Playboy for the articles. But, Playboy did serialize Fahrenheit 451, so I mean… there is some truth to that old joke.
Unfortunately, in Bakemono no Hanyone/The Beast’s Bride, the world-building is superior to the romance–at least for my tastes.
I’m never fond of any romance that starts with rape.
On the Bato.to site that I linked to above, I notice that they are sorta-kinda giving content/trigger warnings when they note that this manga has “dubious consensus” (uh… my friends? That word does not mean what you think it means. The word your looking for is consent. I mean a consensus is not reached during a rape, but… yeah, that’s not how we talk about it.)
Regardless, what happens in this manga is not dubious consent… no, there is zero question that the scene is, in point of fact, the textbook definition of sexual assault, rape. And the warning should just say rape because to could be harmful to any survivors who might actually be okay with some dubious consent in their fiction (and yes those people exist)? Also, in case the scanlators are the one’s confused, let me clear something up. It doesn’t count as dubious consent if the fox is thinking he deserves this. He is literally ambushed and assaulted. Nothing about this is dubious.
I suppose there are some who might still think it’s “dubious” because the two characters are legally married when the assault occurs. Wikipedia suggests that Japan is a little grey in this matter. Apparently, on paper, the country recognizes that spousal rape is real, but there has never been a decision made in court on this matter–only in cases of separation or divorce. So, I hate that. I hope to f*ck that’s not why this was marked as dubious consent and not rape.
Dubious consent means that maybe consent wasn’t well established or the character wanted some of this but not all–or maybe things got rougher than intended. Fanlore actually has a really good definition under the heading dub-con, because it specifically approaches this from a fictional standpoint, in that it reminds us that readers have privileged insight into character’s motives, internal thoughts and feelings. So even scenes that might fall under the definition of rape might get categorized as dub-con because we know what people were thinking at the time.
The rape scene in Bakemono no Hanayome/The Beast’s Wife happens before we even get to know the character’s names. Thus, the only insight we get into what our fox character, Hinata, is thinking is that he’d always doubted his ability to complete his mission to assassinate the wolf clan’s heir, Kyouya. He’s also overheard that his people don’t care if he lives or dies, since he is a “freak,” having been born with nine tails. In fact, he tries to kill himself during the rape by biting his tongue, but is forcibly stopped from going through with it by Kyouya. I’m pretty sure a suicide attempt is a the most implicit NO that person could possibly give.
See what I mean? I think we can establish a consensus that even under the broadest definition of dubious consent, this is not that.
And all of this is not to kink-shame anyone.
You’re looking at a reader that kept right on reading, after all. I’ve just learned over time that correct and appropriate tags keep everyone safe. To that end, I should note that I didn’t find the rape particularly hot I’ve read better (*cough*Kinbaku*cough*).
Again, and I know you’re going to find this hard to believe, I was really sort of interested in what the relationship was between the wolf clan and the fox clan… and their relationship to humans. The manga starts out with this whole explanation of how wolves and foxes noticed an encroaching human population and so learned to shift into human form only to discover that human did not accept them. And, I was like, Huh. OK. So, we want humans to accept us?
Anyway, I read the whole thing.
Good news, the story is complete in one volume.
We kind of discover that Kyouya is like this because he is also his own kind of freak… though in this case he’s an actual monster.
Apparently, there is a genetic defect among the wolves where this whole “and I now transform into a human now” where the side effect is “oops, also a werewolf.” So, like, most of Kyouya colleagues are fine. They can pop back and forth between wolf and human, no issues. For him, once a month, he turns into a devouring beast who is a danger to himself and others.
Perhaps we are to forgive Kyouya?
Whether or not we do, Hinata does–though kind of for all the worst reasons. A lot of Hinata’s backstory is that because he was born with these extra tails, he was shunned and bullied his whole life. Kyouya is the first person who actually talks to him. I mean I buy it, but it’s not a great foundation for a life partnership, you know?
The conclusion fascinating, though, because it turns out Kyouya’s mom, who had gone missing (it’s barely in there), actually escaped to live among a group of humans who do accept furries shifters, and so there’s this weirdly satisfying “there’s a home for freaks like us!” ending.
So, I ended up with real mixed feelings about this one. I oscillated between loving and hating the art. I felt very conflicted by the relationship–especially since, throughout Hinata is very angsty and self-loathing in a way I didn’t find particularly compelling. But.. the end surprise satisfied me. The sex gets better, but it’s very heteronormative (at one point in the extra chapter Hinata transforms himself into a woman) and not terribly inventive.
So, I dunno about this one, y’all.
