Sensual Phrase 10

Mayu Shinjo – Viz – 2005 – 18 volumes

Okay, things got a lot uglier here before they got better. Aine is repeatedly molested by Kyo, and at one point, in order to save Sakuya embarrassment, she offers to do a nude photo shoot for Kyo. While she’s being attacked, Sakuya shows up and instead of saving her right away, accuses her of insulting him, or insulting Kyo in order to turn him on. Or something. Winning creep line from Kyo this volume? “Don’t scream, you’ll ruin the party. I never believe it when girls cry ‘no.’”

Turns out the photo he was blackmailing Sakuya and Aine with was not nearly as devastating as Aine thought. So that whole thing was… upsetting, to say the least. Not that the situation wasn’t serious, but that all that ugliness was for nothing.

The larger plot in this volume involves Aine’s parents suddenly showing up at her apartment and demanding she come back home. A lot about this storyline just… didn’t make sense. I do like that Sakuya put the decision of whether to stay with her family or him entirely in Aine’s hands. He influenced her in no way, shape, or form, and in fact told her that if she was still torn about her parents, it probably meant that she should stay with them, at least for a little while longer. It’s things like that that keep Sakuya from being a dominant monster, and let Aine keep some of her own willpower.

The scene where he tries to make her parents like her (unrelated to the move, they just disapprove of him)? That was way over-the-top in a way that only Sensual Phrase can pull off. And really, it’s even a little questionable here.

Keep in mind, Aine’s parents let her randomly walk out with Sakuya months and months ago, simply because she said “they hate her.” It was Sensual Phrase’s way to deal with the inconvenience of parents. It makes very little sense for them to come back now. My favorite detail was that Aine’s dad apparently listened to Aine’s filthy Lucifer song lyrics.

And… I’ve always thought this was weird, but Λucifer? There’s a change in the manga series, too? The random Greek letter makes a lot more sense now that I’ve read the manga. Not that there’s an explanation given, just that it’s the sort of random thing that happens in Sensual Phrase.

Part of me enjoys the perversely short story lines. What would be a major issue spanning several volumes in any other series is over with in half a book here. I love that it burns through drama and moves onto the next thing, and that’s probably a big part of what makes reading all these volumes in a row so much fun.