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≠ノットイコール [ ≠ Not Equal ] #2
≠ノットイコール 2
「自分の息子だって知ってたら、寝たりしなかった」
22年前から現代に戻った凉の前に現れたのは、22年後の"愛する人"だった。時を経て現れた凉、つまり息子を果は頑なに拒絶する。しかし、つい先ほどまであんなにも愛し合っていた余韻を忘れられない凉は、強引に果に迫るのだった。
愛するとは、幸せとは何かを問う異色作・完結巻。
22年前から現代に戻った凉の前に現れたのは、22年後の"愛する人"だった。時を経て現れた凉、つまり息子を果は頑なに拒絶する。しかし、つい先ほどまであんなにも愛し合っていた余韻を忘れられない凉は、強引に果に迫るのだった。
愛するとは、幸せとは何かを問う異色作・完結巻。
170 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 10, 2012
1 person is currently reading
35 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
April 7, 2023
I take it back—it's weird, Flowers-in-the-attic (father version) allover again!! I mean, the ending is kinda good when the author explained the meaning of the title and why it couldn't be any other way, and I appreciate this volume, it kind of straightened up the questions and confusions from the previous volume, but it's weird 😭 I be like, I just want to finish the damn volume already because I cringe and I puke allover. I'm sorry. Taboo, taboo, taboo, taboo. I feel so dirty right now 😫 but, comparing it to other manga with the same premise, relationship-wise, it's much better, with depth even. But I'd appreciate a no-sex story, though, after the revelation.
October 14, 2022
Con este romance yo ya sabía lo que iba a encontrarme -más o menos- y aún así la historia logró atraparme, conmoverme y dejarme llorando, sintiendo como mi corazón se sentía roto por dentro. Sentí un montón de nudos en mi pecho, bastante dolor, pero también me quedé inmensamente conmovida por lo mucho que Ryu amaba a Konomi, y de una forma incondicional que pocas personas tendrían.
RESEÑA COMPLETA EN:
http://mayuamoraprimeravista.blogspot...
Os espero *o*
RESEÑA COMPLETA EN:
http://mayuamoraprimeravista.blogspot...
Os espero *o*
January 9, 2016
I loved how they's try to hide their feelings for each other but with one look, they break down and try to escape lest they say something 'inappropriate'. It was really hard watching Konomi deny their relationship but I honestly understood his decision. I would do the same in that situation. Then again, I would be Ryou - I'd want to pursue the relationship even knowing its tabooed.
This really made me think and feel and just love both characters. Nice read, would read again, would recommend. All in all, riveting!
Furthermore, the art style was great and I'm going to pick up more books from this mangaka.
This really made me think and feel and just love both characters. Nice read, would read again, would recommend. All in all, riveting!
Furthermore, the art style was great and I'm going to pick up more books from this mangaka.
September 28, 2020
My heart is broken.
October 29, 2018
Konudan falan bahsetmeyeceğim çünkü nasıl anlatılır hiçbir fikrim yok dkfkfk
İlk cildi o kadar heyecanlıydı ki hiç beklemeden devam ettim. İçinde M M ve zaman yolculuğu olan iyi bir kurguydu. Manga-ka’nın one-shot’larını da çoğunlukla beğenmiştim ama bu hepsinden iyiydi. Ne olacak soruları kafamda fır döndü.
Manga okurken en dikkat ettiğim şey hero çizimleridir. Burada da bu noktada manga-ka benden tam not aldı. Ryou ve Konami çok iyi bir çift olmuştu bence. 😉
İlk cildi o kadar heyecanlıydı ki hiç beklemeden devam ettim. İçinde M M ve zaman yolculuğu olan iyi bir kurguydu. Manga-ka’nın one-shot’larını da çoğunlukla beğenmiştim ama bu hepsinden iyiydi. Ne olacak soruları kafamda fır döndü.
Manga okurken en dikkat ettiğim şey hero çizimleridir. Burada da bu noktada manga-ka benden tam not aldı. Ryou ve Konami çok iyi bir çift olmuştu bence. 😉
May 1, 2014
Nice plot but honestly, the idea do creep me out a bit. It really is sweet if it wasn't a fucked up relationship. Let me just pretend the relationship isn't incest. >3>
June 5, 2021
Note: I reviewed both volumes together, so what follows is the same review I posted for volume 1.
Call me a hypocrite, but not only do I love “not equal” by Reibun Ike, I think it's one of the most profound and moving works of any genre that I've read in the last few years. It takes Yaoi tropes and wrestles them into a sustained cultural and moral critique that is astonishing in its audacity. It’s equally courageous by dealing with an issue that is hazardous for creators who are reliant for their livelihood on the good graces of a pop culture audience.
I’ve written blistering reviews of authors who try to disguise child abuse as inter-generational love. This manga deals with an issue that is perhaps even worse. Said issue is incest, specifically, between father and son. I'm not sure I've heard of any kind of work, popular or otherwise, dealing with this theme. It’s near non-existence as a subject makes “not equal” noteworthy. Just mentioning father/son incest immediately triggers thoughts of abuse, manipulation, power, moral depravity and mental derangement. That Reibun deftly sidesteps these concerns by focusing on the sincere and authentic emotional needs of her characters, who start out as teenagers in volume 1 and then appear as adults in volume 2, is an impressive storytelling accomplishment. It helps that the meeting between son and father that leads to their mutual attraction occurs through a bit of magical realist time travel.
In current day Japan, Ryou feels unloved and abandoned by his father, Konomi, who left Ryou and his mother when Ryou was a baby. Konomi, meanwhile, feels unloved but also profoundly alone in life.
Having not seen his father in ten years, 17 year old Ryou goes to see him. Not long after he arrives, Ryou finds himself transported back in time, meeting the 14 year old Konomi in the past. Even though Ryou knows the young Konomi will grow up to be his father, the boys fall in love. Volume 1 spends most of its time in the past, showing how and why the boys fall for each other. Despite the fact that we, as readers, know the truth, the relationship between the boys feels genuine, sincere, and somehow needed by both. It's right at this point that Ryou gets yanked back to the present, disappearing before the 14 year old Konomi’s eyes to reappear before the middle-aged Konomi in the present.
It’s the revelation that Ryou, his son verging on manhood, is the boy that Konomi loved so desperately when he was 14 that occupies volume 2. Konomi rejects Ryou once he realizes the truth, triggering again Ryou’s sense of abandonment but also Konomi’s own intense feeling of isolation and loneliness, this time compounded by self-recrimination. If volume 1 provides an authentic validation for the father and son’s mutual attraction, volume 2 deconstructs the myriad reasons why this love is not possible.
Interestingly, Reibun makes Ryou, the son, the seme and Konomi, the father, the uke. While not eliminating the psychological and moral issues, nor the near instinctual repulsion we feel about the relationship, this role reversal does temper (or, at least, reframes) the issues of power, manipulation and abuse that such a relationship normally triggers in us. Spanning several years in the present, during which Ryou grows from a 17 year old student to a successful 20 year old IT tech, volume 2 pits the love the men have for each other against the moral and social strictures keeping them apart.
The art, except for a few panels, is gloriously rendered and perfectly paced. In the few instances where the drawing doesn't quite match the rest of the work, it’s the occasional, oddly rendered profiles that seem off-key. However, regarding these few panels and going back through both volumes, I think what Reibun is doing is sacrificing representational perfection for expressive intensity. And both volumes are visually intense; riveting might be a better word. Only 1 or 2 other manga have held me so totally enthralled to the visual mastery of a mangaka. In “not equal,” visual form fits narrative function in a way I don't think I've ever experienced before.
This work will disturb you. That's why, with these two volumes, Reibun proves herself not just an entertainer, but an artist in the truest sense of the term - a person whose skill and technique supports a courageous examination of the unknown, despite the potential for harsh criticism from others. Artists take us not only on journeys of wonder, but also take us to places of extreme discomfort. When handled well, we all benefit from their brave and tenacious exploration of new horizons. The two volumes constituting the “not equal” series are a perfect example of an artist stretching her wings, turning something that most would turn from in disgust into a work of outstanding beauty.
Call me a hypocrite, but not only do I love “not equal” by Reibun Ike, I think it's one of the most profound and moving works of any genre that I've read in the last few years. It takes Yaoi tropes and wrestles them into a sustained cultural and moral critique that is astonishing in its audacity. It’s equally courageous by dealing with an issue that is hazardous for creators who are reliant for their livelihood on the good graces of a pop culture audience.
I’ve written blistering reviews of authors who try to disguise child abuse as inter-generational love. This manga deals with an issue that is perhaps even worse. Said issue is incest, specifically, between father and son. I'm not sure I've heard of any kind of work, popular or otherwise, dealing with this theme. It’s near non-existence as a subject makes “not equal” noteworthy. Just mentioning father/son incest immediately triggers thoughts of abuse, manipulation, power, moral depravity and mental derangement. That Reibun deftly sidesteps these concerns by focusing on the sincere and authentic emotional needs of her characters, who start out as teenagers in volume 1 and then appear as adults in volume 2, is an impressive storytelling accomplishment. It helps that the meeting between son and father that leads to their mutual attraction occurs through a bit of magical realist time travel.
In current day Japan, Ryou feels unloved and abandoned by his father, Konomi, who left Ryou and his mother when Ryou was a baby. Konomi, meanwhile, feels unloved but also profoundly alone in life.
Having not seen his father in ten years, 17 year old Ryou goes to see him. Not long after he arrives, Ryou finds himself transported back in time, meeting the 14 year old Konomi in the past. Even though Ryou knows the young Konomi will grow up to be his father, the boys fall in love. Volume 1 spends most of its time in the past, showing how and why the boys fall for each other. Despite the fact that we, as readers, know the truth, the relationship between the boys feels genuine, sincere, and somehow needed by both. It's right at this point that Ryou gets yanked back to the present, disappearing before the 14 year old Konomi’s eyes to reappear before the middle-aged Konomi in the present.
It’s the revelation that Ryou, his son verging on manhood, is the boy that Konomi loved so desperately when he was 14 that occupies volume 2. Konomi rejects Ryou once he realizes the truth, triggering again Ryou’s sense of abandonment but also Konomi’s own intense feeling of isolation and loneliness, this time compounded by self-recrimination. If volume 1 provides an authentic validation for the father and son’s mutual attraction, volume 2 deconstructs the myriad reasons why this love is not possible.
Interestingly, Reibun makes Ryou, the son, the seme and Konomi, the father, the uke. While not eliminating the psychological and moral issues, nor the near instinctual repulsion we feel about the relationship, this role reversal does temper (or, at least, reframes) the issues of power, manipulation and abuse that such a relationship normally triggers in us. Spanning several years in the present, during which Ryou grows from a 17 year old student to a successful 20 year old IT tech, volume 2 pits the love the men have for each other against the moral and social strictures keeping them apart.
The art, except for a few panels, is gloriously rendered and perfectly paced. In the few instances where the drawing doesn't quite match the rest of the work, it’s the occasional, oddly rendered profiles that seem off-key. However, regarding these few panels and going back through both volumes, I think what Reibun is doing is sacrificing representational perfection for expressive intensity. And both volumes are visually intense; riveting might be a better word. Only 1 or 2 other manga have held me so totally enthralled to the visual mastery of a mangaka. In “not equal,” visual form fits narrative function in a way I don't think I've ever experienced before.
This work will disturb you. That's why, with these two volumes, Reibun proves herself not just an entertainer, but an artist in the truest sense of the term - a person whose skill and technique supports a courageous examination of the unknown, despite the potential for harsh criticism from others. Artists take us not only on journeys of wonder, but also take us to places of extreme discomfort. When handled well, we all benefit from their brave and tenacious exploration of new horizons. The two volumes constituting the “not equal” series are a perfect example of an artist stretching her wings, turning something that most would turn from in disgust into a work of outstanding beauty.
June 24, 2024
Sovint les recomanacions de Twitter l'encerten i de vegades, com és aquest cas, no tant ^^' Una història polèmica, amb l'incest com a protagonista, però amb l'atenuant dels viatges en el temps, cosa que alhora complica i redimeix la trama. La diferència d'edat d'adolescents (14-17) em grinyola perquè el jove sembla massa petit i la relació evoluciona de zero a cent. En definitiva, malgrat que la polèmica premissa es tracta amb cura i bon gust, tot plegat se m'ha fet massa dramàtic (encara que m'imagino que aquesta era la intenció). Com a darrer apunt, m'ha deixat al·lucinada l'evolució de l'art de la mangaka. Not Equal és del 2010 i només 7 anys després va publicar Pelea de sables 1 o el 2019 El taller del mago Sylvain.
January 29, 2024
I don't have words. This is fucking good. That whole tribulation really fucked them up, it's so sad. Why did it have to be like that? Why do fate play with people like that? At first, I thought that maybe Konomi isn't Ryou's biological father, that Ryou's mother got pregnant by someone else and they decided to just get married. I'M SO SAD. Anyways, it's such a good story. The longing, the burning, the pain? Everything just falls so good, I can't even condemn the blatant incest (well, I don't mind since it's fiction and I've read a handful of equally amazing works that are also incest). This will definitely stay with me. Their love transcends all morality and the bounds of ethics. I also love in Ch8 where Ryou was questioning and rationalizing things such as society's views, familial hereditary possibilities, norms and many more. I just hope we get to see something more from the time travel gimmick. THIS IS IMMACULATE. PERIOD.
April 16, 2022
"Ryou...
Mi persona amada...
Mi hijo..."
Konomi me hizo llorar mucho, me encariñé con él y casi me rompí la garganta cuando estaba avanzando hacia su muerte.
Él dijo que si Ryou es feliz, tiene más que suficiente. Yo digo que si Konomi es feliz, tengo más que suficiente.
Me hubiera encantado ver más momentos de él siendo feliz, pero confío en que está viviendo una hermosa primavera💕.
Mi persona amada...
Mi hijo..."
Konomi me hizo llorar mucho, me encariñé con él y casi me rompí la garganta cuando estaba avanzando hacia su muerte.
Él dijo que si Ryou es feliz, tiene más que suficiente. Yo digo que si Konomi es feliz, tengo más que suficiente.
Me hubiera encantado ver más momentos de él siendo feliz, pero confío en que está viviendo una hermosa primavera💕.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 26, 2021
El mejor cierre que podría tener esta historia, cómo me hace sufrir página a página hasta que, al fin, no pueden evitar ceder ante el amor que sienten el uno por el otro. Se me hace tan corta la historia... ojalá hubiera durado mas. Ryo y Konomi merecían ser felices juntos.
February 4, 2022
Oooh so deliciously scandalous! Forbidden love at its finest! Like honestly I tend to stay away from this genre, but this story.. was just.. so beautifully written! The romance, the angst, ugh! THAT ENDING THOUGH EXCUSE ME LEMME GO CRY A BITTERSWEET RIVER- ;-; ♡
April 5, 2024
Chega de sofrer
Fiquei satisfeita com esse final, depois de tanto se reprimirem e sofrerem por amor, eles merecem ficarem juntos e felizes do jeito que desejam. Este final ajudou a aumentar o teor polêmico e super tabu do mangá, o que é bom pra chocar os mais sensíveis ou até frescos, amooo!
Fiquei satisfeita com esse final, depois de tanto se reprimirem e sofrerem por amor, eles merecem ficarem juntos e felizes do jeito que desejam. Este final ajudou a aumentar o teor polêmico e super tabu do mangá, o que é bom pra chocar os mais sensíveis ou até frescos, amooo!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
July 9, 2020*sigh* It's incest
This is where not reading blurbs gets me, although it didn't really mention it was going to be that type of story. I'd always liked Ike Reibun's art so I jumped into it blind
This is where not reading blurbs gets me, although it didn't really mention it was going to be that type of story. I'd always liked Ike Reibun's art so I jumped into it blind
April 29, 2021
It's a no for me.
July 4, 2021
I loved seeing this story progress! Ugh my heart.
April 19, 2022
4.5
Esa delgada línea... Este manga me hizo vivirlo
Esa delgada línea... Este manga me hizo vivirlo
August 13, 2022
No puedo llegar a estar deacuerdo con esta relación.
February 18, 2023
Vine por curiosidad y al final si lo disfrute............
December 10, 2023
Me iré al infierno.
January 2, 2024
Bien dicen que la curiosidad mató al gato. Ocupo un borrado de memoria URGENTE 😭
May 26, 2024
Don't even care. I'm happy for them.
December 2, 2025
2,5
weird as fuck pero bueno... ahí va
weird as fuck pero bueno... ahí va
May 20, 2025
Yes, I'm still recycling my reviews.
For some reason, back when I originally/initially read this, I loved it. Now, I’m like, why did I like this time travel incest story? The story was okay, the time travel thing was interesting, but did it have to involve that particular taboo? Why’d it have to be his dad he wanted to get with? I’d have felt slightly better about it if it was, like, his dad’s best-friend or something.
For some reason, back when I originally/initially read this, I loved it. Now, I’m like, why did I like this time travel incest story? The story was okay, the time travel thing was interesting, but did it have to involve that particular taboo? Why’d it have to be his dad he wanted to get with? I’d have felt slightly better about it if it was, like, his dad’s best-friend or something.
October 9, 2016
Review coming soon
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews