Fushigi Yuugi, up to volume 10.

[snarp]

People had told me that this series stopped being a romantic comedy after a few volumes, but... I didn't expect all the villains to start raping the heroes to destroy their magical powers. I mean, I guess I can see it happening once, but it's become a recurring theme. They're literally standing around and discussing the finer points of the use of rape as a weapon, as characters in a shounen manga might discuss chi blasts.

...when I put it that way, it becomes clear to me that this manga is Sugar Sugar Rune's evil grandma.

Comments

[torachan]

LOL Really? You'd think I would remember something like that, but I guess not. XD

[snarp]

Disempowerment-via-rape has been attempted three times so far - twice to Miaka and once to Tamahome - and Yui has been brainwashed into thinking that it's happened to her.

This is not something that the first couple volumes of the series would lead you to expect!

(double-posting this comment)

[torachan]

I did remember Yui's brainwashing, but I didn't remember that it had been a theme!

via network

[softestbullet]

o_o

[treesahquiche]

Oh man. Really? That's the sort of thing I expect in poorly-written pornography disguised as fantasy novels. I read as much of Fushigi Yuugi as I could in mall bookstores when I was in middle school, and I don't remember anything like that happening ...

[snarp]

Disempowerment-via-rape has been attempted three times so far - twice to Miaka and once to Tamahome - and Yui has been brainwashed into thinking that it's happened to her.

This is not something that the first couple volumes of the series would lead you to expect!

[that-darn-kat.livejournal.com]

It seems like ALL of Yuu Watase's manga carry that theme at one point or another. It's kind of hilarious. XD Her yaoi manga, Sakura Gari (which is quite good, actually), basically has rape at the main theme...

It makes me wonder about her sometimes.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Oh, Yuu Watase. I'm fairly certain that reading everything of hers that I could the first few years I was reading manga may be the main reason I had a fairly low opinion of shoujo for a while there.

[snarp]

See, in some ways I think FY's actually an improvement upon the average, because Miaka has a lot of agency - she makes the big decisions for her little group, and if there's a party in power in her relationship with Tamahome, it's her. When her frenemy Yui allows herself to be led, that's shown to be bad.

But the thing is that - and this is made pretty explicit - the things that make Miaka the heroine and Yui not-the-heroine are that Miaka's 1) inept and in need of protection, and 2) a virgin. Because these are both qualities laden with immense moral value, I guess.