this actually had a better plot than the last few i read by minase, which might well be because she didn't write it herself; though it fits her style like a glove -- that's some inspired collaboration. i'm gonna give extra points to shu thinking up an advertising campaign that could actually work in the real world; it doesn't happen often in BL that a mangaka depicts a business workplace in a reasonably realistic manner. i probably also filled in some of the holes -- the reason akino is so intent on keeping kurata on the project is that the is immensely important; that didn't really come across in the plot. i also enjoyed the secondary characters; the bickering was fun. i'd love to see sakikabara in his own story.
where the manga falls short is in the relationship development. it starts, as usual for a minase plot, snrk, with the raping. also as usual, i am not fond of that device, and especially not if the rapee gets so turned on by the rough sex (without lube, i might add, shudder) that he just wants more of it. i'd have liked to see more happen between the rape and the consensual sex; it completely trivialises rape to treat it this way, and that just doesn't sit right with me. i don't really see here how akino moves from being raped to being in love. and as so often with minase, i don't really connect with the characters; they're hot, ok, but where is their soul, for lack of a better term?
the art is pretty as always, but the characters are still interchangeable (between manga) ; they don't have a unique look to them, and if i read several minase works in a row, they all blend together. so yeah. better than some, not as good as her earliest work, which IMO remains her best.