Two great exponents of romantic comedy manga like “Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san (Teasing Master Takagi-san)” and “Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san (Don't mess with me, Miss Nagatoro)” have one thing in common: both stories involve their female protagonists playing pranks on the male protagonists.

While it's assumed that these behaviors in these stories are intended for the girl to show her affection, it seems that not everyone agrees with this view of romance. A debate recently broke out on Japanese comment forums about this topic, started by a Twitter user who criticized Takagi-san's story as actually "a romanticization of bullying":

• «Although Takagi-san thought she was “a master prankster,” the protagonist certainly saw her as a bully.", he wrote.

It didn't take long for another user to clarify that Author Soichiro Yamamoto stated in an interview that he took extreme care when making Takagi-san jokes They will never exceed a certain limit:

• «The author, Yamamoto-senseiwas also very careful about this, and He said in an interview that he was aware there were good intentions behind Takagi-san's "joke" and that he drew a clear line between "joke" and "not making the other party feel uncomfortable."without malice on the part of the prankster or displeasure on the part of the victim", he wrote.

When this opinion began to carry weight, Others began to say that in the case of “Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san,” no care was taken with this kind of representation.. Saying that Nagatoro was a bully and that her manga romanticized this aspect seems to be a trend:

• «I read some comments saying that "Nagatoro-san failed in this aspect", but when I check the history, I think it's because of the author's history. The second half of the story gets progressively softer and I feel more comfortable with it, but I wonder if it's a matter of diversity that the author doesn't allow more gross sexual inclinations. By the way, some people around me say that both Takagi and Nagatoro seem like bullies, but I disagree. Everything is relative, and I don't agree with the whole "Takagi is good, Nagatoro is not" thing. I personally prefer Nagatoro simply because he always shows his legs", he wrote.

And of course, the community's comments couldn't be left out:

• «"Someday I'll definitely catch Takagi-san by surprise." Nishikata still has that competitive edge. I like Takagi's story because it shows that Nishikata isn't afraid of her and is willing to play a prank on her. If that weren't the case, I'd consider this a story of abuse.».
• «Nanashi, the author of Nagatoro-san, had previous stories that were hentai with quite bold themes. I think that's why Nagatoro-san starts out so intensely, because the author was transitioning out of the hentai industry. Eventually, he gained more experience in the "all-audience" world, and this eventually reflected in his work.».
• «The pilot chapter of Nagatoro-san, the one-shot, was even more visceral regarding Nagatoro's abuse of Senpai. It's incredible, and I recommend reading it sometime to see what the author's original idea was.».
• «Nanashi-sensei came from the hentai industry right before starting Nagatoro. That's why the beginning is so intense.».

Source: Esuteru Blog