Sakura Gari



Sakura Gari is a Taishou Era romantic story by Yuu Watase, ten years in the making. It centers around the 16 year old Tagami Masataka as he tries to find his place in life. While attempting to start prep school as a rounin, he encounters Saiki Souma, the 25-year-old son of a distinguished noble of the Saiki Koushyaku family, and becomes part of the Saiki household as a mix of boarding student and servant. The Souma and the Saiki households, however, are hiding some very dark secrets, and Masataka unwittingly starts getting involved...

This manga is a rather explicit entry in the Boys Love genere, and is departure from the usual Yuu Watase's usual work in Shoujo romantic series.

This series has examples of: 

": "That night, I called him (read: ) deliberately... like with all the persons who had a relationship with ... It's so intresting! Just by punishing them for one night and taking pictures, all of them got scared and became strange...""
 * Abusive Parents -
 * Katsuragi hints that, during the Motive Rant he sprouts while he is
 * For that matter, Katsuragi's wife Asayo suggests that
 * Accidental Pervert - Masataka meets Katsuragi... when he walks on him giving Souma head.
 * Alone in A Crowd - Souma is constantly in a Friendless Background, especially his childhood where he was trapped in a living hell to the extend it almost drove him into Go Mad From the Isolation territory. That said, Masataka gets his fair share of this as well.
 * Alpha Bitch - Kanako Kawamori
 * And I Must Scream - Souma's childhood is... there's actually not a word to describe how horrible and tortuous his childhood was. It was just...  He has a very good Freudian Excuse for his behaviour. In fact, considering what happened to him, it's actually surprising that he is able to function as well as he does. This extends beyond Break the Cutie and through the Trauma Conga Line; each new hit keeps breaking him.
 * Anything That Moves - Souma.
 * Aristocrats Are Evil - Most of the nobles and aristocrats are shown being very snooty and insufferable. Even Souma and his family, although not shown being snooty, are certainly very messed up.
 * Arranged Marriage - Kanako's father wants to engage her to Souma as soon as she graduates from her women's college. Souma refuses at first, saying he's too troubled to get married, but later he accepts.
 * Ass Shove - A not-comedic example --
 * The Atoner - Souma's father tries to pass himself off as one. . His way of making amends to her? Have  . Yeah, he's messed up.
 * Also,
 * Attempted Rape - Subverted: it's believed that  went into the warehouse   was locked in to rape her, as revenge against  ; later we learn that
 * Berserk Button - DON'T touch Masataka. Souma will fucking KILL you, and he will not make it painless.
 * And do NOT attract Souma's attetion to yourself. Either Katsuragi or  will catch and torture you, and neither will make their punishments easier either.
 * Beware the Nice Ones - Souma is gentle, kind, caring and generally submissive, allowing anyone to screw him if he can get by in life. But you touch Masataka and you've crossed the line.
 * Big Brother Complex - Subverted and followed in different instances. Masataka and his blood-related big brother Takafumi, although they don't look like they get along, are actually very close (with Masataka always having felt guilty about his older brother suffering while working under a different family). Masataka and his younger brother Mitsugu, however, are a different story - Mitsugu is clingy and Masataka is actually cold and mean to him. And then there's, where their relationship actually goes into Brother Sister Incest.
 * Bishonen - Souma and Masataka.
 * Bitch in Sheep's Clothing - Katsuragi seems to be a normal, efficient and handsome doctor at first. Then we see him having sex with Souma, but he still looks like a shady but not openly evil man, even supporting Masataka when he deals a What the Hell Hero to a nobleman during the ball. Later, we see . And later, there's both his abuse of his wife and what he did to Masataka (read:  )
 * Oh that's not even the worst of it. Then we get to find out what he did to Souma!
 * Bi the Way - Souma doesn't really make gender distinctions.
 * Boys Love Genre
 * Break the Cutie - First, we see Masataka getting horribly and painfully broken in the Saiki household as time passes. Then we learn Souma that became so broken by the end of his childhood that he grew into an Empty Shell Stepford Smiler who allowed anyone to screw him if he could get by in life in return. Honestly, the base premise of the entire series is this trope.
 * Broken Ace - Souma. He's handome, affable, rich, intelligent, a skilled businessman. . . and horrifyingly screwed up.
 * Broken Bird - Katsuragi's wife Asayo, utterly broken for his abuse.
 * Souma is one of the rare male cases of this trope.
 * Brother Sister Incest - Half-siblings version:.
 * Except that
 * And further subverted when we find out that
 * But Not Too Foreign - Souma is half Japanese, half English.
 * Cannot Spit It Out -
 * Casanova - Souma is the King of this... except that that he's not seducing anyone. Everyone else just wants to screw him and he lets them.
 * Celibate Hero - Masataka for the majority of the beginning, claiming that he has no interest in things like love, and that love is simply for people's self-satisfaction. (In fact, once he has a wet dream and goes take a cold bath in the nearest well, extremely ashamed). Which also brings him a bunch of internal conflict when he starts feeling attracted to Sakurako and
 * Censor Shadow
 * Chains of Love - More like Ropes Of Love. There's a lot of centerfold pictures of Masataka and Souma tied up together.
 * Cherry Blossoms
 * Chick Magnet - Souma is shown attracting many, many female suitors.
 * Child By Rape -
 * Clingy Jealous Girl - Kanako and.
 * Cold Blooded Torture - Dr. Katsuragi's rape and torture of.
 * Also, what  does to almost every single lover that   has among the household staff, and takes pictures of each abuse session. The most notorious cases are: ,  , and an unnamed maid (  In the culprit's own words:

"Masataka (upon finding a passed out Sakurako): This beautiful girl... her skin and hair, were all white."
 * Coming of Age Story - For Masataka, albeit a VERY traumatic one.
 * Creepy Child -, after.
 * Cute and Psycho -
 * Cute Shotaro Boy - Souma as an eleven year old. Unfortunately for him.
 * Dancesand Balls - Souma takes Masataka with him to a Dance Ball. Masataka, being a commoner, feels very out of place and uncomfortable.
 * Dark and Troubled Past - Souma and pretty much the entire household. Masataka and his sibling/s as well
 * Deal With the Devil - metaphorical.  Wrong, wrong move.
 * Death By Childbirth -
 * Death By Falling Over - Subverted:
 * Because felt left out?
 * Depraved Bisexual - A big reason why Souma is depicted as being messed up and depraved is because he sleeps with women and men (ignoring later implications that he causes their death).
 * Also, Katsuragi.
 * Depraved Homosexual - Some of the men that Souma sleeps with.
 * Despair Event Horizon - Both Souma and Masataka get hit with this.
 * came real close as a little kid, when . She finally goes right over when
 * Determinator - Despite all of the trauma he goes through, when Masataka pulls himself together, he can come up with impressive bravery. Like when  or
 * Driven to Suicide -,  , and . Only the latter dies from it though.
 * Also subverted. Many outsiders believe that  This further leads to   Wait, wait, wait, we're not finished yet. Then It Gets Worse. No, really. Truth is...
 * Dropped a Bridget On Him - A huge shocker coming in the form of.
 * Dysfunction Junction - Between Souma's childhood,, Matasaka's childhood  , and the entire situation with  , you have Up to Eleven extremes that just keep on climbing.
 * Even the Guys Want Him - Souma. Souma. Souma. Souma. Seriously, this trope is Souma.
 * Eye Scream -
 * Hoist By His Own Petard:
 * Fatal Attractor - Every one of Souma's lovers are shown to have horrible endings. He even notices and mentions it himself. Of course, this doesn't stop him from continuing to take lovers.
 * He actually believes that its because he breaks up with them that they go and kill themselves or get into fatal accidents that may have been suicide attempts. ... Despite having a degree from Tokyo University and being a CEO of a company, Souma can be really really stupid.
 * Fingore -
 * Forbidden Fruit - The one person Souma finds himself truly falling in love with is the only person who has absolutely no romantic interest in him. As a matter of fact, it's addressed that the main reason he fell in love with Masataka was because Masataka was "different from the others." And Souma, of course, unaccustomed to not getting sex from someone he wants, proceeds to.
 * From a different angle, this borders on a strange inversion/distortion of I Love You Because I Can't Control You, where everyone wants to control and screw Souma, treating him like a possession, a "doll", but Souma loves Masataka because Masataka doesn't try to control or possess him (i.e. Masataka's affection is pure (read: not bound by sexual possessiveness)).
 * Force Feeding - In chapter 6 Sakurako tries to literally force Masataka to eat some of the food she made for him. He's reluctant to do so because the last time she fed him something she had secretly snuck in some glass.
 * Fridge Brilliance - Once you read the part where, you may recall that a certain scene around the beginning had more than one subtle hint towards this particular reveal...
 * Go Mad From the Revelation -
 * Good Scars Evil Scars -
 * Heroic BSOD -  has a HUGE one when he learns that   And we're not counting counting the one the morning after
 * High Class Call Guy: Souma will let anyone fuck him as long as there is something for him to gain from them in return. One of the detectives even remarks on it, saying that even back when they were investigating his step-mother's suicide, he had the eyes of a prostitute.
 * Historical Fiction
 * Horrible Judge of Character - Masataka. Honestly, there are all these horrible rumors about Souma, Souma himself acts really weird, strange events keep occurring, and... he just thinks Souma is a nice master. Right.
 * Ho Yay - In addition to the obvious Yaoi relationships, there's a lot of hints that some side characters are attracted to Souma.
 * Considering that it's Souma, odds are they've slept with him already.
 * Humiliation Conga -
 * If I Can't Have You - Everyone does this over Souma. And then Souma in turn does this to Masataka.
 * Ill Boy - Masataka's younger brother, Mitsugu. First, he has a weak heart. Then he gets Spanish influenza (the same one that killed thousands of people in that same decade) and barely survives. Finally, he catches pneumonia. Yikes.
 * Also, the reason why Souma leads the Saiki clan is because of his father's very frail health.
 * Important Haircut -
 * Impoverished Patrician -
 * Incorruptible Pure Pureness - how Souma sees Masataka. What is interesting is that originally Masataka is seen as pure because he's inexperienced and "untouched", however, conversely the more horrible things he goes through, the more and more he approaches The Messiah archetype, gaining a compassion and ability to forgive love that is almost supra-human, so much so that by the end this becomes his default personality. One interpretation of this is that in the end he swaps one kind of superficial purity for a deeper psychological one. Depending on your point of view.
 * It Got Worse - Masataka's situation seems to be this way with every chapter. As does Souma's backstory. By the end, they've gone way beyond the Despair Event Horizon.
 * Its Not Rape If You Enjoyed It - painfully deconstructed. Both the rape victim and the rapist suffer painfully because they think this is true.
 * I Wished You Were Dead - Masataka tells this to Souma in the middle of his Heroic BSOD.
 * Souma wishes this on his step-mother, . Let's just say, Souma does not have a good history with this trope.
 * Just Friends - Souma and Masataka at the beginning... although the very strong romantic undertones indicate what's to come. Masataka believes they're Like Brothers, while Souma wants something entirely different.
 * Karmic Death -
 * Kick the Dog - So not only is Katsuragi, he   and he beats his poor wife.
 * Souma himself does this too, when  It bites him REALLY bad in the ass when
 * Ladykiller in Love - Well, not just a ladykiller, but Souma finally experiences real love for Masataka.
 * Little Miss Badass - Towards the end, Sakurako handles herself pretty well with a katana as she.
 * She already showed signs much earlier, when
 * Looking for Love In All The Wrong Places - Souma is a combination of this and a Casanova.
 * Love Hurts - And how.
 * Love Makes You Dumb - Souma, you are a fucking idiot when it comes to Masataka.
 * Love Redeems - . Eventually.
 * Love Triangle - There is initially a love triangle between Souma, Masataka, and Sakurako. With Souma pining after Masataka, who is attracted to Sakurako, who . The attraction pretty much ends when she starts force-feeding him glass, though.
 * Loving a Shadow -
 * Madwoman in The Attic -
 * Mistaken for Murderer - Souma by Masataka, with some Guilt By Coincidence thrown in.
 * Misunderstood Loner With a Heart of Gold: Rumours are everywhere, everyone calls him the "Angel of Death" or the "Western Doll", or say that he's cursed, but Souma is really a kind person. ... As long as you don't push him off the edge of what little psychological stability he has.
 * My Sibling Will Livethrough Me -
 * Abigal and Souma. Nuff said.
 * Never Suicide -
 * It's worse than that -  You have to wonder which was worse:
 * If you account for Katsuragi and Sakurako's actions, the only person in the entire series who was actually confirmed to actually attempt suicide was  - although   got close to attempting at one point too.
 * Not Evil Just Misunderstood - Again, Souma gets saddled with this. Of course, he thinks that he really is evil.
 * Old Retainer - Several, though Ohatsu and Katou are the ones who fill in the most.
 * The Ophelia - The young maid
 * Please Don't Leave Me - Souma asks this of Masataka when he finds all the pictures Sakurako took of him having sex. He doesn't take it well when Masataka refuses. Cue It Got Worse.
 * Psychotic Love Triangle - Masataka/Sakurako/Souma and Masataka/Souma/Katsuragi.
 * Rape and Switch - Definitely  is going this way. Poor thing.
 * Manages to just scrape through on a subversion in that, but it still swerves close enough to this trope played straight to be a little uncomfortable. The fact that their relationship before this point was rather more pure and platonic with serious Ho Yay subtext could also be seen as another way this trope was subverted. It's still not a nice outcome for the poor boy, though.
 * on the other hand, has this trope played rather more straight, where he was raped and used for sex by so many people that he eventually came to just not distinguish between genders and would sleep with men or women.
 * Rape As Drama -  getting raped by Souma and later by  . Oh, and Souma  and pretty much any person who finds him attractive, but that's more because he feels he has to indulge everyone's desires.
 * Rape Is Love - because he "loves" him. This trope is then slowly and systematically deconstructed, pulled apart, twisted, inverted, and re-constructed upside down in an entirely different geography over the chapters following this event. First the reader gets to see how horrifically traumatised   becomes, then how   desperately tries to stop him from leaving him, and then the consequences as they culminate in an It Got Worse climax, interspersed between the slow reveal of the sheer and utter god-awful Fate Worse Than Death that is their pasts, showing how broken, psychologically traumatised, and scarred they are. Magnificent Bitchery.
 * Same goes to  Except its a bit more like   Well, "love" in the sense that he's wanted to literally possess him since Souma was eleven.
 * This goes into Fridge Horror as  Hence why he didn't take it well when Masataka rejected him.
 * Really Gets Around - Souma. Almost everyone knows that a huge defining trait about him is that he's willing to sleep with anyone.
 * Secret Keeper - Sort-of.
 * Another is
 * And
 * Selective Obliviousness - Yes, Souma, we're sure that the reason why all your lovers keep dying in suspicious circumstances is because you break up with them. This stretches into Too Dumb to Live territory eventually. No, literally,.
 * Self Made Orphan -
 * Sensitive Guy and Manly Man - Respectively: Masataka and Souma, Masataka and Takafumi, Mitsugu and Masataka, Souma and Katsuragi,.
 * Shallow Love Interest - Sakurako passes herself off as this to Masataka, who genuinely starts falling for her. Unfortunately for him,.
 * She Cleans Up Nicely - Gender Flipped during the ball, with Masataka looking nice in a suit.
 * Shown Their Work - Watase made quite the bit of research on the Taisho period, and it shows.
 * Shut UP Hannibal - Matasuka gives the non-verbal slap equivalent to Sakurako
 * Snow Means Death -
 * So Beautiful Its a Curse - The readers are constantly reminded in the story of how Souma suffered a messed up childhood due to his gorgeous looks.
 * By the end, this trope is played for completely horrible and terrifying physical and emotional traumatising effect. Break the Cutie all round.
 * Spurned Into Suicide -
 * Stalker With a Crush - It's mentioned several times that anyone who starts having a relationship with Souma ends up becoming this. Souma, in turn, starts acting this way towards Masataka.
 * Stockholm Syndrome -  developing feelings for   after being forced to stay with him after being blackmailed with  . Lampshaded by Masataka himself when he wonders why does he keep coming back to the Saikis, even after all that has happened.
 * Lima Syndrome --, in return, develops genuine feelings for   as time passes.
 * Stuffed Into the Fridge - Poor ...
 * Tall Dark and Handsome - Katsuragi. Too bad he's an absolute asshole.
 * Together in Death -
 * Trauma Conga Line - Souma is the poster child for this trope, although Masataka gets slugged with it a fair few times himself.
 * Troubled Abuser - Souma
 * The Unfavorite -
 * Villainous Crossdresser -
 * What Beautiful Eyes - Masataka's "beautiful and honest eyes", according to Souma.
 * White Haired Pretty Girl - Sakurako, Souma's albino sister. More like.
 * Villainous Crossdresser -
 * What Beautiful Eyes - Masataka's "beautiful and honest eyes", according to Souma.
 * White Haired Pretty Girl - Sakurako, Souma's albino sister. More like.


 * Work Off the Debt - Souma does this to  after  . Of course, the method of paying is less than pure...
 * Yakuza - The people that
 * Yamato Nadeshiko - Deconstructed, and how. Katsuragi's beautiful, polite and soft-spoken wife Asayo seems to be one, at first sight; then, Masataka notices the bruises on her neck and wrists, and the deal becomes a LOT more unsettling...
 * Yandere - Good god, . The girl is absolutely batshit insane. One moment she'll be acting all sweet, the next she'll be trying to kill you.
 * Souma too, though he mellows out later on. And then we see why he is like that...
 * Katsuragi, for Souma.